Halloween Haunts – Why Horror Matters

by Tim Waggoner Excerpt from WRITING IN THE DARK Years ago, a student asked me why I write horror. “You seem like such a pleasant person,” she said. I looked into her eyes and smiled a slightly wicked smile. “Writing horror is what keeps me pleasant.” We all have a dark side that whispers to us, a side that we struggle against and ultimately need to make peace with if we don’t want it to destroy us. In many ways, that’s probably the most primal story of humanity. Horror fiction gives us a safe way to explore and – hopefully…

Welcome to Halloween Haunts 2020

Welcome! Come in!  Welcome, foolish mortals! Is everyone sitting comfortably?  Good.  I'll begin. {cue spooky music & creepy lighting} It is my honor and pleasure to welcome you to HWA's 2020 Halloween Haunts - a month of blog posts on all aspects of horror and Halloween for those of us who find this to be the most wonderful time of the year.  Be sure to check back daily as new posts from members of the Horror Writers Association will share Halloween memories, tips for making Halloween special in quarantine during a global pandemic, Halloween fiction, advice on writing scary, brief…

The Seers’ Table October 2020

Kate Maruyama, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community So many of us are stuck inside this Halloween, so we’re excited for this full list of fabulous titles from our Seers’ Table this month. From new anthologies to recognizing a great who left us too soon, browse below for reading to get you through a gloomy October. Tish Booker recommends: Meet Alledria Hurt, a writer of the macabre from Pennsylvania now enjoying the warmth of sunny Georgia. She is the author of numerous short stories, novellas and novels from the Black perspective. She has three upcoming projects, including a short…

HWA Presents: Don’t Turn Out the Lights

The HWA is pleased to announce the release of its newest publication, Don't Turn Out the Lights, a middle-grade anthology edited by Jonathan Maberry and published by Harper Collins. The book debuted 9/1 in hardcover, eBook, and audio. Don't Turn Out the Lights is a tribute to Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and features 35 stories from such talents as R.L. Stine, Madeleine Roux, and many members of the Horror Writers Association. Illustrations by Iris Compiet.     Watch interviews with the contributors: Don't Turn Out the Lights Panel Discussion #1 This is the first of…

HWA Scholarship Winners Announced

The HWA congratulates the winners of the 2020 scholarships:

HWA SCHOLARSHIP

Matthew Andrew is a retired U.S. Marine who served multiple tours in support of combat operations in Afghanistan and the Balkans. He currently works in the finance sector in Dallas, Texas. His short fiction can be found in Pantheon Magazine, Blight Digest, PMMP‘s Lost Signals anthology, and Thuglit, among others.

The Seers’ Table September 2020

The Seers’ Table! August 27, 2020 by HWAWeb Linda D. Addison, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community You can see any of The Seers’ Table posts since inception (March 2016) from the menu item “Diverse Works’ on the top of HWA main page. Kate Maruyama introduces: Hugo award-winner Sarah Gailey is an internationally published writer of fiction and nonfiction. Their nonfiction has been published by Mashable and the Boston Globe, and they are a regular contributor for Tor.com and Barnes & Noble. Their most recent fiction credits include Fireside Fiction, Tor.com, and The Atlantic. Their debut novella, River of Teeth, was published in 2017 via Tor.com and was a 2018 Hugo and Nebula award finalist.…

New HWA Diversity Grants

The HWA is pleased to announce a new aspect to our scholarship program: the Diversity Grants. The Diversity Grants will be open to underrepresented, diverse people who have an interest in the horror writing genre, including, but not limited to writers, editors, reviewers, and library workers. Like the Diverse Works Inclusion Committee, the Diversity Grants have adopted the broadest definition of the word diversity to include, but not limited to, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disabled, and neurodiverse. The Horror Writers Association (HWA) believes barriers—often unseen but very real—exist which limit the amount of horror fiction being published…

2020 Officer Election Results

The results of the 2020 Elections for officers are in! Linda Addison, James Chambers, and Ellen Datlow have been re-elected to the Board of Trustees. Becky Spratford has been re-elected as Secretary after running unopposed. John Palisano has been re-elected as President after running unopposed. Thank you to all of the candidates for running, and for your loyalty and service. Special thank you to Errin Kemper for running this year’s election committee, and to Angel Leigh McCoy for both setting up the voting and doing the compiling.

Webinar: Group Health Coverage Overview

Please join us for this informative and educational webinar in which we will review the basics of the Individual/Family and even Group coverage options offered to the Horror Writers Association members through the partnership with LIG Solutions. You will be surprised to learn what options you have today for not only major medical but a full suite of health coverage solutions. Wed, Aug 19, 2020 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM PDT Registration link: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7603586209073069326

The Seers’ Table August 2020

Linda D. Addison, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community You can see any of The Seers’ Table posts since inception (March 2016) from the menu item “Diverse Works’ on the top of HWA main page. Janet Holden introduces: Jess Kidd was brought up in London as part of a large family from county Mayo and has been praised for her unique fictional voice. Her debut, Himself, was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards in 2016. She won the Costa Short Story Award the same year. Her second novel, The Hoarder (published as Mr. Flood’s Last Resort in the U.S.), was shortlisted for the Kerry Group…

2020 Officer Candidate Statements

2020 is an election year for the HWA, with Trustee Positions, Secretary, and President up for a vote. Candidate statements are below. Active Voting members will receive a ballot on or before August 1, 2020. The deadline to vote is 11:59PM Pacific Time, on August 15th, 2020. Thank you all, The HWA Election Committee (Click on the image below, then page through the candidates.)

HWA Partners With LIG Solutions to Provide Members Health Insurance Options

The Book Industry Health Insurance Partnership (BIHIP), a coalition of ten organizations, including the Horror Writers Association, announced a partnership with Lighthouse Insurance Group (LIG) Solutions to provide its members with a choice of health insurance options. Joining HWA in this partnership are the American Booksellers Group, American Society for Indexing, Authors Guild, Book Industry Study Group, Graphic Artists Guild, Independent Book Publishers Association, Novelists Inc., Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and Western Writers of America Inc. Since April 2018, BIHIP has been vetting various companies for association-sponsored health insurance programs. Initially, the goal of BIHIP was to…

The Seers’ Table July 2020

Linda D. Addison, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community You can see any of The Seers’ Table posts since inception (March 2016) from the new menu item “Diverse Works” on the top of HWA main page. Kate Maruyama introduces: Brit Brinson is a twenty-something aspiring author of young adult literature from Ohio. She is a graduate of the Unsinkable Albany State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Brit started writing as soon as she could hold a pencil and hasn’t stopped since. She lives for all things horror, paranormal, and sci-fi and may even be a Trekkie…

Summer Scares Reading List

Click the image to view the reading list and get more information. Summer Scares, a reading program from The Horror Writers Association (HWA), in partnership with United for Libraries, Book Riot and Library Journal/School Library Journal, provides libraries and schools with an annual list of recommended horror titles for adult, young adult (teen) and middle-grade readers. It introduces readers and librarians to new authors and helps start conversations extending beyond the books from each list and promotes reading for years to come. Award-winning author Stephen Graham Jones and a committee of five librarians have selected three recommended fiction titles in…

HWA Anti-Harassment Policy

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age or religion. We do not tolerate harassment of our members or others in any form, including but not limited to any and all of our events, both in person, and online, and also on our social media platforms. Repercussions Attendees and users violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the convention or the organization without a refund at the discretion of the chairs and/or Board of Trustees. Processes…

StokerCon UK Announces New Dates

First of all, we hope that you are all keeping well out there and are following your governments’ guidelines regarding hand-washing, travel restrictions, social distancing and self-isolation. These are all incredibly important tools in curtailing the spread of the Coronavirus (Covid-19). Secondly, we are grateful to the majority of you who, since our previous announcement, have allowed us to get on with trying to save the convention—or at least a version of it—by rescheduling it. To that end, we are pleased to let you know that, at the moment, we have agreed tentative dates for the event with the two…

HWA Youtube Channel – Readings, Interviews, Etc.

Did you miss the streamed Bram Stoker Award® readings? You can visit our Youtube channel and see many wonderful interviews, readings, award shows, etc. Be sure to Subscribe while you're there, and click the bell so you get notified when we post a new video.