Halloween Haunts: A Tradition of Fright

by Robert P. Ottone As long as I can remember, Halloween has been my favorite holiday. This isn’t an original concept, right? Every horror writer champions Halloween as the best night of the year, but for me, my affinity for the spookiest of all nights connects directly to my dad and our special way of celebrating the night. The last time I went Trick or Treating was in fifth grade. I dressed as Michael Meyers and went out with my friends Shawn and Chris, and came home with a large assortment of deliciousness. After that, there was no time to…

Halloween Haunts: Damp Wind and Leaves – Halloween Fiction from Amy Grech

Dracula. Frankenstein. The Mummy. The Wolfman. Posters covered his walls, as did cotton cobwebs, rubber tarantulas, and bats strung with elastic. Dribbles of wax added authenticity to the gold-painted candelabra on shelves covered with Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror comics and antique Aurora monster models. Layered across this display fit for a wax museum was the season’s own finishing touch, stark claw-like shadows of brittle, bare branches cast through his window by the flickering streetlamp outside. As he stood gazing down at Marlborough Street, Jeff wished he were twelve again—old enough to go even a block ahead…

Halloween Haunts: Halloween Abroad: Exploring Origins

by Nicole M. Wolverton Hundreds of pairs of feet pounding on Millennium Bridge, the sound of it ricocheting off the River Liffey, was like being inside an enormous beating heart—the chaos and fury mirrored in my own chest. That we all blindly followed a massive puppet toward Wolftone Square to meet up with two other parades led by two different giant puppets didn’t seem strange at all. Neither did the wind rising eerily off the Liffey, nor the howls of Macnas’ street performers cavorting amongst us in the dark. The Summoning had begun. That was the scene in Dublin, Ireland…

Call for Ads for the StokerCon Denver Souvenir Anthology

StokerCon 2021 Denver is coming in May 2021 and now is the time to get your ad in for the souvenir book. Edited by Josh Viola of Hex Publishers, an award-winning local Denver press, the souvenir anthology is sure to be an instant collector’s item. The anthology will include exclusive new fiction from some of the area’s most notable authors in addition to a unique table of contents overflowing with new non-fiction exploring the history of Denver’s robust literary scene. Of course, there will also be summaries of the HWA’s year and many programs. This anthology souvenir book will only…

Halloween Haunts: How to Enjoy Halloween in Quarantine

By Jo Kaplan These are strange and terrifying times, my friends, but not the good kind. Not the kind of strange and terrifying when a full moon shines down on twenty-five hours of Halloween mayhem as the bars fill with grotesque creatures and the streets fill with hungry little monsters. Who knows what Halloween will bring us in this, our year of the pandemic? Perhaps the streets will be empty and hauntingly quiet; perhaps you would prefer to be safe in your home. Even so, let us not mourn the loss of this year’s Halloween, but find creative ways to…

HWA’s Next Anthology Call for Submissions

Other Fears - An Anthology of Diverse Terrors Submissions open on October 1, 2020. HWA is proud to announce our next anthology: Other Fears will be an anthology of original stories revolving around a recurring theme that often comes up in both critical analysis of the horror genre and discussions about the prejudices and biases people have against minority groups that manifest in myriad phobias: the idea of "otherness." A fairly universal truth across oppressed, victimized, or historically underrepresented groups is that they have come to signify “otherness.” Be they of a different culture, a different background, a different belief…

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.)