2017 HWA Poetry Showcase Featured Poems

The Horror Writers Association is pleased to present the three featured poems from the 2017 HWA Poetry Showcase. After four years, the HWA Poetry Showcase has become a vibrant, global poetry competition featuring the best poetry, and the best poets, of the membership of the Horror Writers Association. This year was the second, and final, year of David E. Cowen being Editor for the Showcase. As such, I asked him to write an introduction to this HWA Poetry Page post about his experiences with the Showcase and dark/horror poetry: Poetry is dead. Long live the poetry of the undead! It…

HWA History

The HWA was formed in the 1980’s with the help of Joe and Karen Lansdale and saw a period of professionalization and growth under the leadership of some of the horror genre’s luminaries including Dean Koontz, Robert McCammon, and Joe Lansdale. Today we have over 2,400 members in countries such as Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Germany, Honduras, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Russia, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad, United Kingdom and the United States. The HWA is the oldest and most respected professional organization for the much-loved writers who have…

HWA Here and Now 2014

by Rocky Wood (Rocky Wood is HWA's fifteenth President. He took office in 2010. He passed away in office in 2014.) The last few years have been a particularly challenging and interesting period for the publishing industry, for the horror genre and for our members, and have seen the opening of doors that lead to as yet undiscovered countries. The explosion of the eBook has apparently freed authors from the previously limited range of publishing choices—mainstream publishing, small press and magazines—and allowed an almost infinite series of publishing models. Which of these will prove to be a success in terms…

HWA in the 21st Century

by Lisa Morton (Lisa Morton took the mantle of President in 2014. She also served over a decade as HWA's Treasurer through October 2011, and then Vice President until 2014.) To paraphrase (appropriately, perhaps!) the Grateful Dead, the 21st century thus far has been a long, strange trip for HWA, but one which overall has seen the organization continue to grow in size and reputation. Certainly no development has had such an impact on the organization as the growth of the internet and e-mail. At the turn of the millennium, most of HWA's communications with its members—whether it was monthly…

The Quarter-Life Crisis

by Kelly Laymon (Richard Laymon served as HWA's tenth President, from 2000 to 2001. He tragically passed away during his term. His daughter, Kelly, kindly provided this piece.) Unfortunately, I can't say very much about my father's time as President of the HWA. His term ended up being unusually short. Who's to say what would have been. People can complain about the politics and the system for the awards to no end. God knows, I've done it once or twice. But when I think about the HWA, I usually try to focus on the great things. About the people who…

Watt-Evans Quote

(Lawrence Watt-Evans, HWA's sixth President, served from 1994 to 1996) I don't know what effect I had on HWA, in the long run. It had fallen into a somewhat disorganized state when I was elected president, and I did my best to remedy that. I'm proud of creating the Internet Mailer and the first HWA website; some of my other attempts at innovation, though, were less successful, and many ideas that I held dear have been discarded by subsequent administrations. I do know what effect it had on me, though, at least in part. It showed me that yes, I…

Horror in Ancient Times

by Craig Shaw Gardner, HWA's fourth President, served from 1990 to 1992 I spent two years each as president of HWA and president of the HWA board of trustees. Twenty-plus years later, some of these events tend to run together, but I thought I'd give a brief rundown of what we did, and were trying to do, way back then. HWA had been the brainchild of a number of big name horror writers, who then turned the reigns over to Charlie Grant, who really got the organization up and running. The next president was Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, and the folks…

Recollections

The following articles appeared in '25: Celebrating A Quarter-Century Of HWA', edited by Lisa Morton published upon the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of HWA's incorporation and the Bram Stoker Awards®. It was released at the Celebrate HWA Day component of World Horror Convention 2012 held in Salt Lake City, Utah in March 2012. All material is copyright by the individual author. "Some Recollections" by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (Chelsea Quinn Yarbro was HWA's third President, and served from 1988 to 1990) Charlie Grant talked me into it, knowing just how to go about it. "We've discussed what kind of organization…

Shockingly Brief History of the HWA

By Stanley Wiater As with most great ideas, the concept for a horror writers association originated in the fevered imagination of one individual -- in this instance, one Robert R. McCammon. In an interview with Publisher's Weekly in 1984, the author (who had already published six horror novels) first publicly expressed his desire for a professional organization specifically geared to the needs of fellow writers of fear. At that point, however, his decidedly colorful name for the then nonexistent organization was "HOWL" (Horror/Occult Writers League.) Even so, reasoned McCammon, mystery writers had their professional organizations, as did science fiction writers.…

Important Website Update!

Use your WildApricot password to access members-only content. This is the password you use to update your profile or pay your dues on the HWA Wildapricot site. To get there, go to the homepage (https://horror.org) and look for the "Members-Only" button on the right. Click it and then click the login button on that page. Input your WildApricot user id and password, the same one you use to pay dues and update your profile. You control this password, so if you forget it, you can click on the "Forgot Password" link on the WildApricot sign-in page to retrieve or reset…

The Seers’ Table June 2017

The Seers Table Linda Addison, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community June contains the longest day of the year. Happy Summer Solstice! Why not use the extra time to read some new authors. Janet Holden recommends: Kate Moore is the author of more than fifteen books, including The Radium Girls, across the genres of gift, humour, biography, history, and children’s brand publishing. A multiple Sunday Times bestselling author, her work has been published in national newspapers, translated into more than twelve languages, used in national advertising campaigns and performed at the South Bank Centre, London. The Radium Girls. The…

“Road Virus” Interview

Have you ever dreamed of your library or bookstore coming to you? Or of a library that specializes in the kinds of books you want to read, a library filled with genre fiction that you can’t find in your local library or bookstore? Then dream no more. The Road Virus is here, and today we’re talking to the two owners/operators of this innovative concept in reading services. Meet Em and Sade, who in January hit the road in their combination bookmobile and living space, bringing fringe and underrepresented literature to the masses one stop at a time. JGF: Em and…

The Seers’ Table May 2017

The Seers Table! Linda Addison, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community May is Creative Beginnings month. Why not begin with checking out work by the following creators! Ace Antonio-Hall recommends: Dicey Grenor, the author of the Narcoleptic Vampire Series, explores dark, sexy stories of vampires and werewolves with her tough-as-nails protagonist, Sleepy Holly—much in the vein of Laurell K. Hamilton’s vampire/zombie novels featuring her Anita Blake character and sensual themes. The stories center around the settings of supernatural fetish clubs. The first book in her series has a 4.4 star rating on Amazon with 60 reviews. Recommended Work: Narcoleptic…

2016 Bram Stoker Award® Winners Announced

The Horror Writers Association (HWA), the premier organization of writers and publishers of horror and dark fantasy, announces this year’s Bram Stoker Awards® winners after a ceremony held aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. “The winners for this year’s awards unquestionably represent the continued high-level state of the art in horror writing,” said Lisa Morton, HWA President and multiple Bram Stoker Award winner. “Our members and awards juries were dedicated to the selection process for outstanding works of literature, cinema, non-fiction, and poetry.” We proudly provide the list of talented winners along with the finalist nominees. Superior Achievement…

Interview with Horror University instructor Hank Schwaeble

We're wrapping up our series of interviews with StokerCon 2017's Horror University instructors with Hank Schwaeble, who tells us about his "Saying More With Less" workshop. Thanks for reading, and see you in Long Beach! Hank Schwaeble: Saying More With Less Saying More With Less—how to make your (and your characters’) words be worth a thousand pictures. “Omit needless words” is as close to a Prime Directive as we authors get, but how do you as a writer decide what is and isn’t needed? In this class I’ll focus on tips and techniques for energizing your prose through economy and…

Interview with Horror University instructor James Chambers

Here's the latest interview with one of our StokerCon 2017 Horror University instructors. This time James Chambers tells us about his workshop, "Picturing Fear: Writing Horror Comics and Graphic Novels." James Chambers: Picturing Fear: Writing Horror Comics and Graphic Novels The medium of sequential art offers endless opportunities for great horror stories—but writing comic books and graphic novels is unlike writing for any other medium. Although they share some common ground of visual storytelling with films and television, comics and graphic novels have unique elements of design, characterization, pacing, and creating suspense. Blending words and pictures to tell a story…

Interview with Horror University instructor Michael Arnzen

Here's the latest installment in our series of interviews with our StokerCon 2017 Horror University instructors. This time, Michael Arnzen tells us more about his "Making Readers Squirm" workshop.  Michael Arnzen: Making Readers Squirm This two hour workshop will cover insider tricks and tactics for crafting horror imagery—not just icons of the genre, but direct appeals to the reader’s sensorium— images that really hit readers in the guts. It will include a live writing activity with the aim of improving description of a gory or scary scene. Open to novelists, poets, flash fiction writers … anyone looking to sharpen their writing…

Interview with Horror University instructor Nicole Cushing

In today's interview with a StokerCon 2017 Horror University instructor, Nicole Cushing tells us about her workshop on "How to Give a Great Interview"! Nicole Cushing: How to Give a Great interview Author interviews can be a powerful tool to let readers know about your book, your personality and your unique take on your genre. They can also be difficult to do well. How much energy should you spend on an interview for a blog? How long should you make your answers? How comfortable are you with appearing on recorded interviews (whether they’re done by audio or video)? Would you…

Interview with Horror University instructor Tim Waggoner

Here's the latest in our series of interviews with StokerCon 2017's Horror University instructors - take it away, Tim Waggoner! Tim Waggoner: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Horror This session presents techniques for creating original, effective horror fiction. Topics covered include: · The difference between crime, suspense, thriller, and horror. · The difference between dread, terror, horror, disgust, and shock. · The horror equivalent of the hero’s journey. · Avoiding clichés. · Making your horror personal. · Taking new approaches to old archetypes. · Avoiding clichéd story patterns. · What, if any, are the limits in horror fiction? · How…

Interview with Horror University instructor Gretchen McNeil

Number five in our series of StokerCon 2017 Horror University instructor interviews is all about bestselling author Gretchen McNeil! Gretchen McNeil: Character-Driven Plotting and the 3-Act Horror Novel   Have you read Save the Cat? Have you poured over Story? Can you quote passages from The Hero With a Thousand Faces, The Writer’s Journey, and Story Engineering? Are you looking for a new approach to plot? If your answer to these questions is “YES” then Gretchen McNeil would love to introduce you to Constantin Stanislavski. Known as the godfather of modern acting techniques, Stanislavski’s approach to character reaches far beyond the…