Happy Halloween from HWA!

Happy Halloween from the Horror Writers Association (HWA)! As horror writers, of course we treasure Halloween, but we also understand the concerns of some educators in regards to the holiday. Halloween has a rich history that goes back over a thousand years, encompassing elements of folklore, literature, sociology, and pop culture. In the 21st century it is celebrated as a secular festival with playful costumes, parties, and fictitious scares. We urge educators to consider Halloween's literary and historical side; it's a perfect time to interest students in such classics as: "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe "Young Goodman Brown"…
Halloween Haunts: A Condemned Man, A Halloween Memory by Steve Rasnic Tem

Halloween Haunts: A Condemned Man, A Halloween Memory by Steve Rasnic Tem

Back then, for me, it was all about masks. For Halloween, sure, but I'm also talking about day-to-day.  This all started with the perception that people seldom said what they really felt about anything.  I wasn't sure why, but apparently there was something impolite about frankness, and politeness was something we took pretty seriously in my part of the South.  The only person I knew whose face invariably expressed whatever passed through his head was the town's developmentally disabled fellow who sat on a bench by the drugstore when he wasn't out with his burlap sack collecting roadside treasures.  Whether he…
Halloween Haunts: Halloween Defines Fall, At Least for Me By John F.D. Taff

Halloween Haunts: Halloween Defines Fall, At Least for Me By John F.D. Taff

I have found, in 25 years of fiction writing now, that the surest way to a feeling of verisimilitude in a story is to process the experiences in my life and put them down on paper.  I refer to this process as strip-mining my childhood, and so far, it's been very good to me. Not only has this practice helped me to work my way through past experiences, both good bad, it has also lent an air of reality to a lot of the scenes I have written.  Write what you know is, perhaps, the oldest saw in the art…
Halloween Haunts: Emotional Realism in Extreme Horror Fiction by Nicole Cushing

Halloween Haunts: Emotional Realism in Extreme Horror Fiction by Nicole Cushing

  First things first: let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room. Extreme horror fiction hasn’t always enjoyed the best reputation. Despite the commercial success of books like Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho and Jack Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door, the field is often seen as only catering to a niche audience. Despite a pedigree that arguably extends at least as far back as the Marquis de Sade, the field is often seen as a playground for recent generations of subliterate hacks. Perhaps that’s why so little has been said about how to write extreme horror fiction skillfully: so many people…
Halloween Haunts: Exorcism for Fun and Profit by Loren Rhoads

Halloween Haunts: Exorcism for Fun and Profit by Loren Rhoads

I read The Exorcist early in high school.  My mom was a school librarian and didn’t place any limits on what I read, figuring that if it was too mature for me, I just wouldn’t understand it. She limited what I could watch, though.  I wasn’t allowed to see The Exorcist in the theater, but I could read the novel.  Long after everyone I knew was terrified – or claimed they were terrified – by the movie, I checked the novel out of the public library. The part that struck me more than anything else was Blatty’s introduction, in which…
Halloween Haunts: The Real Creeps, or How to Create Horror Non-fiction Shorts by Lisa Morton

Halloween Haunts: The Real Creeps, or How to Create Horror Non-fiction Shorts by Lisa Morton

One of my favorite pieces of advice for new writers looking to make more sales is to consider trying some non-fiction. As an author who is known for both fiction and non-fiction, I periodically get requests for articles from editors who tell me that for every 300 short story submissions they receive, they get…well, zero non-fiction submissions. I think many writers have this notion that non-fiction requires a different skill set, or doesn’t provide the emotional satisfactions they get from fiction. My answer to that: Then you’re doing it wrong. Certainly some non-fiction is intended to be first and foremost…
Halloween Haunts: It’s Not a Season, It’s a Lifestyle by Greg Chapman

Halloween Haunts: It’s Not a Season, It’s a Lifestyle by Greg Chapman

You all know my tale of woe. I am forced to live without the true spirit of Halloween because I live on the other side of the world. :( But instead of crawling into my coffin when October comes around and crying myself to sleep, I bring the Halloween alive through fiction and art – all year round. I may live in a town without any bonafide haunted houses, or urban legends (yeah pretty boring right?), but that doesn’t mean I can’t create my own. I paint and draw and write all year round. Mostly I do it to relieve…
Halloween Haunts: It Was a Different Time by JG Faherty

Halloween Haunts: It Was a Different Time by JG Faherty

Recently, I had the opportunity to go on a vacation with a group of friends. Five couples, and 2 of them had their daughters with them, ages 17 and 19, respectively. One day, while sitting on the beach, conversation turned to the topic of Halloween. I mentioned that “back in our day,” Halloween was very different. Sure, we went to parties, dressed in costumes, and as kids even got into our share of shenanigans on “Gate Night” or “Mischief Night.” But even growing up in the 1970s and 1980s was a very different time than now. We had no fear…

Interview with Cynthia (Cina) Pelayo

Cynthia (Cina) Pelayo is an International Latino Book Award winner. She is the author of Loteria, Santa Muerte, and The Missing and holds a Master of Fine Arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She lives in Chicago with her husband and son. With the publication of her new collection, POEMS OF MY NIGHT, Cynthia Pelayo constructs a narrative in her poetry in response to the work of Jorge Luis Borges that examines the themes and subsequent consequences of insomnia, death, and blindness. To help celebrate the release of this fascinating collection, the HWA Poetry Page is…
Halloween Haunts: Meet Joe Pipe by Pete Mesling

Halloween Haunts: Meet Joe Pipe by Pete Mesling

I grew up in a small town in North Dakota. I’d say the population was around 16,000 to 18,000 back then. In a town that size, there aren’t a lot of celebrities, but there are generally a handful of legends, or myths. Joe Pipe was one such legend among my circle of friends. Stories about his past varied some. He’d suffered a horrific injury when he got his leg caught in a power takeoff, according to some versions. Others had it that he’d left his mind in Vietnam and come back something of a husk. Me, I like to think…
Halloween Haunts: The Widow By Erik Hofstatter

Halloween Haunts: The Widow By Erik Hofstatter

  A billow of fruity vapour swirled around me as I waited to begin my morning commute. It smelled like peaches and reminded me of a smokescreen employed by the military but fused with a potent, aromatic flavour. I cast a disapproving glance in the boy’s direction, watching smoke camouflage his acne as he puffed on his e-cigarette. He inhaled the poison with short, raspy breaths. A flock of gaunt faces engulfed me and I surveyed them with distaste. Vague melancholy leaked out of their fissured facades. Like them, I abandoned expectation long ago. Like them, I was trapped in…
Halloween Haunts: Cheapers Creepers by Sumiko Saulson

Halloween Haunts: Cheapers Creepers by Sumiko Saulson

When I get writer’s block, I turn to one of my other creative tools, such as painting or illustration. Back in the fall of 2012, when my father was in the last months of his life, I was too worried to write. I spent hours drawing instead. That’s how I ended up illustrating a couple of short stories. It’s why I am now presenting at comic book and zine centered events like SF Zine Fest, in addition to writing events like ConVolution and BayCon. Not coincidentally, one of my characters, Charlotte Metaxas from Happiness and Other Diseases, is a graphic…
Halloween Haunts: Mr. Moose by Walter Jarvis

Halloween Haunts: Mr. Moose by Walter Jarvis

Mr. Moose haunted our house at Halloween during my high school years. My youngest brother, who was seven at the time named him, and the name stuck for his once-a-year roll out on Halloween eve. He was a response in some ways to a notable falling off in the spirit of Halloween in our town. It had become an excuse to go out and round up as much candy in the shortest time possible. Many of the kids, particularly the older ones, didn’t even wear costumes.  Even if they did, there was very little creativity in them. A sheet with…
Halloween Haunts: Halloween, A Becoming by Lou Rera

Halloween Haunts: Halloween, A Becoming by Lou Rera

Halloween is a becoming. In the parlance of pop culture, it’s an outing. You can become a Halloween extrovert and strut it, or you can be discovered in the shadows of someone’s doorway. I’ve always gone for the idea that once a year, I can morph into something that obfuscates my appearance. I can skulk around anonymously. I can feign that I am viewing the world through the eyes of a psychopath or a disgruntled loner. But there’s an extra dollop of obsession with my take on becoming. Inclusive within those exterior changes, Halloween’s nerve roots burrow into my flesh…
Halloween Haunts: The Killer Pumpkins by Naching T. Kassa.

Halloween Haunts: The Killer Pumpkins by Naching T. Kassa.

When I was a girl, I loved the “B” horror films of the 1950’s. My dad introduced them to me and I enjoyed the terrible acting, cheap sets, and silly gimmicks. Even today, the letter B raises images of Vincent Price, The House on Haunted Hill, William Castle, and a myriad of other screen goodies. We always watched them on Halloween and they never failed to amuse me. Until I lived one. Did dramatic, spooky music run through your mind? Did a chill run up your spine? It didn’t? Humph! You’ve been watching too many Blair Witch movies. Anyway, let’s…
Halloween Haunts: The Last Haunted House I Remember by Kristina Stancil

Halloween Haunts: The Last Haunted House I Remember by Kristina Stancil

Growing up in the Bible Belt I felt like an outcast.  I didn’t care about Miss Piggy and her jewels that she always raved about.  I was down with the Count.  I didn’t have the typical upbringing.  I was told Santa Claus didn’t exist at a young age but witches, ghosts, magic, etc. were spoken of as real.  There was nothing to be afraid of because a good ghost followed the family and kept us safe. Whether it was the psychological makeup of my mom or the fact it was ingrained into me not to be outgoing but even though I adored…

Financial Information & Donations

The Horror Writers Association is a recognized public charity under the IRS 501c3 tax code. HWA Incorporation Ohio, March 6, 1987, 501(c)(6) Federal Filing Date: November 19th, 2012, 501(c)3 Public Charity Tax Exempt Status — IRS Determination Letter (PDF) HWA’s Most Recent Tax Filing Donations The Horror Writers Association accepts gifts of stock, cash, and other assets as permissible under the law and the IRS Tax governing non-profits. Donations may be given directly through our public Pledge.to page year-round (link back to the Donate Now button), or interested donors may contact the Executive Director, Maxwell Gold at director@horror.org for inquiries.…

HWA Achievements: 2011 to Present

As part of the HWA's commitment to keeping members and the public 'in the know' about what the organization is doing to improve itself, increase its value to membership, support the genre, and attract new members, there will now be a single page where members can go to see what the Board and the various committees have accomplished and initiated. This dates back to 2011, and will be updated on a regular basis. We thank the 170 plus members that are serving the HWA at any given time for their efforts in achieving the results reported herein. HORROR WRITERS ASSOCIATION…

Contact HWA

Snail Mail Horror Writers Association P.O. Box #14387 Columbus, OH 43214 All inquiries must be accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope for response. General E-mail For any HWA-related question. If you don't know where else to ask, ask here: admin@horror.org. Please note: due to increasing levels of spam throughout the Internet, any emails with a blank subject line will be deleted unread. Essential Volunteers Volunteer CoordinatorLila Denning (volunteers@horror.org) Member Newsletter CoordinatorKathy Ptacek (gilaqueen@att.net) General Technical Support If you need technical assistance with any of our websites, please contact Angel Leigh McCoy at webmaster@horror.org.
Halloween Haunts: Hallowe’en in a Suburb and in a Library by Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr.

Halloween Haunts: Hallowe’en in a Suburb and in a Library by Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr.

  I have spent much of my adult life chasing my drug of choice: the feeling of October in the New England of my childhood. The day gets darker earlier, the air becomes a little crisp like an apple, and, as Ray Bradbury put it, “everything is smoky smelling and the sky orange and ash gray at twilight.”  There is no feeling quite like it and it lasts for a whole month.  My little hometown of Cheshire, Connecticut (“The bedding plant capital of New England!” is its claim to fame) would become the setting of a Stephen King short story…