In May: “Inaugural HWA Horror Poetry Showcase”

☠ With well over 100 submissions from around the world, the Inaugural HWA Horror Poetry Showcase has come to an end. There was an astounding breadth of subject matter and themes and styles and all of them had one thing in common: the desire to scare the reader, to shine a light into the darkness. It has been a tremendous honor for all those poets to trust their poems to us. In addition, I wanted to thank Marge Simon and Jonathan Maberry for their dedication to the Showcase. Many hours were spent discussing these poems and I’m thrilled to finally…
Know a Nominee Part Twenty-Four: John Mantooth

Know a Nominee Part Twenty-Four: John Mantooth

  Welcome to the latest installment of “Know a Nominee,” the interview series that puts you inside the minds of this year’s Bram Stoker Award nominees. Today’s featured author is John Mantooth, nominated in the category of Superior Achievement in a First Novel for The Year of the Storm (Berkley Trade).   DM:  Can you please describe the genesis for the idea that eventually became the work for which you've been nominated? In the case of a work wherein you've written multiple stories (like a collection) please choose your favorite part and discuss. JM:  That's a tough one. I wrote…
Know a Nominee, Part Twenty-Three: Stephanie M. Wytovich

Know a Nominee, Part Twenty-Three: Stephanie M. Wytovich

  Welcome to today's Know a Nominee. We've come a long way & there's more to come yet. Today we talk to Stephanie M. Wytovich, Poetry Editor for Raw Dog Screaming Press, about being nominated for a Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection.     DM:  Can you please describe the genesis for the idea that eventually became the work for which you've been nominated? In the case of a work wherein you've written multiple stories (like a collection) please choose your favorite part and discuss. SW:  Hysteria began to accumulate during a series of paranormal investigations. I had…

THE MASK OF BEELZEBUB by Kevin Rodgers

Author: Kevin Rodgers THE MASK OF BEELZEBUB In the year 2212, long after the world was reshaped by seismic cataclysms and polar shifts, Dr. Laurent Stine escorts a half-human, half-cyborg named Angelique Bosc into a fortress named Thames Keep, which is located on Cadaver Island. Their journey to acquire a power source for Angelique's mechanical heart reaches its final seconds. They are forced to overcome menacing creatures and dangerous obstacles in the fortress' maze-like interior. Unknown to Dr. Stine, his lover, Persephone, faces her own dilemma: she is abducted from the village of Kamakura by a monstrous hellhound named Barghest.…
Know a Nominee Part Twenty-Two: Joe McKinney

Know a Nominee Part Twenty-Two: Joe McKinney

Thank you for joining us for the latest installment of “Know a Nominee,” the interview series that puts you inside the minds of this year’s Bram Stoker Award nominees. Today’s featured author is Joe McKinney, who’s nominated in the category of Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel for Dog Days (Journal Stone).     DM:  Can you please describe the genesis for the idea that eventually became the work for which you've been nominated? In the case of a work wherein you've written multiple stories (like a collection) please choose your favorite part and discuss. JM: My YA novel,…
Know a Nominee Part Twenty-One: Geoffrey Girard

Know a Nominee Part Twenty-One: Geoffrey Girard

Thank you for joining us for the latest installment of “Know a Nominee,” the interview series that gets you up close and personal with this year’s Bram Stoker Award nominees. Today’s featured nominee is Geoffrey Girard, nominated in the category of Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel for Project Cain (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers).   DM : Can you please describe the genesis for the idea that eventually became the work for which you've been nominated? In the case of a work wherein you've written multiple stories (like a collection) please choose your favorite part and…
Know a Nominee, Part Twenty: Rain Graves

Know a Nominee, Part Twenty: Rain Graves

Thanks for joining us for the latest installment of our ongoing interview series with this year’s Bram Stoker Award nominees. Featured today is Rain Graves, who is nominated in the category of Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection for Four Elements (Bad Moon Books/Evil Jester Press), along with her co-authors, Marge Simon, Charlee Jacob and Linda Addison.   DM: Can you please describe the genesis for the idea that eventually became the work for which you've been nominated? In the case of a work wherein you've written multiple stories (like a collection) please choose your favorite part and discuss. RG:…

THE OTHER SIDE by Faraaz Kazi Vivek Banerjee

Author: Faraaz Kazi Vivek Banerjee THE OTHER SIDE "A slow rasping sound made me turn. I jumped back, the cell phone leaving my hands and smashing against the concrete floor. Someone was seated on the chair, rocking back and forth. Through the fallen light, I could see those hands placed on the arms of the chair, two gruesome wrinkled limbs with ugly boils plastered over the black skin. The red bangles on its wrists shone in my eyes, momentarily blinding me. That thing and I call it a thing because I could sense it wasn't human as no human could…

THE JANUS LEGACY by Lisa von Biela

Author: Faraaz Kazi Vivek Banerjee THE JANUS LEGACY Jeremy Magnusson's life changes forever when his estranged father, the renowned physician Ivan Magnusson, is unexpectedly killed in a plane crash. Recently dumped by his girlfriend and suffering from a serious, likely fatal disease, Jeremy faces a choice: Take over SomaGene, Ivan's highly successful custom organ cultivation and transplant operation, and inherit all his wealth. Or turn the job down and inherit nothing. Only later, once he's assumed the position, does Jeremy realize his father left him more than the company. He's left Jeremy a special gift. A gift with the power…
Know a Nominee Part Nineteen: R.J. Cavender

Know a Nominee Part Nineteen: R.J. Cavender

Welcome to the latest installment of “Know a Nominee,” the interview series that puts you inside the heads of this year’s Bram Stoker Award nominees. Featured today is R.J. Cavender, who’s nominated in the category of Superior Achievement in an Anthology (along with his co-editor, Boyd E. Harris) for Horror Library Vol. 5 (Cutting Block Press).   DM: Can you please describe the genesis for the idea that eventually became the work for which you've been nominated? RC: Whoa, that’s going to take us back a few years. But the compressed version is that the +Horror Library+ began as a…
Know a Nominee, Part Eighteen: F. Paul Wilson

Know a Nominee, Part Eighteen: F. Paul Wilson

Welcome to “Know a Nominee,” the blog series that puts you inside the minds of some of the greatest practitioners of horror and dark fiction working today—this year’s Bram Stoker Award nominees. Featured today is F. Paul Wilson, nominated in the category of Superior Achievement in a Novel, for a book he co-authored with Sarah Pinborough, A Necessary End (Thunderstorm/Maelstrom Press).   DM: Can you please describe the genesis for the idea that eventually became the work for which you've been nominated? In the case of a work wherein you've written multiple stories (like a collection) please choose your favorite…

THE VIOLET HOUR by Whitney A. Miller

Author: Whitney A. Miller THE VIOLET HOUR The voice inside me is breaking free. I can't stop it. Some call VisionCrest the pinnacle of religious enlightenment. Others call it a powerful cult. For seventeen years, Harlow Wintergreen has called it her life. As the daughter of VisionCrest's patriarch, Harlow is expected to be perfect at all times. She must be considered a paragon of integrity by the other Ministry teens and a future leader in the eyes of the world. Despite the constant scrutiny Harlow is keeping a dark and dangerous secret, even from her best friend and the boy…
Know a Nominee, Part Seventeen: Jonathan Moore

Know a Nominee, Part Seventeen: Jonathan Moore

Welcome to the latest installment of “Know a Nominee,” the interview series that gets you up-close and personal with this year’s Bram Stoker Award nominees. Today’s featured author is Jonathan Moore, who’s nominated in the category of Superior Achievement in a First Novel, for Redheads (Samhain Publishing).   DM: Can you please describe the genesis for the idea that eventually became the work for which you've been nominated? In the case of a work wherein you've written multiple stories (like a collection) please choose your favorite part and discuss. JM: Redheads came to me nearly all at once, in the fall…
Know a Nominee, Part Sixteen: James Doan & Barbara Brodman

Know a Nominee, Part Sixteen: James Doan & Barbara Brodman

Welcome to the latest installment of “Know a Nominee,” the interview series that gives you exclusive glimpses inside the minds of this year’s Bram Stoker Award nominees. Today’s featured interviewee is James Doan, who’s nominated, along with his co-editor, Barbara Brodman, in the category of Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction for 'Images of the Modern Vampire: The Hip and the Atavistic' (Fairleigh Dickinson).   DM: Can you please describe the genesis for the idea that eventually became the work for which you've been nominated? In the case of a work wherein you've written multiple stories (like a collection) please choose your…

THE FORGOTTEN by Collie James

Author: Collie James THE FORGOTTEN When Alley Anderson finally frees herself from an unwanted existence in the inner city of Knoxville, Tennessee, she thinks her life is headed for happiness. But she is wrong. She is not alone inn the hundred-and-fifty year old house she now calls home. The Forgotten is an enchanting read, the characters become alive and are so very relatable. It grips your curiosity and pulls at your heart strings all the while leading you through a weave of history and mystery. This book is hard to put down and by the time you reach the last…
Horror.org on 101 Best Websites for Writers List

Horror.org on 101 Best Websites for Writers List

The HWA’s website, www.horror.org, has been selected as one of the "101 Best Websites for Writers" by Writer's Digest magazine! This honor is announced in their May/June 2014 issue.
Know a Nominee, Part Fifteen: Gregory Frost

Know a Nominee, Part Fifteen: Gregory Frost

  Welcome to today’s “Know a Nominee” update, the interview series that puts you inside the minds of this year’s Bram Stoker Award Nominees. Featured today is Gregory Frost, who’s nominated in the category of Superior Achievement in Long Fiction for his novelette, “No Others are Genuine” (Asimov’s Science Fiction, Oct/Nov 2013)   DM: Can you please describe the genesis for the idea that eventually became the work for which you've been nominated? In the case of a work wherein you've written multiple stories (like a collection) please choose your favorite part and discuss. GF: In the case of my…

COSMIC HORROR ANTHOLOGY by Dark Hall Press

By: Dark Hall Press COSMIC HORROR ANTHOLOGY In his essay “Supernatural Horror in Literature,” H.P. Lovecraft famously noted that “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” Dark Hall Press is proud to present our Cosmic Horror Anthology, ten tales of nameless terror from some of the most exciting voices in the field. It’s all here, from stories of subtle, invasive menace to tales of full-fledged cyclopean horrors; from alien worlds to the yawning holes in perception where strange forces lurk; where nature takes on a…
George R R Martin to be Guest of Honor in 2017

George R R Martin to be Guest of Honor in 2017

The Horror Writers Association is pleased to announce George R R Martin will be Guest of Honor at our 2017 Conference, to be held from 11-14 May, 2017 at a city yet to be determined. According to our rotation policy the host city is likely to be west of the Rocky Mountains. HWA President Rocky Wood said, “While it is unusual to announce a guest this far in advance we feel George R R Martin’s fame dictated we release this information as soon as possible. We are excited that George will spend time at our Bram Stoker Awards Weekend and…

GRIMM: THE CHOPPING BLOCK by John Passarella

Author: John Passarella GRIMM: THE CHOPPING BLOCK When a pile of bones is discovered in a Portland forest, severed and stripped of flesh, homicide detectives Nick Burkhardt and Hank Griffin quickly rule out an animal attack, but susptect the killer is something other than human. Soon more skeletal remains are unearthed, and tests reveal that the bones were cooked before burial. As the body count increases, Nick, Hank, and reformed Blutbad Monroe must track down a Wesen with a taste for human meat, before the killer can butcher their next meal... "Exceptionally gritty story with gruesome killings. This is where Grimm…