Latinx in Horror: Interview with Ann Dávila Cardinal

Ann Dávila Cardinal is a writer and the Director of Recruitment for Vermont College of Fine Arts where she earned her MFA in Writing. She comes from a long line of Puerto Rican writers, including father and son poets Virgilio and José Antonio Dávila, and her cousin, award-winning fiction writer Tere Dávila. Her young adult horror novels include Five Midnights, Category Five, and the upcoming Breakup From Hell (1/3/23). The Storyteller’s Death, (10/4/22), a work of magical realism, is her first novel for adults. Ann lives with her husband in Vermont in a small house with a scary basement.  What inspired…
Introduction to Latinx Heritage in Horror 2022

Introduction to Latinx Heritage in Horror 2022

Intro to Latinx Heritage in Horror by Rosemary Thorne Things are looking great for the Latinx Horror community in 2022, and here is some proof of it. Apart from being nominated Bram Stoker Award for "Best Horror Novel for the second time," Cina Pelayo delivered a great edition of the "2022 Souvenir anthology," and will be Guest of Honor at StokerCon Pittsburgh 2023. Concurrently, Gabino Iglesias' last novel has made it to The New York Times, confirming Spanglish is trendy and "barrio noir" a valid subgenre. Many other Latinx authors are paving the road and accomplishing goals in the States…

In Memoriam: Peter Straub

Writers around the world, and horror writers, in particular, lost a legend. Peter Straub passed away on September 4, 2022, after a long illness. He was 79 years old. A master of his craft, Peter wrote horror, dark fantasy, and psychological thrillers. His works include sixteen novels, numerous short stories, eleven novellas, four poem collections, and one collection of non-fiction essays. He won multiple Bram Stoker, World Fantasy, and August Derleth awards. In 2005, the Horror Writers Association awarded Peter Straub their Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution to the field of horror. Peter published his first supernatural thriller, Julia,…

2022 Horror Writers (HWA) Scholarships Announced

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) offers a variety of scholarships and grants to assist writers looking to pursue a career as a writer of horror fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. We also have an endowment program for libraries looking to expand their young adult reading programs. This year, the HWA has awarded 13 scholarships/grants/endowments, with a total value of $15,650 (USD). The HWA is pleased to announce the recipients of each award. The Horror Writers Association Scholarship Rob Flumignan (Rob Cornell, Pen name) Whether it’s a covert-ops team of vampire assassins or a greedy dragon who lives under Detroit’s MGM Grand…

Veterans in Horror Spotlight coming this November

The HWA is going to be running a month-long Veterans in Horror Spotlight this November coordinated by HWA member and former Marine, David Rose. We are inviting any and all veteran members to join us. If you are a horror author, poet, or non-fiction horror writer (or writer of dark fantasy or other related genres) who is a military veteran (defined as a former service member of any uniformed, national military), or if you would like to nominate such an author, please send an email message to veterans@horror.org by September 30, 2022. In the message, please include: - The name of the author…

HWA Poetry Showcase IX Table of Contents

HWA Poetry Showcase IX Table of Contents   “To Hear the Call” by Stephanie M. Wytovich “spoon against bone” by Geneve Flynn “The Koiy Factory” by Naomi Simone Borwein “Birthpangs, Deathpangs” by Mary A. Turzillo “FACE OFF” by Christina Sng “A THOUSAND MILES FROM HERE” by Alessandro Manzetti “Reasons Why You Can’t Go Out to Play Alone” by Victoria Nations “The Science of Last Things” by K. H. Vaughan “conflagration” by Cassondra Windwalker “One Eye, Two Eyes” by Jacqueline West “A Lacing of Lavender” by Carina Bissett “Something to Know About the Wind At the Cliff House” by Hillary Dodge…

HWA 2022 Elections

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The HWA’s annual elections will soon be upon us. 

Up this year are three Trustee positions, as well as the offices of President and Secretary. 

Please read the statements of the following candidates carefully. Links to the ballot will be sent out on or around September 7, 2022 to our Active and Lifetime members, with a due date of September 16, 2022. 

The elected officers shall hold their respective offices for terms of two years, beginning on November 1 and ending on October 31.

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HWA Honors Latinx Heritage Month for the Second Year

As the Horror Writers Association launches its second year of the Latinx Heritage in Horror interview series, we are looking to interview authors we did not interview last year. If you are a horror author, poet, or non-fiction horror writer (or writer of dark fantasy or other related genres) who is of Latinx/Hispanic heritage, or if you would like to nominate such an author, please send an email message to Sumiko Saulson at sumikoska@yahoo.com In the intro, please include: - The name of the author - Email, or other contact info for the author - Briefly, why this author is…

Congratulations to all the poets who were selected for the annual HWA Poetry Showcase IX

Congratulations Poets! by Angela Yuriko Smith Congratulations to all the poets who were selected for the annual HWA Poetry Showcase IX, especially our featured poets Stephanie M. Wytovich, Geneve Flynn and Naomi Simone Borwein. It was difficult to choose just 50 poems when well over 200 poetry submissions came in this year. I’m grateful for fellow judges Lee Murray, Maxwell I. Gold and Frances Pai for helping me to read all of these and make the hard decisions.  A big thank you to HWA John Palisano for showing support for dark poetry and poets by not only doubling the Showcase…

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) Announces The Release of its Next Publication: The HWA Poetry Showcase, Volume IX

PRESS RELEASE The Horror Writers Association presents its ninth annual poetry showcase featuring a selection of the best original dark poetry from the past year. Edited by Angela Yuriko Smith with judges Lee Murray, Maxwell I. Gold and Frances Lu Pai Ippolito, this year features Stephanie M. Wytovich, Geneve Flynn, and Naomi Simone Borwein as our featured poets. Cover artwork by Kyra Starr. Appreciation to HWA President John Palisano for doubling the payment to poets and awarding poets both payment and a contributor copy instead of poets choosing between two options. The artwork for this year’s cover pays tribute to…

Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islanders Heritage in Horror: Interview with Naching T. Kassa

Naching T. Kassa is a wife, mother, and horror writer. She serves as an assistant at Crystal Lake Publishing, as an interviewer at HorrorAddicts.net, and is a proud member of both the Mystery Writers of America and the Horror Writers Association. You can find her work on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Naching-T-Kassa/e/B005ZGHTI0 What inspired you to start writing? When I was in second grade, I realized I could write stories for my classmates. I wrote and illustrated stories about monsters and all kinds of fun, scary things. My friends really liked them, and this inspired me to write more. What was it about the…

Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islanders Heritage in Horror: Interview with Lehua Parker

LEHUA PARKER writes speculative fiction for kids and adults, often set in her native Hawai‘i. Her award-winning and best-selling series include the Niuhi Shark Saga trilogy, Lauele Fractured Folktales, and Chicken Skin Stories, along with many other plays, poems, short stories, novels, and essays. Her short stories have appeared in Va: Stories by Women of the Moana, Bamboo Ridge, and Sharks in an Inland Sea, and her plays performed by The Honolulu Theatre for Youth. A Kamehameha Schools graduate, Lehua is a passionate advocate of indigenous voices and authentic representation in media. She is a frequent speaker at conferences, schools, and symposiums, and mentors…

Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islanders Heritage in Horror: Interview with Lopaka Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui is the author of four spooky story compilations about Hawaii and the people who live there; “Haunted Hawaiian Nights,” “The Legend of Morgan’s Corner,” “Mysteries of Honolulu,” and “Mysteries of Hawai‘i.” As a Master Storyteller, Lopaka has received a special citation from the Hawai‘i State Legislature in 2020 for perpetuating and celebrating local culture, history, language, and folklore through storytelling and knowledge of the Islands’ history and legends. In between scaring people and finishing his first novel, Lopaka enjoys spoiling his dog, Pi, and teaching his grandkids all about the classic horror stories and movies he grew up…

HWA Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Series

Tori Eldridge is the Honolulu-born national bestselling author of DANCE AMONG THE FLAMES and the Lily Wong mystery thriller series—THE NINJA DAUGHTER, THE NINJA’S BLADE, and THE NINJA BETRAYED—two-time Anthony Award finalist, nominated for the Lefty and Macavity Awards, and winner of the 2021 Crimson Scribe for Best Book of the Year. Her shorter works appear in the inaugural reboot of WEIRD TALES and numerous anthologies, including Missing on Kaua‘i in CRIME HITS HOME. Her screenplay THE GIFT was a semi-finalist for the Academy Nicholl Fellowship. Before writing, Tori performed as an actress, singer, dancer on Broadway, television, and film,…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Aaron Dries

Author, artist, and filmmaker, Aaron Dries was born and raised in New South Wales, Australia. His novels include the award-winning House of Sighs, The Fallen Boys, A Place for Sinners, Where the Dead Go to Die (with Mark Allan Gunnells), and the novellas The Sound of his Bones Breaking, And the Night Growled Back, and the highly acclaimed Dirty Heads. Cut to Care, released in 2022, is his first collection of short stories. Aaron Dries is one host of the popular podcast, Let the Cat In, also co-founded Elsewhere Productions, and is a member of both the Australasian Horror Writers…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Ridley Harker

Ridley Harker is a gay, transgender author and editor from St. Louis, Missouri. His debut queer body horror novel, Parasite, is available from Ninestar Press in June 2022. He was also featured in the transgender and non-binary gothic horror anthology Listen (Ninestar Press, October 2022). Ridley currently lives in the Middle of Nowhere with his two dogs, a grumpy old snake, and a host of pet tarantulas. Please visit his website at www.ridleyharker.com, and follow him on Twitter @RidleyHarker. What inspired you to start writing? I wrote my first ‘book’ in pre-kindergarten. It was about an unseen monster living in…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Mark Allan Gunnells

Mark Allan Gunnells loves to tell stories. He has since he was a kid, penning one-page tales that were Twilight Zone knockoffs. He likes to think he has gotten a little better since then. He loves reader feedback, and above all he loves telling stories. He lives in Greer, SC, with his husband Craig A. Metcalf. What inspired you to start writing? Honestly, my desire to make up stories and write them down goes back so far I can’t say exactly what initially sparked it. I think I just fell in love with stories, and once I realized they were…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Damian Serbu

Damian Serbu is an author of gay horror/speculative fiction. After over twenty years of teaching history at the collegiate level, he now writes full time. He lives in the Chicagoland area with his husband and two dogs. You can find him at www.DamianSerbu.com, or keep up with his latest ramblings at https://twitter.com/DamianSerbu and https://www.facebook.com/damian.serbu. What inspired you to start writing? I was inspired to write because of the stories running around in my head! For as long as I can remember, I created fictional narratives and characters in my mind. I found the process exciting and a release from everyday…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Briana Morgan

Briana Morgan (she/her) a queer, disabled horror author and playwright. Her books include The Reyes Incident, Mouth Full of Ashes, The Tricker-Treater and Other Stories, Unboxed: A Play, and more. She's also a member of the Horror Writers Association. When not writing, you can find her watching horror movies, reading disturbing books, or playing video games. What inspired you to start writing? My grandfather was a storyteller. Whenever he visited us, he’d tell my brother and me all kinds of stories—some recounted from legends and family history, but most of them made-up off the top of his head. He also…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Crystal Romero

Award winning author, Crystal M. Romero, no relation to George A. Romero, writes Lesbian Speculative Fiction (aka: Horror). A graduate of San Jose State University, her first novel, The Veil of Sorrow, printed under the name Crystal Michallet-Romero was a Masters’ final project for a Gothic Literature class in which she was enrolled. It went on to win a Gold Crown Literary Society Award for Speculative Fiction and was nominated for a Gaylatic Spectrum Award. Crystal Fell in love with the zombie genre at a young age. She enjoys both film and television shows depicting post-zombie-apocalypse worlds. Despite this, Valley…