Halloween Haunts: A Halloween Primer for Horror Writers by Lisa Morton

As a Halloween expert, I’ve been asked to do a lot of interesting things. I’ve been interviewed by The Wall Street Journal about the proliferation of sexy Halloween costumes, I’ve jabbered away on the supplements for the Blu-ray release of the movie Trick ‘r Treat, and I’ve been asked by writer and editor friends to fact-check works of Halloween fiction. Most horror writers love Halloween (of course!), and I’m betting most of them know more about the holiday than the average joe. They’ve seen the yearly documentaries, they’ve read enough Halloween-themed fiction to fill a haunted house, and maybe they’ve…

Halloween Haunts: Specialty Press Award Spotlight–Roy Robbins and Bad Moon Books

Roy Robbins and Bad Moon Books received the 2011 HWA Specialty Press of the Year Award. 1. How would you describe Bad Moon Books? We are a bookseller and publisher who specialize in horror and dark fiction. 2. Tell us about how Bad Moon Books came into existence. I am a big fan of the genre. I started out as a collector and was buying from some of the existing small presses in the late 70’s such as Dark Harvest, Scream Press, Ziesing, and the like. I figured out that if I purchased 5 copies of a title, and sold 4, I could…

Halloween Haunts: Making Halloween Mean Something by J.G. Faherty

Well, our favorite holiday of the year is fast approaching, and as always my writerly mind turns to thoughts of promotion. Or at least it did, back in August, when I started looking around for themed events in the local area where I could sign and sell books. I've done this before, appearing at fright fests and books stores, either alone or with other writers. Then something happened that changed my focus. I did a young adult reading at one of our local libraries. Now, at the time, I was just getting started in putting together some ideas for articles…

Halloween Haunts: Fright Club by Kenneth W. Cain

Being the sort of person who never did care much for sweets, Halloween has always been about the surprise for myself. This is the one day when being weird is fully accepted, when wreaking havoc is only kids being kids. This is a day when shock and awe are the norm, and being socially acceptable falls to the wayside. It is a night for ghosts and ghouls and Frankenstein, horror movies past midnight, spooky noises that keep you awake long after everyone else has gone to bed. For these reasons the day suits me. I've never been one for dressing…

Halloween Haunts: Halloween Dog by David B. Riley

Halloween was always a wonderful time when I was growing up. Though, as an adult, it really stopped being much of a holiday. As time went by, I sometimes was in Arizona, where my dad lives, and sometimes not around Halloween. One year I remember my dad wanted me to walk his dog because he wanted to stay home and hand out candy. That was fine. I decided, since it was Halloween, to put Zero (named thusly because he really liked cold weather) in a Bart Simpson T shirt. One thing about golden retrievers is they’ll pretty much go along…

Halloween Haunts: Stoker Spotlight Interview with Allyson Bird

Allyson Bird is the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in a First Novel for her book Isis Unbound. 1. Tell us about what inspired you to write Isis Unbound? I've always been interested in Ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire. So I combined the two in an alternate history. I knew that there was so much to be explored if Anthony and Cleopatra had actually won the battle of Actium. Add to that Egyptian gods who lived on earth and the aim of one to be superior over her sister (interwoven with what happens to mortal…

Halloween Haunts: Celebrate the Bad Times by John F.D. Taff

Halloween.  It’s trite that this holiday would be the favorite of a horror writer, but there it is.  Halloween is my favorite holiday, better than that blissed-out full feeling at Thanksgiving.  Better than a pile of presents at Christmas or rockets red glare on an Independence Day evening. Why?  Well, it’s unlike any other holiday.  Whatever its original intent, it isn’t celebrated today to honor anyone or anything’s birthday.  It’s doesn’t honor a deity, usher in a new year or even give thanks for anything.  In fact, what it celebrates is something that people spend their entire lives studiously ignoring;…

Halloween Haunts: Be Careful Who You Scare: A Halloween Cautionary Tale by Laura Benedict

We had a marvelously terrifying basement in our house in Western Virginia, a perfect setting for a Halloween party. The room at the bottom of the kitchen stairs was unsettling enough: a blocked-off fireplace, peeling vinyl flooring with a slick, unearthly sheen, flimsy paneling that hinted at having been hastily installed to hide bloodstains on the walls. It was damp. Always cold. The adjacent laundry room had spider-filled, broken cabinets, a cracked concrete floor, and an open closet which still held the dusty hunting clothes of a previous occupant. But the third and fourth rooms truly completed the Silence of…

Halloween Haunts: Diary of a Horror Writer–Entry 62 by Russell James

“What is that monstrosity in the driveway?” I knew those would be my wife’s first words when she got home.  I went to kiss her hello.  Her eyes burned through me. I paused at a safe distance. “It’s a hearse,” I said.  My enthusiastic grin bounced off her like rain on granite. “I know it’s a hearse.  Why the hell is it here?” A hell-oriented pun of a reply died on my lips.  “We own it,” I said. “Oh no.  We don’t.  What were you thinking when you bought it? ‘I’ve always wanted a car that transported dead people.’?” “I…

Halloween Haunts: Tricks, Treats, and Chainsaws by James Chambers

I’m certain I’m not the only horror writer who’s ever wondered what they would do if they found themselves in the real-life equivalent of a chainsaw slasher flick. I’d venture, in fact, that this is something horror writers spend far more time considering than the average non-horror writer. We probably spend slightly more time thinking about this than figuring out our survival plan for a zombie apocalypse but not quite as much time as we spend imagining what we’d do if we were vampires. However, I think it’s also safe to say not many horror writers ever get to learn…

HWA Proudly Presents – Blood Lite

...a collection of entertaining tales that puts the fun back into dark fiction, with ironic twists and tongue-in-cheek wit to temper the jagged edge. Edited by NYT Bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson Blood Lite Editor: Kevin J. Anderson Publisher: Pocket Release Date: October 21st, 2008 ISBN-10: 1416567836 ISBN-13: 978-1416567837 Charlaine Harris reveals the dark side of going green, when a quarter of die-hard environmentalists host a fundraiser with a gory twist in "An Evening with Al Gore"...In an all-new Dresden Files story from Jim Butcher, when it comes to tracking deadly paranormal doings, there's no such thing as a "Day…

Writers Strike Statement

The Horror Writers Association, on behalf of its writer members, stands in support of the Writers Guild of America strike in seeking appropriate compensation for writers when their work is distributed digitally, either via DVD or Internet downloads. Although HWA is not a union, it is an organization of writers that advocates for authors' rights. Writers Guild of America and its demands fall solidly into this category. All writers will be affected by the outcome of this strike, and we stand in solidarity, resisting those who seek to distribute our work on the Internet, DVD, or any format without fair…