Stoker Spotlight

Mort Castle is the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in an Anthology for Shadow Show (edited with Sam Weller) as well the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection for New Moon on the Water. 1. How would you describe New Moon on the Water and Shadow Show? I'd say they were both books. (Ain't I a caution? Ain't I a stitch?) Seriously, New Moon is the (not totally) dark side of the American dream,  a collection of the best of my short fiction ranging from the early 1970s to…

Jerad Walters and Centipede Press received the 2012 Specialty Press of the Year Award. 1. How would you describe Centipede Press? A small press dedicated to quality publishing, with superior design, in a variety of genres. 2. Tell us about what inspired you to become a publisher. This is all I have ever wanted to do. A long time ago, back in grade school, I thought I wanted to be a writer. But I never wrote. What I did was put together packages of writings and present them in a nice way. 3. What most attracts you to dark fiction? More than anything else,…

Greg Chapman is the artist of Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times, written by Rocky Wood and Lisa Morton, recipients of the Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel. 1. How would you describe Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times? To me Witch Hunts is a chronicle of one of the darkest periods of history. It’s non-fiction in the sense that we are putting real-life events in graphic format. The people depicted in the graphic novel, being persecuted and tortured, were real people. 2. Tell us about what inspired you to draw Witch…

Lisa Morton is the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel for Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times co-written with Rocky Wood and drawn by Greg Chapman as well as the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in a Nonfiction for Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween. 1. How would you describe Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween and Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times? Trick or Treat is both a comprehensive history of Halloween and an overview of the way the festival is celebrated…

Rocky Wood is the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel for Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times co-written with Lisa Morton and drawn by Greg Chapman. 1. How would you describe Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times? It's a warning about the dangers of ignorance and intolerance. We've taken the historical background of the witch-hunting era and put it in context for readers. They are entertained as they learn - the get to meet some of the nasty individuals who drove this evil period in history and…

Marge Simon is the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in Poetry for Vampires, Zombies, and Wanton Souls.  1. How would you describe Vampires, Zombies, and Wanton Souls? A concoction of poetic and artistic supernatural works that strikes terror even in the hearts of the staunchest horror fan. "In her eyes, an ephemeral light, and her stomach screamed for flesh" doesn't begin to share the dreadful fun. 2. Tell us about what inspired you to write Vampires, Zombies, and Wanton Souls. This collection was an extension of the first book, The Mad Hattery (a Stoker finalist).  Inspired…

Lucy Snyder is the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction for her story "Magdala Amygdala." 1. How would you describe "Magdala Amygdala"? I'd describe it as a soft apocalypse story. I used it to explore the natures of self-identity and memory along with the fears of disease and loss of self. I also employ an unreliable narrator to provide the reader with a story that can be interpreted in a variety of different ways. For instance, I never actually specify the gender of the protagonist, although practically everyone reads the narrator as female, presumably…

Gene O’Neill is the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction for his book The Blue Heron. 1. How would you describe The Blue Heron? The Blue Heron is a dark thriller, with perhaps a slight hint of fantasy. 2. Tell us about what inspired you to write The Blue Heron? I'd just finished writing Rusting Chickens. And I remembered an old Marine Corps incident. Also, a couple of writer friends suggested, I should write more about my military background. 3. What most attracts you to writing dark fiction? I studied psychology in college and have…

L.L. Soares is the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in a First Novel for Life Rage. 1. How would you describe Life Rage? Life Rage is, at its core, the story of psychologist who specializes in anger management, who learns that he himself is a rage demon that feeds on anger.  But it is also about so much more than that. There are several main characters, whose lives eventually interconnect, some human, some possibly demonic. 2. Tell us about what inspired you to write Life Rage. I remember I came up with the title first. At the…