As schools end, exams finish, the weather warms up, and people everywhere start turning their attention towards the summer, these same people will be eager to make up for lost time by catching up on book backlogs that have been building up all winter.
Just in time for this yearly phenomenon, The Horror Writers Association (HWA), the premier organization of writers and publishers of horror and dark fantasy, has just announced this year’s Bram Stoker Awards® winners, awards given annually for superior writing in 11 categories including, traditional fiction of various lengths, poetry, screenplays and non-fiction. Previous winners include George R.R. Martin, Neil Gaiman, Stephen King and Jordan Peele.
“The Horror genre continues its amazing renaissance. We are truly in a golden period, with every category overflowing with tremendous works,” said John Palisano, HWA President. “The winners and finalists show a diverse group of amazing voices from new and veteran creators. Our HWA members and awards juries have shown dedication and objectivity to the selection process for outstanding works of literature, cinema, non-fiction, and poetry.”
The following selections are both chilling enough to cool you down on a hot beach, and intense enough to get your blood flowing on a cool summer night. Better yet, with all the different categories, there’s a fright for everyone.
Check out the winners and finalists for each category below!
SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A NOVEL
Winner: Stephen Graham Jones – My Heart is a Chainsaw (Gallery/Saga Press) (read our review here.)
Finalists:
Castro, V. – The Queen of the Cicadas (Flame Tree Press)
Hendrix, Grady – The Final Girl Support Group (Berkley)
Pelayo, Cynthia – Children of Chicago (Agora Books)
Wendig, Chuck – The Book of Accidents (Del Rey)
SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A FIRST NOVEL
Winner: Hailey Piper – Queen of Teeth (Strangehouse Books)
Finalists:
Martinez, S. Alessandro – Helminth (Omnium Gatherum)
McQueen, LaTanya – When the Reckoning Comes (Harper Perennial)
Miles, Terry – Rabbits (Del Rey)
Quigley, Lisa – The Forest (Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing)
Willson, Nicole – Tidepool (The Parliament House)
*Due to a tie in fifth place, there are six nominees in this category.
SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A YOUNG ADULT NOVEL
Winner: Erica Waters – The River Has Teeth (HarperTeen)
Finalists:
Blake, Kendare – All These Bodies (Quill Tree Books)
Boyle, R.L. – The Book of the Baku (Titan Books )
Lewis, Jessica – Bad Witch Burning (Delacorte Press)
Sutherland, Krystal – House of Hollow (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A GRAPHIC NOVEL
Winner: Alessandro Manzetti (author) and Stefano Cardoselli (author and artist) – The Inhabitant of the Lake (Independent Legions Publishing)
Finalists:
Ahmed, Saladin (author) and Kivelä, Sami (artist) – Abbott 1973 (BOOM! Studios)
Garcia, Kami (author); Suayan, Mico (artist); Badower, Jason (artist); and Mayhew, Mike (artist) – Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity (DC Comics)
Morrison, Grant (author); Child, Alex (author); and Franquiz, Naomi (artist) – Proctor Valley Road (BOOM! Studios)
Panosian, Dan (author) and Ignazzi, Marianna (artist) – An Unkindness of Ravens (BOOM! Studios)
SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN LONG FICTION
Winner: Jeff Strand – “Twentieth Anniversary Screening” (Slice and Dice) (Independently published)
Finalists:
Castro, V. – Goddess of Filth (Creature Publishing, LLC)
Khaw, Cassandra – Nothing But Blackened Teeth (Tor Nightfire)
LaRocca, Eric – Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke (Weirdpunk Books)
Piper, Hailey – “Recitation of the First Feeding” (Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy) (The Seventh Terrace)
SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN SHORT FICTION
Winner: Lee Murray – “Permanent Damage” (Attack From the ’80s) (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
Finalists:
Gyzander, Carol – “The Yellow Crown” (Under Twin Suns: Alternate Histories of the Yellow Sign) (Hippocampus Press)
O’Quinn, Cindy – “A Gathering at the Mountain” (The Bad Book) (Bleeding Edge Books)
Taborska, Anna –“Two Shakes Of A Dead Lamb’s Tail”(Terror Tales of the Scottish Lowlands) (Telos Publishing)
Ward, Kyla Lee – “A Whisper in the Death Pit” (Weirdbook #44) (Wildside Press)
SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A FICTION COLLECTION
Winner: Gemma Files – In That Endlessness, Our End (Grimscribe Press)
Finalists:
Fracassi, Philip – Beneath a Pale Sky (Lethe Press)
Maberry, Jonathan – Empty Graves: Tales of the Living Dead (WordFire Press LLC)
Tuttle, Lisa – The Dead Hours of Night (Valancourt Books)
Wise, A.C. – The Ghost Sequences (Undertow Publications)
SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A SCREENPLAY
Winner: Mike Flanagan; James Flanagan; and Jeff Howard – Midnight Mass, Season 1, Episode 6: “Book VI: Acts of the Apostles” (Intrepid Pictures)
Finalists:
Chaisson, C. Henry; Antosca, Nick; and Cooper, Scott – Antlers (Searchlight Pictures)
Dong-hyuk, Hwang – Squid Game, Season 1, Episode 1: “Red Light, Green Light” (Siren Pictures)
Graziadei, Phil and Janiak, Leigh – Fear Street: Part One – 1994 (Chernin Entertainment)
Peele, Jordan; Rosenfeld, Win; and DaCosta, Nia – Candyman (Universal Pictures)
SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN AN ANTHOLOGY
Winner: Ellen Datlow – When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspiredby Shirley Jackson (Titan Books)
Finalists:
Chambers, James – Under Twin Suns: Alternate Histories of the Yellow Sign (Hippocampus Press)
French, Aaron J. and Landry, Jess – There is No Death, There are No Dead (Crystal Lake Publishing)
Guignard, Eric J. – Professor Charlatan Bardot’s Travel Anthology to the Most (Fictional) Haunted Buildings in the Weird, Wild World (Dark Moon Books)
Johnson, Eugene – Attack From the 80’s (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN NON-FICTION
Winner: Michael Knost – Writers Workshop of Horror 2 (Hydra Publications)
Finalists:
Olson, Danel – 9/11 Gothic: Decrypting Ghosts and Trauma in New York City’s Terrorism Novels (Lexington Books)
Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew and Hansen, Regina M. – Giving the Devil His Due: Satan and Cinema (Fordham University Press)
Wetmore Jr., Kevin J. – Eaters of the Dead: Myths and Realities of Cannibal Monsters (Reaktion Books)
Woofter, Kristopher – Shirley Jackson: A Companion (Peter Lang Publishing)
SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN SHORT NON-FICTION
Winner: Angela Yuriko Smith – “Horror Writers: Architects of Hope” (The Sirens Call, Halloween 2021, Issue 55) (Sirens Call Publications)
Finalists:
Ognjanović, Dejan – “The Three Paradigms of Horror” (Vastarien Vol. 4, Issue 2) (Grimscribe Press)
O’Quinn, Cindy – “One and Done” (Were Tales: A Shapeshifter Anthology) (Brigids Gate Press)
Verona, Emily Ruth – “A Horror Fan’s Guide to Surviving Womanhood” (thefinalgirls.co.uk)
Wetmore Jr., Kevin J. – “Devil’s Advocates: The Conjuring” (Auteur Publishing/Liverpool University Press)
SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A POETRY COLLECTION
Winner: Christina Sng; Angela Yuriko Smith; Lee Murray; and Geneve Flynn – Tortured Willows: Bent. Bowed. Unbroken. (Yuriko Publishing)
Finalists:
Lansdale, Joe R. – Apache Witch and Other Poetic Observations (Independent Legions Publishing)
McHugh, Jessica – Strange Nests (Apokrupha)
Simon, Marge and Turzillo, Mary – Victims (Weasel Press)
Snyder, Lucy A. – Exposed Nerves (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
HWA Liftetime Achievement Awards were given to Nancy Holder, Koji Suzuki and Jo Fletcher.
The Specialty Press Award was given to Valancourt Books.
The Richard H. Laymon President’s Award was given to Sumiko Saulson.
The Silver Hammer Award for service was given to Kevin J. Wetmore.
The Mentor of the Year Award was given to Michael Knost.
The Seventh Annual FINAL FRAME Horror Short Competition winners are:
BEST WRITING IN A SHORT FILM:
“Becoming Emma Braintree”
Written and Directed by Joshua Koske
Based on a short story by Aaron Dries
SECOND RUNNER-UP to Grand Prize:
“Every Time We Meet For Ice Cream Your Whole Fucking Face Explodes”
Written and Directed by Anthony Cousins
Based on a short story by Carlton Mellick III
FIRST RUNNER-UP to Grand Prize:
“The Thing That Ate The Birds”
Written and Directed by: Sophie Mair and Dan Gitsham
