Horror Writer's Association

Today marks the beginning of the Horror Writer's Association Stoker Awards Weekend. Each year the HWA presents the Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement. The awards honor Bram Stoker, author of one of the most popular horror novels of all time. The first Stoker Awards were presented in 1988 for books released in 1987. Members of the HWA submit works for consideration and then a vote narrows the field to the finalists. An additional round of voting determines the winners. Any work of horror published in English for the given year is eligible.

This year's finalists are:

Superior Achievement in a Novel
Coffin County by Gary Braunbeck
The Reach by Nate Kenyon
Duma Key by Stephen King
Johnny Gruesome by Gregory Lamberson

Superior Achievement in a First Novel
Midnight On Mourn Street by Christopher Conlon
The Gentling Box by Lisa Mannetti
Monster Behind the Wheel by Michael McCarty
The Suicide Collectors by David Oppegaard
Frozen Blood by Joel A. Sutherland

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction
The Shallow End of the Pool by Adam-Troy Castro
Miranda by John R. Little
Redemption Roadshow by Weston Ochse
The Confessions of St. Zach by Gene O'Neill

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction
Petrified by Scott Edelman
The Lost by Sarah Langan
The Dude Who Collected Lovecraft by Nick Mamatas and Tim Pratt
Evidence of Love in a Case of Abandonment by M. Rickert
Turtle by Lee Thomas

Superior Achievement in an Anthology
Like a Chinese Tattoo edited by Bill Breedlove
Horror Library, Vol. 3 edited by R.J. Cavender
Beneath the Surface edited by Tim Deal
Unspeakable Horror edited by Vince A. Liaguno and Chad Helder

Superior Achievement in a Collection
The Number 121 to Pennsylvania by Kealan Patrick Burke
Mama's Boy and Other Dark Tales by Fran Friel
Just After Sunset by Stephen King
Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters by John Langan
Gleefully Macabre Tales by Jeff Strand

Superior Achievement in Nonfiction
Cheap Scares by Gregory Lamberson
Zombie CSU by Jonathan Maberry
A Halloween Anthology by Lisa Morton
The Book of Lists: Horror by Amy Wallace, Del Howison, and Scott Bradley

Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection
The Nightmare Collection by Bruce Boston
The Phantom World by Gary William Crawford
Virgin of the Apocalypse by Corrine De Winter
Attack of the Two-Headed Poetry Monster by Mark McLaughlin and Michael McCarty


The awards will be announced at a banquet on Saturday June 13, 2009.