Archive for the 'Stoker News' Category

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is proud to announce Jonathan Maberry as a Guest of Honor for the Bram Stoker Awards™ Weekend 2013, to be held in New Orleans from 13-16 June 2013.

Jonathan Maberry is a New York Times best-selling author, multiple Bram Stoker Award winner, and Marvel Comics writer. His novels include Assassin’s Code, Flesh & Bone, Ghost Road Blues, Rot & Ruin, Dust & Decay, Patient Zero, The Wolfman and many others. His non-fiction books include Ultimate Jujutsu, The Cryptopedia, Zombie CSU, Wanted Undead Or Alive and others. He’s the editor/co-author of V-Wars, a vampire-themed anthology, and was a featured expert on The History Channel special Zombies: A Living History.

Since 1978 he’s sold more than 1200 magazine feature articles, 3000 columns, two plays, greeting cards, song lyrics, and poetry. His comics include Captain America: Hail Hydra, Doomwar, Marvel Zombies Return and Marvel Universe vs. The Avengers. He teaches the Experimental Writing for Teens class, is the founder of the Writers Coffeehouse, and co-founder of The Liars Club. Jonathan lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania with his wife, Sara and their dog, Rosie. You can find him on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook or at his author website: www.jonathanmaberry.com.

HWA President Rocky Wood said, “Jonathan is proof positive that a talented, hard-working writer can achieve both sales and critical break-through even in the difficult publishing environment writers have been facing over recent years. Since moving into the horror genre and winning the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel for 2006, he has published at a rate that would challenge even Stephen King! He has built a strong following in the booming Young Adult market as well as the adult horror and thriller genres, has proven to be a very effective marketer of his own work and a strong supporter of the HWA, paying back to the genre. I expect those attending the Bram Stoker Awards Weekend will learn a lot from Jonathan about cross genre writing, planning a writer’s work day, and marketing; and that they will be infected by his all-round enthusiasm for our profession and life in general.”

Jonathan joins already announced Guests – Ramsey Campbell, John Joseph Adams and Jeff Strand. Further Guests will be announced shortly.

The Horror Writers Association has chosen two long-time icons of the genre to receive the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award this year. The award, given in recognition of the recipient’s overall body of work, will go to Clive Barker and to Robert McCammon.

Clive Barker

A visionary, fantasist, poet and painter, Clive Barker has expanded the reaches of human imagination as a novelist, director, screenwriter and dramatist. An inveterate seeker who traverses between myriad styles with ease, Barker has left his indelible artistic mark on a range of projects that reflect his creative grasp of contemporary media — from familiar literary terrain to the progressive vision of his Seraphim production company. His 1998 “Gods and Monsters” garnered three Academy Award nominations and an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. The following year, Barker joined the ranks of such illustrious authors as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Annie Dillard and Aldous Huxley when his collection of literary works was inducted into the Perennial line at HarperCollins, who then published The Essential Clive Barker, a 700-page anthology with an introduction by Armistead Maupin.

Barker began his odyssey in the London theatre, scripting original plays for his group The Dog Company, including “The History of the Devil,” “Frankenstein in Love” and “Crazyface.” Soon, Barker began publishing his The Books of Blood short fiction collections; but it was his debut novel, The Damnation Game that widened his already growing international audience.

He shifted gears in 1987 when he directed “Hellraiser,” based on his novella The Hellbound Heart, which became a veritable cult classic spawning a slew of sequels, several lines of comic books, and an array of merchandising. In 1990, he adapted and directed “Nightbreed” from his short story “Cabal”. Two years later, Barker executive produced the housing-project story “Candyman,” as well as the 1995 sequel, “Candyman 2: Farewell to the Flesh.” Also that year, he directed Scott Bakula and Famke Janssen in the noir-esque detective tale, “Lord of Illusions.”

Barker’s literary works include such best-selling fantasies as Weaveworld, Imajica, and Everville, the children’s novel, The Thief of Always, Sacrament, Galilee and Coldheart Canyon. The first of his quintet of children’s books, Abarat, was published in October 2002 to resounding critical acclaim, followed by Abarat II: Days of Magic, Nights of War and Abarat III: Absolute Midnight; Barker is currently completing the fourth in the series. As an artist, Barker frequently turns to the canvas to fuel his imagination with hugely successful exhibitions across America. His neo-expressionist paintings have been showcased in two large format books, Clive Barker, Illustrator, volumes I & II.

The HWA’s Lifetime Achievement Award Committee Chair, Yvonne Navarro commented, “Clive Barker has had an enormous influence on Gen-X horror authors and has a marked influence on horror as a whole through his writing and movies; his Cenobites have become imprinted in the darkest corners of the public imagination. From his Books of Blood in 1984 to the volumes of his Abarat Quintet, he has continually pushed the boundaries of horror genre to extend above and beyond any kind of stock definition. His vision extends beyond the written word, encompassing art, film, comics, video games, toys and more. He is truly a 21st century multimedia artist.”

Clive responded, “”The timing of this award is entirely unexpected. It has been a difficult year personally and I am very honored by this and I accept it with great gratitude. It’s a lovely thing to get and I’m incredibly moved. Truly. I look back over the list of past winners – Ray Bradbury, Vincent Price, Harlan Ellison, Steve King – and see that I am in unparalleled company, so I’m doubly honored by that. From the bottom of my heart, I thank the Horror Writers Association.”

Robert McCammon

Robert McCammon is a New York Times bestselling author and World Fantasy award winner. He is the author of seventeen books, among them the novels Boy’s Life, Swan Song, and The Five.

A native of Birmingham, Alabama, McCammon is better known to his friends and in the horror community as “Rick”. He has won numerous awards, including the French Grand Prize of the Imagination Award for Best Foreign Novel for The Wolf’s Hour. His novel The Queen Of Bedlam was nominated for the 2008 Thriller Award from the International Thriller Writers, and he is very pleased to be published in dozens of languages around the world. He won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel for Swan Song (1987), Mine (1990) and Boy’s Life (1991).

McCammon is currently writing a series of ten books centered around a young detective named Matthew Corbett in colonial New York in the early 1700s. The third in that series, Mister Slaughter, was published early in 2010 and the fourth, The Providence Rider, in 2012.

McCammon is one of the founders of the Horror Writer Association, along with Dean Koontz and Joe and Karen Lansdale. He is currently working on the fifth in the Corbett series, titled The River Of Souls, and also on a large-scope science-fiction/horror novel.

Yvonne Navarro said, “Robert McCammon is one of the original masters of horror fiction who was influential on those who began reading horror during the boom
of the 70s and 80s; the New Twilight Zone adaptation of his story “Nightcrawlers” further influenced a generation of horror media fans. The excellence of his earlier work continues to delight new readers, and now that he’s returned to writing after a nearly twenty-year break, both long-time and new fans eagerly await his future books. McCammon was instrumental in the creation of the Horror Writers Association and has mentored numerous authors throughout his career.”

Rick responded, “I’m pleased and honored to have been part of the creation of the Horror Writers of America (now the Horror Writers Association), and doubly pleased and honored to be given this award. Thank you and I look forward to seeing you in New Orleans.”

The Lifetime Achievement Award is the most prestigious of the Bram Stoker Awards®, given by the HWA in acknowledgment of superior achievement not just in a single work but over an entire career. Past Lifetime Achievement Award winners include such noted authors as Stephen King, Anne Rice, Joyce Carol Oates, Ray Bradbury, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Ramsey Campbell and Peter Straub. Winners must have exhibited a profound, positive impact on the fields of horror and dark fantasy, and be at least sixty years of age or have been published for a minimum of thirty-five years. Recipients are chosen annually by a committee; this one chaired by Yvonne Navarro and including John Everson, Kathy Ptacek, Lucy Snyder and Tim Waggoner.

The LAAs will be presented on June 15 as part of the Bram Stoker Awards® Banquet, at the Bram Stoker Awards® Weekend, incorporating World Horror Convention 2013 in New Orleans. Robert McCammon will be in attendance and Mark Miller will accept for Clive Barker. For more information please visit the website at http://www.stokers2013.org/.

The Horror Writers Association periodically gives the Hammer Award (also known as the Silver Hammer Award) to an HWA volunteer who has done a truly massive amount of work for our organization, often unsung and behind the scenes. It was instituted in 1996, and is decided by a vote of HWA’s Board.

The award is so named because it represents the careful, steady, continuous work of building HWA’s “house” — the many institutional systems that keep the organization functioning on a day-to-day basis. The award itself is a chrome-plated hammer with an engraved plaque on the handle. The chrome hammer is also a satisfying allusion to The Beatles’ song, “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer,” a miniature horror story in itself.

The Board has voted to give the 2012 Award to Charles Day, the Chair of our Mentor Committee. Charles has done an outstanding job relaunching that program, so that it now has a record number of both mentors and mentees. He has done so with his trademark commitment and good humor.

HWA’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Marge Simon, commented, “The HWA is a success because of the tremendous workload carried by our many volunteers, mostly unnoticed. Charles is an exemplar of these efforts, and the Board is pleased to recognize him.”

Charles will receive The Hammer Award at the Bram Stoker Awards® Banquet in New Orleans on 15 June 2013.

The Horror Writers Association is a worldwide organization promoting dark literature and its creators. It has nearly 1000 members who write, edit and publish professionally in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, games, films, comics, and other media.

For more information about the HWA or the Bram Stoker Awards, please visit www.horror.org. More information on the Bram Stoker Awards Banquet, which is part of the Bram Stoker Awards Weekend, incorporating the World Horror Convention 2013 is available at http://www.stokers2013.org. Press inquiries to president@horror.org.

An Affiliate Member of HWA, Charles Day is the owner of Hidden Thoughts Press (mental wellness collections), Evil Jester Press and the newly formed division of EJP, Evil Jester Comics & Graphic Novels/Anthologies. He’s been employed in the field of mental health over twenty-five years, earning his Master’s Degree in Public Administration about eight years ago. He takes all this experience to Hidden Thoughts Press. He’s also an author and artist, who enjoys creating the many characters he brought to life in his works. You can find out more about his upcoming writing projects, check out his art or find out what he’s up to next with that evil dude-in-the-box, the evil Jester by visiting: http://charlesdayfictionwriter.blogspot.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/charles.day.92

The Richard Laymon President’s Award for Service was instituted in 2000 and is named in honor of Richard Laymon, who died in 2000 while serving as the Horror Writer’s Association’s President. As its name implies, it is given by the HWA’s sitting President. The Award is presented to a volunteer who has served HWA in an especially exemplary manner and has shown extraordinary dedication to the organization.

HWA’s President Rocky Wood has chosen James Chambers to receive the 2012 Richard Laymon Award. “Jim stepped up a couple of years ago to Chair the Membership Committee. Since then he has completely revamped the Committee, bringing in and documenting processes, training people to assist, overviewing our Outreach program and welcoming hundreds of new members. In addition he conceived of and implemented the Halloween Haunts blog program, which has become a staple of our public blog each October,” Wood said. “It is contributors like Jim who represent all that is good about HWA’s all-volunteer structure.”

James will receive the Award at the Bram Stoker Awards® Banquet in New Orleans on 15 June 2013.

The Horror Writers Association is a worldwide organization promoting dark literature and its creators. It has nearly 1000 members who write, edit and publish professionally in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, games, films, comics, and other media.

For more information about the HWA or the Bram Stoker Awards, please visit www.horror.org. More information on the Bram Stoker Awards Banquet, which is part of the Bram Stoker Awards Weekend, incorporating the World Horror Convention 2013 is available at http://www.stokers2013.org. Press inquiries to president@horror.org.

James Chambers’ tales of horror, crime, fantasy and science fiction have been published in numerous anthologies and magazines. Dark Regions Press published his collection of four Lovecraftian-inspired novellas, The Engines of Sacrifice in 2011. Publisher’s Weekly described it as “chillingly evocative.” Most recently, Dark Quest Books has published his zombie novellas, The Dead Bear Witness and Tears of Blood, the first two volumes in the Corpse Fauna novella series. Chambers is also the author of the short story collections Resurrection House and The Midnight Hour: Saint Lawn Hill and Other Tales with illustrator Jason Whitley. His stories have appeared in Allen K’s Inhuman, Bare Bone, Deep Cuts, The Green Hornet Chronicles, Hardboiled Cthulhu, Walrus Tales, and many other anthologies and magazines. He has also written numerous comic books, including Leonard Nimoy’s Primortals, the critically acclaimed “The Revenant” in Shadow House, and The Midnight Hour. His website is: www.jameschambersonline.com.

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is pleased to announce the Preliminary Ballots for the 2012 Bram Stoker Awards®. The HWA is the premiere writers organization in the horror and dark fiction genre, with over 800 members. We have presented the Bram Stoker Awards in various categories since 1987.

The HWA Board and the Bram Stoker Awards Committee congratulate all those appearing on these Preliminary Ballots. Notes about the voting process appear after the ballot listing.

NOTE: For those appearing on this ballot – your work is NOT a “nominee” at this point (that only occurs if you appear on the Final Ballot).

NOVEL
Bodner, Hal – The Trouble with Hairy (Phantom Hollow Publishing)
Clines, Peter – 14 (Permuted Press)
Ethridge, Benjamin Kane – Bottled Abyss (Redrum Horror)
Everson, John – NightWhere (Samhain Publishing)
Faherty, JG – Cemetery Club (JournalStone)
Jordan, Lee F. – Coronation (Black Rose Writing)
Kiernan, Caitlin R. – The Drowning Girl (Roc)
Little, Bentley – The Haunted (Signet)
McKinney, Joe – Inheritance (Evil Jester Press)

FIRST NOVEL
Boccacino, Michael – Charlotte Markham and the House of Darklings (William Morrow)
Coates, Deborah – Wide Open (Tor Books)
Day, Charles – The Legend of the Pumpkin Thief (Noble YA Publishers LLC)
Dudar, Peter – A Requiem for Dead Flies (Nightscape Press)
Gropp, Richard – Bad Glass (Ballantine/Del Rey)
Hatchell, Dane – Resurrection X: Zombie Evolution (Post Mortem Press)
Holm, Chris – Dead Harvest (Angry Robot)
Jones, K. Trap – The Sinner (Blood Bound Books)
Soares, L.L. – Life Rage (Nightscape Press)
Sterbakov, Hugh – City Under the Moon (Ben & Derek Ink Inc.)

YA NOVEL
Bickle, Laura – The Hallowed Ones (Graphia)
Bray, Libba – The Diviners (Little Brown)
Burt, Steve – FreeK Show (Burt Creations)
Collings, Michaelbrent – Hooked: A True Faerie Tale (Createspace/Amazon Digital Services, Inc.)
Lyga, Barry – I Hunt Killers (Little Brown)
Maberry, Jonathan – Flesh & Bone (Simon & Schuster)
McCarty, Michael – I Kissed A Ghoul (Noble Romance Publishing)
Stiefvater, Maggie – The Raven Boys (Scholastic Press)
Strand, Jeff – A Bad Day for Voodoo (Sourcebooks)
Waters, Daniel – Break My Heart 1,000 Times (Hyperion Book CH)
Wilson, Connie Corcoran – The Color of Evil (Quad Cities Press)

LONG FICTION
Burke, Kealan Patrick – Thirty Miles South of Dry County (Delirium Books)
Faherty, JG – The Cold Spot (Delirium Books)
Giglio, Peter – Sunfall Manor (Nightscape Press)
Ketchum, Jack, and Lucky McKee – I’m Not Sam (Sinister Grin Press)
Malfi, Ronald – The Mourning House (Delirium Books)
McKinney, Joe, and Michael McCarty – Lost Girl of the Lake (Bad Moon Books)
Miskowski, S.P. – Delphine Dodd (Omnium Gatherum Media)
O’Neill, Gene – The Blue Heron (Dark Regions Press)
Prentiss, Norman – The Fleshless Man (Delirium Books)
Thompson, Lee – When We Join Jesus in Hell (Darkfuse)
SHORT FICTION
Bailey, Michael – Bootstrap (Zippered Flesh: Tales of Body Enhancements Gone Bad, Smart Rhino Publications)
Boston, Bruce – Surrounded by the Mutant Rain Forest (Daily Science Fiction)
Breaux, Kevin James – The Journal of USS Indianapolis Survivor: Stefanos “Stevie” Georgiou (Zombie Jesus & Other True Stories, Dark Moon Books)
Cushing, Nicole – A Catechism for Aspiring Amnesiacs (Lovecraft eZine, March 2012)
Lake, Jay – The Cancer Catechism (Dark Faith: Invocations, Apex Book Company)
McKinney, Joe – Bury My Heart at Marvin Gardens (Best of Dark Moon Digest, Dark Moon Books)
Ochse, Weston – Righteous (Psychos, Black Dog and Leventhall Publication)
Palisano, John – Available Light (Lovecraft eZine, March 2012)
Snyder, Lucy – Magdala Amygdala (Dark Faith: Invocations, Apex Book Company)

SCREENPLAY
Hill, Susan, and Goldman, Jane – The Woman in Black (Cross Creek Pictures)
Kim, San Kyu – The Walking Dead, “Killer Within” (AMC TV)
Minear, Tim – American Horror Story: Asylum, “Dark Cousin” (Brad Falchuk Teley-Vision, Ryan Murphy Productions)
Olynyk, Signe – Below Zero (Twilight Pictures)
Ross, Gary, Suzanne Collins, and Billy Ray – The Hunger Games (Lionsgate, Color Force)
Sanchez, Eduardo, and Jaime Nash – Lovely Molly (Amber Entertainment, Haxan Films)
Whedon, Joss, and Drew Goddard – The Cabin in the Woods (Mutant Enemy Productions, Lionsgate)

ANTHOLOGY
Beebe, Eric – Fear the Abyss (Post Mortem Press)
Castle, Mort, and Sam Weller – Shadow Show (HarperCollins)
Gallows Press – Tales from the Yellow Rose Diner and Fill Station (Gallows Press)
Guignard, Eric J. – Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations (Dark Moon Books)
Miller, Eric – Hell Comes to Hollywood (Big Time Books)
Salter, Richard – World’s Collider (Nightscape Press)
Scalisi, Patrick – The Ghost IS the Machine (Port Mortem Press)
Scioneaux, Mark C., R.J. Cavender, and Robert S. Wilson – Horror for Good: A Charitable Anthology (Cutting Block Press)
Swanson, Stan – Slices of Flesh (Dark Moon Books)

FICTION COLLECTION
Cain, Kenneth W. – These Old Tales: The Complete Collection (CreateSpace Distressed Press)
Carroll, Jonathan – Woman Who Married a Cloud: Collected Stories (Subterranean Press)
Castle, Mort – New Moon on the Water (Dark Regions)
De Winter, Corrine – Valentines for the Dead (Shadowfall Publications)
Hand, Elizabeth – Errantry: Strange Stories (Small Beer Press)
Hirshberg, Glen – The Janus Tree (Subterranean Press)
Lane, Joel – Where Furnaces Burn (PS Publishing)
LaSart, C.W. – Ad Nauseam (Dark Moon Books)
Oates, Joyce Carol – Black Dahlia and White Rose: Stories (Ecco)
Onspaugh, Mark – Christmas Ghost Stories (Createspace)
Yardley, Mercedes M. – Beautiful Sorrows (Shock Totem)
NON-FICTION
Aisenberg, Joe – Carrie: Studies in the Horror Film (Centipede Press)
Amazing Kreskin, The, and Michael McCarty – Conversations with Kreskin (Team Kreskin Productions LLC)
Collings, Michael – Writing Darkness (CreateSpace)
Klinger, Les – The Annotated Sandman, Volume 1 (Vertigo)
Matthews, Araminta Star, Rachel Lee, and Stan Swanson – Write of the Living Dead (Dark Moon Books)
Morton, Lisa – Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween (Reaktion Books)
Paffenroth, Kim, and John W. Morehead – The Undead and Theology (Pickwick Publications)
Perry, Dennis R., and Carl H. Sederholm – Adapting Poe: Re-Imaginings in Popular Culture (Palgrave MacMillan)
Phillips, Kendall R. – Dark Directions: Romero, Craven, Carpenter, and the Modern Horror Film (Southern Illinois University Press)

POETRY
Addison, Linda, and Stephen M. Wilson – Dark Duet (NECON eBooks)
Boston, Bruce, and Gary William Crawford – Notes from the Shadow City (Dark Regions Press)
Collings, Michael – A Verse to Horrors (Amazon Digital Services)
Dietrich, Bryan D. – The Monstrance (Needfire Poetry)
Ong Muslim, Kristine – Grim Series (Popcorn Press)
Simon, Marge – Vampires, Zombies & Wanton Souls (Elektrik Milk Bath Press)
Turzillo, Mary A. – Lovers & Killers (Dark Regions)

——————

The following will not appear on the Preliminary Ballot. As there are only five works, they will proceed directly to the Final Ballot.

GRAPHIC NOVEL
Bunn, Cullen – The Sixth Gun Volume 3: Bound (Oni Press)
Moore, Terry – Rachel Rising Vol. 1: The Shadow of Death (Abstract Studio)
Thornton, Ravi – The Tale of Brin and Bent and Minno Marylebone (Jonathan Cape)
Wacks, Peter J., and Guy Anthony De Marco – Behind These Eyes (Villainous Press)
Wood, Rocky, and Lisa Morton – Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times (McFarland)

Please note that if there are one to five works appearing on a Ballot these works progress automatically to the Final Ballot (but must NOT be referred to as ‘Bram Stoker Award nominees’ until the Final Ballot is formally announced on February 23). If four or more works appear on a Ballot, voting proceeds.

Our voting members will now vote on these Preliminary Ballots, with voting closing on February 15 (only Active and Lifetime Members are eligible to vote).

Works appearing on these Preliminary Ballots are NOT ‘Bram Stoker Award nominees’ and authors, editors, publishers, and others should not refer to any of these works as such – doing so is a severe breach of etiquette – voting members tend to notice such breaches and may consider them when determining which works to vote for on the Ballot.

The Preliminary Ballot will be sent to Lifetime and Active Members on February 1. If you are an Active or Lifetime Member and do NOT receive your electronic Ballot link by February 2, please first check your spam/junk mail filter and then email admin@horror.org . Note that Ballots are sent to the same email address as the Newsletter and the Internet Mailer. It is the responsibility of Members to keep their email address up to date by advising the administrator of any changes at admin@horror.org. Late Ballots cannot be accepted under any circumstances.

If your work (you are the author, agent, editor, publisher, or publicist) appears on the ballot and you wish to provide a link allowing Voting Members to read the work there will be a SPECIAL PRELIMINARY BALLOT INTERNET MAILER issued on or about January 27. Please email the Internet Mailer editor at imailer@horror.org with the details as soon as you can but no later than January 26 (links will not be accepted for this Special IM after January 26). You may offer to send electronic copies; provide reading copies on a website; or physical copies. Anyone validly representing a work appearing on the Preliminary Ballot may submit via this method, whether or not they are HWA members (this includes the author, agent, editor, publisher or publicist of the work).

Do NOT spam Voting Members, this is a severe breach of etiquette – Active and Lifetime (voting) members tend to notice such breaches and may consider them when determining which works to vote for on the Ballot.

You may also post the fact that your work is available to be read for Bram Stoker Award consideration ONCE, and only once, here: http://www.horror.org/private/smf/index.php?board=12.0 (Bram Stoker Eligible Work). If you had already posted your work here prior to the announcement of the Preliminary Ballot you ARE entitled to post it again. Note: Only members may post at this Forum but members are encouraged to post on behalf of non-members who may appear on the Ballot.

The Final Ballot (Bram Stoker Award nominees for 2012 calendar year) will be announced on February 23.

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is proud to announce Jeff Strand will emcee the 2013 Bram Stoker Awards Banquet and also act as Toastmaster at the World Horror Convention 2013. Both of these events are part of the Bram Stoker Awards Weekend, to be held in New Orleans from 13-16 June 2013.

Jeff has emceed four of the past five Bram Stoker Awards banquets (he couldn’t make it to Brighton, dammit!), and is thrilled to be back for a fifth time. His books include Pressure (which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award but did not win), Dweller (which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award but did not win), Gleefully Macabre Tales (which was nominated for but DID…not win), and also such non-Bram Stoker Award-nominated books as Wolf Hunt, Fangboy, Lost Homicidal Maniac (Answers to “Shirley”), and Benjamin’s Parasite. His latest novel, A Bad Day for Voodoo, will be out in June 2012. You can visit his Gleefully Macabre website at http://www.jeffstrand.com.

HWA President Rocky Wood said, ‘Anyone who’s ever been to one of our Awards Banquets hosted by Jeff knows what a treat they are in for. Jeff is the funniest straight man I have ever seen, or heard from, or run screaming down a corridor from.’

Check out part of Jeff’s last appearance at the Bram Stoker Awards Banquet in Salt Lake City 2012, here: http://tinyurl.com/85o5as6 (thanks to Scott Edelman).

The Oxford Companion to English Literature describes Ramsey Campbell as “Britain’s most respected living horror writer”. He has been given more awards than any other writer in the field, including the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Horror Writers Association (HWA), the Grand Master Award of the World Horror Convention and the Living Legend Award of the International Horror Guild.

The Horror Writers Association is proud to announce Ramsey Campbell as our first Guest of Honor for the Bram Stoker Awards™ Weekend 2013, to be held in New Orleans from 13-16 June 2013. HWA President said, “Ramsey is a truly a legend in horror. As one of our Lifetime Achievement Award winners we couldn’t be more pleased to confirm him as our first Guest of Honor for the Weekend. He has kindly agreed to participate in all aspects of the Convention, including a one-on-one in-depth interview; panels; our mass signing and presenting during the iconic Bram Stoker Awards Banquet. It is also pleasing that we continue our expanding international focus with a major British Guest, building on such innovations as hold the Awards Banquet in England in 2010, Canada in 2007 and significant membership growth in countries such as Italy and Australia.”

Among Ramsey Campbell’s novels are The Face That Must Die, Incarnate, Midnight Sun, The Count of Eleven, Silent Children, The Darkest Part of the Woods, The Overnight, Secret Story, The Grin of the Dark, Thieving Fear, Creatures of the Pool, The Seven Days of Cain and Ghosts Know. Forthcoming is The Kind Folk. His collections include Waking Nightmares, Alone with the Horrors, Ghosts and Grisly Things, Told by the Dead and Just Behind You, and his non-fiction is collected as Ramsey Campbell, Probably. His novels The Nameless and Pact of the Fathers have been filmed in Spain. His regular columns appear in Prism, All Hallows, Dead Reckonings and Video Watchdog. He is the President of the British Fantasy Society and of the Society of Fantastic Films.

Ramsey Campbell lives on Merseyside in the UK with his wife Jenny. His pleasures include classical music, good food and wine, and whatever’s in that pipe. His web site is at www.ramseycampbell.com.

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is pleased to announce JournalStone as a Supporting Sponsor for the Bram Stoker Awards™ Weekend 2013. The Weekend Convention will be held at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans, Louisiana from 13-16 June 2013: http://www.stokers2013.org/ .

Christopher C. Payne, President of JournalStone (http://journalstone.com/) said, “It is both an honor and a pleasure to support the HWA. The members and Board have been instrumental in supporting JournalStone‘s fledging endeavor as a new publishing company. I can only hope that we as a publisher continue to live up to the expectations of the HWA and all of its members.”

HWA President Rocky Wood welcomed JournalStone’s support: “This sponsorship from genre publisher Journal Stone is greatly appreciated by HWA and I am sure by all our members. Journal Stone has proven to be a highly professional and innovative genre publisher, with a strong horror line, at a time when the publishing industry is in flux. We look forward to welcoming them in New Orleans.”

There are a number of other sponsorship opportunities for the Weekend available – for more details contact president@horror.org .

The Horror Writers Association is proud to announce prolific anthologist John Joseph Adams as the Editor Guest of Honor for the World Horror Convention (WHC) 2013. In 2013 the HWA is hosting WHC as part of the Bram Stoker Awards™ Weekend in New Orleans from 13-16 June.

John Joseph Adams is the bestselling editor of the horror anthologies The Living Dead, The Living Dead 2, By Blood We Live, and Wastelands. He is also the editor of the new horror magazine Nightmare.

His other anthologies include Other Worlds Than These, Armored, Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom, Brave New Worlds, Federations, The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and The Way of the Wizard. Forthcoming work includes The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination (Tor Books, Jan. 2013), Dead Man’s Hand (Titan Books, 2013), and Robot Uprisings (co-edited with Daniel H. Wilson, 2013).

John is a four-time finalist for the Hugo Award and a three-time finalist for the World Fantasy Award. He has been called “the reigning king of the anthology world” by Barnes & Noble, and his books have been lauded as some of the best anthologies of all time. John is also the editor and publisher of Lightspeed Magazine, and is the co-host of Wired.com’s The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast.

For more information, visit his website at johnjosephadams.com, and you can find him on Twitter @johnjosephadams.

HWA President Rocky Wood said, “John Joseph Adams is the type of anthology editor readers love – they know each of his books will be filled with well written, interesting tales to captivate them during their precious reading hours. We are very pleased that John has accepted our invitation to be World Horror Convention Guest of Honor, where he is likely to find 300 horror writers, all eager to impress him with their wares!”

Adams joins previously announced Guest of Honor Ramsey Campbell and Toastmaster Jeff Strand on the Guest list. Further Guests will be announced shortly.

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is proud to announce Amber Benson as Media Guest of Honor for the Bram Stoker Awards® Weekend 2013, to be held in New Orleans from 13-16 June 2013.

Amber Benson is multi-talented – she is a writer, director and actor. She currently writes the Calliope Reaper-Jones series for Ace/Roc and her middle grade book ‘Among The Ghosts’ came out in paperback this past fall from Simon and Schuster. She co-directed the Slamdance feature Drones’ and (co-wrote) and directed the BBC animated series ‘The Ghosts Of Albion’. Her acting work includes the Steven Soderbergh film ‘King Of The Hill’ and the indie feature ‘Race You To The Bottom’, for which she won the Best Actress Award at Outfest. Famously, she spent three years as Tara Maclay on the television series ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’.

HWA President Rocky Wood said, “Of course, Amber is well known from her time on ‘Buffy’ but we are pleased to have her as our Media Guest as she is also a director and a writer rapidly gaining a strong reputation. All this, plus she is a vocalist and has been involved in producing graphic comics! We are pleased she has agreed to share her diverse background and discuss her current projects with the Convention and I know attendees will be looking forward to her Guest of Honor presentation.”

Amber joins Ramsey Campbell, John Joseph Adams, Jeff Strand, Caitlin R Kiernan, Jonathan Maberry, Bruce Boston and Glenn Chadbourne in a stellar lineup of author, editor, poet, media and artist Guests.