Horror Writers Association celebrates 2006 Stoker winners

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At long last, the anticipation is over. The Horror Writers Association has announced the winners of the 2006 Bram Stoker Awards at its annual Stoker Banquet held tonight as part of the World Horror Convention in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Ten new bronze haunted-house statuettes were handed over to the writers responsible for creating superior works of horror last year. This year’s winners are:

Superior Achievement in a NOVEL
LISEY’S STORY by Stephen King (Scribner)

Superior Achievement in a FIRST NOVEL
GHOST ROAD BLUES by Jonathan Maberry (Pinnacle)

Superior Achievement in LONG FICTION
DARK HARVEST by Norman Partridge (Cemetery Dance)

Superior Achievement in SHORT FICTION
“Tested” by Lisa Morton (Cemetery Dance magazine #55)

Superior Achievement in an ANTHOLOGY
(Tie) RETRO PULP TALES by Joe R. Lansdale (Subterranean); and MONDO ZOMBIE by John Skipp (Cemetery Dance)

Superior Achievement in a COLLECTION
DESTINATIONS UNKNOWN by Gary A. Braunbeck (Cemetery Dance)

Superior Achievement in NONFICTION
(Tie) FINAL EXITS: THE ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HOW WE DIE by Michael Largo (Harper); and GOSPEL OF THE LIVING DEAD: GEORGE ROMERO’S VISIONS OF HELL ON EARTH by Kim Paffenroth (Baylor Press)

Superior Achievement in POETRY
SHADES FANTASTIC by Bruce Boston (Gromagon Press)

Works can be recommended by any member of the HWA. Members with Active status then vote works onto a preliminary ballot. From there the field is narrowed to the final ballot and Active members choose the winners from that. The award is named for Bram Stoker, best known as the author of Dracula.

Deborah LeBlanc, HWA president, said, “As always, we began the Stoker process with hundreds of excellent titles receiving recommendations. Narrowing the field down is always difficult, but I’m confident we have once again rewarded the best the genre offered in 2006. Our winners are excellent writers who deserve all the recognition they’ve earned tonight.”

HWA also presented its annual Lifetime Achievement Award and its Specialty Press Award. James Young, from Random House’s Toronto branch, accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Thomas Harris, this year’s winner. The Specialty Press Award went to PS Publishing of East Yorkshire, England.

Lisa Morton, HWA’s Stoker liaison, said it was good to have the Stoker banquet held in conjunction with the World Horror Convention again. “The World Horror organizers were fantastic to work with,” Morton said. “And it makes sense to award the Stokers during this convention since so many of the industry movers and shakers attend.”

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Note: Both the conference and the banquet are open to the public.

More information on the Horror Writers Association is at www.horror.org. More information on the World Horror Convention is available at www.whc2007.org.