Horror Writers Association Releases the 2023 Bram Stoker Awards® Final Ballot

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE— Cleveland, Ohio.
The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is pleased to announce the Final Ballot for the 2023 Bram Stoker Awards®. The HWA (see http://www.horror.org/) is the premier writers organization in the horror and dark fiction genre, with more than 1,800 members. We have presented the Bram Stoker Awards in various categories since 1987 (see http://www.thebramstokerawards.com/). Works appearing on this Ballot are Bram Stoker Award® Nominees for Superior Achievement in their Category, e.g., Novel, and may be referred to as Nominees.  

 “The Bram Stoker Awards Committee and the Officers and Trustees of the HWA congratulate all those whose work appears on this year’s ballot. We are excited to recognize this list of standout works from an exciting year of excellent work in horror and dark literature,” said Administrative Co-Chair and HWA Trustee, James Chambers.  

 The 2023 Bram Stoker Awards® Final Ballot 

 Superior Achievement in an Anthology 

Aquilone, James – Shakespeare Unleashed (Crystal Lake Publishing, Monstrous Books)  

Golden, Christopher, and Keene, Brian – The Drive-In: Multiplex (Pandi Press) 

Hawk, Shane and Van Alst, Jr., Theodore C. – Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology (Vintage) 

Peele, Jordan, and Adams, John Joseph – Out There Screaming (Random House) 

Rowland, Rebecca – American Cannibal (Maenad Press) 

 Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection 

Files, Gemma – Blood from the Air (Grimscribe Press) 

Keisling, Todd – Cold, Black, & Infinite (Cemetery Dance) 

Malerman, Josh – Spin A Black Yarn (Del Rey) 

Nogle, Christi – The Best of Our Past, the Worst of Our Future (Flame Tree Press) 

Read, Sarah – Root Rot & Other Grim Tales (Bad Hand Books) 

Superior Achievement in a First Novel 

Carmen, Christa – The Daughters of Block Island (Thomas & Mercer) 

Compton, Johnny – The Spite House (Tor Nightfire/Macmillan)  

LaRocca, Eric – Everything the Darkness Eats (CLASH Books/Titan) 

Leede, CJ – Maeve Fly (Tor Nightfire/Macmillan/Titan) 

Rebelein, Sam – Edenville (William Morrow/Titan) 

 Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel 

Bunn, Cullen (author) and Leomacs (artist) – Ghostlore, Vol. 1 (BOOM! Studios) 

Cesare, Adam (author) and Stoll, David (artist) – Dead Mall (Dark Horse Comics) 

Chu, Amy (author) and Lee, Soo (artist) – Carmilla: The First Vampire (Dark Horse)   

Ito, Junji (author and artist) – Tombs (Viz Media) 

Tanabe, Gou (author and artist) – H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth (Dark Horse Comics) 

 Superior Achievement in Long Fiction 

Due, Tananarive – “Rumpus Room” (The Wishing Pool and Other Stories, Akashic Books) 

Jiang, Ai – Linghun (Dark Matter INK) 

Khaw, Cassandra – The Salt Grows Heavy (Tor Nightfire/Macmillan/Titan) 

McCarthy, J.A.W. – Sleep Alone (Off Limits Press LLC) 

Murray, Lee – Despatches (PS Publishing) 

 Superior Achievement in Long Nonfiction  

Coleman, Robin R. Means and Harris, Mark H. – The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar (Gallery/Saga Press) 

Fitzpatrick, Claire (ed.) – A Vindication of Monsters: Essays on Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley (IFWG Publishing International) 

Hartmann, Sadie – 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered (Page Street Publishing) 

Morton, Lisa – The Art of the Zombie Movie (Applause Books) 

Murray, Lee and Smith, Angela Yuriko (eds.) – Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror (Black Spot Books) 

 Superior Achievement in a Middle Grade Novel 

Henning, Sarah – Monster Camp (Margaret K. McElderry Books) 

López, Diana – Los Monstruos: Felice and the Wailing Woman (Kokila) 

Senf, Lora – The Nighthouse Keeper (Atheneum Books for Young Readers) 

Tuma, Refe – Frances and the Werewolves of the Black Forest (HarperCollins) 

Young, Suzanne – What Stays Buried (HarperCollins) 

Superior Achievement in a Novel 

Due, Tananarive – The Reformatory (Gallery/Saga Press/Titan) 

Hendrix, Grady – How to Sell a Haunted House (Berkley/Titan) 

Jones, Stephen Graham – Don’t Fear the Reaper (Gallery/Saga Press/Titan)  

LaValle, Victor – Lone Women (One World) 

Wendig, Chuck – Black River Orchard (Del Rey/Penguin Random House) 

Superior Achievement in Poetry 

Gold, Maxwell Ian – Bleeding Rainbows and Other Broken Spectrums (Hex Publishers) 

McHugh, Jessica – The Quiet Ways I Destroy You (Apokrupha Press) 

Pichette, Marisca – Rivers in Your Skin, Sirens in Your Hair (Android Press) 

Walrath, Holly Lyn – Numinous Stones (Aqueduct Press) 

Wytovich, Stephanie M. – On the Subject of Blackberries (Raw Dog Screaming Press) 

Superior Achievement in a Screenplay 

Brooker, Charlie – Black Mirror: Beyond the Sea (Episode 03:06) (Zeppotron, Babieka, Banijay Entertainment, Broke and Bones, House of Tomorrow) 

Cervera, Michelle Garza and Castillo, Abia – Huesera: The Bone Woman (Disruptiva Films, Machete Producciones, Maligno Gorehouse) 

Duffield, Brian – No One Will Save You (20th Century Studios, Star Thrower Entertainment) 

Rugna, Demián – When Evil Lurks (Machaco Films, Aramos Cine, Shudder) 

Yamazaki, Takashi – Godzilla Minus One (Robot Communications, Toho Studios) 

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction 

Daniels, L.E. – “Silk” (Hush, Don’t Wake the Monster: Stories Inspired by Stephen King, Twisted Wing Productions) 

Jones, Rachael K. – “Sound of Children Screaming” (Nightmare Magazine) 

Miller, Sam J. – “If Someone You Love Has Become a Vurdalak” (The Dark) 

O’Quinn, Cindy – “Quondam” (The Nightmare Never Ends, Exploding Head Fiction) 

Tabing, Nadine Aurora – “An Inherited Taste” (No Trouble at All, Cursed Morsels Press) 

Superior Achievement in Short Non-Fiction 

Bissett, Carina – “Words Wielded by Women” (Apex Magazine) 

Bulkin, Nadia – “Becoming Ungovernable: Latah, Amok, and Disorder in Indonesia,” (Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror, Black Spot Books) 

Kulski, K.P. – “100 Livers” (Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror, Black Spot Books) 

Murray, Lee – “Displaced Spirits” (Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror, Black Spot Books) 

Wetmore Jr, Kevin – “A Theatre of Ghosts, A Haunted Cinema: The Japanese Gothic as Theatrical Tradition in Gurozuka” (The Wenshan Review of Literature and Culture: Special Issue on Asian Gothic) 

Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel 

Dimaline, Cherie – Funeral Songs for Dying Girls (Tundra Book Group) 

Simmons, Kristen – Find Him Where You Left Him Dead (Tor Teen) 

Smith, Cynthia Leitich – Harvest House (Candlewick Press) 

Tingle, Chuck – Camp Damascus (Tor Nightfire/MacMillan/Titan) 

Tran, Trang Thanh – She Is a Haunting (Bloomsbury YA) 

ABOUT THE HWA
The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is a nonprofit organization of writers and publishing professionals around the world, dedicated to promoting dark literature and the interests of those who write it. Founded in the late 1980s, it now has more than 1800 members around the world and is the oldest and most respected professional organization for creators of horror fiction. The HWA encourages public interest in and appreciation of horror and dark fantasy literature and hosts an annual professional conference, StokerCon. HWA is also dedicated to recognizing and promoting diversity in the horror genre and practices a strict anti-harassment policy at all of its events.