The Horror Writers Association Releases the 2024 Bram Stoker Awards® Preliminary Ballot

COLUMBUS, OH, UNITED STATES, January 29, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Horror Writers Association (HWA) announces the Preliminary Ballot for the 2024 Bram Stoker Awards^®. The works showcase the wide array of creativity and talent in today’s dark fiction writing community. The next steps include further evaluation of the long-listed works; those that make the final ballot are officially referred to as Bram Stoker Awards^® Nominees. Winners are announced at the annual Bram Stoker Awards^® Gala, presented at StokerCon, June 12 to June 15, 2025, in Stamford Connecticut at the Hilton Stamford Hotel.

Laura Blackwell, administrative co-chair for the Bram Stoker Awards^®, says, “Congratulations to all the writers whose work appears on the Bram Stoker Awards^® Preliminary Ballot. Every item on this long list has been vetted by people who know and love horror writing like no one else: HWA members. I can't wait to see who they choose as the official Bram Stoker Awards^® Nominees, and of course who the winners are in June.”

With more than 2,000 members, the HWA is the premier writers’ organization in the horror and dark fiction genre. The HWA has presented the Bram Stoker Awards^® in various categories since 1987. The HWA Board and the Bram Stoker Awards^® Committee extend their congratulations to all those appearing on the Bram Stoker Awards^® Preliminary Ballot.

Blackwell adds, “The work you see on the Bram Stoker Awards^® Preliminary Ballot arrived through jury selection, in which HWA's volunteer jurors read all the submitted works—hundreds, in some categories—and some through popular demand on the Recommended Reading list. It is awe-inspiring to see the vast number of submissions and the wealth of talent among horror writers today.”

The 2024 Bram Stoker Awards^® Preliminary Ballot:

Superior Achievement in an Anthology

Ajram, Sofia — Bury Your Gays: An Anthology of Tragic Queer Horror (Ghoulish Books)

Coleborn, Peter and Chinn, Mike — Shadowplays (PS Publishing)

Costello, Rob — We Mostly Come Out at Night: 15 Queer Tales of Monsters, Angels & Other Creatures (Running Press)

Grassmann, Preston and Kelso, Chris — The Mad Butterfly's Ball (PS Publishing)

Gyzander, Carol and Taborska, Anna — Discontinue If Death Ensues: Tales from the Tipping Point (Flame Tree Publishing)

Murano, Doug and Bailey, Michael — Long Division: Stories of Social Decay, Societal Collapse and Bad Manners (Bad Hand Books)

Peter, Jessica and Bloom, Timaeus — Howls From the Scene of the Crime (Howl Society Press)

Ryan, Lindy — Mother Knows Best: Tales of Homemade Horror (A Women in Horror Anthology) (Black Spot Books)

Ryan, Lindy — The Darkest Night (Crooked Lane Books)

Yates, April and Knowles, Ray — Scissor Sisters (Brigids Gate Press)


Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection

Barron, Laird — Not a Speck of Light (Bad Hand Books)

Enriquez, Mariana — A Sunny Place for Shady People (Penguin)

Ghosh, Puloma — Mouth (Astra)

Maberry, Jonathan — Midnight Lullabies: Unquiet Stories and Poems (WordFire)

Mars, MJ — We've Already Gone Too Far (Paramonster)

Najberg, Andrew — In Those Fading Stars (Crystal Lake)

Pyles, Nelson W. — All These Steps Lead Down (Cold War Radio)

Sylvaine, Angela — The Dead Spot: Stories of Lost Girls (Dark Matter Ink)

Waggoner, Tim — Old Monsters Never Die (Winding Road Stories)

Yardley, Mercedes — Love is a Crematorium and Other Tales (Cemetery Dance)


Superior Achievement in a First Novel

Alering, Alisa — Smothermoss (Tin House Books)

Coles, Donyae — Midnight Rooms (Amistad)

Drake-Thomas, Jessica — Hollow Girls (Cemetery Dance Publications)

Gish, Elliott — Grey Dog (ECW Press)

Ham, Yeji Y. — The Invisible Hotel (Zando)

Kiefer, Jenny — This Wretched Valley (Quirk Books)

Kim, Monika — The Eyes Are the Best Part (Erewhon Books)

Ryan, Lindy — Bless Your Heart (Minotaur Books)

Sandeen, Del — This Cursed House (Berkley)

van Veen, Johanna — My Darling Dreadful Thing (Poisoned Pen Press)


Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel

Erman, Matthew (writer) and Beck, Sam (artist) — Loving, Ohio (Dark Horse Books)

Ha, Robin (writer/artist) — The Fox Maidens (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Hetland, Beth (writer/artist) — Tender (Fantagraphics Books)

Horvath, Patrick (writer/artist) — Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees (Penguin Random House)

Maass, Dave (writer) and Lay, Patrick (artist) — Death Strikes: The Emperor of Atlantis (Dark Horse Comics)

Peterson, Scott and Downing Hahn, Mary (writers) and Laxton, Meredith and Haralson, Sienna (artists) — The Old Willis Place (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Romesburg, Sam and Freeman, Sam (writers) and Vázquez, Rodrigo (artist) — Hound (Mad Cave Studios)

Tanabe, Gou (writer/artist) — H. P. Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu (Dark Horse Books)

Tynion, James, IV (writer) and Hixson, Joshua (artist)—- The Deviant (Image Comics)

Umber, Maggie (writer/artist) — Chrysanthemum Under The Waves (Maggie Umber LLC)


Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

Ajram, Sofia — Coup de Grâce (Titan Books)

Cassidy, Nat — Rest Stop (Shortwave Publishing)

Fairclough, Gemma — Bear Season (Wild Hunt Books)

Gu, Congyun “Mu Ming” (trans. Kiera Johnson ) — A Well-Fed Companion (Reactor, March 20 2024)

Hernandez, L.P. — In the Valley of the Headless Men (Cemetery Gates Media)

LaRocca, Eric — “All The Parts of You That Won’t Easily Burn” (This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances) (Titan Books)

McLeod Chapman, Clay — Kill Your Darling (Bad Hand Books)

Olivas, M. M. — “¡Sangronas! Un Lista de Terror” (Uncanny, September 2024)

Royce, Eden — Hollow Tongue (Raw Dog Screaming Press)

Watkins, Melissa A. — “Ol’ Big Head” (Lightspeed Magazine, December 2024) (Adamant Press)


Superior Achievement in Long Nonfiction

Bogutskaya, Anna — Feeding the Monster: Why Horror Has a Hold on Us (Faber & Faber)

Brewster, Scott and Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew — The Routledge Introduction to the American Ghost Story (Routledge)

Dauber, Jeremy —American Scary: A History of Horror, from Salem to Stephen King and Beyond (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill)

Duns, Ryan G., S.J. — Theology of Horror: The Hidden Depths of Popular Films (University of Notre Dame Press)

Honeycutt, Heidi — I Spit on Your Celluloid: The History of Women Directing Horror Movies (HeadPress)

Hughes, Emily C. — Horror for Weenies: Everything You Need to Know About the Films You’re Too Scared to Watch (Quirk Books)

McOuat, Allyson — The Call Is Coming from Inside the House (ECW Press)

Riekki, Ron and Wetmore Kevin J., Jr., eds. — The Many Lives of the Purge: Essays on the Horror Franchise (McFarland & Company, Inc.)

Sachar, Cassandra O’Sullivan, ed. — No More Haunted Dolls: Horror Fiction that Transcends the Tropes (Vernon Press)

Shultz, Erica — The Sweetest Taboo: An Unapologetic Guide to Child Kills in Film (Self-Published)


Superior Achievement in a Middle Grade Novel

Alkaf, Hanna — Tales from Cabin 23: Night of the Living Head (Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)

Averling, Mary — The Curse of Eelgrass Bog (Razorbill)

Collings, Michaelbrent — The Witch in the Woods (Shadow Mountain Publishing)

Cuevas, Adrianna — The No-Brainer's Guide to Decomposition (HarperCollins Children's Books)

Fournet, M. R. — Darkness and Demon Song (Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Publishing)

Hassan, Rochelle — Nox Winters and the Midnight Wolf (HarperCollins Children's Books)

Oshiro, Mark — Jasmine Is Haunted (Starscape, an imprint of Tor Publishing Group)

Ottone, Robert P. — There's Something Sinister in Center Field (Cemetery Gates Media)

Royce, Eden — The Creepening of Dogwood House (Walden Pond Press, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)

Ursu, Anne — Not Quite a Ghost (Walden Pond Press, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)


Superior Achievement in a Novel

Iglesias, Gabino — House of Bone and Rain (Mulholland Books)

Jones, Stephen Graham — I Was a Teenage Slasher (S&S/Saga Press)

Kiste, Gwendolyn — The Haunting of Velkwood (S&S/Saga Press)

Leede, CJ — American Rapture (Tor)

Malerman, Josh — Incidents Around the House (Del Rey)

McGregor, Tim — Eynhallow (Raw Dog Screaming Press)

Medina, Nick — Indian Burial Ground (Berkley)

Pelayo, Cynthia — Forgotten Sisters (Thomas Mercer)

Tingle, Chuck — Bury Your Gays (Tor)

Tremblay, Paul — Horror Movie (William Morrow)


Superior Achievement in Poetry

Anderson, Colleen — Weird Worlds (Weird House Press)

Blythe, Andrea — Necessary Poisons (Interstellar Flight Press)

Hodge, Jamal — The Dark Between the Twilight (Crystal Lake Publishing)

Iniguez, Pedro — Mexicans on the Moon: Speculative Poetry from a Possible Future (Space Cowboy Books)

Marinelli, Kayleigh — Medicine (Plan B Press)

Murray, Lee — Fox Spirit on a Distant Cloud (The Cuba Press)

Ness, Mari — A Few Mythic Paths (Porkbelly Press)

Saulson, Sumiko — Melancholia: A Book of Dark Poetry (Bludgeoned Girls Press)

Tolian, Brenda S. — Bestial Mouths (Raw Dog Screaming Press)

Wood, L. Marie — Imitation of Life (Falstaff Books)


Superior Achievement in a Screenplay

Beck, Scott and Woods, Bryan — Heretic (A24, Shiny Penny, Beck/Woods)

Eggers, Robert; Galeen, Henrik; and Stoker, Bram — Nosferatu (Focus Features, Maiden Voyage Pictures, Studio 8)

Fargeat, Coralie — The Substance (Working Title Film, Good Story, Blacksmith)

Lobel, Andrew — Immaculate (Black Bear, Fifty-Fifty Films, Middle Child Pictures)

McCarthy, Damian — Oddity (Keeper Pictures, Shudder)

McDonald, Ian — Woman of the Hour (AGC Studios, BondIt Media Capital, Vertigo Entertainment)

Perkins, Osgood — Longlegs (C2 Motion Picture Group, Creature Features, Oddfellow Entertainment)

Schoenbrun, Jane — I Saw the TV Glow (A24, Fruit Tree, Smudge Films)

Shields, Stephen and Busick, Guy — Abigail (Project X Entertainment, Radio Silence Productions)

Singer, Tilman — Cuckoo (Fiction Park, Neon, Waypoint Entertainment


Superior Achievement in Short Fiction

Barron, Laird — “Versus Versus” (Long Division: Stories of Social Decay, Societal Collapse, and Bad Manners) (Bad Hand Books)

Bolton, Rachel — “And She Had Been So Reasonable” (Apex Magazine Issue 147) (Apex Book Company)

Brown, Sasha — “To the Wolves” (Weird Horror #9) (Undertow Publications)

Busby, R. A. — “Ten Thousand Crawling Children” (Nightmare Magazine January 2024) (Adamant Press)

Dawson, Emilie — “Snowblind” (NonBinary Review Issue #35: Old Friends) (Zoetic Press)

Forna, Victor — “like blood on the mouths of death” (Nightmare Magazine May 2024) (Adamant Press)

Greenwood, Gage — “Two Shows on a Saturday” (Levitating: Stories) (Tanner’s Switch Publishing)

Jakubowski, Raven — “She Sheds Her Skin” (Nightmare Magazine November 2024) (Adamant Press)

Jensen, Nayani — “Rescue Station” (Northern Nights) (Undertow Publications)

Matthews, Ben “Flesh of My Flesh” (Spawn 2: More Weird Horror Tales about Pregnancy, Birth and Babies) (IFWG Publishing)


Superior Achievement in Short Non-Fiction

Andersen, Joceline — “Bad Blood: Serial Killers, True Crime, and the Racial Imaginary In Shadow of a Doubt” (Canadian Journal of Film Studies Spring 2024 (University of Toronto Press)

Arnzen, Michael — “Screamin’ in the Rain: The Orchestration of Catharsis in William Castle’s The Tingler” (What Sleeps Beneath)

Donner, Claire — “All is the Fear and Nothing is the Love: The Phantom of the Auteur in Dario Argento’s Opera” (Severin Films)

Kelso, Chris — “On Melting: Essays Against the Body” (Filthy Loot/Control)

Liaguno, Vince — “The Horror of Donna Berzatto and Her Feast of the Seven Fishes” (You’re Not Alone in the Dark) (Cemetery Dance Publications)

Markov, Haralambi — “The H Word: My Father, My Private Monster” (Nightmare Magazine, May 2024) (Adamant Press)

Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew — “Hidden Histories: The Many Ghosts of Disney’s Haunted Mansion.” (Disney Gothic: Dark Shadows in the House of Mouse) (Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.)

Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew — “Those Who Eat and Those Who Get Eaten: Cannibalism and Capitalism in Melville’s Typee and ‘The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids’” (Gothic Melville) (University of Wales Press)

Wetmore, Kevin J., Jr. —“Jackson and Haunting of the Stage” (Journal of Shirley Jackson Studies Vol. 2 No. 1) (Shirley Jackson Society)

Wood, Lisa — "Blacks in Film and Cultivated Bias" (No More Haunted Dolls: Horror Fiction that Transcends the Tropes) (Vernon Press)


Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel

Ancrum, K. — Icarus (HarperCollins Children's Books)

Cesare, Adam — Clown in a Cornfield 3: The Church of Frendo (HarperCollins Children's Books)

Cobell, K. A. — Looking for Smoke (HarperCollins Children's Books)

Fraistat, Ann — A Place for Vanishing (Delacorte Press)

Kisner, Logan-Ashley — Old Wounds (Delacorte Press)

Kölsch, Freddie — Now, Conjurers (Union Square & Co.)

Parker, Natalie C. — Come Out, Come Out (G.P. Putnam Son's)

Senf, Lora — The Losting Fountain (Union Square & Co.)

Vishny, A. R. — Night Owls (HarperCollins Children's Books)

Wellington, Joelle — The Blond Dies First (Simon & Schuster)

Please refer to this list as the Preliminary Ballot for the 2024 Bram Stoker Awards^®. This list should not be confused with the Official Bram Stoker Awards^® Nominees, which will be formally announced on or about February 23, 2025. The winners of this season’s awards will be announced at the annual Bram Stoker Awards^® Gala at StokerCon.

About the Horror Writers Association:

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 2,000 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. Learn more on the HWA website.

Please direct any questions regarding the Preliminary Ballot for the 2024 Bram Stoker Awards^® to the Vice President of HWA and/or the Chair of the Bram Stoker Awards^® through the HWA contact page on the HWA website.

Desiree Duffy
Black Chateau
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