The 2023 Bram Stoker Awards® Final Ballot

 

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 2,000 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 everyone may refer to them as such immediately after the announcement.

 

The HWA Board and the Bram Stoker Awards® Committee congratulate all those appearing on the Final Ballot. Notes about the voting process will appear after the ballot listing.

 

If your work appears on this ballot and you would like to offer it to voting members of the HWA in the Internet Mailer to be sent on or around February 26, please see important information following the ballot.

 

The 2023 Bram Stoker Awards® Final Ballot

 

Superior Achievement in an Anthology

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•  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

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•  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

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•  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

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•  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

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•  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

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•  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

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•  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

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•  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)

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

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

 

Superior Achievement in Poetry

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•  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

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•  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

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•  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

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•  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

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•  Bayron, Kalynn – You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight (Bloomsbury YA)

•  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)

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

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June 1: The 2023 Bram Stoker Awards® will be announced during the Annual Bram Stoker Awards Banquet held during StokerCon™ 2024 in San Diego, California.

 

Note: Banquet Tickets are separate from the Convention Membership and should be purchased directly from: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stokercon-2024-tickets-657825793657. Click “Tickets” to see the Banquet option as an add-on to your existing registration or an option for a new registration.

 

Please direct any questions about the ballot to: stokerchair@horror.org. Questions about StokerCon should go to info@stokercon.com. Questions about the HWA should go to director@horror.org.  

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Scholarship from Hell recipient: Jonathan Helland 

 

A lifelong fan of horror who has always wanted to attend Stokercon, Jonathan's submission was filled with heart and demonstrated how meaningful attending this year would be for him. With Jonathan's added commitment to helping students, we believe that with the scholarship to StokerCon, Jonathan's path to professionalism and raising his community will only continue to grow.