What a great con! The World Horror Convention is my favorite event of the year. I loved reconnecting with friends and making new ones. So fun. I roomed with John Dixon (author of PHOENIX ISLAND), which was hilarious and included many late night chess games.

Last night, I was in stitches as the 2014 Bram Stoker Awards were announced. I had the honor of seeing SUFFER THE CHILDREN nominated in a very strong field. (Thanks to you all for your best wishes!) Congrats to Steve Rasnic Tem for winning Superior Achievement in a Novel! And congrats to all the other winners!

Here’s the list:

Superior Achievement in a NOVEL
Blood Kin by Steve Rasnic Tem (Solaris Books)

Superior Achievement in a FIRST NOVEL
Mr. Wicker by Maria Alexander (Raw Dog Screaming Press)

Superior Achievement in a YOUNG ADULT NOVEL
Phoenix Island by John Dixon (Simon & Schuster/Gallery Books)

Superior Achievement in a GRAPHIC NOVEL
Bad Blood by Jonathan Maberry (Dark Horse Books)

Superior Achievement in LONG FICTION
“Fishing for Dinosaurs” by Joe R. Lansdale (Limbus, Inc., Book II, JournalStone)

Superior Achievement in SHORT FICTION (tie)
“The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family” by Usman T. Malik (Qualia Nous, Written Backwards)
“Ruminations” by Rena Mason (Qualia Nous, Written Backwards)

Superior Achievement in a SCREENPLAY
The Babadook by Jennifer Kent (Causeway Films)

Superior Achievement in an ANTHOLOGY
Fearful Symmetries edited by Ellen Datlow (ChiZine Publications)

Superior Achievement in a FICTION COLLECTION
Soft Apocalypses by Lucy A. Snyder (Raw Dog Screaming Press)

Superior Achievement in NON-FICTION
Shooting Yourself in the Head For Fun and Profit: A Writer’s Survival Guide by Lucy A. Snyder (Post Mortem Press)

Superior Achievement in a POETRY COLLECTION
Forgiving Judas by Tom Piccirilli (Crossroad Press)

DeadEndFollies.com recently reviewed SUFFER THE CHILDREN, saying the novel “draws a clear portrait of how a loving parent can turn into a monster for all the wrong reasons. SUFFER THE CHILDREN offers plenty of gore and spectacular horror scenes, but its the psychological accuracy of such a disaster scenario that makes it such a terrifying novel …

“SUFFER THE CHILDREN is absolutely harrowing, so emotionally demanding that it becomes physically exhausting, it’s convincing as all hell. I don’t think it’s a novel that’s meant to be enjoyed in the traditional sense of the term. It’s meant to challenge you, test your empathy against difficult fictional scenarios and open up your perspective about the end of the world. If you thought that THE STAND was some kind of ultimate apocalyptic horror scenario, you’ve haven’t experienced the real deal yet.”

Wow. Thanks, Ben!

Click here to read the complete review.

The Horror Writers Association, the premier organization of writers and publishers of horror and dark fantasy, today announced the 2014 nominees for the iconic Bram Stoker Award®.

I’m proud to say SUFFER THE CHILDREN made the final ballot and is now officially nominated for Superior Achievement in a Novel.

Congratulations to everybody who made the final ballot!

Superior Achievement in a Novel

Craig DiLouie – Suffer the Children (Gallery Books of Simon & Schuster)
Patrick Freivald – Jade Sky (JournalStone)
Chuck Palahniuk – Beautiful You (Jonathan Cape, Vintage/Penguin Random House UK)
Christopher Rice – The Vines (47North)
Steve Rasnic Tem – Blood Kin (Solaris Books)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel

Maria Alexander – Mr. Wicker (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
J.D. Barker – Forsaken (Hampton Creek Press)
David Cronenberg – Consumed (Scribner)
Michael Knost – Return of the Mothman (Woodland Press)
Josh Malerman – Bird Box (Harper Collins)

Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel

Jake Bible – Intentional Haunting (Permuted Press)
John Dixon – Phoenix Island (Simon & Schuster/Gallery Books)
Kami Garcia – Unmarked (The Legion Series Book 2) (Little Brown Books for Young Readers)
Tonya Hurley – Passionaries (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Peter Adam Salomon – All Those Broken Angels (Flux)

Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel

Emily Carroll – Through the Woods (Margaret K. McElderry Books)
Joe Hill – Locke and Key, Vol. 6 (IDW Publishing)
Joe R. Lansdale and Daniele Serra – I Tell You It’s Love (Short, Scary Tales Publications)
Jonathan Maberry – Bad Blood (Dark Horse Books)
Paul Tobin – The Witcher (Dark Horse Books)

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

Taylor Grant – “The Infected” (Cemetery Dance #71) (Cemetery Dance)
Eric J. Guignard – “Dreams of a Little Suicide” (Hell Comes to Hollywood II: Twenty-Two More Tales of Tinseltown Terror (Volume 2)) (Big Time Books)
Joe R. Lansdale – “Fishing for Dinosaurs” (Limbus, Inc., Book II) (JournalStone)
Jonathan Maberry – “Three Guys Walk into a Bar” (Limbus, Inc., Book II) (JournalStone)
Joe McKinney – “Lost and Found” (Limbus, Inc., Book II) (JournalStone)

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction

Hal Bodner – “Hot Tub” (Hell Comes to Hollywood II: Twenty-Two More Tales of Tinseltown Terror (Volume 2)) (Big Time Books)
Sydney Leigh – “Baby’s Breath” (Bugs: Tales That Slither, Creep, and Crawl) (Great Old Ones Publishing)
Usman T. Malik – “The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family” (Qualia Nous) (Written Backwards)
Rena Mason – “Ruminations” (Qualia Nous) (Written Backwards)
John Palisano – “Splinterette” (Widowmakers: A Benefit Anthology of Dark Fiction) (Widowmaker Press)
Damien Angelica Walters – “The Floating Girls: A Documentary” (Jamais Vu, Issue Three) (Post Mortem Press)

Superior Achievement in a Screenplay

Scott M. Gimple – The Walking Dead: “The Grove”, episode 4:14 (AMC)
Jennifer Kent – The Babadook (Causeway Films)
John Logan – Penny Dreadful: “Séance” (Desert Wolf Productions/Neal Street Productions)
Steven Moffat – Doctor Who: “Listen” (British Broadcasting Corporation)
James Wong – American Horror Story: Coven: “The Magical Delights of Stevie Nicks” (FX Network)

Superior Achievement in an Anthology

Michael Bailey – Qualia Nous (Written Backwards)
Jason V Brock – A Darke Phantastique (Cycatrix Press)
Ellen Datlow – Fearful Symmetries (ChiZine Publications)
Chuck Palahniuk, Richard Thomas, and Dennis Widmyer – Burnt Tongues (Medallion Press)
Brett J. Talley – Limbus, Inc., Book II (JournalStone)

Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection

Stephen Graham Jones – After the People Lights Have Gone Off (Dark House Press)
John R. Little – Little by Little (Bad Moon Books)
Helen Marshall – Gifts for the One Who Comes After (ChiZine Publications)
Lucy Snyder – Soft Apocalypses (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
John F.D. Taff – The End in All Beginnings (Grey Matter Press)

Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction

Jason V Brock – Disorders of Magnitude (Rowman & Littlefield)
S.T. Joshi – Lovecraft and a World in Transition (Hippocampus Press)
Leslie S. Klinger – The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft (Liveright Publishing Corp., a division of W.W. Norton & Co.)
Joe Mynhardt and Emma Audsley – Horror 101: The Way Forward (Crystal Lake Publishing)
Lucy Snyder – Shooting Yourself in the Head For Fun and Profit: A Writer’s Survival Guide (Post Mortem Press)

Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection

Robert Payne Cabeen – Fearworms: Selected Poems (Fanboy Comics)
Corrinne De Winter and Alessandro Manzetti – Venus Intervention (Kipple Officina Libraria)
Tom Piccirilli – Forgiving Judas (Crossroad Press)
Marge Simon and Mary Turzillo – Sweet Poison (Dark Renaissance Books)
Stephanie Wytovich – Mourning Jewelry (Raw Dog Screaming Press)