Another year has rolled around, and with it another edition of the Bram Stoker Awards, presented by the Horror Writers Association. After numerous juries and committees churned through all the prose work published in the last year, they’ve officially released their preliminary ballot, a shortlist of 130 titles to be voted on by the HWA for final nomination next month.
The awards are split into an appropriately ominous thirteen categories, awarding superior achievement in anthologies, fiction collections, first novels, graphic novels, long fiction and non-fiction, middle grade novels, standard published novels, poetry, screenplays, short fiction and non-fiction, and young adult novels. Voting for categories will run through February 15, after which official nominees will be announced.
Notable names that appear on the preliminary ballot include Ryan Coogler, JT Mollner, and Zach Cregger for their work on the screenplays of Sinners, The Long Walk, and Weapons respectively. Other shortlisted names include Pat Cassells for his short non-fiction Coney Island’s Last Surviving Classic Haunted Ride, as well as Stephen Graham Jones for The Buffalo Hunter Hunter and his short non-fiction Why Horror?, and Clay McLeod Chapman, who’s been busy enough to earn a place in four categories, including standard novels and young adult novels.
Popular horror writing also included on the list includes One Bad Night and Other Stories, The October Film Haunt, Grady Hendrix’s Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, and We’re Not Safe Here. Shortlisted poetry collections include Everything Endless, Strange Flowers, and Slender Bones in Sacred Soil, alongside graphic novels like Athanasia, Ghostbox, and Exquisite Corpses.
“The Preliminary Ballot represents the discernment of thirteen awards juries, the work of HWA staffers and awards committee, and the admiration of the entire HWA membership,” says the awards committee’s co-chair Laura Blackwell. “We’re delighted to present this curated list of 130 pieces of horror fiction and non-fiction, and I’m excited to see what our voting members select for the Final Ballot.”
For more information on the Bram Stoker Awards and to check out the entire preliminary ballot, you can check out their website.
