The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the
Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in
dark fantasy
Dark fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporate disturbing and frightening themes of fantasy. It often combines fantasy with elements of horror or has a gloomy dark tone or a sense of horror and d ...
and
horror writing.
History
The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since 1988, and the winners are selected by ballot of the Active members of the HWA. They are named after Irish horror writer
Bram Stoker
Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busi ...
, author of the novel ''
Dracula
''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taki ...
'', among others.
Several members of the HWA—including
Dean Koontz
Dean Ray Koontz (born July 9, 1945) is an American author. His novels are billed as suspense thrillers, but frequently incorporate elements of horror, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and satire. Many of his books have appeared on ''The New ...
—were reluctant to endorse such writing awards, fearing it would incite competitiveness rather than friendly admiration. The HWA therefore went to lengths to avoid mean-spirited competition, they agreed to specifically seek out new and neglected writers and works, and officially issue Awards not based on "best of the year" criteria, but "for superior achievement", which allows for ties.
Nominated works come from two different processes. Works can be recommended by any member of the HWA and a separate list of works is presented by a Jury for each category. Members with Active status then vote on works appearing on preliminary ballots. The field is thereby narrowed to the Final ballot; and Active members vote to choose the winners from that Final Ballot.
Winners of a Bram Stoker Award receive a statuette made by New York firm,
Society Awards.
The terms Bram Stoker Award and Bram Stoker Awards are registered trademarks of the Horror Writers Association.
Categories
Current categories
As of 2021 year of eligibility, with the ceremony convened in 2022, the Bram Stoker Award is presented for "Superior Achievement" in the following categories:
*
Novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...
(1987–)
*
First Novel (1987–)
*
Young Adult Novel
Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults.
The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...
(2011–)
*
Graphic Novel
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
(2011–)
*
Long Fiction (1998–)
*
Short Fiction
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...
(1998–)
*
Anthology
In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors.
In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically cate ...
(1998–)
*
Fiction Collection (1998–)
*
Poetry Collection
A poetry collection is often a compilation of several poems by one poet to be published in a single volume or chapbook. A collection can include any number of poems, ranging from a few (e.g. the four long poems in T. S. Eliot's ''Four Quarte ...
(2000–)
*
Non-Fiction
Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with b ...
(1987–)
*
Short Non-Fiction (2019–)
*
Screenplay
''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993.
Background
After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, f ...
(1998–2004, 2011–)
*
Lifetime Achievement (1987–)
Discontinued categories
Discontinued categories include:
*
Novelette (1987–1997)
*
Short Story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...
(1987–1997)
*
Collection (1987–1997)
*
Work for Young Readers (1998–2004)
* Alternative Forms:
**
Other Media (1993, 1998–2000)
**
Alternative Forms (2001–2004)
*
Illustrated Narrative (1998–2004)
Past winners
As of 2019,
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...
holds the record for both the most nominations (33) and wins (13).
Other past award winners include:
*
Linda Addison
*
Maria Alexander
*
Michael Arnzen
*
Clive Barker
*
Laird Barron
Laird Samuel Barron (born 1970) is an American author and poet, much of whose work falls within the horror, noir, and dark fantasy genres. He has also been the managing editor of the online literary magazine '' Melic Review''. He lives in Ups ...
*
Charles Beaumont
*
Robert Bloch
Robert Albert Bloch (; April 5, 1917September 23, 1994) was an American fiction writer, primarily of crime, psychological horror and fantasy, much of which has been dramatized for radio, cinema and television. He also wrote a relatively small ...
*
Bruce Boston
Bruce Boston (born 1943) is an American speculative fiction writer and poet.
Early years
Bruce Boston was born in Chicago and grew up in Southern California.Diane SeversonInterview with Bruce Boston''Amazing Stories'' March 15, 2013 (accessed ...
*
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and ...
*
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultim ...
*
Gary A. Braunbeck
*
Ramsey Campbell
Ramsey Campbell (born 4 January 1946) is an English horror fiction writer, editor and critic who has been writing for well over fifty years. He is the author of over 30 novels and hundreds of short stories, many of them winners of literary awa ...
*
Douglas Clegg
*
Don Coscarelli
*
Ellen Datlow
*
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of '' Psycho'' ...
*
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gra ...
*
David Gerrold
*
Owl Goingback
Owl Goingback (born 1959) is an American author of horror fiction.
Works
He served as a jet engine mechanic in the Air Force
An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfa ...
*
Christopher Golden
Christopher Golden (born July 15, 1967) is an American author of horror, fantasy, and suspense novels for adults and teens.
Early life
Golden was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. He graduated from Tufts ...
*
Rain Graves
*
Thomas Harris
*
Joe Hill
*
Nina Kiriki Hoffman
*
Nancy Holder
Nancy Holder (born August 29, 1953) is an American writer and the author of several novels, including numerous tie-in books based on the TV series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. She's also written fiction related to several other science fiction ...
*
Brian A. Hopkins
*
Del Howison
Del Howison (born June 3, 1953) is an American horror author, editor and actor.
Life and career
Howison was born in Detroit, Michigan but moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting; with his distinctive long white hair, he was a natural ...
*
Charlee Jacob
*
Stephen Jones
*
Steven A. Katz
Steven Katz (born October 8, 1959) is an American writer best known for his work on ''Shadow of the Vampire''. He received a B. A. in English and Art History from Brown University in 1982 and an M. A. in English from Columbia University in 1984 ...
*
Brian Keene
*
Jack Ketchum
Dallas William Mayr (November 10, 1946 – January 24, 2018), better known by his pen name Jack Ketchum, was an American horror fiction author. He was the recipient of four Bram Stoker Awards and three further nominations. His novels inclu ...
*
Caitlin R. Kiernan
Caitlin () is a female given name of Irish origin. Historically, the Irish name Caitlín was anglicized as Cathleen or Kathleen. In the 1970s, however, non-Irish speakers began pronouncing the name according to English spelling rules as , which ...
*
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...
*
Michael Knost
*
Kathe Koja
Kathe Koja (born 1960) is an American writer. She was initially known for her intense speculative fiction for adults, but has written young adult novels, the historical fiction ''Under the Poppy'' trilogy, and a fictional biography of Christopher ...
*
Sarah Langan
*
Joe R. Lansdale
*
Richard Laymon
Richard Carl Laymon (January 14, 1947 – February 14, 2001) was an American author of suspense and horror fiction, particularly within the splatterpunk subgenre.
Life and career
Laymon was born and raised outside of Chicago, Illinois, then li ...
*
Thomas Ligotti
Thomas Ligotti (born July 9, 1953) is an American horror writer. His writings are rooted in several literary genres – most prominently weird fiction – and have been described by critics as works of ''philosophical'' horror, often formed into ...
*
Bentley Little
Bentley Little (born 1960 in Mesa, Arizona) is an American author of horror fiction. Publishing an average of a novel a year since 1990, Little avoids publicity and rarely does promotional work or interviews for his writing.
Early life
Little is ...
*
Jonathan Maberry
Jonathan Maberry (born May 18, 1958) is an American suspense author, anthology editor, comic book writer, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer. He was named one of the Today's Top Ten Horror Writers.
...
*
George R. R. Martin
*
Elizabeth Massie
Elizabeth Spilman Massie is an American author. She lives outside Waynesboro, Virginia with illustrator Cortney Skinner.
Career
Elizabeth Massie is a two-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of horror novels and short fiction. She won the award ...
*
Rena Mason
*
Richard Matheson
*
Glen Mazzara
*
Robert McCammon
*
Thomas F. Monteleone
*
Michael Moorcock
Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has worke ...
*
Alan Moore
Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...
*
David Morrell
*
Lisa Morton
*
Yvonne Navarro
Yvonne Navarro (born 1957 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American author who has published over twenty novels. Of those twenty, the titles ''AfterAge'', ''deadrush'', ''Final Impact'', ''Red Shadows'', ''DeadTimes'', ''That's Not My Name'' and ''M ...
*
William F. Nolan
William Francis Nolan (March 6, 1928 – July 15, 2021) was an American author who wrote hundreds of stories in the science fiction, fantasy, horror, and crime fiction genres.Jason V. Brock, "Finding Sanctuary: Running from the Zone to Logan" i ...
*
Joyce Carol Oates
Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and non-fiction. Her novels '' Bla ...
*
Weston Ochse
*
Norman Partridge
*
Tom Piccirilli
*
Alex Proyas
*
Alan Rodgers
*
Bruce Holland Rogers
Bruce Holland Rogers is an American author of short fiction who also writes under the pseudonym Hanovi Braddock. His stories have won a Pushcart Prize, two Nebula Awards, the Bram Stoker Award, two World Fantasy Awards, the Micro Award, and ...
*
J. K. Rowling
*
Al Sarrantonio
Al Sarrantonio (born May 25, 1952) is an American horror and science fiction writer, editor and publisher who has authored more than 50 books and 90 short stories. He has also edited numerous anthologies and has been called "brilliant" and "a ...
*
John Shirley
*
Dan Simmons
*
Marge Simon
Marge Baliff Simon (born 1942) is an American artist and a writer of speculative poetry and fiction.
Biography
Early life
Marge Simon was born in Bethesda, Maryland, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado.
Education and career
She received her B ...
*
Lucy A. Snyder
Lucy A. Snyder (born 1971) is an American science fiction, fantasy, humor, Horror fiction, horror, and nonfiction writer.
Biography
Born in South Carolina, Snyder grew up in San Angelo, Texas, after her father was briefly assigned to Goodfellow ...
*
Peter Straub
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a su ...
*
Steve
''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen
Notable people with the name include:
steve jops
* Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people
* Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people
* Steve ...
and
Melanie Tem
Melanie Tem (née Kubachko; April 11, 1949 – February 9, 2015) was an American horror and dark fantasy author.
Melanie Kubachko grew up in Saegertown, Pennsylvania. She attended Allegheny College as an undergraduate, and earned her master's i ...
*
Robert Weinberg
*
Rocky Wood
Rocky Wood (19 October 1959 – 1 December 2014) was a New Zealand-born Australian writer and researcher best known for his books about horror author Stephen King. He was the first author from outside North America or Europe to hold the pos ...
*
EV Knight
References
External links
Official Website
{{Bram Stoker
*
Bram Stoker Award
Awards established in 1987