exlibrislarsen

ZF2 features the Stoker®-nominated shorts “Primal Tongue” by Michael Bailey and “The Hunger Artist” by Lisa Mannetti.

A Bram Stoker Award® is among the most coveted accolades in dark fantasy and horror writing. The 27th annual Stokers will be presented tomorrow night at the DoubleTree Hilton in Portland, Oregon, and I’m publishing my picks, submitted without comment based not just on what I’ve read, but the general buzz.

In other words, these aren’t necessarily the picks that I would make. It’s my somewhat unscientific prediction based on anecdotal evidence and gut feeling, so take them for what their worth, and remember, the awards are for “superior achievement”, not “best of the year”, and ties are totally acceptable. In fact, the voting system promotes them.

Without further ado, here’s how I think it might unfold tomorrow night at the awards banquet:

• Poetry Collection: Bruce Boston – DARK ROADS (Dark Renaissance Books)
• Non-Fiction: William F. Nolan – NOLAN ON BRADBURY (Hippocampus Press)
• Fiction Collection: (tie) James Dorr – THE TEARS OF ISIS (Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing) and Gene O’Neill – DANCE OF THE BLUE LADY (Bad Moon Books)
• Anthology: Eric J. Guignard (ed.) – AFTER DEATH… (Dark Moon Books)
• Screenplay: Glen Mazzara – THE WALKING DEAD: “Welcome to the Tombs” (AMC TV)
• Short Fiction: Michael Bailey – “Primal Tongue” (ZIPPERED FLESH 2, Smart Rhino Publications)
• Long Fiction: Gary Braunbeck – “The Great Pity” (CHIRAL MAD 2, Written Backwards)
• Graphic Novel: Brandon Seifert – WITCH DOCTOR, VOL. 2 (Image Comics)
• Young Adult Novel: Joe McKinney – DOG DAYS (JournalStone)
• First Novel: Rena Mason – THE EVOLUTIONIST (Nightscape Press)
• Novel: Joe Hill – NOS4A2 (William Morrow)

There. Now my picks are public, and if I say: “I called that”, no one can say “bullshit”. Good luck to all the nominees. If you haven’t read them all, add them to your reading queue. They wouldn’t have made it this far if they weren’t excellent reads.

Christian A. Larsen is the author of LOSING TOUCH, featuring a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Piers Anthony, now available in paperback and ebook formats from Post Mortem Press.

This entry was posted on May 9, 2014 at 1:41 pm and is filed under Observations & Musings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.