Back from ALA But First Unfinished StokerCon Business

 I got back late last night from ALA Annual in Philly but while I was there, my annual Stoker Awards wrap up article went live on The LineUp. I take the top 5 fiction categories, give you an annotation for the winner and offer two read likes (w/ annotations as well).

Please click here to read the full article. I have also posted the introduction below.

Also, don't forget I have 15 backlist columns available on the site for free as well. All of them contain excellent Horror suggestions for a wide range of readers. Click here to access them all.

From the Haunted Stacks: 2024 Bram Stoker AwardsⓇ Wrap Up

Some of the darkest, scariest, and all around superior works of horror from last year.

Each year, the Horror Writers Association presents the Bram Stoker AwardsⓇ for Superior Achievement in thirteen categories. There are a few interesting things about these, the most prestigious awards in the horror genre. 

One, the award itself is very cool, an eight-inch replica of a haunted house, designed specifically for HWA by sculptor Steven Kirk. The door of the house opens to reveal a brass plaque engraved with the name of the winning work and its author. 

Two, the Bram Stoker AwardsⓇ are not for the “best” works of the year; rather, they are “for superior achievement” which leaves room for more titles to be considered in a broader context.

And three, the awards are chosen by a hybrid system of juries (one for each category) and member input. 

When you put all of this together, the results are always a cause for celebration.

And that is exactly what happened on June 14, 2025, when the Bram Stoker AwardsⓇ for books published in 2024 were presented live in Stamford, Connecticut, as part of StokerCon. 

Visit the Bram Stoker AwardsⓇ  official website for a full list of winners here. Or you can watch the entire ceremony for yourself in the YouTube video here. 

In Haunted Stacks style though, I am not here to simply list the winners for you. Rather, I will focus on the titles that won in five of the categories and offer you two read-alikes to continue your superior reading adventure.  

 Click here to read the article.

Back to morrow to begin the post ALA discussions.