The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is pleased to announce the Preliminary Ballot for the 2022 Bram Stoker Awards®. The HWA (see http://www.horror.org/) is the premier writers organization in the horror and dark fiction genre, with more than 1,800 members. We have presented the Bram Stoker Awards in various categories since 1987 (see https://www.thebramstokerawards.com/)

Works on this ballot are not referred to as “nominees” or “finalists.” Only works appearing on the Final Ballot may be referred to as “nominated works” and their authors as “finalists.”

The HWA Board and the Bram Stoker Awards® Committee congratulate all those appearing on the Preliminary Ballot. Notes about the voting process will appear after the ballot listing.

If your work appears on this ballot and you would like to offer it to voting members of the HWA in the Internet Mailer to be sent on or about January 28, please see important information following the ballot.

The 2022 Bram Stoker Awards® Preliminary Ballot

Superior Achievement in a Novel

• Baxter, Alan – Sallow Bend (Cemetery Dance Publications)
• Iglesias, Gabino – The Devil Takes You Home (Mullholland Press)
• Ihli, Noelle W. –Ask for Andrea (Dynamite Books)
• Katsu, Alma – The Fervor (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
• King, Stephen – Fairy Tale (Scribner)
• Kiste, Gwendolyn – Reluctant Immortals (Saga Press)
• Kraus, Daniel – The Ghost That Ate Us: The Tragic True Story of the Burger City Poltergeist (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
• Malerman, Josh – Daphne (Del Rey)
• Nix, Gwendolyn – I Have Asked to Be Where No Storms Came (Crystal Lake Publishing)
• Roberts, Nick – The Exorcist’s House (Crystal Lake Publishing)
• Ward, Catriona – Sundial (Tor Nightfire)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel

• Adams, Erin –Jackal (Bantam Books)
• Cañas, Isabel –The Hacienda (Berkley)
• Durgin, John –Cursed Among Us (Independently published)
• Emerson, Ramona –Shutter (Soho Crime)
• Fawcett, Jennifer –Beneath the Stairs (Atria Books)
• Gray, John –Desecrated (Ellysian Press)
• Hans, Sarah – Entomophobia (Omnium Gatherum)
• Jones, KC –Black Tide (Tor Nightfire)
• Nogle, Christi –Beulah (Cemetery Gates Media)
• Wilkes, Ally –All the White Spaces (Emily Bestler Books/Atria)

Superior Achievement in a Middle Grade Novel

• Bayron, Kalynn – The Vanquishers (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
• Brown, Roseanne A. – Serwa Boateng’s Guide to Slaying Vampires (Rick Riordan Presents/Disney Hyperion)
• Chow, Derrick – Ravenous Things (Disney Hyperion)
• Dawson, Delilah S. – Camp Scare (Delacorte Press)
• Hahn, Mary Downing – What We Saw (Clarion Books)
• Kraus, Daniel – They Stole Our Hearts (Henry Holt and Co.)
• Malinenko, Ally – This Appearing House (Katherine Tegen Books)
• Poblocki, Dan – Tales to Keep You Up at Night (Penguin Workshop)
• Senf, Lora – The Clackity (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
• Stringfellow, Lisa – A Comb of Wishes (Quill Tree Books)

Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel

• Aquilone, James (editor) – Kolchak: The Night Stalker: 50^th Anniversary (Moonstone Books)
• Barnes, Rodney (author),Alexander, Jason Shawn (artist), NCT, Luis (artist), and Mitten, Chris (artist) – Killadelphia, Vol. 4 (Image Comics)
• Gailey, Sarah (author) and Bak, Pius (artist) – Eat the Rich (Boom! Studios)
• Lemire, Jeff (author)and Nguyen, Dustin (artist)– Little Monsters, Vol 1 (Image Comics)
• Manzetti, Alessandro (author) and Cardoselli, Stefano (artist) – Kraken Inferno: The Last Hunt (Independent Legions Publishing)
• Tynion IV, James (authors) and Brombal, Tate and Shehan, Chris (artist) – House of Slaughter, Vol. 1 (Boom! Studios)
• Tynion IV, James (author) and Bueno, Alvaro Martinez (artist) – The Nice House on the Lake, Vol. 1 (DC Comics)
• Tynion IV, James (author) and Dell’Edera, Werther (artist) – Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 4 (Boom! Studios)
• Tynion IV, James (author), Fullerton, Gavin (artist), and O’Halloran, Chris (artist) – The Closet, Vol. 1 (Image Comics)
• Young, Skottie (author) and Corona, Jorge (artist) – The Me You Love in the Dark (Image Comics)

Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel

• Anderson, Lily –Scout’s Honor (Henry Holt and Co.)
• Fraistat, Ann –What We Harvest (Delacorte Press)
• Jackson, Tiffany D. –The Weight of Blood (Katherine Tegen Books)
• Lesperance, Nicole –The Depths (Razorbill)
• Marshall, Kate Alice –These Fleeting Shadows (Viking)
• Ottone, Robert P. –The Triangle (Raven Tale Publishing)
• Parker, Amy Christine –Flight 171 (Underlined)
• Schwab, V.E. –Gallant (Greenwillow Books)
• Tirado, Vincent –Burn Down, Rise Up (Sourcebooks Fire)
• White, Andrew Joseph –Hell Followed with Us (Peachtree Teen)

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

• Allan, Lucy Elizabeth–Skin Grows Over (Ghost Orchid Press)
• Allred, Rebecca J. and White, Gordon B. –And in Her Smile, the World (Trepidatio Publishing)
• Campbell, Rebecca –The Talosite (Undertow Publications)
• Carmen, Christa – “Through the Looking Glass and Straight into Hell” (Orphans of Bliss: Tales of Addiction Horror) (Wicked Run Press)
• Hightower, Laurel – Below (Ghoulish Books)
• Katsu, Alma –The Wehrwolf (Amazon Original Stories)
• Knight, EV – Three Days in the Pink Tower(Creature Publishing)
• Kulski, K.P. –House of Pungsu (Bizarro Pulp Press)
• Ruthnum, Naben – Helpmeet (Undertow Publications)
• Shaw, M. – One Hand to Hold, One Hand to Carve (Tenebrous Press)

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction

• Baglio, Joy – “They Could Have Been Yours” (The Missouri Review, No. 45.1)
• Benedetto, Warren – “Blame” (The Dread Machine)
• Dries, Aaron – “Nona Doesn’t Dance” (Cut to Care: A Collection of Little Hurts) (IFWG Australia, IFWG International)
• Gwilym, Douglas – “Poppy’s Poppy” (Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine, Vol. V, No. 6)
• Hinkle, Larry – “That’s What Friends Are For” (Dark Recesses Press, Vol. 6, No. 16) (Dark Recesses Press)
• McCarthy, J.A.W.  – “The Only Thing Different Will Be the Body” (A Woman Built by Man) (Cemetery Gates Media)
• Rigole, Emily – “The Bear Across the Way” (PseudoPod) (Escape Artists Foundation)
• Taborska, Anna – “A Song for Barnaby Jones” (Zagava)
• Taborska, Anna – “The Star” (Great British Horror 7: Major Arcane) (Black Shuck Books)
• Yardley, Mercedes M – “Fracture” (Mother: Tales of Love and Terror) (Weird Little Worlds)

Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection

• Ashe, Paula D. – We Are Here to Hurt Each Other (Nictitating Books)
• Burnett, Justin A. –The Puppet King and Other Atonements (Trepidatio Publishing)
• Couturier, Scott J– The Box (Hybrid Sequence Media)
• Joseph, RJ – Hell Hath No Sorrow Like a Woman Haunted (The Seventh Terrace)
• Khaw, Cassandra – Breakable Things (Undertow Publications)
• Raglin, Eric – Extinction Hymns (Brigids Gate Press)
• Schwaeble, Hank – Moonless Nocturne (Esker & Riddle Press)
• Stephens, Caleb – If Only a Heart and Other Tales of Terror (Salt Heart Press)
• Thomas, Richard – Spontaneous Human Combustion (Keylight Books)
• Veres, Attila– The Black Maybe (Valancourt Books)

Superior Achievement in a Screenplay

• Coggeshall, David – Orphan: First Kill (Dark Castle Entertainment, Eagle Vision, Entertainment One)
• Cooper, Scott – The Pale Blue Eye (Cross Creek Pictures,Grisbi Productions, Streamline Global Group)
• Derrickson, Scott and Cargill, C. Robert – The Black Phone (Blumhouse Productions, Crooked Highway, Universal Pictures)
• Duffer Brothers, The – Stranger Things: Episode 04.01 “Chapter One: The Hellfire Club” (21 Laps Entertainment, Monkey Massacre, Netflix, Upside Down Pictures)
• Garland, Alex – Men (DNA Films)
• Goth, Mia and West, Ti – Pearl (A24,Bron Creative, Little Lamb, New Zealand Film Commission)
• Kahn, Lauryn –Fresh (Hyperobject Industries, Legendary Entertainment,Searchlight Pictures)
• Lee, Vivian and Griffin, John – From: Episode 01.07 “All Good Things” (AGBO,Epix Studios, MGM, Midnight Radio)
• Murphy, Ryan and Brennan, Ian –Dahmer—Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: Episode 01.02 “Please Don’t Go” (Netflix, Prospect Films, Ryan Murphy Productions)
• Tafdrup, Mads and Tafdrup, Christian – Speak No Evil (Det Danske Filminstitut,FilmFyn, Netherlands Film Production Incentive, Oak Motion Pictures, Profile Pictures)

Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection

• Bailey, Michael and Simon, Marge – Sifting the Ashes (Crystal Lake Publishing)
• Bolivar, Adam – Ballads for the Witching Hour (Hippocampus Press)
• Cowen, David E. – The Hand That Wounds (Weasel Press)
• Lynch, Donna – Girls from the County(Raw Dog Screaming Press)
• Oliver, Jeff and Reilly, Gordon – Venomous Words (Hellbound Books)
• O’Quinn, Cindy and Ellis, Stephanie – Foundlings (Independently Published)
• Pelayo, Cynthia – Crime Scene (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
• Manzetti, Alessandro and Runge, Karen – Kubrick Rhapsody (Independent Legions Publishing)
• Margariti, Avra – The Saint of Witches (Weasel Press)
• Saulson, Sumiko – The Rat King: A Book of Dark Poetry (Independently Published)
• Singh, Hamant – The Sybil (Partridge Publishing Singapore)
• Sng, Christina – The Gravity of Existence (Interstellar Flight Press)

Superior Achievement in an Anthology

• Carmen, Christa and Daniels, L.E.– We Are Providence: Tales of Horror from the Ocean State (Weird House Press)
• Datlow, Ellen – Screams from the Dark: 29 Tales of Monsters and the Monstrous (Tor Nightfire)
• Hartmann, Sadie and Saywers, Ashley – Human Monsters: A Horror Anthology (Dark Matter Ink)
• Jenkins, James D. and Cagle, Ryan – The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories, Volume 2 (Valancourt Books)
• Lagoe, Red – Nightmare Sky: Stories of Astronomical Horror (Death Knell Press)
• Murano, Doug –The Hideous Book of Hidden Horrors (Bad Hand Books)
• Nogle, Christi and Becker, Willow – Mother: Tales of Love and Terror (Weird Little Worlds)
• Ryan, Lindy – Into the Forest: Tales of the Baba Yaga (Black Spot Books)
• Taff, John F.D. – Dark Stars (Tor Nightfire)
• Tantlinger, Sara – Chromophobia: A Strangehouse Anthology by Women in Horror (Strangehouse Books)

Superior Achievement in Non–Fiction

• Cardin, Matt –What the Daemon Said: Essays on Horror Fiction, Film, and Philosophy (Hippocampus Press)
• Cisco, Michael – Weird Fiction: A Genre Study(Palgrave Macmillan)
• Edwards, Justin D., Graulund, Rune and Höglund, Johan – Dark Scenes from Damaged Earth: The Gothic Anthropocene (University of Minnesota Press)
• Grafius, Brandon R. –Lurking Under the Surface: Horror, Religion, and the Questions that Haunt Us (Broadleaf Books)
• Hieber, Leanna Renee and Janes, Andrea–A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America’s Ghosts (Citadel Press)
• Kröger, Lisa and Anderson, Melanie R. –Toil and Trouble: A Women’s History of the Occult (Quirk Books)
• Ocker, J.W. – The United States of Cryptids: A Tour of American Myths and Monsters (Quirk Books)
• Shapiro, Stephen and Storey, Mark–The Cambridge Companion to American Horror (Cambridge University Press)
• Waggoner,Tim –Writing in the Dark: The Workbook (Guide Dog Books)
• Wytovich, Stephanie M. –Writing Poetry in the Dark (Raw Dog Screaming Press)

Superior Achievement in Short Non–Fiction

• Davis, Chelsea – “Polychromatic Perversity: Hypercolor, Vice, and Violence in Horror” (Tor Nightfire)
• Kerestman, Katherine – “Dracula: Bram Stoker’s Love Letter to the Human Race” (Penumbra, no. 3) (Hippocampus Press)
• Murray, Lee – “I Don’t Read Horror (& Other Weird Tales)” (Interstellar Flight Magazine) (Interstellar Flight Press)
• Nzondi – “When Writing About Mental Illness, Handle with Care” (Books & Buzz Magazine Vol. 4, No. 9) (ChapterBuzz Author Community)
• Ottone, Robert P. – “The Lingering Terror of Silent Hill” (Weird House Magazine, No. 1) (Weird House Press)
• Pelayo, Cynthia – “This is Not a Poem” (Writing Poetry in the Dark) (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
• Ranglin, Eric – “The H Word: A Celebration of Sonic Horror” (Nightmare Magazine, No. 123) (Adamant Press)
• Wetmore, Jr., Kevin J. – “A Clown in the Living Room: The Sinister Clown on Television” (The Many Lives of Scary Clowns: Essays on Pennywise, Twisty, the Joker, Krusty and More) (McFarland and Company)
• Wood, L. Marie – “African American Horror Authors and Their Craft: The Evolution of Horror Fiction from African Folklore” (Conjuring Worlds: An Afrofuturist Textbook for Middle and High School Students) (Conjure World)
• Wood, L. Marie, “The H Word: The Horror of Hair” (Nightmare Magazine, No. 118) (Adamant Press)

Our voting members will now vote on these Preliminary Ballots, with voting closing on February 15, 2023 (only Active and Lifetime Members in good standing are eligible to vote).

Works appearing on the Preliminary Ballot are NOT “Bram Stoker Award®Nominees” and authors, editors, publishers, and others should not refer to any of these works as such – doing so is a severe breach of etiquette and can lead to disqualification of the Work(s) involved.

The Preliminary Ballot will be sent to Lifetime and Active Members in good standing on February 1. If you are an Active or Lifetime Member and do NOT receive your electronic Ballot link by February 3, please first check your spam/junk mail filter, make sure your email address is updated in Wild Apricot, and then email Brad C. Hodson atadmin@horror.orgwith a brief message about the issue. Note that Ballots are sent to the same email address as the Newsletter and the Internet Mailer. It is the responsibility of Members to keep their email address up to date by in Wild Apricot or by advising the administrator of any issues with your membership account at admin@horror.org. Late Ballots cannot be accepted under any circumstances.

If your work (you are the author, agent, editor, publisher, or publicist) appears on the ballot and you wish to provide a link allowing Voting Members to read the work, there will be a SPECIAL PRELIMINARY BALLOT INTERNET MAILER issued on or about January 28. Please email the Internet Mailer editor at stokerchair@horror.orgwith a link to your work as soon as you can but no later than January 26 (links will not be accepted for this Special IM after January 26). You may submit only a link, no description of the Work or other information. Anyone validly representing a work appearing on the Preliminary Ballot may submit via this method, whether or not they are HWA members (this includes the author, agent, editor, publisher, or publicist of the work).

Do NOT spam Voting Members, this is a severe breach of etiquette – Active and Lifetime (voting) members tend to notice such breaches and may consider them when determining which works to vote for on the Ballot.

You may also post the fact that your work is available to be read for Bram Stoker Award consideration ONCE, and only once, here: http://www.horrorwritersassociation.org/login–forum/(Bram Stoker Eligible Work); on the HWA Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Horrorwritersassoc/; and on the HWA Discord here: http://discord.gg/qXNWT2MCEK. If you had already posted your work in these placesprior to the announcement of the Preliminary Ballot you are entitled to post it again. Only members may post in the website forum, but members are encouraged to post on behalf of non–members who may appear on the Ballot. The Discord and Facebook page is open to members and non–members alike. Non–members may also email stokerchair@horror.org for help with this.

• The Final Ballot will be announced on or about February 23.
• Please direct any questions or corrections regarding the Preliminary Ballot to stokerchair@horror.org.
• Any questions regarding your membership/account information to admin@horror.org.
• If you’re on the Preliminary Ballot and want to provide your work for the Special Preliminary Ballot Internet Mailer to go out on or about January 28, please send a link to your work to stokerchair@horror.org.