The award is named for Bram Stoker, best known as the author of Dracula. The trophy, which resembles a miniature haunted house, was designed by author Harlan Ellison and sculptor Steven Kirk.

Twelve new bronze haunted-house statuettes were handed over to the writers responsible for creating superior works of horror last year. This year’s winners are:

Superior Achievement in a NOVEL
Flesh Eaters by Joe McKinney (Pinnacle Books)

Superior Achievement in a FIRST NOVEL
Isis Unbound by Allyson Bird (Dark Regions Press)

Superior Achievement in a YOUNG ADULT NOVEL (tie)
The Screaming Season by Nancy Holder (Razorbill)
Dust and Decay by Jonathan Maberry (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)

Superior Achievement in a GRAPHIC NOVEL
Neonomicon by Alan Moore (Avatar Press)

Superior Achievement in LONG FICTION
The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine” by Peter Straub (Conjunctions: 56)

Superior Achievement in SHORT FICTION
“Herman Wouk Is Still Alive” by Stephen King (The Atlantic Magazine, May 2011)

Superior Achievement in a SCREENPLAY
American Horror Story, episode #12: “Afterbirth” by Jessica Sharzer (20th Century Fox Television)

Superior Achievement in a FICTION COLLECTION
The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares by Joyce Carol Oates (Mysterious Press)

Superior Achievement in an ANTHOLOGY
Demons: Encounters with the Devil and his Minions, Fallen Angels and the Possessed edited by John Skipp (Black Dog and Leventhal)

Superior Achievement in NON-FICTION
Stephen King: A Literary Companion by Rocky Wood (McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers)

Superior Achievement in a POETRY COLLECTION
How to Recognize a Demon Has Become Your Friend by Linda Addison (Necon Ebooks)

Also awarded:

Vampire Novel of the Century Award to:
Richard Matheson for his modern classic I Am Legend

Lifetime Achievements:
Rick Hautala and Joe R. Lansdale

The Specialty Press Awards:
Derrick Hussey of Hippocampus Press and Roy Robbins of Bad Moon Books.

The President’s Richard Laymon Service Award:
HWA co-founder Karen Lansdale.

Samhain Publishing served as the Platinum Sponsor for the event.

Source: HWA

It’s about community, not competition.

A number of people have submitted emails in response to the news post I put up yesterday, and some have asked about the meaning of the Dante quote:

e più d’onore ancora assai mi fenno,
ch’e’ sì mi fecer de la loro schiera . . .

The lines are from The Inferno, Canto 4, a scene in which Dante leaves the dark wood to find himself in a pastoral region that sits apart from the errors of the world and the terrors of Hell. Here, in a place beyond time, he joins with five masters of his craft:  Homer, Horace, Ovid, Lucan, and Virgil. These are the writers he has long admired, and he sums up his feelings about finding himself among them with the aforementioned lines, which can be translated thus:

And more honor still, much more, they did me
In that they made me one of their own band . . .

It occurs to me now, particularly after seeing the cover of Voices displayed alongside five other Stoker Nominees at SF Signal, that I might have included one more line in yesterday’s quote.

Here are the full three lines of Dante’s tercet:

e più d’onore ancora assai mi fenno,
ch’e’ sì mi fecer de la loro schiera,
sì ch’io fui sesto tra cotanto senno.

 And in English:

And more honor still, much more, they did me
In that they made me one of their own band,
So that I was the sixth, amid so much wisdom.

I think that’s fitting. It’s not about the competition, about winning or losing against the other works in the collection category. It’s enough to be allowed to stand alongside five of my favorite writers, counted as a member of their band. It’s community, not competition.

Do you agree?

The World Fantasy Convention 2011 will be held October 27-30 in San Diego, California.
Judges are Andrew Hook, Sascha Mamczak, Mark Rich, Sean Wallace, and Kim Wilkins

Life Achievement

winner Peter S. Beagle
winner Angélica Gorodischer

Novel
Lauren Beukes, Zoo City (Jacana (South Africa)/Angry Robot)
N K Jemisin, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, (Orbit)
Graham Joyce, The Silent Land (Gollancz/Doubleday)
Guy Gavriel Kay, Under Heaven (Viking Canada/Roc/Harper Voyager UK)
Karen Lord, Redemption In Indigo (Small Beer Press)
Nnedi Okorafor, Who Fears Death (DAW)

Novella
Elizabeth Bear, Bone and Jewel Creatures (Subterranean Press)
Michael Byers, The Broken Man (PS Publishing)
Elizabeth Hand, “The Maiden Flight of McCauley’s Bellerophon” (Stories: All-New Tales)
Tim Lebbon, “The Thief of Broken Toys” (ChiZine Publications)
GRR Martin, “The Mystery Knight” (Warriors)
Rachel Swirsky, “The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen’s Window” (Subterranea, Summer 2010)

Short Story
Christopher Fowler, “Beautiful Men” (Visitants: Stories of Fallen Angels and Heavenly Hosts, edited by Stephen Jones, Ulysses Press)
Karen Joy Fowler, “Booth’s Ghost” (What I Didn’t See and Other Stories, Small Beer Press)
Kij Johnson, “Ponies” (Tor.com)
Joyce Carol Oates, “Fossil—Figures” (Stories: All-New Tales)
Mercurio D. Rivera, “Tu Sufrimiento Shall Protect Us” (Black Static #18, 08/09.10)

Anthology
John Joseph Adams, ed., The Way of the Wizard (Prime)
Kate Bernheimer, ed., My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me (Penguin)
Ellen Datlow and Nick Mamatas, eds., Haunted Legends (Tor)
Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio, eds., Stories: All-New Tales (Morrow/Headline Review)
S. T. Joshi, ed., Black Wings: New Tales of Lovecraftian Horror (PS Publishing)
Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders, eds., Swords & Dark Magic (Eos)

Collection
Karen Joy Fowler, What I Didn’t See and Other Stories (Small Beer Press)
Caitlin R. Kiernan, The Ammonite Violin & Others (Subterranean Press)
M. Rickert, Holiday (Golden Gryphon)
Angela Slatter, Sourdough and Other Stories (Tartarus Press)
Jeff VanderMeer, The Third Bear (Tachyon)

Artist
Vincent Chong
Kinuko Y. Craft
Richard A. Kirk
John Picacio
Shaun Tan

Special Award—Professional
John Joseph Adams, for editing and anthologies
Lou Anders, for editing at Pyr
Marc Gascoigne, for Angry Robot
Stéphane Marsan and Alain Névant, for Bragelonne
Brett Alexander Savory and Sandra Kasturi, for ChiZine

Special Award—Non-professional
Stephen Jones, Michael Marshall Smith and Amanda Foubister, for Brighton Shock!: The Souvenir Book Of The World Horror Convention 2010
Alisa Krasnostein, for Twelfth Planet Press
Matthew Kressel, for Sybil’s Garage and Senses Five Press
Charles Tan, for Bibliophile Stalker
Lavie Tidhar, for The World SF blog