The Importance of Being Bram

I only own these three from this year's Bram Stoker preliminary ballot. I'm not gonna lie, I'm kind of tired and won't even bother to pretend I care about a good picture, please pardon my bad photographic eye anyway.

Although their statuette looks like made out of earwax and I personally don't always agree with their selection and think they sometimes blatantly ignore deserving books, the Bram Stoker Awards matter nevertheless and they are the primary source any horror reader does and should go to to find writings and authors of high quality. To receive the Stoker award is probably a kind of honor for authors too, but from a reader's point of view, it doesn't really matter to me who, in the end, receives the hideous earwax castle, it is the preliminary ballot which really counts, because it gives me a wider list of books against which I can compare and check if I have been reading the good stuff, or which books I have been missing.

Also, back when I was building the English horror section at the Otherland Bookstore, I went through all the Stoker winners/runners up of all years and stocked specifically those books in order to make sure our stock is of a good quality and holds up with a certain horror canon. I was selling lots of trash too, but that's just additional kink and fun. So if you're a newbie to horror and don't know where to start with, I think the Bram Stoker nominated and awarded books will provide a pretty solid base knowledge on horror literature, at least Anglo Saxon horror literature.

So below I'm taking a look at this year's preliminary ballot and discussing books that caught my attention in the categories that interest me personally. I'll link the ones I have already read to their respective reviews on PD and leave it at that, since I want to focus on books new to me.

 

Superior Achievement in an Anthology

Aquilone, James – Shakespeare Unleashed (Crystal Lake Publishing, Monstrous Books)

Datlow, Ellen – Christmas and Other Horrors (Titan)

Future Dead Collective – Collage Macabre: An Exhibition of Art Horror (Future Dead Collective)

Peele, Jordan, and Adams, John Joseph – Out There Screaming (Random House)

 

Bailey, Michael – Qualia Nous, Vol. 2 (Written Backwards)

Carl, Annie– Soul Jar: 31 Fantastical Tales by Disabled Authors (Forest Avenue Press)

Golden, Christopher, and Keene, Brian – The Drive-In: Multiplex (Pandi Press)

Hawk, Shane and Van Alst, Jr., Theodore C. – Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology (Vintage)

Rowland, Rebecca – American Cannibal (Maenad Press)

Walker, Alin, and Louzon, Monica – Darkness Blooms (The Dread Machine)

 

All right, let's start with anthologies, one of my favorite formats along with single author collections. Of the anthologies I have already read, I'd definitely and still bet on Aquilone's Shakespeare Unleashed as the winner (though there are no winners at the Bram Stoker Awards, but "superior achievements"), as the variety and quality of the stories were almost on par with their source material.

I am seeing Qualia Nous for the first time ever here and I'm a little stunned as to why I wasn't aware of this project before? This here is already the second installment! Described as a blend of science fiction and horror, it feautres writings from authors like Chuck Palahniuk, Stephen King, Eugen Bacon, Josh Malerman, Cynthia Pelayo, Lee Murray, Eric LaRocca, Gabino Iglesias, Linda D. Addison, Zoje Stage, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, Gary A. Braunbeck, and more - above all, this sounds like an opportunity to discover new authors.

Though a friend of mine said that the title sounds like a case of charity - what a horrible statement - I can't wait to read the anthology by disabled authors. I'm really enjoying anthologies reflecting the experience/point of view of a certain group as it helps me step out of my own little world. So I can't wait to read Soul Jar: 31 Fantastical Tales by Disabled Authors as well as Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology for that same reason. Also, I like to contemplate how these different life experiences are being used in a fantasy / speculative fiction setting.

 

Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection

Cade, Octavia – You are My Sunshine and Other Tales (Stelliform Press)

Chapman, Greg – Midnight Masquerade (IFWG Publishing International)

Duckworth, Jonathan Louis – Have You Seen the Moon Tonight? & Other Rumors (JournalStone Publishing)

Files, Gemma – Blood from the Air (Grimscribe Press)

Keisling, Todd – Cold, Black, & Infinite (Cemetery Dance)

Malerman, Josh – Spin A Black Yarn (Del Rey)

Nogle, Christi – The Best of Our Past, the Worst of Our Future (Flame Tree Press)

Read, Sarah – Root Rot & Other Grim Tales (Bad Hand Books)

Wehunt, Michael – The Inconsolables (Bad Hand Books)

White, Gordon B. – Gordon B. White Is Creating Haunting Weird Horror(s) (Trepidatio Publishing) 

 

Yes, I am ashamed. I was convinced that I'm an avid short story reader, yet I haven't read a single one of the collections which made it into this ballot. I don't understand it. I really make a very thorough research of new releases and yet I haven't heard of any of these collections except for the Malerman book. The ones which caught my attention and which I have ordered today are: You are My Sunshine and Other Tales, Midnight Masquerade, Blood from the Air and The Inconsolables.

 

Superior Achievement in a First Novel

Córdova, Gerardo Sámano – Monstrilio (Zando) 

Leede, CJ – Maeve Fly (Tor Nightfire/Macmillan) 

Rumfitt, Alison – Tell Me I’m Worthless (Tor Nightfire/Macmillan)

Song, Jade – Chlorine (William Morrow)

 

Carmen, Christa – The Daughters of Block Island (Thomas & Mercer)

Compton, Johnny – The Spite House (Tor Nightfire/Macmillan) 

LaRocca, Eric – Everything the Darkness Eats (CLASH Books)

Najberg, Andrew – The Mobius Door (Wicked House Publishing)

Rebelein, Sam – Edenville (William Morrow)

Stephens, Caleb – The Girls in the Cabin (Joffe Books)

 

I will try and read Edenville which revolves around a failed author moving into a creepy small town for a new job opportunity, it sounds kind of like funny horror. Also, Caleb Stephens is a new author who interests me. I had bought but never read his short story collection If Only a Heart and Other Tales of Terror, so it's only logical I buy even more books by him and leave them be, what else?

 

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

Jiang, Ai – Linghun (Dark Matter INK)

Khaw, Cassandra – The Salt Grows Heavy (Tor Nightfire/Macmillan)

McCarthy, J.A.W. – Sleep Alone (Off Limits Press LLC)

 

Cade, Octavia – “You Are My Sunshine” (You Are My Sunshine and Other Stories, Stelliform Press)

Due, Tananarive – “Rumpus Room” (The Wishing Pool and Other Stories, Akashic Books)

Murray, Lee – Despatches (PS Publishing)

Schattel, Polly – 8:59:29 (Trepidatio Publishing)

Sylvia, Morgan – “The Art of Devastation” (In the Cold, Cold Ground: An Anthology of New England Horror, Cemetery Dance Publications)

Warren, Kaaron – Bitters (Cemetery Dance Publications)

Wood, L. Marie – The Open Book (Falstaff Books)

 

It took me some time to realize that the Bram Stoker people use the term "long fiction" for novellas or novelettes. I couldn't find an explanation, and the term doesn't make much sense, but I'll try to just not question and accept it as it is.

In the case of "You Are My Sunshine", I will have the opportunity to judge if the titular novella is worth the nomination when I receive my copy. And I'll basically read anything by Tananarive Due, I love her writing that much. Don't think I'll seek the others though, as this format isn't really much worth your money.

Superior Achievement in a Novel

Due, Tananarive – The Reformatory (Gallery/Saga Press)

Hendrix, Grady – How to Sell a Haunted House (Berkley)

Jones, Stephen Graham – Don’t Fear the Reaper (Gallery/Saga Press)

Winning, Josh – Burn the Negative (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

 

Kingfisher, T. – A House with Good Bones (Tor Nightfire/Macmillan)

LaValle, Victor – Lone Women (One World)

Monroe, Katrina – Graveyard of Lost Children (Poisoned Pen Press)

Ottone, Robert P. – The Vile Thing We Created (Hydra Publications)

Sullivan, Andrew F. – The Marigold (ECW Press)

Wendig, Chuck – Black River Orchard (Del Rey/Penguin Random House)

 

Here we are at the last, and arguably most important category: novels.

I have to admit I already forgot what Burn the Negative was about, but I can vouch for the other three nominees I have read -they're are all together baller.

I have discovered this trick where I can collect coupon points from a certain company with each purchase I make, and when I have enough points, I can buy e-books with them. So I have spent some points today to immediately buy The Vile Thing We Created, well because, have you seen the awesome cover? Apparently the vile thing in the title is their child, lol.

I have also visited Caro at the Otherland today with my list in hand and she ordered Marigold for me, it's about FUNGI! The other authors in this list are mostly writers I either don't really like or have a love-hate relationship with, so I'm not going to take any chances.

Talking about the Otherland Bookstore: if you take a look at the old Otherlander's Blog, you'll see that it has been dormant for almost four years now. Times flies so freaking fast... But anyway, we decided that I'll revive the blog! Probably as early as this week already! At the first stage I will blog their monthly recommendations, maybe more later. Even if I don't work in the shop anymore I can't deny that that place means a lot to me, and I like blogging, so I'm sure it'll be fun and good for both sides, wish me luck.

Have a great weekend and read some of these books, they do look great!