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The Importance of Being Bram - A Look at the 2025 Bram-Stoker Nominees

In a couple of months the Horror Writers Association will be giving the Bram Stoker Awards for the year 2025, so it's well time to take a look at the nominees and add the titles that sound good to our painfully never-ending TBR-lists (and also give some commentary and my own bias given that I have already chosen the PD best of's 2025).

So, we all know, the trophy isn't very pretty and as far as I know they don't give a prize money, but the prestige that comes with a BS-Award is big and provides for readers for years to come. In many cases deservedly, sometimes not that much, but in any case these awards make for a good benchmark if you want to build up an English horror library for whatever purpose, library, bookshop, or personal shelves.

Here are the Bram Stoker 2025 nominees in categories of interest to PD.

Superior Achievement in an Anthology

I see that there have been some anthologies that escaped my radar in the past year, and I have only read The End of the World As We Know It (and chose it as one of Protean Depravity winners of best anthology of 2025- there were two winners last year), which by all measures is a good contender. But are there any better candidates?

I found it interesting that there's a Tanith Lee tribute anthology, as I wouldn't have placed Lee into the Horror genre, but rather SF/F. But maybe this anthology is? I also don't know any of the contributing authors except for Martha Wells, author of the awesome Murderbot series among others. But given that it's possibly more dark fantasy than actually horror I'm not sure I will be able to carve out the time to read this.

Similarly, I'm not very interested in Silk&Sinew (my Literary Horror Group has read it and I followed the discussion in which the reactions were a little underwhelming),  and also, HOWL's werewolf by women anthology (though I love the trope, I already have one werewolf anthology at home that need to be finished, and I won't expand that by adding another one to my tbr).

But, I am very excited about This Way Lies Madness, as I have never been disappointed by a Flame Tree Publishing anthology/book as far as I know.

Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection

So, I see that secretly many authors have been publishing short story collections without Goodreads noticing, no group discussions, no ratings worth mentioning, what's up with that? I really need to check my communication channels if I missed collection publications by not one, not two, but four authors I enjoy reading; Clay McLeod Chapman, Gemma Files, John Langan, and Hailey Piper! Off with them to my tbr. And for good measure I'm including the Sara Tantlinger collection, I've never read anything by her, but her book looks good too.

Superior Achievement in a First Novel

I was a little underwhelmed with the selection of first books in general because they sounded like they're addressing much younger readers than me. That's why I'm just mentioning the one book that I already have had in my top 5 of 2025 and which is the book I'm rooting for to get the Bram Stoker, October Film Haunt, written by Michael Wehunt who is an excellent author who deserves the award.

The book is about a single mom who, back in the day, was part of a trio of horror enthusiasts who would camp in locations where famous horror movies were filmed, until they bump into that one cursed horror movie after which everything went wrong.

Read it, you won't regret. Also the short story collection by the author is sublime.

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

Another category in which the contestants are unread by me... I have started the Lunar Gothic Trilogy this year by reading the first book, Crypt of the Moon Spider, and it's about the revolt in an Asylum for depressed people on the moon, and the cure includes a "moon spider". It was weird, it was creepy and it was absolutely original, so I am planning on reading on the trilogy, I'm just waiting for the prices to lower a little, because for some reason the books are both as physical and as eBook very pricey. Maybe they'll be eligible in my library or on Storytel some time.

I see Sarah Langan got nominated twice, she's an amazing author, so I'm sure that's deserved. I tried and dnf'ed reading Pam Kowolski but not because of Langan, but I started listening the audiobook, and I thought the narrator was horrible and didn't click at all with me.

 Superior Achievement in a Novel

I already have decided on this category, and no matter who the other contenders are, my winner of 2025 will always be Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones. 

I have read Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, and though I'm a fan of the author, I don't agree it's one of the best books of the past year. At some point, I stopped reading the fiction of Silvia Moreno-Garcia as I think she writes fantasy and not horror. I have never heard of Wendy N. Wagner nor of Girl in the Creek, but I've already read one book about a magical forest this year, and considering the rather low average rating it has received, I don't think I will grab this one soon. Oh, and yeah, I already tried and ended up dnf'ing Joe Hill's King Sorrow for various reasons, so there's no more books in this category which wink at me.

Superior Achievement in a Screenplay

I might be the only person in the world who walked out of Sinners, and I don't understand what's wrong with me, but I don't get the hype, maybe it's a movie I don't understand? 

As to best movie script, I will stand by my previous judgement in my end of the year post, Weapons is and stays the best movie of 2025 for me. The way the story is built and structured is insanely captivating, and the jump scares are so really really scary (plus, unrelated to the script - the witch Aunt Gladys as portrayed by the great Amy Madigan is amazing, the way she is, her makeup, her acting, her magic tricks, I love how unapologetically evil she is too). Everything about Weapons appeals to me and is 100% my thing. Thus, the champion, even though the other nominees are worth your time too.

Alright, I made my stance known. Let's wait and see which ones of these titles will actually win.

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