Last month, I mentioned I was entering EVE HALLOWS AND THE BOOK OF SHRIEKS into
. This month, I wrote an article about the experience. You can get yer read on over at
NOMINEES FOR VAMPIRE NOVEL OF THE CENTURY
AWARD
The
Horror Writers Association (HWA), the international association of writers,
publishing professionals, and supporters of horror literature, in conjunction
with the Bram Stoker Family Estate and the Rosenbach Museum & Library,
proudly announce the nominees for the Bram Stoker Vampire Novel of the Century
Award, to be presented at the Bram Stoker Awards™ Banquet at World Horror
Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, on March 31, 2012. The Award will mark the
centenary of the death in 1912 of Abraham (Bram) Stoker, the author of Dracula.
A
jury composed of writers and scholars selected, from a field of more than 35
preliminary nominees, the six vampire novels that they believe have had the
greatest impact on the horror genre since publication of Draculain 1897. Eligible works
must have been first published between 1912 and 2011 and published in or
translated into English.
The
nominees are:
The
Soft Whisper of the Dead by Charles L. Grant
(1983). Grant (1946-2006) was a prolific American writer of what he called "dark
fantasy" and "quiet horror," writing under six pseudonyms as
well as his own name. Grant also edited numerous horror and fantasy
anthologies. The novel is part of Grant's series of 12 books set in his
fictional small town Oxrun Station, Connecticut. Grant was a former president
of Horror Writers Association and received its Lifetime Achievement Award in
1999.
Salem's
Lot by Stephen King.
First published in 1975, this was only the second work by the now-legendary
American author of dozens of fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and horror
stories, comics, and novels. Set in the town of Jerusalem's Lot, it tells of a
man's return to his hometown, where he finds a plague of vampirism. The book
has twice been made into television mini-series and has been recorded by the
BBC. King's work has won countless Bram Stoker Awards™ from HWA, and King
(1947- ), a lifelong New England resident, was recognized with HWA's Lifetime
Achievement Award in 2002.
I
Am Legend by Richard Matheson.
First published in 1954, the novel is set in the mid-1970's, when a plague has
swept the world, bringing with it zombie-like creatures identified as vampires.
Richard Neville, the book's protagonist, may be the last living human. The work
has been filmed three times under various titles, most recently in 2007, under
its original title, starring Will Smith. Matheson (1926- ), an American, has
written screenplays as well as short and long fiction, and many of his works
have been filmed or made into teleplays. He wrote frequently for The Twilight Zone in its heyday. Matheson received HWA's
Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990.
Anno
Dracula by Kim Newman first
appeared in 1992. The novel imagines an alternate history in which Van Helsing
and his cohorts failed in their attempt to rid England of Dracula. In this
timeline, Dracula went on to marry Queen Victoria, ushering in an era of
vampire aristocracy in England and elsewhere. The book is followed by two other
novels and a number of shorter works set in the Anno Dracula universe, all meticulously researched
to include numerous historical details and many characters of Victorian and
more recent popular literature. Newman (1959- ) is an English writer of fantasy
and horror, as well as reference books in the field, and frequently appears as
a host and critic for the BBC and other media.
Interview
with the Vampire by Southern American
author Anne Rice first appeared in 1976 and achieved enormous popularity,
selling more than 8 million copies. The book introduces the vampires Louis and
Lestat, who, along with a dozen other unique individual vampires, appear in a
long series by Rice known as the Vampire Chronicles. The novel was filmed in
1994 starring Tom Cruise as Lestat and Brad Pitt as Louis; another work in the
series, Queen of the Damned,
was filmed in 2002; the novel was also produced as a Broadway musical in 2006.
Rice (1941- ) has written numerous other gothic fantasy novels, selling more
than 100 million copies worldwide, and has won many awards, including HWA's
Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.
Hotel
Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn
Yarbro, published in 1978, is the first of a 25-book (so far) series featuring
le Comte de Saint Germain, a 2000+-year-old vampire, whose adventures in many
historical periods are recounted. This novel overlaps in many details with the
historical facts of le Comte de Saint-Germain, a mysterious figure. An American
writer, Yarbro (1942- ) publishes three or four books a year, under various
pseudonyms, in a variety of genres, including mysteries and romance tales. She
was awarded HWA's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.
The
winning book will be announced on March 31, 2012. HWA will also celebrate its
twenty-fifth anniversary on that date.
The
Vampire Novel of the Century Award is sponsored by Jeremy Wagner.
If you have a minute, check out my latest interview over at I Am A Reader, Not A Writer. You can also enter for a chance to win a copy of EVE HALLOWS AND THE BOOK OF SHRIEKS. Check the site for details. Offer expires February 1, 2012.
