Stoker Insanity!

Wow. GLEEFULLY MACABRE TALES is a Bram Stoker Award finalist for Best Collection! Madness! Insanity! And I’m up against Stephen King again. Will he deliver another brutal spanking as in the PRESSURE vs. LISEY’S STORY duel…or will I emerge victorious? 

Who cares? I’m emcee this year. Win or lose, that statue is totally going home with me. If you want to watch the awards ceremony in person, and you know you do, check out the official site at http://www.stokers2009.com.

The complete list of finalists:

Superior Achievement in a Novel COFFIN COUNTY by Gary Braunbeck (Leisure Books)  THE REACH by Nate Kenyon (Leisure Books)  DUMA KEY by Stephen King (Scribner)  JOHNNY GRUESOME by Gregory Lamberson (Bad Moon Books/Medallion Press) Superior Achievement in a First Novel MIDNIGHT ON MOURN STREET by Christopher Conlon (Earthling Publications)  THE GENTLING BOX by Lisa Mannetti (Dark Hart Press)  MONSTER BEHIND THE WHEEL by Michael McCarty and Mark McLaughlin (Delirium Books) THE SUICIDE COLLECTORS by David Oppegaard  (St. Martin’s Press) FROZEN BLOOD by Joel A. Sutherland (Lachesis Publishing) Superior Achievement in Long Fiction THE SHALLOW END OF THE POOL by Adam-Troy Castro (Creeping Hemlock Press)  MIRANDA by John R. Little (Bad Moon Books)  REDEMPTION ROADSHOW by Weston Ochse (Burning Effigy Press)  THE CONFESSIONS OF ST. ZACH by Gene O’Neill (Bad Moon Books) Superior Achievement in Short Fiction PETRIFIED by Scott Edelman (Desolate Souls)  THE LOST by Sarah Langan (Cemetery Dance Publications)  THE DUDE WHO COLLECTED LOVECRAFT by Nick Mamatas, and Tim Pratt (Chizine)  EVIDENCE OF LOVE IN A CASE OF ABANDONMENT by M. Rickert (Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction) TURTLE by Lee Thomas (Doorways) Superior Achievement in an Anthology LIKE A CHINESE TATTOO edited by Bill Breedlove (Dark Arts Books)  HORROR LIBRARY, VOL. 3 edited by R. J. Cavender (Cutting Block Press)  BENEATH THE SURFACE edited by Tim Deal (Shroud Publishing)  UNSPEAKABLE HORROR edited by Vince A. Liaguno and Chad Helder (Dark Scribe Press) Superior Achievement in a Collection THE NUMBER 121 TO PENNSYLVANIA by Kealan Patrick Burke (Cemetery Dance Publications)  MAMA’S BOY and Other Dark Tales by Fran Friel (Apex Publications)  JUST AFTER SUNSET by Stephen King (Scribner)  MR. GAUNT AND OTHER UNEASY ENCOUNTERS by John Langan (Prime Books) GLEEFULLY MACABRE TALES by Jeff Strand (Delirium Books) Superior Achievement in Nonfiction CHEAP SCARES by Gregory Lamberson (McFarland)  ZOMBIE CSU by Jonathan Maberry (Citadel Press)  A HALLOWE’EN ANTHOLOGY by Lisa Morton (McFarland)  THE BOOK OF LISTS: HORROR by Amy Wallace, Del Howison, and Scott Bradley (HarperCollins) Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection THE NIGHTMARE COLLECTION by Bruce Boston (Dark Regions Press)  THE PHANTOM WORLD by Gary William Crawford (Sam’s Dot Publishing)  VIRGIN OF THE APOCALYPSE by Corrine De Winter (Sam’s Dot Publishing)  ATTACK OF THE TWO-HEADED POETRY MONSTER by Mark McLaughlin and Michael McCarty (Skullvines Press)