Remember when I told you I’d been honored with a sixth Stoker Award nomination, and that whatever ended up happening, win or lose, I’d win?

Well, I did win Saturday.

No, not that way. The other way.

The trophy for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction was taken home by co-finalist Mercedes Yardley, with whom I got into a brawl when I’d spotted her inside a candy store earlier that afternoon. (more…)

Earlier today, the Horror Writers Association announced the final ballot for the 2015 Bram Stoker Awards, and I’m thrilled to see that my story “Becoming Invisible, Becoming Seen” is one of the final five in the category of Superior Achievement in Long Fiction.

Here are the five stories which survived the voting process and are now Stoker nominees.

Gary A. Braunbeck – Paper Cuts (Seize the Night) (Gallery Books)

Lisa Mannetti – The Box Jumper (Smart Rhino Publications)

Norman Partridge – Special Collections (The Library of the Dead) (Written Backwards)

Mercedes M. Yardley – Little Dead Red (Grimm Mistresses) (Ragnarok Publications)

Scott Edelman – Becoming Invisible, Becoming Seen (Dark Discoveries #30)

This marks the sixth time a story of mine has been voted onto a final Stoker Awards ballot. I previously appeared there with— (more…)

A few minutes ago, the Horror Writers Association announced the preliminary ballot for the 2015 Bram Stoker Awards, and guess who’s on it in the category of Superior Achievement in Long Fiction? Me!

Check out the ten stories which made the cut.

Braunbeck, Gary A. – Paper Cuts (Seize the Night) (Gallery Books)

Eads, Ben – Cracked Sky (Omnium Gatherum)

Edelman, Scott – Becoming Invisible, Becoming Seen (Dark Discoveries #30)

Gunhus, Jeff – The Torment of Rachel Ames (Seven Guns Press)

Mannetti, Lisa – The Box Jumper (Smart Rhino Publications)

McGuire, Seanan – Resistance (The End Has Come) (Broad Reach Publishing)

O’Neill, Gene – At the Lazy K (Written Backwards)

Parent, Jason – Dia de los Muertos (Bad Apples 2) (Corpus Press)

Partridge, Norman – Special Collections (The Library of the Dead) (Written Backwards)

Yardley, Mercedes M. – Little Dead Red (Grimm Mistresses) (Ragnarok Publications)

Fingers crossed that enough HWA members enjoy my story to vote it on to the final ballot.

If “Becoming Invisible, Becoming Seen” should make it there, that would be the sixth time a story of mine will be a Stoker Awards finalist. I’ve previously been there for “The Hunger of Empty Vessels” (on the 2009 ballot), “Petrified” (2008), “Almost the Last Story by Almost the Last Man” (2007), “The Last Supper” (2003), and “A Plague on Both Your Houses” (1997).

One reason I’d love to move on to the next stage, aside from what fun it is to spend a few months being a nominee, is that according to Locus, even if I get there only to lose, I’d still win!

Because I’d then be tied for the most nominations without a win ever!

Voting on the preliminary ballot will occur from February 1 through February 15, and the final ballot will be announced on February 23. If you’re an Active or Lifetime members of the HWA and would like a PDF of “Becoming Invisible, Becoming Seen,” let me know!

Since all the cool kids seem to be doing this, I figured—why not me? So here are details on the two stories of mine published in 2015, so you can, if you’re a voting member of certain organizations, nominate them if so moved … but only after you’ve read them and judged them worthy, of course.

First up—

Back in March, my 13,000-word zombie story “Becoming Invisible, Becoming Seen” was published in Dark Discoveries #31.

It’s a dark but (hopefully) uplifting horror story of love and obsession, and if you’re a voting member of a group for which that sort of thing seems a good fit, drop me a line, and I’ll be glad to send along a PDF. (more…)

And here I had such good intentions!

On Friday morning, I posted what happened on Thursday, my first day at the 2012 World Horror Convention in Salt Lake City, but then I got too busy at the con to report on the rest of the con during the con, which violates Edelman’s Schadenfreude Rule of Convention Reporting.

And now that I’m home, I see I don’t have the time (and am unlikely to find the time) to tell you the details of my further schmoozing, my trip to a cemetery with Wasatch Paranormal Investigators, and all the rest of my misadventures. So here are six videos that’ll have to stand in lieu of a blow-by-blow description of my weekend, because life intervenes.

First, take a tour of Friday’s night’s mass signing, at which you’ll spot every author, editor, artist, etc., in attendance at the con. (Except me, of course, since I’m wielding the camera.)

Then check out Saturday’s interview of Guest of Honor and HWA Lifetime Achievement Award winner Joe Lansdale by the effervescent Del Howison. Lots of wisdom here!

Next, a few snippets from the Bram Stoker Awards banquet, held Saturday night, starting with Toastmaster Jeff Strand’s always entertaining opening monologue. (more…)

I’m just back from Long Island, where I went to take part in the Stoker Awards weekend, and I’ve got lots to say and neither the time nor the energy to say it all now. But one thing I want to make sure I do before the work week begins is share the remarks I made to present Al Feldstein with the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Horror Writers Association.

I may have deviated from the script below as I moved through my speech, but I think you’ll get the gist of it—to explain in 3-5 minutes to all those present the reasons why Feldstein deserved to be honored by the organization. (Fingers crossed that I haven’t deviated from fact.)

And so …

Those familiar with the Golden Age of horror comics our Lifetime Achievement Awards recipient Al Feldstein was responsible for back in the 1950s know that if HE had scripted the Stoker Awards weekend, it would start off with a punning title like, “I’m Fine, Horror You?” It would culminate in a banquet at which one of our Guests of Honor would mysteriously fail to show and meanwhile the steaks would taste REAL good. And once all the speechifying was over and we’d start rushing out of here to party, we’d find the halls lined with razor blades … and then some idiot would turn off the lights.

Feldstein was born in Brooklyn in 1925, and when he was 15, barely able to afford the subway fare to the High School of Music and Art which he attended in Manhattan, he learned that a friend was earning some money in the comic book business. Feldstein was hired by Jerry Iger of the Eisner and Iger shop, which created content for the comics publishing companies of the day, to do the scut work of ruling panel border, inking pointers on word balloons, and erasing pencils once pages were done … for three bucks a week.

He enlisted in the Air Force in 1943, where, among other thing, he designed flight jackets and painted squadron insignias, and after his discharge, he started freelancing for Fox Comics. But there was something missing about those assignments. Something like … getting paid in a timely manner, which I think many of you here in this room are all too familiar with. But he heard about another publishing company that treated its freelancers a little better, one called Entertaining Comics, owned by a guy named Bill Gaines. (more…)

Jeff Strand beat me to the punch yesterday by telling me he’d already watched the Long Island episode of Man v. Food in preparation for next month’s Stoker Awards weekend. The guy (who made quite a dent in the BBQ at the Salt Lick last month) put me to shame!

But I have a good excuse. It’s hard to be thinking about the Stokers when I still have to survive the Nebula Awards in D.C. this weekend and Balticon over in Baltimore next weekend.

But assuming I do survive, these clips will give you an idea of where I’ll end up. Adam Richman didn’t steer me wrong in Columbus (during World Fantasy Con) or Austin (for World Horror), so why should Long Island be any different?

I’ll be looking for victims … er … volunteers … from June 16-19th. Which meal do you want to have over at Ciao Baby, Jeff?

The Horror Writers Association has released this year’s preliminary Stoker ballot. You can probably guess why I’m sharing that bit of news with you. (And if you can’t guess, then you’ll just have to keep reading to find out … )

You can see the complete preliminary ballot here, but what’s made my day is this—my zombie collection What Will Come After has made that ballot in the category of Superior Achievement in a Collection!

Now this doesn’t mean I can call myself a Stoker nominee yet. First, the membership must whittle down the following ten collections to the five that will make up the final ballot. So I’ve got a 50/50 chance.

OCCULTATION by Laird Barron (Night Shade Books)
BLOOD AND GRISTLE by Michael Louis Calvillo (Bad Moon Books)
THIS WAY TO EGRESS by Lawrence C. Connolly (Ash-Tree Press)
WHAT WILL COME AFTER by Scott Edelman (PS Publishing)
FULL DARK, NO STARS by Stephen King (Simon and Schuster)
LITTLE THINGS by John R. Little (Bad Moon Books)
A HELL OF A JOB by Michael McCarty (Damnation Books)
A HOST OF SHADOWS by Harry Shannon (Dark Regions Press)
FUNGUS OF THE HEART by Jeremy Shipp (Raw Dog (Screaming Press)
HELLFIRE AND DAMNATION by Connie Corcoran Wilson (Sam’s Dot)

Of course, those are some damned fine collections I’m competing against, so it’s hard to tell what my true odds are of making it through to the final ballot. But if you happen to be a Stoker voter, and would like a PDF of the book for consideration (a book which contains three stories that did make the final Stoker ballot in previous years), please let me know at scott@scottedelman.com.

Little more than a week remains for members of the Horror Writers Association to make recommendations for the Bram Stoker Awards, so I thought I’d point out to those voting members who happen to drop by here that a PDF of my zombie collection What Will Come After can be obtained for consideration by sending a request to scott@scottedelman.com.

What Will Come After, which was issued by PS Publishing early last year, collects all of my zombie fiction, including three stories which previously made the final Stoker ballot when originally published—”A Plague on Both Your Houses” (1997), “The Last Supper” (2003), and “Almost the Last Story by Almost the Last Man” (2007). In addition to the reprints, the collection also contains one original short story, “What Will Come After.”

Recs must be received by midnight January 15th, so if you’d like a chance to consider What Will Come After, please let me know!

The Horror Writers Association today announced the nominees for the 2009 Stoker Awards, and I’m extremely happy to say that my novella, The Hunger of Empty Vessels, has made the final ballot in the category of Superior Achievement in Long Fiction.

Since so many people have already posted the entire ballot, I’ll save pixels by sending you elsewhere for the complete list of categories.

But here are the four finalists in mine:

Dreaming Robot Monster by Mort Castle (MIGHTY UNCLEAN)
The Hunger of Empty Vessels by Scott Edelman (Bad Moon Books)
The Lucid Dreaming by Lisa Morton (Bad Moon Books)
Doc Good’s Traveling Show by Gene O’Neill (Bad Moon Books)

Note that whatever happens, there’s already a clear winner here—Bad Moon Books, which published three of the four finalists.

As much as I’m pleased to be on a ballot with three very worthy writers, I must admit that there’s one who pleases me more than the rest—Gene O’Neill, with whom I attended Clarion in 1979. If you’d told us back then that this would happen down the road someday, I don’t think either one of us would have believed you. (more…)