A pair of two-time past winners, Bryan Smith and Candace Nola, each received two nominations for 2024 Splatterpunk Awards, leading a field that features 12 first-time nominees among the 25 works of fiction being honored.
Smith’s Dead End House earned a nomination for Best Novel and “Night People” (a bonus story from his novella The Gauntlet) received a nod for Best Short Story. Nola was nominated as an author for Best Novella with Sirens and Seaweed and as an editor for the anthology Dark Disasters.
The dozen first-time nominees included Bram Stoker Award-winning author John Everson and six-time Bram Stoker Awards nominee Chet Williamson. Everson is up for Best Novel with The Night Mother, a sequel to his Bram Stoker Award-nominated novel NightWhere. Williamson received a Best Short Story nomination for “Blood Harmony” from The Drive-in: Multiplex anthology.
Founders Wrath James White and Brian Keene released the list of nominees on February 15 via announcement on KillerConAustin.com. The seventh annual awards honor superior achievement in Splatterpunk and Extreme Horror fiction published in 2023.
Selected by readers, fans, professionals, and jurors, five nominees each were chosen in five categories: Best Novel, Best Novella, Best Short Story, Best Collection, and Best Anthology. Judges will select the winners who will be honored during KillerCon, which is held in Austin, Texas, from August 9-11. The 2024 recipients of the annual J. F. Gonzalez Lifetime Achievement Award, Ray Garton and Craig Spector, will also be honored at KillerCon for their significant contributions to Splatterpunk and Extreme Horror.
Click here for the complete and updated list of all Splatterpunk Awards winners and nominees from 2018 through the 2024 nominations.
Without further ado, here’s the list of 2024 nominees.
BEST NOVEL
The Night Mother by John Everson
Maeve Fly by CJ Leede
Pedo Island Bloodbath by Duncan Ralston
Dead End House by Bryan Smith
Along the River of Flesh by Kristopher Triana
BEST NOVELLA
The Bighead’s Junk by Edward Lee
Smokey Elvis and Danzick Battle Swamp Ass by Lance Loot
Snow Angels by Lucas Mangum
Sirens and Seaweed by Candace Nola
Bowery by Matthew Vaughn
BEST SHORT STORY
“My Octopus Master” by Stephen Kozeniewski (from Dead and Bloated)
“Unfound Footage” by Patrick Lacey (from Splatterpunk’s Basement of Horror)
“Hide/Invert: A Saga In Ten Reels” by David J. Schow (from The Drive-In: Multiplex)
“The Night People” by Bryan Smith (from The Gauntlet)
“Blood Harmony” by Chet Williamson (from The Drive-In: Multiplex)
BEST COLLECTION
Something Very Wrong by Jonathan Butcher
Transcendental Mutilation by Ryan Harding
Woe to Those Who Dwell on Earth by John Lynch
Gush: Tales of Vaginal Horror by Gina Ranalli
Beautiful Darkness by Jay Wilburn
BEST ANTHOLOGY
Splatterpunk’s Basement of Horror edited by Jack Bantry
Blood and Blasphemy edited by Gerri R. Gray
We’re Here: An Anthology of LGBTQ+ Horror edited by Angelique Jordonna and James G. Carlson
Dark Disasters edited by Candace Nola
Dead and Bloated edited by K. Trap Jones
Congratulations to all the nominees.
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