11-7-26 — SPECIAL REPORT - 2025 SPLATTERPUNK AWARD WINNERS

Read it here first, friends! Congratulations to all of the winners and those nominated!

J.F. Gonzalez Lifetime Achievement Award recipients:

RYAN HARDING.

Find all of his work here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B01N1HSDZ5/allbooks?_encoding=UTF8&ref_=aufs_ap_ahdr_dsk_ab&pd_rd_w=azU1w&content-id=amzn1.sym.7e190e19-9f6f-4df8-807a-5a7608594741&pf_rd_p=7e190e19-9f6f-4df8-807a-5a7608594741&pf_rd_r=140-2873687-4139530&pd_rd_wg=BZRzw&pd_rd_r=f48ddf8a-800c-4b05-b5b1-90d1b0cb6c10&ccs_id=ba3c5dc4-d885-49b7-9a14-5fcce04e50a7

CHRISTINE MORGAN.

Find all of her work here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001K8FJ0C/allbooks?_encoding=UTF8&ref_=aufs_ap_ahdr_dsk_ab&pd_rd_w=Ky6VY&content-id=amzn1.sym.7e190e19-9f6f-4df8-807a-5a7608594741&pf_rd_p=7e190e19-9f6f-4df8-807a-5a7608594741&pf_rd_r=140-2873687-4139530&pd_rd_wg=mokB5&pd_rd_r=f56c31d9-b8e2-4014-8882-03e110ad06a1&ccs_id=864675a3-9c03-4635-81de-63ef917e54d9

BEST NOVEL:

THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER - Stephen Graham Jones

A diary, written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall. What it unveils is a slow massacre, a chain of events that go back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow. Told in transcribed interviews by a Blackfeet named Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar life over a series of confessional visits. This is an American Indian revenge story written by one of the new masters of horror, Stephen Graham Jones.

Find it here: https://a.co/d/02MRY3aQ

BEST NOVELLA:

STRANGE STONES - Edward Lee and Mary San Giovanni

Cult authors Edward Lee and Mary SanGiovanni’s novel follows an insufferable horror-con lurker as he spurns the wrong woman and is cursed to a monstrous dimension full of Lovecraftian creations.

Professor Everard, weird fiction scholar and proclaimed critic of H.P Lovecraft's works, is no stranger to making people mad. Giving convention presentations on the triteness and melodrama of Lovecraft's work pays the bills, though. Sometimes he even gets laid. 

When he angers a beautiful but dangerous witch and devotee of Lovecraft's work, she casts a spell on him, sending him to a dimension where Lovecraft's works are very real—and very deadly. Everard must find a way through this alternate dimension to get home, before the worst of Lovecraft's horrors prove what a master of monstrosities he really was.

Edward lee’s humorous transgressive style meets Mary SanGiovanni’s literary touch to carve out the Lovecraftian dimensions that is Strange Stones.

Find it here: https://a.co/d/0428Cw88

BEST SHORT STORY:

“THE TRIPPS” - Wrath James White from THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT: New Tales from Stephen King’s THE STAND - edited by Christopher Golden and Brian Keene

The blockbuster New York Times and USA TODAYbestselling short story collection based on master storyteller Stephen King’s classic novel The Stand!

Since its initial publication in 1978, The Stand has been considered Stephen King’s seminal masterpiece of apocalyptic fiction, with millions of copies sold and adapted twice for television. Although there are other extraordinary works exploring the unraveling of human society, none have been as influential as this iconic novel—with generations of writers impacted by its dark yet ultimately hopeful vision of the end and new beginning of civilization, and its stunning array of unforgettable characters.

Now for the first time, Stephen King has fully authorized a return to the harrowing world of The Stand through this New York Times bestselling short story anthology as presented by award-winning authors and editors Christopher Golden and Brian Keene. Bringing together some of today’s greatest and most visionary writers, The End of the World As We Know It features remarkable stories set during and after (and some perhaps long after) the events of The Stand—brilliant, terrifying, and painfully human tales that will resonate with readers everywhere as an essential companion to the classic, bestselling novel.

Featuring an introduction by Stephen King, a foreword by Christopher Golden, and an afterword by Brian Keene. Contributors include Wayne Brady and Maurice Broaddus, Poppy Z. Brite, Somer Canon, C. Robert Cargill, Nat Cassidy, V. Castro, Richard Chizmar, S. A. Cosby, Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes, Meg Gardiner, Gabino Iglesias, Jonathan Janz, Alma Katsu, Caroline Kepnes, Michael Koryta, Sarah Langan, Joe R. Lansdale, Tim Lebbon, Josh Malerman, Ronald Malfi, Usman T. Malik, Premee Mohamed, Cynthia Pelayo, Hailey Piper, David J. Schow, Alex Segura, Bryan Smith, Paul Tremblay, Catherynne M. Valente, Bev Vincent, Catriona Ward, Chuck Wendig, Wrath James White, and Rio Youers.

Find it here: https://a.co/d/0eH5Zq3I

BEST ANTHOLOGY:

STORIES FROM MOTEL SICK - edited by Michael Allen Rose

Stories From The Motel Sick is a genre-bending anthology featuring new stories from authors of horror, bizarro fiction, sci-fi, erotica, noir, and so much more. Each story takes place at the Motel Sick, a strange, metaphysical motel on the edge of a highway leading to nowhere in particular. Inside, you'll find criminals and lovers, aliens, clones, loads of bones, tiny people, time travel, legacies of death, the virtuous and the vicious, grappling for money, power, fame, escape... everything and anything can be found somewhere inside the shifting interior of the Motel Sick. What most people don't understand is that although any form of currency is accepted at the Motel Sick (from cash to credit, from wampum to doubloons) the true price isn't always evident until its time to check out.

Featuring exclusive new stories from:

We have exclusive stories by award winning authors, both huge names and hidden gems:

Matt Dinniman

Brian Pinkerton

John Baltisberger

Christine Morgan

Jim Marcus

Christopher Hawkins

John Chambers

Cynthia Pelayo

David Agranoff

John Wayne Comunale

David Scott Hay

Garrett Cook

Jason Rizos

Jeff Strand

Bridget D. Brave

John Bruni

Elizabeth Broadbent

John Skipp

and

Shane McKenzie

Find it here: https://a.co/d/09TSG6wd

BEST COLLECTION:

THIS IS SPLATTERPUNK by John Skipp

WHAT IS SPLATTERPUNK?

If you want to understand what makes splatterpunk so different from the horror that came both before and after, your best bet is to read the authors who pioneered the form. It wasn’t just the visceral intensity of their literary assaults on convention. All the key writers – Clive Barker, Joe R. Lansdale, David J. Schow, and John Skipp and Craig Spector – were ferocious stylists, with original voices that completely stood out from the crowd.

In THIS IS SPLATTERPUNK: THE JOHN SKIPP PRIMER, you’ll find 15 of Skipp’s most powerful, passionate, unbridled, and influential splatterpunkian short stories, from his early years in Twilight Zone magazine to the present day.

Skipp also includes a definitive essay on the history and core elements of the movement – which he defines more as a “spontaneous eruption of the arts” – with additional notes on each story, for context.

But mostly, it’s about Skipp’s unflinching empathy – his ability to put you inside the skins of his characters, make you feel what they feel every speck of the way – that makes THIS IS SPLATTERPUNK: THE JOHN SKIPP PRIMER an essential read for lovers of fearless fiction, and the perfect companion piece to his film.

Find it here: https://a.co/d/0eVEGTxt