The nail-biting and hair-pulling is finally over now that this year’s Bram Stoker Award winners have been announced. The awards banquette, which streamed live from the illustrious Radisson Hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah, was hosted by veteran emcee and horror funnyman Jeff Strand. As usual, Strand had plenty of zingers to keep the crowd busting a gut. There were a few disappointments, but I consider all the nominees winners just to be included with that caliber of writing talent. As for the Dreadful Tales pool, looks like I won by a hair with my guesses picks! What did I win? A brand new car? A gift card to Applebee’s? Alas, no prize except an inflated sense of pride and bragging rights. The final count ended with Pat 2-11, Jason also 2-11, and I managed 4-11, somehow.

There were many fans and authors alike out in the Twitterverse for the virtual viewing of the awards banquette and everyone at Dreadful Tales had a wonderful time chatting! Some of us enjoyed chatting (or heckling) more than others because both Jason and Colum ended up in Twitter jail! For those that don’t know, it’s when you get locked out of your account for tweeting 100 tweets/hour or 1000/day. That’s a lot of Tweets! It was a pretty tough crowd out there last night. Here are a few choice Tweets that had me cracking up.

@GradeZHorror I’ve seen third generation VHS bootlegs with better video quality #dt #whc2012

@GradeZHorror Wait! Don paid for this webcast? I would demand a refund. #dt #whc2012

@paperbackhorror YOWZA! @Gabrielle_Faust looks great tonight! #whc2012 #dt

@JasonDarrick Dammit! I missed her!

@paperbackhorror Damn. I have to pee but I’m robots to my seat waiting to see if Locke and Key is going to win ALL OF THE AWARDS…#whc2012 #dt

@JasonDarrick For those keeping score, @meliYOROSHIKU takes a 3-2-1 lead in the #DT #whc2012 pool.

Below are the final results and a few other awards that were presented Saturday night. If you missed the festivities, don’t fret, the whole thing will be available on Youtube in a week or so. Keep your eyeballs peeled on the HWA website. Looking for something new to read? This is a great list to draw from. Hell, I’d even suggest going back to past nomination lists to add to your to-read list. All of the books nominated are stellar and represent excellence in the horror genre to the fullest. Onto the winners!

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A NOVEL

A Matrix Of Angels by Christopher Conlon (Creative Guy Publishing)
Cosmic Forces by Greg Lamberson (Medallion Press)
Floating Staircase by Ronald Malfi (Medallion Press / Thunderstorm Books)
Flesh Eaters by Joe McKinney (Pinnacle Books) – WINNER
Not Fade Away by Gene O’Neill (Bad Moon Books)
The German by Lee Thomas (Lethe Press)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A FIRST NOVEL

Isis Unbound by Allyson Bird (Dark Regions Press) – WINNER
Southern Gods by John Hornor Jacobs (Night Shade Books)
The Lamplighters by Frazer Lee (Samhain Horror)
The Panama Laugh by Thomas Roche (Night Shade Books)
That Which Should Not Be by Brett J. Talley (JournalStone)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

Ghosts of Coronado Bay, A Maya Blair Mystery by J. G. Faherty (JournalStone)
The Screaming Season by Nancy Holder (Razorbill) – TIE
Rotters by Daniel Kraus (Delacorte Books for Young Readers)
Dust and Decay by Jonathan Maberry (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers) – TIE
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (Candlewick / Walker)
This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppel (Simon & Schuster / David Fickling Books)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A GRAPHIC NOVEL

Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol (First Second)
Locke & Key Volume 4 by Joe Hill (IDW Publishing)
Green River Killer by Jeff Jensen (Dark Horse)
Marvel Universe vs. Wolverine by Jonathan Maberry (Marvel)
Baltimore Volume I: The Plague Ships by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden (Dark Horse)
Neonomicon by Alan Moore (Avatar Press) – WINNER

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN LONG FICTION

7 Brains by Michael Louis Calvillo (Burning Effigy Press)
Roots and All by Brian Hodge (A Book of Horrors)
The Colliers’ Venus (1893) by Caitlin R. Kiernan (Naked City: New Tales of Urban Fantasy)
Ursa Major by John R. Little (Bad Moon Books)
Rusting Chickens by Gene O’Neill (Dark Regions Press)
The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine by Peter Straub (Conjunctions: 56) – WINNER

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN SHORT FICTION

Her Husband’s Hands by Adam-Troy Castro (Lightspeed Magazine, October 2011)
Herman Wouk Is Still Alive by Stephen King (The Atlantic Magazine, May 2011) – WINNER
Hypergraphia by Ken Lillie-Paetz (The Uninvited #1)
Graffiti Sonata by Gene O’Neill (Dark Discoveries #18)
Home by George Saunders (The New Yorker Magazine, June 13, 2011)
All You Can Do Is Breathe by Kaaron Warren (Blood and Other Cravings)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A SCREENPLAY

True Blood, episode #44: “Spellbound” by Alan Ball (HBO)
The Walking Dead, episode #13: “Pretty Much Dead Already” by Scott M. Gimple (AMC)
The Walking Dead, episode #9: “Save the Last One” by Scott M. Gimple (AMC)
Priest by Cory Goodman (Screen Gems)
The Adjustment Bureau by George Nolfi (Universal Pictures)
American Horror Story, episode #12: “Afterbirth” by Jessica Sharzer (20th Century Fox Television) – WINNER

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A FICTION COLLECTION

Voices: Tales of Horror by Lawrence C. Connolly (Fantasist Enterprises)
Red Gloves by Christopher Fowler (PS Publishing)
Two Worlds and In Between: The Best of Caitlin R. Kiernan (Volume One) by Caitlin R. Kiernan (Subterranean)
Monsters of L.A. by Lisa Morton (Bad Moon Books)
The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares by Joyce Carol Oates (Mysterious Press) – WINNER
Multiplex Fandango by Weston Ochse (Dark Regions Press)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN AN ANTHOLOGY (EDITING)

NEHW Presents: Epitaphs edited by Tracy L. Carbone (Shroud Publishing)
Ghosts By Gaslight edited by Jack Dann and Nick Gevers (Harper Voyager)
Blood And Other Cravings edited by Ellen Datlow (Tor Books)
Supernatural Noir edited by Ellen Datlow (Dark Horse)
Tattered Souls 2 edited by Frank J. Hutton (Cutting Block Press)
Demons: Encounters with the Devil and his Minions, Fallen Angels and the Possessed edited by John Skipp (Black Dog and Leventhal) – WINNER

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN NON-FICTION

Halloween Nation: Behind the Scenes of America’s Fright Night by Lesley Pratt Bannatyne (Pelican Publishing)
Reflections in a Glass Darkly: Essays on J. Sheridan Le Fanu edited by Gary William Crawford, Jim Rockhill and Brian J. Showers (Hippocampus Press)
Starve Better by Nick Mamatas (Apex Publications)
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Zombies by Matt Mogk (Gallery Books)
The Gothic Imagination by John C. Tibbetts (Palgrave Macmillan)
Stephen King: A Literary Companion by Rocky Wood (McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers) – WINNER

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A POETRY COLLECTION

How to Recognize a Demon Has Become Your Friend by Linda Addison (Necon Ebooks) – WINNER
At Louche Ends: Poetry for the Decadent, the Damned & the Absinthe-Minded by Maria Alexander (Burning Effigy Press)
Surrealities by Bruce Boston (Dark Regions Press)
Shroud of Night by G. O. Clark (Dark Regions Press)
The Mad Hattery by Marge Simon (Elektrik Milk Bath Press)
Unearthly Delights by Marge Simon (Sam’s Dot)

VAMPIRE NOVEL OF THE CENTURY

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Matheson couldn’t attend the awards in person, but he had a heartfelt acceptance speech via video that was a real surprise for fans. When the video ended, Jeff Strand, the emcee for the night, simply said “That was frickin’ cool.” Indeed, Mr. Strand, indeed.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AND SPECIALTY PRESS AWARDS

Joe Lansdale and Rick Hautala were both present to each accept their lifetime achievement awards.
Specialty Press Awards were presented to Derrick Hussey of Hippocampus Press and Roy Robbins of Bad Moon Books.

SILVER HAMMER AND PRESIDENT’S RICHARD LAYMON SERVICE AWARD

THe Silver Hammer Award, for outstanding service to HWA was voted by the organization’s board of trustees and was awarded to Guy Anthony DeMarco.
The President’s Richard Laymon Service Award was presented to HWA co-founder Karen Lansdale.