It's STOKER time to celebrate the some of the year's finest work
CONGRATSsssssssssssss to ALL!! !
And the nominess are~ ~~

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)
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)
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)
Rotters by Daniel Kraus (Delacorte Books for Young Readers)
Dust and Decay by Jonathan Maberry (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
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)

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)

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)
"Graffiti Sonata" by Gene O'Neill (Dark Discoveries #18)
"X is for Xyx" by John Palisano (M is for Monster)
"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)

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)
Multiplex Fandango by Weston Ochse (Dark Regions Press)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN AN ANTHOLOGY (EDITING)
NEHW Presents: Epitaphs edited by Tracy L. Carbone (NEHW)
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)

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)

SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A POETRY COLLECTION
How to Recognize a Demon Has Become Your Friend by Linda Addison (Necon Ebooks)
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)

Jeff Thomas the genius behind PUNKTOWN

Acclaimed author, Jeffrey Thomas, the man behind the utterly wonderful PUNKTOWN books, says of TOP:

"There are occasional books, movies, cds, etc. that are of such a special quality -- that resonate with people in such a perfect way -- that they seem immune to any strong negative criticism. Movies like FIGHT CLUB, TAXI DRIVER and DRIVE (I'm sure they have the rare haters), books like...oh...THE ORPHAN PALACE..."

Lovecraft eZine

Just sold a new tale to “Lovecraft eZine”. Not certain yet, but I believe “Starry . . . yet” will appear in issue #12 . . . This will be my 5^th appearance in Mike Davis’ fine Lovecraftian zine.  You are reading it right? Lots of news, vids/clips, audio, art, links, and all manner of Lovecraftian fun.

My other appearances to date are --
3 parts of my ongoing Mythos Western series
“Meeting On the Trail To Hot Iron” in #3
“All the Gold” in #4
“The Wagon’s Trail” in #6
And my newest King In Yellow teXt
“Tark Left Santiago” in #10

http://lovecraftzine.com/

Thomas Ligotti

Tom Ligotti. Yeah, Thomas Ligotti. The one who gave us The Conspiracy Against the Human Race, Songs of a Dead Dreamer, and The Nightmare Factory, to name but a few of the highly-acclaimed works by this living master of weird fiction. Seems my publisher sent Tom a copy and he had the following to say about this humble writer’s upcoming collection, Portraits of Ruin.

“Let us posit that Bukowski is the sun. Or Brautigan, Burroughs and the Beats—a solar Coney Island of the Mind where Timothy Leary’s dead and dead Cthulhu waits and sings the live long daydream believer. Then Joe Pulver’s Portraits of Ruin would be the burst of planets, Big Bang-Bang, Marquee Moons hanging on for what they got, scream of consciousness—in Outer Space no one can hear it . . . except Coffin Joe, Monster Mash Potato that big ol’ Portraits of Ruin—Mars needs it, you need it, so just open the lid and shake your fist—then say: “They kill horses, horses, horses, horses.” Thank you. Come again?”

I’ll just quote my publisher, Derrick of Hippocampus Press, here, “WOW!”

I’ve also just finished my “intro” for Cisco’s upcoming project and submitted it. Both Mad C’sys-kone and the publisher are pleased as ghouls with keys to the mausoleum w/ it. More on this project soon! !!

More “What’s he building in there?” news very soon . . .

Here’s some links:
http://www.ligotti.net/

http://michaelcisco.blogspot.com/

http://www.hippocampuspress.com/

http://centipedepress.com/

AKLO news

    What now seems like ages ago, I was contacted by my pal, Ivan McCann about submitting something to a “zine” he was planning to do. I said, sure. Let me see what I have or can up w/. Having fallen under the spell of Kristamas Klousch’s beguiling art, I’d written a text based on several of her works. I sent it to him and he was rabid for it.
     He already had a few tales and some artists committed to contributing. I asked if he needed more tales. He said please. So I asked some friends and writers I highly regard. Almost all of them said yes. He liked my suggestions and their submissions and things developed.
     As subs and artwork for Ivan’s zine came in he began to think of doing not a zine but a book and somehow I became co-editor.
     And now it’s at the printer.
     Here’s the ToC.

   

Captured in Oils - Simon Strantzas
House of the Rising Sun - Edward Morris
Truckee Stomp - Laird Barron
The Girls of the World - Livia Llewellyn
Spawn of Cthulu - Mike Dubisch
Zygote’s Fables - Eric York
Flutes - T.E. Grau
Letters to G.G - B.R Jording
Nightmares Of A Pampiniform Mind - Jordan Krall
TIME . . . and FOREVER - Tara Vanflower & JS Pulver, Sr.
Never Call Anubis Loki’s Robots Cheap-Shit - Garrett Cook, Jordan Krall, 
& JS Pulver, Sr.
Head Soup - Johnny Mains
When She Shines, Poems… like chalices - Nova Rupertus & JS Pulver, Sr.
Counterclockwise - Jeffrey Thomas
Brian’s Girl - Garrett Cook
The God of Suburbia /Silver Night Train - Livia Llewellyn
Nyarlathotep... - JS Pulver, Sr.
In the Cave. She Sang - T.E. Grau
Kristamas as an exhibition - JS Pulver, Sr.
Ana Kai Tangata - Scott Nicolay
The Hands of Sopiale - J Karl Bogartte
Lord of the Hunt - Livia Llewellyn
Dark Outcome - Stanley C. Sargent
If Company Should Come - Edward Morris
Whisperers - Daniel Mills
Faint Baying from Afar - Richard Gavin

[shakes head]

Someone is selling an ARC of The Orphan Palace. w/out Peter Diamond's great art!! & w/out Cisco's "intro" . . . And we all know unedited Pulver is a typo machine, so why would you buy it when it's missing the best parts?? ? I also think selling ARC's is wrong.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-novels-by-Ramsey-Campbell-Joseph-Pulver-ARCs/290664785816

Another reader stopped by The Orphan Palace

Seems another kind reader, weary traveler on shore leave from the low side of the road, dropped by and after his stay in The Orphan Palace he rated the accommodations. His written statement to management says he felt Dr. Archer’s facilities were 5 Star. Doc like hearing that - in fact he got a big charge out of it.

Here’s some of what he had to say: “…At novel length, he [Pulver] becomes the Tom Waits of the macabre - laconic, poetic, surreal, with an uncanny ability to paint a landscape or a feeling with a few, deft words.

As to The Orphan Palace, I won't taint it with my impressions, other than to say it is a dark jewel of the English language. Beat poetry for the night.”

Dear Reader, THANKS! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Delighted to hear you enjoyed the book.
Well, after that I’m off to have tea and cigarettes w/ the other Tom…………. . Not sure what kind of an emotional weather report he’ll have to share [Vegas odds are bettin' on gloom & blue valentines] as we seek the heart of Saturday night, but it will be fun lookin’ . . .  



http://www.amazon.co.uk/Orphan-Palace-Road-Trip-Madness/dp/1907681116/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328389666&sr=1-1