To StokerCon or Not to StokerCon, That is the Question!

Creative hermits terrified of large gatherings consider facing their fears! Fun! Excitement!

QUEEN OF TEETH has found itself shortlisted for a Stoker in the category of “Superior Achievement in a First Novel” and we couldn’t be happier for author Hailey Piper. We’ve said it before and we will say it again, Rooster Republic Press is a tiny operation, existing mostly because of sheer will. That we have had such enormous goodwill directed to our little endeavor means the world to us. We will continue to march on for another year!

Now, for the BIG question: do we go to StokerCon? Don Noble and Nicholas Day have made no con appearances of any kind in nearly four years. We weren’t too hot about taking trips before Covid, and we sure as shit didn’t go anywhere once that hit the proverbial fan. But we are compelled to go and to support Hailey, if we are able to do so.

We certainly hope to make it to Denver in May! At the very least, we may attend the awards ceremony. As of now, we are looking into arrangements and whatnot. So, if you have ever wanted to meet one or the other or both of us, then aren’t you in luck (heavy sarcasm).

See you in May!

In the meantime, congratulations to Hailey Piper on her nomination(s) and congratulations to all the authors and publishers represented on the ballot:

Superior Achievement in a Novel

Castro, V. – The Queen of the Cicadas (Flame Tree Press)

Hendrix, Grady – The Final Girl Support Group (Berkley)

Jones, Stephen Graham – My Heart is a Chainsaw (Gallery/Saga Press)

Pelayo, Cynthia – Children of Chicago (Agora Books)

Wendig, Chuck – The Book of Accidents (Del Rey)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel*

Martinez, S. Alessandro – Helminth (Omnium Gatherum)

McQueen, LaTanya – When the Reckoning Comes (Harper Perennial)

Miles, Terry – Rabbits (Del Rey)

Piper, Hailey – Queen of Teeth (Strangehouse Books)

Quigley, Lisa – The Forest (Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing)

Willson, Nicole – Tidepool (The Parliament House)

*Due to a tie in fifth place, there are six nominees in this category.

Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel

Ahmed, Saladin (author) and Kivelä, Sami (artist) – Abbott 1973 (BOOM! Studios)

Garcia, Kami (author); Suayan, Mico (artist); Badower, Jason (artist); and Mayhew, Mike (artist) – Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity (DC Comics)

Manzetti, Alessandro (author) and Cardoselli, Stefano (artist) – The Inhabitant of the Lake(Independent Legions Publishing)

Morrison, Grant (author); Child, Alex (author); and Franquiz, Naomi (artist) – Proctor Valley Road(BOOM! Studios)

Panosian, Dan (author) and Ignazzi, Marianna (artist) – An Unkindness of Ravens (BOOM! Studios)

Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel

Blake, Kendare – All These Bodies (Quill Tree Books)

Boyle, R.L. – The Book of the Baku (Titan Books )

Lewis, Jessica – Bad Witch Burning (Delacorte Press)

Sutherland, Krystal – House of Hollow (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

Waters, Erica – The River Has Teeth (HarperTeen)

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

Castro, V. – Goddess of Filth (Creature Publishing, LLC)

Khaw, Cassandra – Nothing But Blackened Teeth (Tor Nightfire)

LaRocca, Eric – Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke (Weirdpunk Books)

Piper, Hailey – “Recitation of the First Feeding” (Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy) (The Seventh Terrace)

Strand, Jeff – “Twentieth Anniversary Screening” (Slice and Dice) (Independently published)

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction

Gyzander, Carol – “The Yellow Crown” (Under Twin Suns: Alternate Histories of the Yellow Sign) (Hippocampus Press)

Murray, Lee – “Permanent Damage” (Attack From the ’80s) (Raw Dog Screaming Press)

O’Quinn, Cindy – “A Gathering at the Mountain” (The Bad Book) (Bleeding Edge Books)

Taborska, Anna -“Two Shakes Of A Dead Lamb’s Tail”(Terror Tales of the Scottish Lowlands) (Telos Publishing)

Ward, Kyla Lee – “A Whisper in the Death Pit” (Weirdbook #44) (Wildside Press)

Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection

Files, Gemma – In That Endlessness, Our End (Grimscribe Press)

Fracassi, Philip – Beneath a Pale Sky (Lethe Press)

Maberry, Jonathan – Empty Graves: Tales of the Living Dead (WordFire Press LLC)

Tuttle, Lisa – The Dead Hours of Night (Valancourt Books)

Wise, A.C. – The Ghost Sequences (Undertow Publications)

Superior Achievement in a Screenplay

Chaisson, C. Henry; Antosca, Nick; and Cooper, Scott – Antlers (Searchlight Pictures)

Dong-hyuk, Hwang – Squid Game, Season 1, Episode 1: “Red Light, Green Light” (Siren Pictures)

Flanagan, Mike; Flanagan, James; and Howard, Jeff – Midnight Mass, Season 1, Episode 6: “Book VI: Acts of the Apostles” (Intrepid Pictures)

Graziadei, Phil and Janiak, Leigh – Fear Street: Part One – 1994 (Chernin Entertainment)

Peele, Jordan; Rosenfeld, Win; and DaCosta, Nia – Candyman (Universal Pictures)

Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection

Lansdale, Joe R. – Apache Witch and Other Poetic Observations (Independent Legions Publishing)

McHugh, Jessica – Strange Nests (Apokrupha)

Simon, Marge and Turzillo, Mary – Victims (Weasel Press)

Sng, Christina; Yuriko Smith, Angela; Murray, Lee; and Flynn, Geneve – Tortured Willows: Bent. Bowed. Unbroken. (Yuriko Publishing)

Snyder, Lucy A. – Exposed Nerves (Raw Dog Screaming Press)

Superior Achievement in an Anthology

Chambers, James – Under Twin Suns: Alternate Histories of the Yellow Sign (Hippocampus Press)

Datlow, Ellen – When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson (Titan Books)

French, Aaron J. and Landry, Jess – There is No Death, There are No Dead (Crystal Lake Publishing)

Guignard, Eric J. – Professor Charlatan Bardot’s Travel Anthology to the Most (Fictional) Haunted Buildings in the Weird, Wild World (Dark Moon Books)

Johnson, Eugene – Attack From the 80’s (Raw Dog Screaming Press)

Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction

Knost, Michael – Writers Workshop of Horror 2 (Hydra Publications)

Olson, Danel – 9/11 Gothic: Decrypting Ghosts and Trauma in New York City’s Terrorism Novels (Lexington Books)

Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew and Hansen, Regina M. – Giving the Devil His Due: Satan and 

Cinema (Fordham University Press)

Wetmore Jr., Kevin J. – Eaters of the Dead: Myths and Realities of Cannibal Monsters (Reaktion Books)

Woofter, Kristopher – Shirley Jackson: A Companion (Peter Lang Publishing)

Superior Achievement in Short Non-Fiction

Ognjanović, Dejan – “The Three Paradigms of Horror” (Vastarien Vol. 4, Issue 2) (Grimscribe Press)

O’Quinn, Cindy – “One and Done” (Were Tales: A Shapeshifter Anthology) (Brigids Gate Press)

Verona, Emily Ruth – “A Horror Fan’s Guide to Surviving Womanhood” (thefinalgirls.co.uk)

Wetmore Jr., Kevin J.  – “Devil’s Advocates: The Conjuring” (Auteur Publishing/Liverpool University Press)

Yuriko Smith, Angela – “Horror Writers: Architects of Hope” (The Sirens Call, Halloween 2021, Issue 55) (Sirens Call Publications)

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