More book awards: Check out the Bram Stoker nominees

Here’s an even more eclectic list than the Los Angeles Times Book Prize nominees: The graphic novel contenders for the Horror Writers Association’s Bram Stoker Award:

Anya’s Ghost, by Vera Brosgol (First Second)
Locke & Key, Volume 4, by Joe Hill (artist: Gabriel Rodriguez) (IDW)
Green River Killer, by Jeff Jensen (artist: Jonathan Case) (Dark Horse)
Marvel Universe vs. Wolverine, by Jonathan Maberry (penciler: Laurence Campbell) (Marvel)
Baltimore: The Plague Ships, by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden (artist: Ben Stenbeck; colorist: Dave Stewart) (Dark Horse)
Neonomicon, by Alan Moore (artist: Jacen Burrows) (Avatar Press)

I added in the artists because apparently the Stoker folks were only thinking about writers. I’m impressed with how broad the selection of books is, given that they all qualify as “horror” to someone: Anya’s Ghost, while genuinely scary, is a teenage ghost story, Green River Killer is true crime, Marvel Universe vs. Wolverine is a superhero story, admittedly with something that sounds a lot like a zombie twist. The other three are closer to what I think of when I think of “horror,” but they are all still quite different from one another.

Bram Stoker Awards to recognize graphic novels

Bram Stoker Awards

The Bram Stoker Awards, presented annually by the Horror Writers Association, will add a graphic-novel category, presumably beginning next year.

The announcement came over the weekend, during the World Horror Convention in Brighton, England. Other new categories will include Screenplay and Young Adult.

Presented since 1987, the Bram Stoker Awards recognize “superior achievement” in horror writing.

From 1998 to 2004, the awards featured a Best Illustrative Narrative category. Winners included Neil Gaiman for The Sandman: The Dream Hunters and The Sandman: Endless Nights, Alan Moore for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1, and Jai Nitz for Heaven’s Devils.