A master of otherworldly suspense and a literary fiction darling have taken top honors in the 3rd Annual Black Quill Awards, as winners were announced today by Dark Scribe Magazine, the virtual magazine “dedicated to the books that keep readers up at night.”
Chicago-based author Gillian Flynn snagged the coveted Editor’s Choice award for Dark Genre Novel Of The Year for her sophomore effort, Dark Places, while veteran dark scribe Dan Simmons took Readers’ Choice honors in the same category for Drood, his historical reimagining of the last years of Charles Dickens’ life. Simmons was nominated in the same category in 2007 for The Terror.
The Black Quill Awards were handed out in (8) categories honoring works of dark genre literature – horror, suspense, and thrillers – from both mainstream and small press publishers. While six of the awards recognized literary efforts, two of the awards recognized important aspects of book publishing and promotion: cover design and artwork and book trailer production – a growing marketing aspect of dark genre publishing. Peter Mahaichuk and César Puch dominated the Best Cover Art And Design category for their work on Michael Louis Calvillo’s As Fate Would Have It for Bad Moon Books, while Calvillo himself took Readers’ Choice for Best Small Press Chill.
Filmmaker JT Petty won Editors’ Choice for Best dark genre book trailer for his work on the book trailer for real-life wife Sarah Langan’s Audrey’s Door, while up-and-coming trailer producer John Palisano took Readers’ Choice in that same category for Gary Braunbeck’s Far Dark Fields.
First-time nominees fared well in this year’s Black Quills, with Paul G. Bens Jr. taking top honors in the Best Small Press Chill category (Editor’s Choice) and Stoker Award-winner Lisa Morton scoring an Editors’ Choice nod for her editing work on Midnight Walk in the Best Dark Genre Anthology category. Jameson Currier snagged an Editors’ Choice award for Best Dark Genre Fiction Collection for The Haunted Heart And Other Tales, while David Nickle picked up the Readers’ Choice award in that same category for Monstrous Affections.
Editor Michael Knost took Editors’ Choice honors in the Best Dark Genre Book Of Non-Fiction category for the how-to compilation Writers Workshop Of Horror, while frequent Stephen King chronicler Bev Vincent earned Readers’ Choice honors in the same category for his The Illustrated Stephen King Companion. Elsewhere, Sarah Totton and Harry Shannon earned Editors’ Choice and Readers’ Choice nods, respectively, in the Best Dark Scribble category. Totton’s short story “Flatrock Sunners” appeared in the UK print magazine Black Static, while Shannon’s “The Night Nurse” ran on the webzine Horror Drive-In.
Prolific genre editor Ellen Datlow – a double nominee this year – added a Black Quill Award to her lengthy list of honors for her editing work on Poe: 19 New Tales Inspired By Edgar Allan Poe. This was Datlow’s third nomination, following last year’s nomination for Inferno: New Tales Of Terror And The Supernatural and a second nomination this year for her work on the Lovecraft Unbound collection.
Nominations for the Black Quills are editorial-based, with both the editors and active contributing writers submitting nominations in each of the (8) categories. Once nominations are announced, readers of DSM cast their votes for their picks in each category. For this year’s outing, more than 3,300 votes were cast by the magazine’s readers. In a unique spin intended to celebrate both critical and popular success, two winners are traditionally announced in each category – Reader’s Choice and Editor’s Choice. Winners receive recognition in DSM, inclusion in press release materials announcing nominations and winners, a virtual icon to be used on their own website, and a handsome award certificate.
A complete list of all the nominees and winners follows:
Dark Genre Novel Of The Year:
- Audrey’s Door by Sarah Langan (Harper)
- Castaways by Brian Keene (Leisure Books)
- Dark Places by Gillian Flynn (Shaye Areheart Books) Winner – Editors’ Choice
- Drood by Dan Simmons (Little, Brown and Company) Winner – Readers’ Choice
- The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (Riverhead Hardcover)
- The Unseen by Alexandra Sokoloff (St. Martin’s Press)
Best Small Press Chill (Novel or novella published by small press publisher; awarded to the author):
- As Fate Would Have It by Michael Louis Calvillo (Bad Moon Books) Winner – Readers’ Choice
- Frozen Blood by Joel Sutherland (Lachesis Publishing)
- Kelland by Paul G. Bens Jr. (Casperian Books) Winner – Editors’ Choice
- Last Days by Brian Evenson (Underland Press)
- The Harlequin And The Train by Paul G. Tremblay (Necropolitan Press)
- Valley Of The Dead by Kim Paffenroth (Cargo Cult Press)
Best Dark Genre Fiction Collection:
- Martyrs & Monsters by Robert Dunbar (DarkHart Press)
- Monstrous Affections by David Nickle (ChiZine Publications) Winner – Readers’ Choice
- Pumpkin Teeth by Tom Cardamone (Lethe Press)
- The Haunted Heart And Other Tales by Jameson Currier (Lethe Press) Winner – Editors’ Choice
- Ugly Man by Dennis Cooper (Harper Perennial)
Best Dark Genre Anthology:
- Dark Delicacies Iii: Haunted edited by Del Howison and Jeff Gelb (Running Press)
- He Is Legend: An Anthology Celebrating Richard Matheson edited by Christopher Conlon (Gauntlet Press)
- Lovecraft Unbound edited by Ellen Datlow (Dark Horse Comics)
- Midnight Walk edited by Lisa Morton (Darkhouse Publishing) Winner – Editors’ Choice
- Poe: 19 New Tales Inspired By Edgar Allan Poe edited by Ellen Datlow (Solaris) Winner – Readers’ Choice
- Shivers V edited by Richard Chizmar (Cemetery Dance Publications)
Best Dark Genre Book Of Non-Fiction:
- Morbid Curiosity Cures The Blues edited by Loren Rhodes (Scribner)
- Stephen King: The Non-Fiction by Rocky Wood and Justin Brooks (Cemetery Dance Publications)
- The Stephen King Illustrated Companion by Bev Vincent (Fall River Press) Winner – Readers’ Choice
- Writer’s Workshop Of Horror edited by Michael Knost (Woodland Press) Winner – Editors’ Choice
Best Dark Scribble (Single work, non-anthology short fiction appearing in a print or virtual magazine; awarded to the author):
- “Flatrock Sunners” by Sarah Totton (Black Static #12 / Print) Winner – Editors’ Choice
- “Following Marla” by John R. Little (Horror World, February 2009 / Virtual)
- “Night Nurse” by Harry Shannon (Horror Drive-In, July 2009 / Virtual) Winner – Readers’ Choice
- “The Loyalty of Birds” by Rachel Sobel (Clarkesworld #30 / Virtual)
- “The Man in the Mirror” by Jameson Currier (Icarus #1 / Print)
- “The Mind of a Pig” by Ekaterina Sedia (Apex Magazine, March 2009 / Virtual)
Best Cover Art & Design:
- As Fate Would Have It – Artwork: Peter Mahaichuk; Cover Design: César Puch [by Michael Louis Calvillo from Bad Moon Books] Winner – Editors’ Choice / Winner – Readers’ Choice
- The Estuary – Artwork: Johann Bodin; Cover Design: Jacob Kier [by Derek Gunn from Permuted Press]
- The Haunted Heart And Other Tales – Artwork by: Richard Taddei; Cover Design: John Molloy [by Jameson Currier from Lethe Press]
- The Pilo Family Circus – Cover Design by: Heidi Whitcomb [by Will Elliot from Underland Press]
Best Dark Genre Book Trailer:
- Audrey’s Door – Production by JT Petty (Author: Sarah Langan) Winner – Editors’ Choice
- Far Dark Fields – Production by John Palisano (Author: Gary Braunbeck) Winner – Readers’ Choice
- Isis – Production by Circle of Seven (Author: Douglas Clegg)
- The Lifeless – Production by Coscom Entertainment (Author: Lorne Dixon)
- Sense And Sensibility And Sea Monsters – Production by Seth Dalton and Ransom Riggs (Author: Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters)
