Bram Stoker Award
Superior Achievement in a First Novel
1987 The Manse by Lisa W. Cantrell1991 The Cipher by Kathe Koja
A bottomless black hole in a storage room. A mysterious, black-hearted young woman. Nicholas, would-be poet and video-store clerk, must contend with more terror and obsession than he ever thought possible in Kathe Koja's debut novel of psychological horror. This novel won the Horror Writers of America Bram Stoker Award, and the Locus Award for Best First Novel. It was also nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award for Best Paperback Original.
1993 The Thread That Binds the Bones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Tom Renfield, a drifter possessed of extraordinary powers, and Laura Bolte, the equally gifted daughter of an ancient family, are wed amid a supernatural tumult that threatens the thread that binds the bones. Original.
1994 Grave Markings by Michael A. Arnzen
Living in pain, an insane, egomaniacal tattoo artist is obsessed with the mad images in his mind and the need for recognition, so he seeks new flesh to fulfill his ambition, until his art becomes death itself. Original.
1996 Crota by Owl Goingback
When the police of Hobbs County, Missouri find a mutilated man's body on the side of the road, they figure a bear attacked him, except that bears aren't indigenous to their area. The local Indian tribe offers another explanation: Crota, a great beast of legend, has reawakened. As the body count increases, a hand-picked group of hunters stalk the mythical creature through an underground labyrinth where they will discover a horror beyond all imagining...but all too real!
Superior Achievement in a Nonfiction Book
1987 Mary Shelly by Muriel Spark1991 White People by Allan Gurganus
A collection of eleven comic short stories by the author of The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All features tales of love and money among American WASPs. Reprint.
1993 Once Around the Bloch by Robert Bloch
The author of Psycho presents an entertaining glimpse of his writing career, from his correspondence with H. P. Lovecraft to his screenwriting triumphs, offering anecdotes about such talents as Ray Bradbury and Boris Karloff along the way.
1995 The Supernatural Index by Michael Ashley
The Supernatural Index is the first index to all known anthologies of supernatural, fantasy, and weird fiction. It covers over 2,100 such books, indexing each volume by contents, author, and title. Books range from 1813 to date and therefore provide a complete history of the horror fiction field. Birth and death dates, along with pseudonyms, are provided for more than 7,700 authors; and for all the rougly 21,300 stories, every attempt has been made to provide original publication details.
Superior Achievement in a Novel
1987 Misery by Stephen King
When novelist Paul Sheldon is injured in the mountains, he feels fortunate to be rescued by a nurse who calls herself his number one fan. Annie Wilkes adores his books about Misery Chastain, but when she reads his newest manuscript and learns that Misery is to be killed off, Sheldon learns just how brutal a critic Annie can be. Kathy Bates received an Academy Award for her portrayal of Annie Wilkes in the film version of the novel.
1992 The Blood of the Lamb by Thomas F. Monteleone
A charismatic American priest discovers that he possesses extraordinary healing powers and sets out on a well-televised mission across the United States, but many wonder if he is the new Messiah or the Anti-Christ.
1993 Throat by Peter Straub
In this, the third volume of the loose Blue Rose trilogy, two friends investigate a murder on behalf of the accused killer.
1994 Dead in the Water by Nancy Holder
The shipwrecked, vacationing passengers of the ill-fated freighter, Morris, are picked up by the H.M.S. Pandora and sail into a cruise of metaphysical terror, madness, and death. Original.