Thomas Ligotti, Laird Barron Stoker Finalists for 2011

Weird horror fiction is again enjoying a strong presence on the Stoker Award ballots. Finalists for each category were announced earlier this week. Thomas Ligotti and Laird Barron head up the purely weird, for superior achievements in non-fiction and short story collections, respectively.

Laird Barron's nightmare stirring collection, Occultation (reviewed last year), is a strong contender amid fierce competition. It's battling Stephen King's Full Dark, No Stars, among others. Another Barron tale shows up in Haunted Legends, edited by Ellen Datlow and Nick Mamatas, and a finalist for superior anthology.

Thomas Ligotti's pessimistic assessment of human existence, The Conspiracy Against the Human Race (reviewed at length here), faces three other works in a death match. This nomination and potential win is near perfect timing for the book, which sold out its first edition in late 2010. Conspiracy is due for a paperback re-release by Hippocampus Press later this spring. Ligotti holds the possible advantage of being a previous Stoker winner, with numerous past nominations and several outright wins, thanks to The Nightmare Factory in 1996 and My Work Is Not Yet Done in 2002.

Voting for the awards should conclude by late March. Here's a full list of the finalists:

Superior Achievement in a NOVEL:

• HORNS by Joe Hill (William Morrow)
• ROT AND RUIN by Jonathan Maberry (Simon & Schuster)
• DEAD LOVE by Linda Watanabe McFerrin (Stone Bridge Press)
• APOCALYPSE OF THE DEAD by Joe McKinney (Pinnacle)
• DWELLER by Jeff Strand (Leisure/Dark Regions Press)
• A DARK MATTER by Peter Straub (DoubleDay)

Superior Achievement in a FIRST NOVEL:

• BLACK AND ORANGE by Benjamin Kane Ethridge (Bad Moon Books)
• A BOOK OF TONGUES by Gemma Files (Chizine Publications)
• CASTLE OF LOS ANGELES by Lisa Morton (Gray Friar Press)
• SPELLBENT by Lucy Snyder (Del Rey)

Superior Achievement in LONG FICTION:

• THE PAINTED DARKNESS by Brian James Freeman (Cemetery Dance)
• DISSOLUTION by Lisa Mannetti (Deathwatch)
• MONSTERS AMONG US by Kirstyn McDermott (Macabre: A Journey through Australia’s Darkest Fears)
• THE SAMHANACH by Lisa Morton (Bad Moon Books)
• INVISIBLE FENCES by Norman Prentiss (Cemetery Dance)

Superior Achievement in SHORT FICTION:

• RETURN TO MARIABRONN by Gary Braunbeck (Haunted Legends)
• THE FOLDING MAN by Joe R. Lansdale (Haunted Legends)
• 1925: A FALL RIVER HALLOWEEN by Lisa Mannetti (Shroud Magazine #10)
• IN THE MIDDLE OF POPLAR STREET by Nate Southard (Dead Set: A Zombie Anthology)
• FINAL DRAFT by Mark W. Worthen (Horror Library IV)

Superior Achievement in an ANTHOLOGY:

• DARK FAITH edited by Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon (Apex Publications)
• HORROR LIBRARY IV edited by R.J. Cavender and, Boyd E. Harris (Cutting Block Press)
• MACABRE: A JOURNEY THROUGH AUSTRALIA’S DARKEST FEARS edited by Angela Challis and Marty Young (Brimstone Press)
• HAUNTED LEGENDS edited by Ellen Datlow and Nick Mamatas (Tor)
• THE NEW DEAD edited by Christopher Golden (St. Martin’s Griffin)

Superior Achievement in a COLLECTION:

• OCCULTATION by Laird Barron (Night Shade Books)
• BLOOD AND GRISTLE by Michael Louis Calvillo (Bad Moon Books)
• FULL DARK, NO STARS by Stephen King (Simon and Schuster)
• THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY by Stephen Graham Jones (Prime Books)
• A HOST OF SHADOWS by Harry Shannon (Dark Regions Press)

Superior Achievement in NONFICTION:

• TO EACH THEIR DARKNESS by Gary A. Braunbeck (Apex Publications)
• THE CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE HUMAN RACE by Thomas Ligotti (Hippocampus Press)
• WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE by Jonathan Maberry and Janice Gable Bashman (Citadel)
• LISTEN TO THE ECHOES: THE RAY BRADBURY INTERVIEWS by Sam Weller (Melville House Publications)

-Grim Blogger