A press release from Lisa Morton of the Horror Writers Association:
Sometime in 1984, Robert McCammon first mentioned the idea of forming an organization for professional writers of horror. He soon enlisted the assistance of Joe and Karen Lansdale, and together H.O.W.L. (Horror/Occult Writers League) was born. The organization held its first formal meeting in 1985, and shortly thereafter the name was changed to Horror Writers of America. However, it wasn’t until March of 1987 that HWA (which officially changed its name to Horror Writers Association in 1993) was officially incorporated.
Which means we’re celebrating the 25th anniversary of HWA’s incorporation in March of 2012! We’re thrilled to say that our three founders—Joe Lansdale, Karen Lansdale, and Robert McCammon—will be on hand to celebrate with us. We’ll have an entire full slate of special panels and events culminating with the gala presentation of the 2011 Bram Stoker Awards at WHC 2012 on the evening of March 31, 2012. The Lansdales and McCammon are official Guests of HWA for the entire day, which has two major components.
First—Celebrate HWA Day will be a full slate of panels presented by HWA as a separate programming stream at WHC 2012 on Saturday, March 31. Our first major announcement is a presentation by Dacre Stoker, great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker and author of Dracula: The Un-Dead, about his book, Bram Stoker’s Dublin Literary Notebook, which will be released that month. Joe Lansdale, Karen Lansdale, and Robert McCammon will all participate in the day’s panels. More big names and panels will be announced in coming months.
Second—The 25th Bram Stoker Awards Banquet on the evening of March 31 features our first Awards given under the half-Juried system and will include the one-off Bram Stoker Vampire Novel of the Century Award, co-presented by Dacre Stoker on behalf of the Bram Stoker Family Estate. In other great news, our famed emcee Jeff Strand is returning to entertain the masses!
So, visit our new stand-alone website at www.stokers2012.org, which has everything you need to know, including how to register at WHC 2012, hotel bookings and so on.
An important note—if you are planning to attend you might like to book your hotel now through the website and even consider your air bookings. The reason: There is a major Mormon convention in town that same weekend, and we’ve been warned not to leave bookings too late.
The 2012 World Horror Convention will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, March 29-April 1, 2012.