Horror Writers Association

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The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is an international authors' association and organization that supports authors in the field of horror literature and dark fantasy . The non-profit organization, with its official headquarters in New York City , United States , was unofficially founded in 1985 and officially in 1987.

history

The idea of ​​founding an authors' association for the field of horror literature goes back to Robert R. McCammon , who published the proposal in 1984 in Publishers Weekly . In 1985, some writers got together, including Joe R. Lansdale and his wife Karen, Robert Bloch , Robert McCammon and Dean Koontz to form the organization under the name Horror / Occult Writers League (HOWL). The first formal meeting was held on November 3, 1985 at the World Fantasy Convention in Tucson , Arizona , and only about two dozen people attended. In July 1986 the association's official newsletter appeared for the first time under the name Our Glass . Since 1986 the members of the HWA have participated annually in both the World Fantasy Convention and the World Horror Convention .

However, until March 1987 it was officially implemented and founded as Horror Writers of America , Dean Koontz became the first president and McCammon and Lansdale formed the official Board of Trustees with him . In the same year, the newly founded association presented the Bram Stoker Awards for the first time and it was decided to publish an annual anthology with stories from the members. The first of these anthologies, edited by Robert R. McCammon, was published under the title Under the Fang , but not until 1991. Koontz and the other authors were very committed to the organization, so that a year later it had 300 members. Over the years, numerous well-known authors of the genre have become members of the HWA, including Ray Bradbury , Stephen King , Peter Straub , Clive Barker , Richard Matheson and Ramsey Campbell . In 1987 Charles L. Grant succeeded Koontz as president.

In 1988, the first Annual Bram Stoker Awards Banquet and Business Meeting took place in New York City, which has been commuting between the east and west coasts of the United States every year since then. In 1993 the name of the association was changed to Horror Writers Association to emphasize and promote international engagement. By February 2012, the association had more than 720 international members.

President

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