2023 Spindle House Award Nominations and Submissions

Our nominations and submissions for literary awards, recognitions, and “best of” collections, 2023. Links to these outstanding stories are provided. Go read them.

Pushcart Prize (and Stokers)

These nominations aim to capture the work’s outstanding overall literary achievement for works we’ve published in 2023. We gave special consideration to the work’s impeccable writing craft, strong narrative voice, originality, and the ability to stand up to (or demand) multiple repeated readings. We’ve also recommended this roster of stories for consideration in the HWA’s Bram Stoker Awards.

• “A Cautionary Tale” by Luc Diamant

• “The Living at Eyminster” by Isobel Granby

• “A Hollow Comes Before the Sting” by Alyson Grauer

• “Amoret” by Dori Lumpkin

• “The Sea-Change” by Sara Omer

• “Estranged” by C. C. Rayne

Brave New Weird Awards
Vol. 2 (Tenebrous Press)

These nominations reflect the work’s alignment with the new weird, a subset of horror fiction. We gave special consideration to the work’s originality and skillful use of bizarre and uncanny themes.

• “Stranger Than Shitty Sheets and Rubber Ding-Dongs” by Mathew Gostelow

• “A Hollow Comes Before the Sting” by Alyson Grauer

• “The Sea-Change” by Sara Omer

• “Blood of the Sea” by E. Seneca

• “Estranged” by C. C. Rayne

Best Horror of the Year
Vol. 16 (Ellen Datlow)

Both issues of The Deeps were shipped in their entirety to the renowned horror editor Ellen Datlow. Fingers crossed. You can read them here:

• The Deeps, Volume 1, Issue 1

• The Deeps, Volume 1, Issue 2