Just discovered the Dark Scribe Magazine, a virtual magazine dedicated to the terrific books that keep readers up at night. Tons of great stuff but the most impressive feature is that the fact that they just announced their 4th Annual Black Quill Awards, which honors the best in dark genre (horror, suspense, and thrillers).

Here are the winners:

BEST DARK GENRE NOVEL OF THE YEAR	EDITOR'S CHOICE: A Dark Matter by Peter Straub Summary: The charismatic and cunning Spenser Mallon is a campus guru in the 1960s, attracting the devotion and demanding sexual favors of his young acolytes. After he invites his most fervent followers to attend a secret ritual in a local meadow, the only thing that remains is a gruesomely dismembered body—and the shattered souls of all who were present. Years later, one man attempts to understand what happened to his wife and to his friends by writing a book about this horrible night, and it’s through this process that they begin to examine the unspeakable events that have bound them in ways they cannot fathom and find themselves face-to-face with the evil triggered so many years earlier.
BEST DARK GENRE NOVEL OF THE YEAR	READER'S CHOICE: Sparrow Rock by Nate Kenyon Summary: Six high school students have survived nuclear war in a high-tech bomb shelter, but they-re not alone. Mutated insects are hungry and the human survivors are the only prey.
BEST DARK GENRE ANTHOLOGY	EDITOR'S CHOICE: Haunted Legends edited by Ellen Datlow and Nick Mamatas Summary: Darkly thrilling, these twenty new ghost stories have all the chills and power of traditional ghost stories, but each tale is a unique retelling of an urban legend from the world over.
BEST DARK GENRE FICTION COLLECTION	EDITOR'S CHOICE: Occultation by Laird Barron Summary: Pitting ordinary men and women against a carnivorous, chaotic cosmos, Occultation's eight tales of terror (two never before published) include the Theodore Sturgeon and Shirley Jackson Award-nominated story "The Forest" and Shirley Jackson Award nominee "The Lagerstatte." Featuring an introduction by Michael Shea, Occultation brings more of the spine-chillingly sublime cosmic horror Laird Barron's fans have come to expect.

For a complete list of winners, click on this link.

The enthusiastic and knowledgeable crew over at Bloody-Disgusting.com refer to themselves as "Your #1 Source For Horror" - and you know what? They're not just bragging; they really do deliver. I use this website all the time to keep abreast of horror news, reviews and interviews. What's coming out in theaters? What's new to DVD? Will there be a Saw VII? There are insightful articles, endless trailers, and "Best" lists to die for. For example: Top Ten Cheesiest Horror Movie One-Liners.

My one criticism is that the site is exclusively focused on movies. The contributors are obsessed film buffs so very rarely will you get anything on what's being published. Except for Graphic Novels - the site has a great section called Graphic Content. Oh! and they also do video games :-)

Now the crew over at Bloody-Disgusting want to recognize the top horror bloggers on the Web with an official BD Horror Bloggers Award. I think this is an awesome idea. There are LOADS of horror blogs out there - good, bad and ugly - and this is a fantastic way of celebrating the truly good ones.

Stay tuned for nominations and winners!

The Cryptkeeper

Yes, they're out there ... in vast numbers. The quality varies, as does the staying power ... but the one thing they all have in common is their passion for horror -- in all of its manifestations. I'm talking about the dedicated horror bloggers of course. The web is fairly teeming with them, proving that the genre is alive and well, as are the fans who love it.

The Vault of Horror has compiled a truly inspired list of Horror Blogs You Should be Reading. This is definitely worth checking out. As is an informative little essay published on Fangoria.com entitled "The Importance of Horror Blogging".

Here are a few of my favourite horror blogs out there that I try to read on a regular basis:

The Cryptkeeper

The newest book has just made its appearance at RPL, so get your name on the list for The Last Apprentice: Wrath of the Bloodeye, the fifth book in the series, as soon as possible!

In the meantime though, if you're looking for a little more information about author Joseph Delaney, the other books in the series or if you want a run down on the characters, check out www.thelastapprentice.com!

Have a look at these previous postings to get the entire rundown on this RPL staff favorite!

--The Library Technician

For the straight up goods, there really is no site better than Horror-Movies.ca. In actuality a blog, it functions wonderfully as a website and is maintained by dedicated horror fans...and it shows. Chock full of reviews, news and interviews, the site is comprehensive and up-to-date. There are numerous, ongoing contests, as well as an interesting and lively chat forum where fans can pontificate on any number of horror related topics.

Stay current with DVD release dates, upcoming horror films in production, and access to all the trailers and teasers you could want using TerrorFeed.com, their video sister site where you can watch thousands of horror clips, trailers and shorts, getting your horror fix for FREE.

Really, this site has everything. Check it out and you'll see what I mean.

The Cryptkeeper

Fantastic Fiction is THE website for book lovers of speculative fiction, whether it be sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, or of course, horror. The site provides complete bibliographies for over 10,000 authors, plus information on over 200,000 books.

The site's search engine is excellent and the pages are easy to navigate. You can browse by author, what's new, what's most popular, etc. Searching by author gives you a tremendous amount of information, including a complete bibliography in order of publication (this is great for fans of series who want to read the books in order), lists any upcoming new books with release dates, book cover images, and plot synopses.

Why I love this site:

1. Lists all awards an author has received
2. Lists books that have been published about the author
3. Links to other websites about the author
4. Lists what books the author has recommended or reviewed and includes book covers for easy recognition (great way to get new ideas on what to read next)
5. Lists an author read-alike section

To see all of these features at work and how they can work for you, click here for Stephen King on Fantastic Fiction.

Check out the site, browse around, you'll be amazed at what you find!

The Cryptkeeper

Curious about what everybody else is reading? Want to be kept up-to-date on the hottest new releases hitting the market right now? Then look no further than Amazon.com; the gargantuan online bookstore has a Horror hub that's well worth checking out -- it lists the bestselling new & future releases in Horror and is updated hourly.

Go to Amazon.com's Hot New Releases in Horror now!

Check out the current bestsellers in Horror

What about Canadians? Check out the current bestsellers in Horror on Amazon.ca

The living dead really DO roam the streets!

One day if your out and about in your fair city of residence and happen upon a suspiciously well organized group of zombies, don't freak out!

It's just a Zombie Walk!

A Zombie Walk is usually an underground operation consisting of a group of people that have decided to pay homage to the walking dead by dressing up and lurching about, in a benignly undead way! They are only allowed to communicate with the usual zombie grunts, groans and moans.

For more information check out Wikipedia's entry on the Zombie Walk!

Click here to find out about Zombie Walks in your area!

--The Library Technician (who kind of wishes Regina was more Zombie friendly)

The horror blog is currently at work on a permanent Links page to the best of everything Horror on the Web. For now, here are a few more recommendations to check out:

The Portal of Horror (hosted by Wikipedia.org) I'm a big supporter of the Wikipedia phenomenon and this Horror Portal is one of the reasons why -- the pages are comprehensive with lots of interesting links to all aspects of the genre (books, film and TV). This is a must browse for any fan of horror. Check it out today!

Down in the Cellar

I love this site! Down in the Cellar is an online journal that comes out 4 times a year and offers consistently great short fiction by new and undiscovered horror authors. No subscription is required; the reading and enjoyment is FREE.

If short fiction is not your thing, this site is also a font of information on new horror titles by established writers, and an excellent place to get insightful book and movie reviews.


BURIED.COM

This is definitely one of the best horror websites out there. Extremely comprehensive and up-to-date, offering excellent book and movie reviews. There's lots of news and interviews to keep you in the horror loop. The site also has one of the most thorough Links page that I've seen.

There is a fantastic wiki website called Award Annals.com that ranks 8,000+ creative works by the number of awards they have received. Of particular interest is the Honor Roll for Horror Books. Want to know what to read next? Looking for some great suggestions on a new author to try? This list is an excellent place to start.

The site includes book cover images, plot synopses, and lists authors' other books. Be sure to check out the Honor Roll for Horror Authors page also. As more and more contributions are made to the site, its value will only increase. Go have a look around...you'll be amazed!