The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire,
We don’t need no water, let the motherfucka burn…

My deepest thanks to the HWA for giving me a hell of a fine evening the other night. The HWA voters very generously awarded a Bram Stoker to 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS for best collection, and another to “Best New Horror” for long form story. I’m blown away, and tremendously honored. Thanks, guys.

In other news: I now have a MySpace account, where you will soon be able to find me repeating all the same stuff I say here. One of these days, I’m sure I’ll get around to customizing the shit out of my page, but at the moment it’s pretty bare bones.

There’s a new review up of 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS. Check out what Nickolas Cook thought over at Hellnotes. And the SciFi wire (the internet news arm of the SciFi channel) is running an interview I did with John Joseph Adams in two brief segments. The first piece is already up and can be found here; the second piece should appear shortly (and may well be up by the time you read this). Additionally, some outtakes from the interview will be posted to John’s blog.

I just had the completely wonderful news that 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS made the final ballot for this year’s International Horror Guild Awards. Two of my stories, “Best New Horror” and “Voluntary Committal,” also were granted spots on the short list, in the mid-length fiction and long fiction categories respectively. The IHG awards are handed out each year at the World Fantasy Convention. I’m up against several of the usual suspects (Kelly Link, Gary Braunbeck, Caitlin Kiernan). My congrats to them, and all the other great writers who made the last ballot; thanks, as well, to the IHG, for some deeply appreciated support. I’m honored.

I’m retiring “The Black Phone” for a while as a free download from the website, but I still like the idea of people being able to sample some of my short fiction without shelling out $30 – $100 to buy a copy of my collection. If that person is you, head on over to Paul Kane’s website, Shadow Writer. Paul has, for several years now, offered free stories by a Who’s Who of writers in fantasy… everyone from Neil Gaiman to F. Paul Wilson. Starting this month, he’s adding my story “Abraham’s Boys” to the collection. Go on, go have a look; Mr. Kane is waiting for you.

Another one of my stories, “The Cape,” which was an exclusive to 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS, appears in John Betancourt’s HORROR 2006: BEST OF THE YEAR, available this month. The anthology also features contributions from literary studs such as Richard Bowes, Caitlin Kiernan, Clive Barker, and Joe Lansdale, and has already received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Look for it in your favorite independent or chain bookstore.

Come June 17th, I’ll be in Newark for the Bram Stoker Award Banquet. “Best New Horror,” is up for a Brammie in the Long Fiction category, while 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS stands nominated for Best Collection. Wish me luck.

And next month I should have a long-overdue update about the novel, Heart-Shaped Box. Lots of interesting stuff has been happening on that front; I just haven’t had the time to sit down and work up a post about it.