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ore about completing tasks than listening to what their elderly charges try to tell them there is an intrinsic sadness hanging over royale pine mews even as festive activities take place in the background and the residents care needs seem tended to adequately enough it s here in the loneliness and social isolation at the end of one s life when autonomy is slowly lost and hope abandoned that the geri horror aspects of the rule of jenny pen really kick in there can be no happy ending because even if the villain is defeated the audience knows that there is no escape for mortensen from the decay aging brings circling back to our de facto history lesson at the beginning of this review the rule of jenny pen is also notable for subverting the rules of the hagsploitation subgenre here enlisting two hollywood males of a certain age rush 73 and lithgow 79 and placing them in the psycho biddy cinematic scenario usually reserved for women ashcroft ably proves that the horrors of growing old in an ageist society aren t reserved just for women it s just another bit of the understated brilliance of this film that will likely go on to have a long shelf life posted by vince liaguno at 4 29 pm no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels aging film commentary geoffrey rush geri horror hagsploitation horror horror movies james ashcroft john lithgow new zealand the rule of jenny pen monday february 24 2025 queer horror anthologies make history from time to time i ve been known to share an opinion or two stop laughing i ll wait those opinions usually come from something i feel passionate about and never without factual basis even if the conclusions drawn are up for debate last year around this time i was publicly lamenting the fact that the horror writers association had once again failed to elevate any queer horror anthologies onto the bram stoker awards final ballot note that when i refer to the horror writers association i refer to its membership at large not its board of trustees its officers or the countless volunteers that somehow keep the behemoth venerable writing organization running its members as a whole failed once again to push through a single queer horror anthology here s what i wrote at the time neither their jury system put in place largely to balance the popularity contest aspect of the member vote nor their membership have put a single lgbtq queer horror anthology on the ballot since 2009 likewise not a single queer horror anthology has won since that same year in fact only one queer horror anthology has been nominated in the history of the category which originated in 1998 a single queer horror anthology in 26 years as a queer anthologist this depresses me to no end stokerssostraight the single queer horror anthology that was nominated and won for superior achievement in an anthology in 2009 was the first i d edited with chad helder in the unspeakable horror anthology series unspeakable horror from the shadows of the closet dark scribe press 2008 i remember returning to my burbank hotel room after the awards ceremony and being overwhelmed by the congratulatory words and sentiments from lgbtq writers from across the globe on social media i felt as if i d broken some invisible lavender ceiling that night and that its shattering would open the door to other queer anthologists and their queerly curated collections alas the opposite would happen it had taken 11 years for a single queer horror anthology to make its mark upon the stokers anthology category sadly it would take 16 additional years after that nomination and win before another queer horror anthology made the final ballot my criticism last year made the rounds was cheered by some frowned upon by others many stayed silent whatever the immediate reaction i d like to believe that my rebuke found its way into a few hearts and minds whether the hwa membership read a little more widely this year or the anthology jury placed some greater emphasis on diversity in its picks i was positively thrilled yesterday when the final ballot was announced and two queer horror anthologies were named finalists in the superior achievement in an anthology category both rob costello s we mostly come out at night 15 queer tales of monsters angels other creatures running press kids 2024 and sofia ajram s bury your gays an anthology of tragic queer horror ghoulish books 2024 are in the running for the prestigious award this year they have now made history as only the second and third respectively expressly lgbtq horror anthologies to be nominated in the 27 years since the category originated and should one of them win on the evening of june 14th it will become only the second queer horror anthology to ever do so even better is the fact that these two queer horror anthologies are spectacularly dissimilar in tone and audience demonstrating the breadth of queer horror representation in the genre i ve loved since i was a kid old enough to watch karen black run around her apartment terrorized by that nasty little zuni fetish doll has been a subject that s near and dear to my heart for decades having once criticized the horror writers association s membership and jury for not including queer horror anthologies in its bram stoker awards final ballot i want to publicly praise both for their inclusiveness in doing so this year twice and lastly just like i was inspired by fearless queer editors like michael rowe and his seminal queer fear duo of anthologies in crafting what has become the longest running anthology series of original queer horror i hope fledgling anthologists will too take inspiration from editors costello and ajram and dream up their own collections of queer horror and smash through even higher lavender ceilings elevating queer voices is more important more vital than ever before posted by vince liaguno at 9 53 am no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels anthology bram stoker awards horror writers association michael rowe queer horror rob costello sofia ajram thursday june 29 2023 the case for anthologists discussion has cropped up on the internet regarding anthologies and the editors who curate them and the writers who contribute stories to them an open letter to the varies bodies that administer speculative fiction awards has been circulating that calls for best anthology awards to be awarded to each contributor of the anthology as well as the editor s the proposal calls for an equal share of the award for each contributor part of the justification for this is that the editors have not contributed a single story to the anthology first and foremost i appreciate the discussion and the civility that has ensued despite differing opinions i did not immediately weigh in on the issue preferring instead to sit back and listen to the opinions of others of those on both sides of this discussion for a bit on various social media sites but in some of the responses loaded words like injustice and inequity and unfair have been introduced into the discourse speaking specifically from the horror side of the equation as a point of clarification the shirley jackson awards have 6 categories five are exclusively for writers one for editors the edited anthology category the bram stoker awards have 13 categories eleven are exclusively for writers with one solely for editors superior achievement in an anthology and a second superior achievement in non fiction that could be won by either a writer or an editor are 2 to 3 editor eligible awards out of 19 really an injustice or constitute inequity as has been characterized elsewhere neither one of these award bodies have a best editor award so at least in the cases of these two genre awards an 85 15 split for writers and editors seems more than equitable i have both edited anthologies and contributed original works to others when the editors of anthologies to which i ve contributed have been nominated for an award i celebrate them i understand that my role was to write a story or submit something already finished and cash the check for said story on occasion that may include a few hours of research even after this business transaction i still try to be a good cheerleader for the anthology s success as a contributor those were my obligations as an editor i m responsible for developing the concept theme developing the pitch that sells the anthology to a publisher or convinces an agent of its potential to sell negotiating an advance that ensures i can pay contributors at or above the prevailing professional rate or bankrolling that portion myself in advance reading through hundreds of slush pile submissions notifying each author who submits of their story s acceptance or rejection preparing author contracts agreements sending them out and tracking their return as the editor i m editing each one of the stories and working with the contributors on revisions deciding on the toc order proofreading each story in the manuscript at least twice usually more pulling the manuscript together into one document writing the introduction working with the publisher on the cover concept and art and proofreading the manuscript after it s been formatted as the editor i m engaged in the pre release marketing email interviews virtual interviews and podcasts social media boosts keeping the contributors updated on reviews and award nominations for other terrors my co editor purchased and mailed each contributor a t shirt with the anthology s cover on it at her own expense in celebration of the anthology and everyone who contributed to it so respectfully no i do not believe that an award nomination or win for an edited anthology should be equally shared as has been proposed each one of contributing writers has opportunities to be recognized for their work as a contributor to an anthology in one of several short fiction categories in those same awards so why the call to dilute the anthologist s single opportunity to be recognized within either of these awards bodies using other terrors as an example one of our contributors the magnificent tananarive due was recognized for her contribution to the anthology with a locus award nomination for her superb closer incident at bear creek lodge in the novelette category the anthology itself was not nominated should rena and i as editors of that story in our anthology also been recognized as locus nominees because under the proposal s logic anthologies are a group effort of course not that s ludicrous likewise it s ludicrous to equate the amount of labor time and creativity that an anthologist pours into curating a 100k word collection with the writer s inarguably valuable single story contribution for which they have ample opportunity for awards recognition on their own again with an 85 15 split between writers and editors in terms of awards eligibility in both the shirley jackson and bram stoker awards there is hardly a case that can be made for inequity using an analogy from another art form let s take movies to illustrate the point here like an anthology it takes numerous artists of various kinds to create a film there is the film s director the actors the producers the screenwriter the costume and set designers the cameraman the publicists and countless others many individuals who contribute to the success of a film when a film is nominated for and wins an academy award for best picture the producers win the actual award the actors and everyone else involved in the film get bragging rights to having been featured in worked on an oscar winning film but the honor is bestowed upon the producer s i e the person s who oversees the film s production the person s who plans and coordinates various aspects of the film s creation such as selecting the script coordinating writing directing editing and arranging financing as someone who strives to be a good and professional anthologist i think the contributors should always be acknowledged and thanked in public forums when i won the bram stoker award for superior achievement in an anthology in 2009 i named each contributor in my acceptance speech if other terrors was to win the sja the same would occur throughout the process for other terrors and my latest anthology contributors were repeatedly tagged in each and every social media post highlighting a starred review or notable mention i even asked the art department at harper collins to design a graphic celebrating the anthology s sja nomination which they happily did and i immediately emailed every contributor to thank them for being a part of the anthology and to offer them the graphic to share i think only 4 out of 20 contributors actually did that all said while i still hold to the idea that it s the editor s who is credited with the nomination or award for an edited anthology i see absolutely no harm in a certificate being bestowed upon the contributors acknowledging that their story was included in an anthology that was nominated and or won the insert award name here award as was said elsewhere contributors still get bragging rights for being included in said anthology on top of being paid for their work hopefully at or above the prevailing per word rate as they should posted by vince liaguno at 10 20 am no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels anthology awards bram stoker awards editor shirley jackson awards social media older posts home subscribe to posts atom about the author vince liaguno troy michigan vince liaguno is the bram stoker award winning editor of unspeakable horror from the shadows of the closet dark scribe press 2008 an anthology of queer horror fiction which he co edited with chad helder other notable works include other terrors an inclusive anthology william morrow paperbacks 2022 an anthology of short fiction that he co edited with rena mason that collection received widespread critical acclaim including starred reviews from publishers weekly booklist and kirkus it was nominated for both the shirley jackson and world fantasy awards his debut novel 2006 s the literary six was a tribute to the slasher films of the 80 s and won an independent publisher award ippy for horror and was named a finalist in foreword magazine s book of the year awards most recently he released his debut poetry collection demo reels and arthouse madness raw dog screaming press 2025 he currently lives in the beautiful mitten state of michigan he is a member and former secretary of the horror writers association hwa international thriller writers itw and the national book critics circle nbcc view my complete profile demo reels and arthouse madness butcher knives body counts book trailer unspeakable horror book trailer slasher speak archive slasher speak archive march 2026 1 january 2026 1 march 2025 1 february 2025 1 june 2023 1 april 2023 1 july 2022 1 june 2022 1 april 2022 1 february 2022 1 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