Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel

The Bram Stoker Award for First Novel is an award presented by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in horror writing for an author's first horror novel.

Winners and nominees

Nominees are listed below the winner(s) for each year.^[1][2]

Nancy A. Collins with her Bram Stoker Award

• 1987: The Manse by Lisa Cantrell
  • The Damnation Game by Clive Barker
  • Slob by Rex Miller
  • The Harvest Bride by Tony Richards
  • Excavation by Steve Rasnic Tem
• 1988: The Suiting by Kelley Wilde
  • Cities of the Dead by Michael Paine
  • Resurrection, Inc. by Kevin J. Anderson
  • Deliver Us From Evil by Allen Lee Harris
  • Demon Night by J. Michael Straczynski
  • Fear Book by John L. Byrne
• 1989: Sunglasses After Dark by Nancy A. Collins
  • The Dwelling by Tom Elliott (JW Paine)
  • Goat Dance by Douglas Clegg
  • Laying The Music To Rest by Dean Wesley Smith
  • The Lilith Factor by Jean Paiva
• 1990: The Revelation by Bentley Little
  • Blood of the Children by Alan Rodgers
  • Dark Father by Tom Piccirilli
  • Nightblood by T. Chris Martindale
• 1991: The Cipher by Kathe Koja (tie)
• 1991: Prodigal by Melanie Tem (tie)
  • Winter Scream by Chris Curry & L. Dean James
  • Wilderness by Dennis Danvers
  • Unearthed by Ashley McConnell
• 1992: Sineater by Elizabeth Massie
  • Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite
  • Beauty by Brian D'Amato
  • Less Than Human by Gary Raisor
  • The Holy Terror by Wayne Allen Salee
• 1993: The Thread that Binds the Bones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
  • Afterage by Yvonne Navarro
  • Created By from Richard Christian Matheson
  • Suckers by Anne Billson
  • Wet Work by Philip Nutman
• 1994: Grave Markings by Michael Arnzen
  • The Black Mariah by Jay R. Bonansinga
  • Deadweight by Robert Devereaux
  • Near Death by Nancy Kilpatrick
• 1995: The Safety of Unknown Cities by Lucy Taylor
  • Diary of a Vampire by Gary Bowen
  • The Between by Tananarive Due
  • Madeleine's Ghost by Robert Girardi
  • Wyrm Wolf by Edo van Belkom
• 1996: Crota by Owl Goingback
  • Flute Song by Donald R. Burleson
  • Horror Show by Greg Kihn
  • Dead Heat by Del Stone
• 1997: Lives of the Monster Dogs by Kirsten Bakis
  • The Art of Arrow Cutting by Stephen Dedman
  • Hungry Eyes by Barry Hoffman
  • Drawn to the Grave by Mary Ann Mitchell
  • The Inquisitor by Mary Murrey
• 1998: Dawn Song by Michael Marano
  • Night Prayers by P.D. Cacek
  • This Symbiotic Fascination by Charlee Jacob
  • Silk by Caitlin R. Kiernan
• 1999: Wither by J.G. Passarella
  • Widow's Walk by Steve Beai
  • Every Dead Thing by John Connolly
  • King Rat by China Miéville
• 2000: The Licking Valley Coon Hunters Club by Brian A. Hopkins
  • Nailed by the Heart by Simon Clark
  • House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
  • Run by Douglas E. Winter
• 2001: Deadliest of the Species by Michael Oliveri
  • Phantom Feast by Diana Barron
  • Skating on the Edge by d.g.k. goldberg
  • Riverwatch by Joe Nassise
• 2002: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
  • The Blues Ain't Nothing by Tina Jens
  • Atmosphere by Michael Laimo
  • The Red Church by Scott Nicholson
• 2003: The Rising by Brian Keene
  • Wolf's Trap by William D. Gagliani
  • Monstrocity by Jeffrey Thomas
  • Veniss Underground by Jeff Vandermeer
• 2004: Covenant by John Everson (tie)
• 2004: Stained by Lee Thomas (tie)
  • Black Fire by James Kidman
  • Move Under Ground by Nick Mamatas
• 2005: Scarecrow Gods by Weston Ochse
  • The Hides by Kealan Patrick Burke
  • Siren Promised by Alan M. Clark and Jeremy Robert Johnson
• 2006: Ghost Road Blues by Jonathan Maberry
  • The Keeper by Sarah Langan
  • Bloodstone by Nate Kenyon
  • The Harrowing by Alexandra Sokoloff
• 2007: Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
  • I Will Rise by Michael Louis Calvillo
  • The Memory Tree by John R. Little
  • The Hollower by Mary SanGiovanni
• 2008: The Gentling Box by Lisa Mannetti
  • Midnight on Mourn Street by Christopher Conlon
  • Monster Behind the Wheel by Michael McCarty and Mark McLaughlin
  • The Suicide Collectors by David Oppegaard
  • Frozen Blood by Joel A. Sutherland
• 2009: Damnable by Hank Schwaeble
  • Breathers by S. G. Browne
  • Solomon's Grave by Daniel G. Keohane
  • The Little Sleep by Paul Tremblay
• 2010: Black & Orange by Benjamin Kane Ethridge (tie)
• 2010: The Castle of Los Angeles by Lisa Morton (tie)
  • A Book of Tongues by Gemma Files
  • Spellbent by Lucy A. Snyder
• 2011: Isis Unbound by Allyson Bird
  • Southern Gods by John Hornor Jacobs
  • The Lamplighters by Frazer Lee
  • The Panama Laugh by Thomas Roche
  • That Which Should Not Be by Brett J. Talley
• 2012: Life Rage by L. L. Soares
  • Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling by Michael Boccacino
  • Wide Open by Deborah Coates
  • The Legend of the Pumpkin Thief by Charles Day
  • A Requiem for Dead Flies by Peter Dudar
  • Bad Glass by Richard Gropp
• 2013: The Evolutionist by Rena Mason
  • Candy House by Kate Jonez
  • The Year of the Storm by John Mantooth
  • Redheads by Jonathan Moore
  • Stoker’s Manuscript by Royce Prouty
• 2014: Mr. Wicker by Maria Alexander ^[3]
  • Forsaken by J. D. Barker
  • Consumed by David Cronenberg
  • Return of the Mothman by Michael Knost
  • Bird Box by Josh Malerman
• 2015: Mr. Suicide by Nicole Cushing ^[4]
  • Shutter by Courtney Alameda
  • We Are Monsters by Brian Kirk
  • Hannahwhere by John McIlveen
  • Riding the Centipede by John Claude Smith
• 2016: Haven by Tom Deady
  • The Apothecary’s Curse by Barbara Barnett
  • Hollow House by Greg Chapman
  • Mayan Blue by Michelle Garza & Melissa Lason
  • The Eighth by Stephanie M. Wytovich
• 2017: Cold Cuts by Robert Payne Cabeen
  • In The Valley Of the Sun by Andy Davidson
  • What Do Monsters Fear? by Matt Hayward
  • The Boulevard Monster by Jeremy Hepler
  • Kill Creek by Scott Thomas

References