Dr. Michael Arnzen, professor of English and full-time faculty member in Seton Hill University’s Master of Arts in Writing Popular Fiction program, accepted his third Bram Stoker Award on June 17 at the Horror Writers Association’s annual conference in Newark, New Jersey. Arnzen received the Outstanding Achievement in a Poetry Collection award for “Freakcidents,” published by Shocklines Press. Arnzen’s first novel, “Grave Markings” earned him his first Stoker award in 1995, and he received a Stoker for his e-mail newsletter “The Goreletter” in 2004.

“I love poetry,” Arnzen said in his acceptance speech, “but I’m really just a person who likes to shake the language box around, sometimes violently, then turn it upside down and see what weird things fall out.”

Arnzen will be signing books and reading from his novel “Play Dead” and his collection of short stories “100 Jolts,” both from Raw Dog Screaming Press, at the University Town Centre Barnes & Noble in Morgantown, West Virginia on July 8 at 11 a.m.

Also honored at the Stoker award banquet was Seton Hill adjunct professor in the Writing Popular Fiction program Gary Braunbeck, who received a Stoker for his work “We Now Pause for Station Identification” in the short fiction category. This is the second Stoker award for Braunbeck, who also received one for his short story “Duty” in 2003.

The Stoker Awards
Each year, the Horror Writers Association (HWA) presents the Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement, named in honor of Bram Stoker, author of the seminal horror work “Dracula.” Previous Stoker Award winners include J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, Clive Barker and Peter Straub. HWA is a nonprofit organization of writers and publishing professionals dedicated to promoting the horror genre and the interests of those who write it. With over 1,000 members around the globe, it is the oldest and most respected professional organization for the “much-loved writers who have brought you the most enjoyable sleepless nights of your life.” For more information: www.horror.org.