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Mike CrisolagoI am a 29-year old Toronto-based journalist and writer who has a passion for theatre, literature, history and baseball...
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books (17), poetry (10)This weekend, Monica Kuebler will take her seat at an awards gala at the Burbank Marriott Hotel in California and wait to hear the presenter call one name. Not her name though, but that of Weston Ochse.
The 22nd Annual Bram Stoker Awards ceremony, presented by the Horror Writers Association, take place over three days from June 12 to June 14. Ochse’s book Redemption Roadshow, is nominated in the long-form fiction category. For Kuebler, whose Toronto-based Burning Effigy Press published the book, the nomination is validation that her vision is moving in the right direction.
“It’s the biggest award for horror literature on this side of the ocean,” Kuebler said. “So for a press as small as ours, to get recognition is completely mind-blowing.”
Though her press, established in 1999, has only taken on the horror genre since 2007, this year’s Stoker nomination is not their first. Last year, the first horror book the press ever published, Nicholas Kaufmann’s General Slocum’s Gold, received a nomination in the same category.
“It’s definitely drawn more attention to us and I think we’ve gotten a very good reputation because of that,” Kuebler said. “It’s validation that you’re choosing good stories and the stories you’re putting out there are worth reading.”
Kuebler says that she has been a horror fan since her mother regaled her with scary tales as a child. Now, as editor-in-chief of Burning Effigy, she has her finger on the pulse, or more fittingly, the lack of pulse, of the horror genre. A glance at the press’s website reveals in frank detail what to expect: “No great Canadian/American novels, no epic prairie tales. Keep it real, keep it raw, keep it subversive.”
“I saw a big void in the Canadian small press for genre fiction,” Kuebler said, “So I wanted to jump in and keep our home-grown talent home.”
Despite the press’s speedy growth, Kuebler still finds herself having to battle common misconceptions about the horror genre.
“When you say horror, people automatically think of Stephen King or they think of whatever the latest crappy Hollywood blockbuster has been,” Kuebler said.
Which makes the two Stoker award nominations even more important.
“It really makes me feel good about the horror line and that what we’re contributing to the genre of horror fiction is worthy and important,” Kuebler said.
So whether or not Burning Effigy has a Stoker award winner to boast about after this weekend, Kuebler is optimistic about the future. With book fairs and new fall releases to look forward to, the press continues to ride the momentum they’ve established since the first Stoker Award nomination.
“It’s been a whirlwind since then. Every time I think ‘Wow, that was cool,’ something even cooler happens.”
Check out Mike’s blog, Bastard Type, for more of his interview with Monica Kuebler, where she discusses what makes great horror fiction, the types of books she looks for and what horror monster she wishes would just go away.
