For Immediate Release

Founders Wrath James White and Brian Keene announced the winners of the 4th annual Splatterpunk Awards — honoring honoring superior achievement in horror fictions’ Splatterpunk and Extreme Horror categories published in 2020 — on Saturday, August 21, 2021.

The Splatterpunk Award nominations are suggested by readers and fans. The final ballot is made up of the top seven nominations for each category. Then, a rotating jury of critics and academics read the works on the ballot and vote on the winners.

The winners for this year are:

Best Novel: The Magpie Coffin - Wile E. Young (Deaths Head Press)
Best Novella: True Crime - Samantha Kolesnik (Grindhouse Press)
Best Short Story: “My Body” - Wesley Southard (from Midnight In The Pentagram, Silver Shamrock Publishing)
Best Collection: The Essential Sick Stuff - Ronald Kelly (Silver Shamrock Publishing)
Best Anthology: Worst Laid Plans - Samantha Kolesnik (Grindhouse Press)

In addition, John Skipp was presented with the J.F. Gonzalez Lifetime Achievement Award. Previous LAA recipients are David J. Schow, David G. Barnett, and Edward Lee.

White and Keene also announced the formation of the Splatterpunk Awards Hall of Fame - a physical, traveling memorial and showcase honoring those who have left their mark on the fields of Splatterpunk and Extreme Horror. The initial Splatterpunk Award Hall of Fame Inductees will be: David J. Schow, David Barnett, Edward Lee, John Skipp. Richard Laymon, Jack Ketchum, Charlee Jacob, John Pelan, and J.F. Gonzalez. The Hall of Fame will debut in Austin, Texas next August.