novel

Bram Stoker Award for Queen of Teeth

So something pretty cool happened this weekend:

At StokerCon 2022, members of the Horror Writers Association honored myself and Queen of Teeth with the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. 2021 was an incredible year for horror, easy to tell both by the ballot and outside it, and every novel nominated beside this one was an outstanding piece of horror. I’m honored to have stood with them and to have received this beautiful award, and I’m grateful to every reader who’s let this weird love story wind its tentacles around them. Thank you.

I can confirm at last that the award is not made of chocolate.

I also have a new story out as of last week, “In Thrall to This Good Earth,” part of the absolutely gorgeous Howls from the Dark Ages anthology of medieval horror. It’s a stellar table of contents and I’m joyful to be part of it.

No Gods for Drowning cover reveal

Posted on 2022-03-09 by Hailey Piper no gods for drowning novel

This week LGBTQreads kindly revealed the cover art to my upcoming horror noir dark fantasy novel No Gods for Drowning, and they included a little from me talking about the book too!

This elegant artwork is by Mimi Bark, bearing the nine-pointed star of Logoi the Many-Headed.

No Gods for Drowning is my longest novel to date, a morally gray story of killers and detectives, of sea monsters and blood gods, and I can’t wait to share with you.

Paperback preorders are up on Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Amazon, Target and eventually ebook and the like too!

No Gods for Drowning releases from Polis Books on September 20, 2022.

Stoker Award nominations, “Parasites of Silver and Gold” in Cosmic Horror Monthly

Posted on 2022-02-23 by Hailey Piper award novel novelette queen of teeth short story

I’m proud to share that my debut novel Queen of Teeth and my 2021 novelette “Recitation of the First Feeding” have each been nominated for a Bram Stoker Award, in the categories First Novel and Long Fiction respectively!

Honored to appear with these incredible talents on the final ballot, and grateful to all my readers! I’m so very fortunate.

Also, there’s a new story out in the latest issue of Cosmic Horror Monthly! I’m so honored to be featured, with the stellar cover art pertaining to my post-apocalyptic cosmic horror tale, “Parasites of Silver and Gold.”

You can check it out from here!

“Blame, Pain, and Selfishness” in A Woman Built by a Man

Posted on 2022-02-17 by Hailey Piper article collection no gods for drowning novel short story unfortunate elements of my anatomy

First story of 2022! This one appears in the new Cemetery Gates Media anthology A Woman Built by a Man. My story “Blame, Pain, and Selfishness” involves a fictional woman in a book written by a man, and how she’s unwilling to stay glued to the page. Check it out!

In other news, while the cover art is still forthcoming, paperback pre-orders are up for my late year noir/horror/dark fantasy novel No Gods for Drowning over at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.org.

It releases September 20, 2022 from Polis Books!

Also check out this group interview with myself, Eve Harms, and Gretchen Felker-Martin with Lovecraft Arts & Sciences, Queer Art & Conventional Discomfort.

Lastly, Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy made an appearance on Tor Nightfire’s Best Horror Short Story Collections and Anthologies 2021 list among a stunning lineup of titles, with shout-outs to “Demons of Particular Taste” and “Aggressive Mimicry.”

Queen of Teeth and “Recitation of the First Feeding” make the Stoker Preliminary Ballot

Posted on 2022-01-23 by Hailey Piper award novel novelette queen of teeth short story

I’m thrilled to share that my novel Queen of Teeth and “Recitation of the First Feeding” (from my collection Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy) have appeared on this year’s Bram Stoker Award Preliminary Ballot! Queen of Teeth appears in the Superior Achievement in a First Novel category, while “Recitation of the First Feeding” appears as a novelette in the Superior Achievement in Long Fiction category.

They appear with a feast of talents in every category, and I’m so proud to be among them. Voting will begin shortly to see which works make the final ballot and become Stoker nominees, but there’s more work to do between now and then, and a cool announcement to come this week. Keep an eye out!

Click here to read the full preliminary ballot!

“The Unpleasant State of Beginning” in Vastarien; 2021 lists; 2022 upcoming

Posted on 2021-12-11 by Hailey Piper article novel novella short story

December is an appropriately cold time to bring my final short story of the year. “The Unpleasant State of Beginning” is only the first story in an incredible table of contents for Vastarien, Volume 4, Issue 2. After a young woman learns a recent murder victim bears her exact likeness, she journeys north searching for answers, into a cold forgotten past. Right now Grimscribe Press is offering digital copies as pay what you can, so check it out: Vastarien volume 4, issue 2

My short story collection, Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy from The Seventh Terrace, recently appeared on the New York Public Library’s 2021 list of 100 Best Books for Adults.

Also, my first novel, Queen of Teeth from Rooster Republic, appeared on Library Journal’s list of Best Horror of 2021, one of ten superb horror books to release this year.

Finally, with the year soon coming to a close, I wanted to share some of what’s coming in 2022. I can’t say all the short stories, as some haven’t had their TOCs announced yet:

“An Engine of Pain” in Tales from Between (February 2022)

“We Frolic Within the Leviathan’s Heart” in The Book of Queer Saints (February 2022)

“Blame, Pain, and Selfishness” in A Woman Built by a Man (2022)

“Anything to End the Loneliness” on The Wicked Library (2022) (a new novelette!)

“Pleasant Guests with Better Games” in Planet Scumm #13 (Spring 2022)

“Sable’s Bestiary for Those Who Remain” in Chiral Mad 5 (2022)

“The Turning” in Other Terrors (July 2022)

And more to come. As for books, while no concrete release dates have been announced (updates will sprinkle in as we do release dates and cover reveals), here’s a general look at what’s next:

Quarter 1, 2022: Cruel Angels Past Sundown, a Splatter Western novel from Death’s Head Press

Also Quarter 1, 2022: The Worm and His Kings Spanish edition will release from Dilatando Mentes

Quarter 2, 2022: Your Mind Is a Terrible Thing, a space horror novella from Off Limits Press

Quarter 4, 2022: No Gods for Drowning, a horror/noir mystery/dark fantasy novel from Polis Books

That should do it for 2021. It’s been an incredible year, and I’m grateful for everything that’s come, and everything still to come. Thank you for reading.

Queen of Teeth translation + new stories

Posted on 2021-10-17 by Hailey Piper novel novella queen of teeth short story the worm and his kings

Bunch of new things today, starting with the announcement that Queen of Teeth will be joining The Worm and His Kings in upcoming Spanish editions from the wonderful Dilatando Mentes Editorial. They do a beautiful job with their translations and releases, and I’m looking forward to seeing these books join their line-up.

Next, new stories! First, my tale of manipulation and monstrous love, “End-Times Magic” appears in the new Dark Dispatch: Deadly Love.

After that, I have a weird post-apocalyptic dark fantasy, “In the Land of Ash, Where the Light Is God,” appearing in 2021’s final issue of Boneyard Soup Magazine.

Announcement: No Gods for Drowning

Posted on 2021-09-17 by Hailey Piper Announcement no gods for drowning novel

In the beginning, men were prey, and in the end, they’ll be prey again.

I’m thrilled to share the Publisher’s Marketplace announcement for my new horror/fantasy/crime novel coming Q4 2022 from Polis Books, No Gods for Drowning!

“There Will Always Be Men Like Johnny” in Hymns of Abomination; Queen of Teeth on ebook

Posted on 2021-09-02 by Hailey Piper novel queen of teeth short story

September is here, aka Halloween Month Eve, and I have a new short story out. Hymns of Abomination: Secret Songs of Leeds is a tribute anthology to Matthew Bartlett, packed with bizarre horror that squirms and writhes through the fictional region of Leeds. My murderous story “There Will Always Be Men Like Johnny” tells of half measures and full horrors. It’s a bit personal, a bit farfetched, and I’m proud to be on such an incredible TOC. The ebook is out now, with the paperback coming sometime in the future.

Check it out on Kindle!

In other news, Queen of Teeth has been available for a lovely tentacle-filled month in paperback. Well, the story’s monster has only grown her reach, as now she’s available in ebook too!

Paperback release: Queen of Teeth

Posted on 2021-08-15 by Hailey Piper novel queen of teeth

My debut novel, Queen of Teeth, has released in paperback from Rooster Republic Press via their imprint Strangehouse Books! Paperback available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and indie bookstores!

Follow Yaya Betancourt’s saga from her discovery of vagina dentata to being hunted by the most powerful corporation in America. Set in alternative present day Newark, New Jersey, a genetic dystopia seeks to swallow Yaya up in its new experiments, but as her condition grows tentacles, horns, and a mind of its own, we’ll see who eats and who gets eaten.

“A powerful, beautiful horror story.” – Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“One of the best horror horror books of 2021.” – Rue Morgue

“If there’s such a thing as defiant horror, Hailey Piper’s Queen of Teeth must be its gold standard. This bold, visceral story about the right to one’s own body is equal parts heartfelt and brilliant – and most importantly, razor-sharp.”

– Nadia Bulkin, author of She Said Destroy

“Hailey Piper’s debut novel, Queen of Teeth, is a gorgeous, wonderfully weird tale that does not hesitate to take readers into a unique, magenta-colored dystopia. Not a single word is wasted. Every moment propels us along into a battle for control, a search for identity, and the need to transform into something bold and true. Piper’s wit, razor-sharp imagination, and dedication to her craft are so brilliantly centered throughout the entire book. A true becoming is a bloody, beautiful, and sinewy kind of change — arrive hungry, pick up this book, and make your world a better place.”

– Sara Tantlinger, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Devil’s Dreamland

“Queen of Teeth by Hailey Piper is so fucking good, and so fucking gay, that I am absolutely in awe. Like a city-destroying monstrosity secreted within a human form, this dystopian body horror story conceals layers upon layers of romance, tragedy, guilt, and what it means to be human. I would happily be devoured by it again and again.”

– Lindsay King-Miller, author of Ask a Queer Chick

Ebook pre-order at Amazon (releases September 1, 2021)