Best Collection

1990 winner:   Four Past Midnight by Stephen King.
These four novellas center on the fragile concept of time in those dark hours just past midnight. In "The Langoliers," passengers fly into a most unfriendly sky; in "Secret Window, Secret Garden," a writer is haunted by his own imaginings; in "The Library Policeman," a businessman thinks he is losing his mind; and in "The Sun Dog," a young boy's camera will take pictures only of a dog. Strong language. RC 32004.

1993 winner:   Alone with the Horrors by Ramsey Campbell.
Thirty-nine short stories covering thirty years of the British author's tales of the supernatural. In "Call First," a library worker becomes curious about a patron and enters his house uninvited. In "Boiled Alive," a man finds himself the subject of a short video. Some violence. RC 48171.

1995 winner:   The Panic Hand by Jonathan Carroll.
Short stories, each with a bizarre incident as its centerpiece. In "Mr. Fiddlehead," a woman's imaginary childhood friend comes to live with her family. In "Postgraduate" a 32-year-old man wakes up in his old boarding school as a student. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex. RC 46230.

1999 winner:   The Nightmare Chronicles by Douglas Clegg.
Thirteen chilling horror stories. In "The Rendering Man," a young girl's acquaintance with the local disposer of dead animals turns into a lifelong gruesome obsession. "The Night before Alec Got Married" tells about choosing the wrong stripper for a bachelor party. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. BR 13223.

2000 winners:

2002 winner:   One More for the Road by Ray Bradbury.
Twenty-five short stories by author Ray Bradbury. In “Heart Transplant,” a man and a woman spending the night together in a hotel room make a wish for the other to fall back in love with the respective spouse. RC 55939.

Best Novel

1987 winners: 

1988 winner:   The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris.
Clarice Starling, a young FBI agent, tracks down a serial killer, known as Buffalo Bill, who preys exclusively on overweight women. He flays the victims' bodies and deposits the remains in rivers. The only clues are provided by another sociopathic killer, psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter, who practices cannibalism. Violence, strong language, and descriptions of sex. RC 27020, BR 13149.

1990 winner:   Mine by Robert R. McCammon.
Dangerously disturbed Mary Terrell still worships Lord Jack, the leader of a sixties radical underground group. Meanwhile, journalist Laura Clayborne has given birth to a son just as her marriage is falling apart. Mary, believing she’s received an order from Lord Jack, steals Laura’s baby and sets off on a murderous cross-country trek to find her idol, with Laura in hot pursuit. Violence, some strong language, and some descriptions of sex. RC 35540.

1991 winner:   Boy’s Life by Robert R. McCammon.
Zephyr, Alabama, 1964. Cory and his father, Tom, are making milk deliveries when suddenly a car speeds past them, hurtles down an embankment, and plunges into a lake. Tom immediately leaps into the lake, hoping to save the driver. But when he reaches the car, he sees the face of murder. As Cory and his father seek answers to the killing of the unknown man, Cory finds himself in a world of adult evils. Violence and strong language. RC 33904.

1992 winner:   Blood of the Lamb by Thomas F. Monteleone.
A young parish priest with supernatural powers is summoned to the Vatican and informed that he was cloned from blood found on the Shroud of Turin. The new Messiah uses his powers to preach an ecumenical faith and becomes a target of the religious establishment. Strong language, violence, and descriptions of sex. RC 43399.

1993 winner:   The Throat by Peter Straub.
Characters from both Koko (RC 28035) and Mystery (RC 30711) return to flush out a serial killer in Millhaven, Illinois. When murders occur that mimic the method used by a serial killer years before, one victim’s husband turns to fellow Vietnam veteran and former Millhaven resident, Tim Underhill, for help. Flashbacks to the war and to Tim’s childhood color his search for the killer. Timothy Underhill series, book 2. Strong language and violence. RC 38073.

1995 winner:   Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates.
Psychopathic serial killer Quentin P. stalks and abducts young men to lobotomize them into submissive sex slaves. Neither his upscale family nor his therapists imagine the horrors being perpetrated by this apparently nice young man. Strong language, violence, and descriptions of sex. RC 45714.

1996 winner:   The Green Mile by Stephen King.
Death row supervisor Paul Edgecombe thinks back to 1932 when John Coffey is brought to the penitentiary and placed on the "Green Mile." Coffey is accused of the rape and murder of twin nine-year-old girls. But Coffey seems to be an unusual kind of human being. Each braille volume must be checked out separately, so request the series to have it sent to you in its proper sequence in braille. Strong language and violence. Green Mile series. RC 44564, BR 10648, BR 10649, BR 10650, BR 10651, BR 10652, BR 10686.  

1998 winner:   Bag of Bones by Stephen King.
Author Mike Noonan has suffered from writer's block since the sudden death of his wife Jo. Hoping that the move to their summer house in Maine will ease his nightmares and misery, Mike befriends young Mattie Devore and her three-year-old daughter Kyra. While helping Mattie fight for custody of Kyra, Mike is plagued by ghosts. Strong language, descriptions of sex, and some violence. RC 46711.

1999 winner:   Mister X by Peter Straub.
Even in childhood, Ned Dunstan felt a connection to something he could not describe. Now, as his mother is dying, she tells Ned he has a twin brother from whom he is in grave danger. And to add to his problems, Ned becomes a suspect in three violent deaths. Violence. RC 48864.

2001 winner:   American Gods by Neil Gaiman.
On his way to his wife’s funeral, ex-convict Shadow meets the mysterious Mr. Wednesday, who has an uncanny knowledge of Shadow’s life. Accepting Wednesday’s job offer throws Shadow into a supernatural world where ancient gods abound. Explicit descriptions of sex, violence, and strong language. RC 52917.

2002 winner:   The Night Class by Tom Piccirilli.
College senior Caleb Prentiss, plagued by stigmata since his sister's suicide, obsesses over the murder of Sylvia Campbell, who was killed in his dorm room over winter vacation. He suspects a faculty cover-up and learns the terrifying truth during an evening of madness. Violence, strong language, and some explicit descriptions of sex. RC 59125.

2003 winner:   Lost boy lost girl by Peter Straub.
Novelist Timothy Underhill of The Throat (RC 38073) returns to his hometown when his sister-in-law, Nancy, commits suicide. Then Nancy’s fifteen-year-old son vanishes--presumably the victim of a serial killer. Searching for his nephew, Tim uncovers terrible secrets within an abandoned house. Timothy Underhill series, book 3. Strong language, some descriptions of sex, and some violence. RC 59061.

2004 winner:   In the Night Room by Peter Straub.
Timothy Underhill sees his nine-year-old sister's ghost, while Willy Bryce Patrick believes that her dead daughter is held in an abandoned warehouse. Teaming up to chase a murderous spirit, Timothy and Willy fall in love, seduced by the powers of imagination. Timothy Underhill series, book 4. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. RC 59771.

2005 winner:   Creepers by David Morrell.
Reporter Frank Balenger, professor Robert Conklin, schoolteacher Vincent Vanelli, and graduate students Rick and Cora Magill--urban explorers--enter an abandoned hotel in New Jersey. But the "creepers" soon discover that they are not alone in the building and must rely on Balenger's army training. Violence and strong language. RC 62011.

Best First Novel

1988 winner:   The Suiting by Kelley Wilde.
In this horror novel Victor Frankl is a timid clerk who has turned body builder and womanizer and eventually murderer. Victor is possessed by the ghost of Jean Paul Bouchette, and, clad in Bouchette’s custom-made suits, he haunts the singles bars of Montreal and Toronto disposing of his rivals--except for one he does not know about. Strong language and descriptions of sex. RC 30156.

1996 winner:   Crota by Owl Goingback.
When an enormous bear-like monster begins attacking men, including Sheriff Skip Harding, Little Hawk identifies him as Crota, an ancient evil creature. The advice of Strong Eagle, a wise medicine man, and Skip's acceptance of his Native American heritage, enable Skip and Little Hawk to confront Crota. Some strong language and some violence. RC 48229.

1997 winner:   Lives of the Monster Dogs by Kirsten Bakis.
In 1882, a Prussian biologist develops a race of intrepid "dog soldiers" who walk upright and speak. The scientist and his dogs flee to a compound in Canada from which the dogs escape to New York in the year 2008. A young reporter joins the dog colony and uncovers their bizarre secrets. Violence. RC 45988.

2002 winner:   The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.
Susie Salmon, a 14-year-old girl murdered by a neighbor, watches over her family and friends from heaven. While adjusting to a new habitat, she reaches out to them as she observes their struggle to survive their grief. Some descriptions of sex, some violence, and some strong language. RC 54698, BR 14806.

Best Nonfiction Work

1987 winner:   Mary Shelley by Muriel Spark.
The British novelist portrays Mary Shelley, the author of the classic "Frankenstein", as having two facets to her personality. One was a deeply romantic and moody side inherited from her adventurous mother and the other a chilly nonconformist side inherited from her father, the son of a minister. Spark believes that Mary was "doomed to a divided existence" between reality and the illusions fostered by her brief life with the poet Shelley. RC 27826.

1993 winner:   Once around the Bloch by Robert Bloch.
Science fiction writer Bloch provides a tongue-in-cheek account of his life. His memoirs include his childhood-- he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, it just had somebody else's initials on it; his early written work, which was influenced by H.P. Lovecraft, his involvement in politics, and the making of many of his stories into movies, especially Psycho. He also includes original footnotes. RC 39377.

2000 winner:   On Writing by Stephen King.
Prolific, bestselling horror novelist describes his writing technique and gives tips for aspiring authors. King also discusses pertinent events from his childhood and tells of the near-fatal accident in 1999, when he was hit by a truck while taking his daily walk. Some strong language. RC 50873, BR 12802.