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The Art of Horror Wins at the World Fantasy Convention
Following it’s Bram Stoker award win earlier this year, Stephen Jones’, The Art of Horror: An Illustrated History, has received an award at the World Fantasy Convention. The awards were presented on the during this years convention in Columbus, Ohio at the World Fantasy Awards banquet. Awards ranged from lifetime achievement to various aspects of art and literature.
Since it’s beginnings in 1975, The World Fantasy Convention has continued as an annual gathering and reunion of professionals, collectors, and others interested in the field of light and dark fantasy art and literature. The Art of Horror was nominated in the category the Special – Professional category.
In The Art of Horror: An Illustrated History multi-award winning horror and dark fantasy writer and editor Stephen Jones brings together thrilling visuals of the horror genre that have bewitched audiences since the 19th century. These images continue to inspire nightmarish creatures that wander the streets every Halloween; the tradition of bone-chilling campfire stories; and let’s not forget the psyche-scarring films audiences can’t get enough of.
It is a celebration of frightful images, compiled and presented by some of the genre’s most respected names, including a foreword by cult favorite Neil Gaiman. Readers will be ensnared by the shockingly lurid and hauntingly beautiful color photos and illustrations representing every aspect of the horror genre since Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in the 19th century.
Vampires, werewolves, zombies, ghosts, demons, serial killers, alien invaders, and more, it’s all here. From early engravings – via dust jackets, book illustrations, pulp magazines, movie posters, comic books, and paintings – to today’s artists working entirely in the digital realm. Stephen Jones and his exceptional team of contributors have sourced visuals from archives and private collections (including their own) worldwide, ensuring an unprecedented selection for those discovering the genre and the most committed fans. The Art of Horror is the ultimate collection to indulge the dark side in everyone.
Stephen Jones is the leading authority on the fascinating history of horror. He is a Hugo Award nominee, the winner of four World Fantasy Awards, three International Horror Guild Awards, four Bram Stoker Awards, twenty-one British Fantasy Awards, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Horror Association. One of Britain’s most acclaimed horror and dark fantasy writers and editors, he has more than 130 books to his credit.
To order a copy of the book, click here.
Congratulations to Stephen Jones!
Applause Books wants to congratulate Stephen Jones for winning an Award for his book The Art of Horror An Illustrated History! Stephen Jones was one of many authors present at the Horror Writers Association’s Bram Stoker Awards ceremony in Las Vegas, which took place this past weekend. He won the prize for Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction! To watch the event, and Stephen Jones’ acceptance speech click on the link below!
>>Watch Here<<
A list of all winners and nominees can be found here
Amazingly, there has never been a book quite like The Art of Horror An Illustrated History: a celebration of fearful images, compiled and presented by some of the genre’s most respected names. While acknowledging the beginnings of horror-related art in legends and folk tales, the focus of the book is on how the genre has presented itself to the world since the creations of Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley.
The stunning illustrations featured in The Art of Horror will captivate you right from the start. With chapters like, The Blood Is The Life, Man-Made Monsters, and Giant Behemoths, Editor Stephen Jones showcases an unprecedented collection of some 400 of the finest examples of horror-related art. Each chapter begins with an overview of the featured area of the genre, and also contains two special features on specific topics (e.g. Bram Stoker’s Dracula, or the paintings of Clive Barker). These 10 chapters also showcases quotes from artists/illustrators, and a selection from writers and filmmakers, are featured throughout.
Jones and his stellar team of contributors have sourced visuals from archives and private collections (including their own!) worldwide, ensuring an unprecedented selection that is accessible to those discovering the genre. They also include many images that will be rare and unfamiliar to even the most committed fan. From early engravings, via dust jackets, book illustrations, pulp magazines, movie posters, comic books and paintings, to today’s artists working entirely in the digital realm. It’s all here, from the shockingly lurid to the hauntingly beautiful.
Stephen Jones speaks with Exquisite Terror!
Stephen Jones, author of The Art of Horror, spoke with Rich Wilson from Exquisite Terror about his inspiration for the book. Read the interview below and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
This new collection is beautifully put together by noted horror author Stephen Jones, and presents page after page of full colour art, from the earliest carvings of the Egyptians to the digital work of modern masters. As you’d expect, film and fiction are heavily represented, and the book is neatly split into sections — creatures, ghosts, psychopaths, etc. — with accompanying essays providing good reading material alongside countless posters and book covers. Often labelled as trash by the mainstream, The Art of Horror proves otherwise; this showcases superb work by immensely talented people, and richly brings your fears to life. As Jones states in his introduction: “Art will always be there to hold a mirror up to the universe and show us what is really out there…” This is a serious celebration of the genre, and a must-have for those who love things that go bump in the night.
We spoke to editor Jones about his inspiration for the book.
Where did the initial concept and idea for The Art of Horror come from?
Actually, this was one of those rare instances of a publisher contacting me. Elephant Book Company Ltd, a British packager of many classy coffee-table art books, approached me via a mutual colleague and asked if I was interested in writing a book about horror art. I initially turned them down as I was busy on a number of other projects and, having been involved with several art books before, I knew how much work it would involve.
However, they kept coming back, and I started to think that I didn’t want anybody else doing this book! So, in the end, we came up with a compromise where I would conceive and edit the book and we would get in other experts in their particular subjects to write the individual chapters. And that worked brilliantly — up to a point. In the end, it involved a lot more work for me than I had originally envisioned, but I had an incredible team backing me up and the more I got into it, the more fun I had doing it.
How important do you think these images have been in promoting horror literature and cinema in the past?
Oh, incredibly important. But the problem is that they are all over the place — in different countries, from different eras. That was the attraction to me, to bring together this rich vein of illustrative material relating to the horror genre into a single volume, so that people could see how it all fitted together, where the connections were being made.
Of course, even in a book of this size we barely scratched the surface. There is so much more that we could have included, but you have to work within certain commercial restrictions, and it was important to me that the cover price allowed it to be accessible to as wide an audience as possible. I’m very proud that we achieved that without sacrificing any quality whatsoever.
You have a wide and varied collection of artists featured, from legends such as Giger to comic book masters such as Charlie Adlard. Who chose the work to be featured, and how easy was it to obtain publishing rights?
This is where my team came in. Obviously, as I’ve been involved with the horror genre for nearly forty years, I was aware of the work of many of the artists we included, plus many of them were friends and acquaintances who I had dealt with before. But I also had an amazing project manager in Adam Newell (who I had previously worked with at Titan Books) and designer in Paul Palmer-Edwards, who both also suggested artists and various works to be included.
In the end, the final decision was always mine as it was my name on the book, but they brought to my attention artwork and images that I was perhaps not familiar with or had overlooked. On top of that, we had an experienced picture researcher who dealt with all the clearances. I simply could not have done all that work on my own, and without those people backing me up I would probably not have done the book at all. In the end, it really was a team effort.
Were there any artists you wanted to feature that didn’t make the book, for whatever reason?
Yes. There were some that turned us down — mostly because they wanted ridiculous amounts of money. When we found something that I liked, we usually approached the artist or their representative. In most cases they agreed to be included because they wanted to be in the book. As I say, a few turned us down and, in those cases, we just moved on and found a replacement piece of art to fit the specific theme.
Read the whole interview over at Exquisite Terror!
Stephen Jones speaks with Britflicks
Stephen Jones, editor of The Art of Horror: An Illustrated History, spoke with Stuart Wright of Britflicks. They spoke about the incredible illustrations that are featured in the book and much more. Listen to the podcast below to learn more The Art of Horror and what it has to offer!
>>LISTEN HERE<<
Amazingly, there has never been a book quite like The Art of Horror An Illustrated History: a celebration of fearful images, compiled and presented by some of the genre’s most respected names. While acknowledging the beginnings of horror-related art in legends and folk tales, the focus of the book is on how the genre has presented itself to the world since the creations of Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley.
The stunning illustrations featured in The Art of Horror will captivate you right from the start. With chapters like, The Blood Is The Life, Man-Made Monsters, and Giant Behemoths, Editor Stephen Jones showcases an unprecedented collection of some 400 of the finest examples of horror-related art. Each chapter begins with an overview of the featured area of the genre, and also contains two special features on specific topics (e.g. Bram Stoker’s Dracula, or the paintings of Clive Barker). These 10 chapters also showcases quotes from artists/illustrators, and a selection from writers and filmmakers, are featured throughout.
Jones and his stellar team of contributors have sourced visuals from archives and private collections (including their own!) worldwide, ensuring an unprecedented selection that is accessible to those discovering the genre. They also include many images that will be rare and unfamiliar to even the most committed fan. From early engravings, via dust jackets, book illustrations, pulp magazines, movie posters, comic books and paintings, to today’s artists working entirely in the digital realm. It’s all here, from the shockingly lurid to the hauntingly beautiful.
The Art of Horror, sneak peek on ISSUU!
The Art of Horror An Illustrated History is filled with rare and unfamiliar images, sourced from archives and private collections around the world. Fans of horror and the unknown will enjoy this book and its 10 chapters of themed genres such as, vampires, zombies, demons, aliens, and more. This book has a wide range of topics starting from the history of horror all the way to the development of art and graphic design. It will also become a major source book for collectors and traders of horror memorabilia. For a sneak peek click here.
Amazingly, there has never been a book quite like The Art of Horror An Illustrated History (October 13, 2015): a celebration of fearful images, compiled and presented by some of the genre’s most respected names. While acknowledging the beginnings of horror-related art in legends and folk tales, the focus of the book is on how the genre has presented itself to the world since the creations of Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley.
The stunning illustrations featured in The Art of Horror will captivate you right from the start. With chapters like, The Blood Is The Life, Man-Made Monsters, and Giant Behemoths, Editor Stephen Jones showcases an unprecedented collection of some 400 of the finest examples of horror-related art. Each chapter begins with an overview of the featured area of the genre, and also contains two special features on specific topics (e.g. Bram Stoker’s Dracula, or the paintings of Clive Barker). These 10 chapters also showcases quotes from artists/illustrators, and a selection from writers and filmmakers, are featured throughout.
Jones and his stellar team of contributors have sourced visuals from archives and private collections (including their own!) worldwide, ensuring an unprecedented selection that is accessible to those discovering the genre. They also include many images that will be rare and unfamiliar to even the most committed fan. From early engravings, via dust jackets, book illustrations, pulp magazines, movie posters, comic books and paintings, to today’s artists working entirely in the digital realm. It’s all here, from the shockingly lurid to the hauntingly beautiful.
Here’s a sneak preview of The Art of Horror An Illustrated History.
Onstage & Backstage 