The University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS) is pleased to announce several significant new acquisitions to its Horror Studies Collection.

First announced during an installment of the ULS Horror Studies Webinar Series, hosted in collaboration with Pitt’s Center for African American Poetry and Poetics (CAAPP), the ULS has acquired the papers of Linda D. Addison, the most decorated horror poet today with a total of six Bram Stoker literary awards. Addison became the first African American writer to win a Stoker in 2001 for her collection, Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes and has also received the Lifetime Achievement (2018) and Mentor of the Year (2016) Awards from the Horror Writers Association as well as the title Grand Master from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association (2020). Her poetry explores themes of race, gender, loss, struggle, hope, and the resiliency of humanity through a lyrical style that employs both traditional horror tropes of the supernatural as well as stark realism. Her archive will include drafts and manuscripts of her poetry as well as ephemera such as convention programs and awards which help demonstrate her impact on the genre. On her hopes that her archive will inspire others, she says:

Having my writing journey from journals, through edits to final versions, become part of the University of Pittsburgh Horror Studies Collection is a dream, I never imagined, come true! To think that others, studying my process, could find value and inspiration will allow my work to safely exist past the length of my life, is an incredible blessing.

The ULS has also acquired the papers of Kathe Koja, who is a true iconoclast whose works push boundaries, expand our conceptions of horror, and prove that horror is indeed a true literary genre. Her first novel, The Cipher (1991), won both a Bram Stoker Award and Locus Award and solidified her impact as a force within new horror. She employs a striking and unique prose style to explore themes of alienation and social isolation as well as transcendence, often through art. Her collection will include drafts, manuscripts, and notes from her novels and short stories. On her decision to establish her archive at the University of Pittsburgh, Koja said:

A book is its writing as well as its words: the thoughts and notes and drafts and edits (and edits, and edits) that comprise the final text. To have all that making made available for scholars, readers, and fans of horror literature is a real boon, and I'm beyond delighted that my own horror novels will now be available this way.

Lastly, the ULS has acquired the archives of the Horror Writers Association (HWA), the premiere professional organization for writers working in the genre.  This collection, established by current HWA President John Palisano with support from former President Lisa Morton, documents the history of the organization through its newsletters, convention booklets and programs, and other published materials. Collectively, these materials illustrate the work of the HWA, as well as the community it has built. The HWA has been the main space for writers working within the genre to collect and collaborate since the late 1980s and has issued the Bram Stoker literary awards since 1987 at yearly conventions, such as the World Horror Convention and, since 2016, StokerCon.

Horror Studies Collection Coordinator Ben Rubin recently announced the acquisition of the HWA and Koja archives at StokerCon2021, where he participated in a live panel discussion about the archives, the potential for research, and their importance in bringing legitimacy to a genre often maligned during StokerCon along with Addison, Koja, and Palisano. Says Rubin:

These collections represent significant steps forward in developing the horror studies collections. They highlight the diversity of the genre, not just in its creators, but also in the ways in which it interprets, explores, and exposes the complexity of the human condition through its fears and anxieties. Further, the HWA archives in particular serve to illustrate the strong sense of community, collaboration, and support within the horror literary community and how it has thrived.

Processing work will begin on these new collections in summer 2021.

- Ben Rubin