Pippin, adopted by my daughter, is one of the lucky few to have a home.
The Horror Writers Association, the premier organization of writers and publishers of horror and dark fantasy, recently announced the launch of its “Alone Is Scary” campaign to support the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ (ASPCA) Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month.
From now until Nov. 7, the HWA’s successful Horror Selfies website (www.horrorselfies.com) will seek submissions featuring pets in costume, pets “reading” horror, and/or pets with signs supporting local animal shelters. Accepted submissions will be featured on the site and distributed via the HWA’s social media accounts.
Previous Horror Selfies campaigns generated nearly 20 million impressions, and included participation from Stephen King (Finders Keepers), Peter Straub (A Dark Matter) and Craig Engler (Z Nation).
All approved selfie submissions are entered into a random drawing for one of the HWA’s largest prizes ever. ChiZine Publications (CZP), recipient of the 2014 Bram Stoker Award® Specialty Press Award, has donated a prize package featuring every ebook the press has published. With 100+ titles, the ebook prize package is worth over $1,000.
In conjunction with the Horror Selfies contest, HWA chapters across the United States are working with local animal shelters to host events to promote Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month. Events vary by location, and may include book raffles, author signings, costume contests, and more. These events are designed to collect much-needed donations for the animal shelter and to encourage community support. At the end of the month, one participating shelter will be randomly selected to receive a $250 Petco gift card.
“Hundreds of our members have adopted rescue animals. Dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, and other wonderful animal companions,” said HWA President Lisa Morton, who is an active volunteer at a Los Angeles animal shelter. “We may write your nightmares, but horror writers are, by and large, compassionate souls. When we approached the ChiZine team with the concept, Brett Savory and Sandra Kasturi [co-publishers at CZP] immediately wanted to help out. We expect ‘Alone Is Scary’ to rival any other HWA campaign to date. ”
The selfie contest began October 1 and ends November 7, 2015 12:00 EST. Visit www.horrorselfies.com for official contest rules. The animal shelter events are scheduled through the month of October. More information is available at www.horror.org.
You can see my selfie with Pippin, my daughter’s rescue, here.
