Weird Tales

Wow. We didn’t expect this. But there it is: Weird Tales was awarded its historic first-ever Hugo Award on Sunday night as thousands cheered at the 2009 World Science Fiction Convention in Montreal.

Fiction editor Ann VanderMeer and editorial & creative director Stephen H. Segal (pictured above with WT web consultant Matthew Kressel) were there to accept the award for best semiprozine, the category that honors small-press magazines with part-time staffs. Other Hugo winners that evening included Neil Gaiman (best novel, The Graveyard Book), Elizabeth Bear (best novelette, “Shoggoths in Bloom”), and Joss Whedon (best short-form dramatic presentation, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog).

From all of us at Weird Tales, we offer our deepest thanks to all those who’ve supported and participated in our work to re-energize the magazine as a leading storytelling venue. From the brilliant writers and artists who’ve crafted these pages with us, to the readers who told all their friends how much they love the magazine these days—this is YOUR award, and we’re honored to have been there to say so.

Ann talks at length about the Hugo experience with her husband Jeff VanderMeer at Amazon’s Omnivoracious blog, where you’ll also find a link to a ton of great pictures by the io9 news crew.

It was a full house on Oct. 15 when the KGB Fantastic Fiction series hosted a special Weird Tales group reading in New York City. Authors Jeffrey Ford, Karen Heuler, and Micaela Morrissette joined editors Ann VanderMeer and Stephen Segal to present recent and upcoming stories from the magazine — and also to showcase Steven Archer’s “Blasphemous Horrors” art series and several winners from the recent Spam Fiction Contest. (Honorable mentioneer Lane Bowen’s brother Wade was on hand to receive applause for his story “Canadean Pharmacy! Enlarge!”) Thanks to KGB maestros Ellen Datlow (who took these photos) and Matthew Kressel — and to everyone who came out and had fun!