Unabashed Brag Post
- Em Starr
- Dec 22, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 29
Hey legends. I am so bloody excited to share this news with you! It is an absolute career highlight for me...
I just received an Honourable Mention in
Those in the know will know what this means but, for those who are not, here is the lowdown. Ellen Datlow is the "venerable queen of horror" (NY Times). Every year, she reads the thousands of horror stories that have been published across the world and creates a shortlist for her Best Horror of the Year anthology. No bullshit – every horror writer wants to be on that shortlist. Around half of the shortlisted stories move forward to be printed in the anthology and the other half are honourably mentioned in the back of the book... and my story Clown Heads is honourably mentioned in the back of Volume Seventeen!!! Just casually in the company of greats like Stephen King, Ramsay Campbell, Kaaron Warren, Laird Barron, Gemma Amor, Clay McLeod Chapman, Stephen Graham Jones and so many other horror heavyweights. Thank you so much, Ellen! I am truly honoured.
Clown Heads was published in the 2024 Kangas Kahn Publishing anthology Fear of Clowns, edited by Kenneth W Cain. FOC boasts some of the biggest and best in the genre and it still blows my mind that I get to share pages with any of them. It was also noted in the anthology section of Best Horror Vol 17! Congrats to Kevin and Kenneth and all the contributing authors! If you haven't grabbed a copy yet, get on it. It's an absolute banger with something for every horror fan!
While you're at it, grab a copy of Ellen Datlow's Best Horror of The Year (Volume Seventeen)—or any volume, really. They are always brilliantly curated and Ellen writes a yearly summation in each one, including all the awards and notable releases. 🖤
Kindle version available here: https://a.co/d/3Hycuzs
Ellen will also release an extended list of recommendations (a longlist of sorts) on her website in the near future. If any of my other stories from 2024 make an appearance on there, I'll be sure to let you know.
Okay, enough bragging for now. I'll be back in a few days' time to share something else. Something new and festively festy.
Until then, be safe, read well.
Em