I really do love the Ghastly Awards.  They’re a cool way to see what the industry itself thinks about the creators of horror comics.  Hey, best recommendations ever, amirite?

But the 2013 Awards (the Ghastlies?) will be doing something a little different, and here’s where you come in; fans can pick a winner for the Best New Series Award.  Yeah, your voice can chime in alongside horror comics creators.  Yeah, it’s pretty sweet.

Read on for more info; bold and italics in the release are my edits.  I like to make it easier on y’all to get to the good stuff. (Full disclosure: this year I was tapped as a judge for the Ghastly Awards, something I’ve started on for next year’s awards. Yeah, I’ve “gotta” read horror comics now. Oh, the agony….)

Fan and Creator Voting! New to the 2012 Ghastly Awards – Fan and Creator Voting!

The 2012 Ghastly Award Nominees will be named soon, and we have a big announcement to make. Starting with the 2012 Awards, Creators and Fans will join the Judges in getting to vote for the winners. To make things even more exciting, the Fan Vote will be the only vote to decide the winner of the Best New Series Award (Ongoing or Mini). All of the other Winners will be determined by the Judges, Creators and Fans!On January 1, 2013 the Nominees will be announced and voting will be open. Ballots will be found online at www.ghastlyawards.com. We encourage everyone to let their voices be heard in the 2012 Ghastly Awards.

New Ghastly Award Format for 2013 – Now you control what is considered for the 2013 Awards!

Effective as of January 1, 2013 a new format will be put in place for the Ghastly Awards. We will take submissions for nomination consideration throughout the year. All creators and publishers can now submit their horror comics and web comics to www.ghastlyawards.com for consideration. Throughout the year, the Ghastly Award Judges will read the submissions, and at the end of the year the Judges will choose the top 5 nominees. Then 3 ballots will be created to decide the winners. The 3 ballots will be Ghastly Award Judges, Creators and Fans. Creators still have a majority say in who wins, but we feel it is important to get the fans involved as they are such an integral part of the comics community. Fans will have the only say in who wins the Best New Title Award.

Breakdown of the new Ghastly Awards format:

• Starting January 1, 2013, publishers and creators can submit their books for nomination consideration. Submissions will be open until   December 24, 2013. Books have to be published within the calendar year to be considered.
• The Ghastly Award judges will read all submissions and choose the top 5 in each category.
• January 1, 2014, the nominees will be announced and the Ballots will be posted for voting.
• Voting will be open from Janurary 1, 2014 until January 31, 2014.
• Winners will be announced in February 2014.

Horror comics are becoming more and more frequent in our reading culture, and the Ghastly Awards are here to recognize those that shine the brightest. We encourage all comic creators to head over to www.ghastlyawards.com and submit your comics for consideration. Founded in 2011 by Decapitated Dan with the help of Steve Banes, Mike Howlett, Lonnie Nadler and Mykal Banta, the Ghastly Awards recognize outstanding achievements in Horror Comics over a range of 15 different categories. The nominees are chosen by other horror comic book professionals and winners are chosen by a panel of judges. Since the start of the awards, 4 more judges have been added into the group. The Ghastly Award Judges work strictly on a volunteer basis. There is no paid staff, and the awards are completely funded from the generous donations of its sponsors.