The winner of the Toys for Tots Horror Style library is Paul Cardullo of North Carolina! The winner was selected by drawing; Cardullo receives an entire library of horror novels, short story collections, magazine, music and other goodies donated by horror writers and publishers. The kitty includes a signed copy of Peter Straub’s Floating Dragon, William Meikle’s The Amulet, Gary A. Braunbeck’s In the Midnight Museum, and loads more (I was honored to donate a copy of Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole).

To enter, participants purchased a toy that was $5 or more, took photos of themselves holding the toy and in a Toys for Tots donation box, and posted their photos on the Toys for Tots Horror Style Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/ToysForTotsHorrorStyle (you can head over to their page and see all the submissions under their Photo Album “Toys for Tots ~ Our Santas in Training.”) The winner was announced on YouTube; you can see that video here: http://youtu.be/Rvnfoua0JQ4.

In Poe’s Shadow News

The anthology In Poe’s Shadow, which contains my story “Vanity,” was recently recommended by Literary Mayhem’s Peter Schwotzer: http://literarymayhem.com/wordpress/2011/12/14/book-review-in-poes-shadow/. In Poe’s Shadow also made the Honorable Mentions list in Schwotzer’s “Best Books of 2011,” which you can read here: http://literarymayhem.com/wordpress/2011/12/29/my-top-books-for-2011/

If you’d like to purchase In Poe’s Shadow, you can do that here: http://amzn.to/InPoesShadow