The Scholarship from Hell is the only scholarship offered by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) that puts the recipient right into the intensive, hands-on workshop environment of Horror University, which takes place during StokerCon®.
The StokerCon®2026 Oversight Committee read numerous submissions and this year’s recipient is Jose M. Cruz!
Jose Cruz is an elementary school librarian and horror author. His fiction and journalism have appeared in Rue Morgue, Dread Central, Nightmare Magazine, The Year’s Best Hardcore Horror, and longlisted for Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror of the Year. NIGHT LIGHT, his scary chapter book from the I. M. Dehd series, was released by Stone Arch Books in 2025, and his one-page script “The Shaft” was a finalist in the Killer Shorts Horror Short Screenplay Competition. Currently he is toiling away on a collection of viral horror stories for middle grade readers. Online, he can be found @hauntedcruz on Substack. In real life, he can be found in southwest Florida with his wife, 3 children, and 2 hungry cats.