The Kitschies, the annual prize for works containing elements of the “speculative and fantastic” have announced the winners from this year’s shortlists of the most “progressive, intelligent and entertaining” fiction of 2013.

This year’s shortlists are selected from a record 234 submissions, coming from over fifty different publishers and imprints. Kudos to Jared Shurin and Anne C. Perry of Pornokitsch for organizing and overseeing another year’s worth of amazing authors, artists, and judges.

Take a look at who has a new tentacle to take home!

The Red Tentacle (Novel), selected by Kate Griffin, Nick Harkaway, Will Hill, Anab Jain and Annabel Wright:

The Golden Tentacle (Debut), also selected by the above panel:

The Inky Tentacle (Cover Art), selected by Craig Kennedy, Sarah Anne Langton, Hazel Thompson and Emma Vieceli.

The Black Tentacle is a special achievement award. It is handed out at the discretion of The Kitschies’ board, which is comprised of editors, authors, marketers and social entrepreneurs. This year the Black Tentacle went to Dame Malorie Blackman, OBE and author of the Noughts and Crosses series, Boys Don’t Cry, Noble Conflict, and more.

The winners were announced in a ceremony at the Seven Dials Club on February 12th. Winners will receive a total of £2,000 in prize money, as well as one of the prize’s iconic Tentacle trophies and bottles of The Kraken Rum.

The Kitschies, sponsored by The Kraken Rum, are now in their fifth year, with previous winners including Patrick Ness, Lauren Beukes, China Miéville and Nick Harkaway.

The judges were extremely impressed with the entries this year, so we’ve included some of their gushing below!

“This was an awe-inspiring year. For the Red Tentacle, we could have built a shortlist composed purely of iconic names, and we had to reject at least one book which may be a work of genius because it did not entirely mesh with the Kitschies’ cardinal virtues: ‘intelligent, entertaining, and progressive’. The debuts are pretty breathtaking, too: broad in scope, deft and compelling. It’s been an education as well as a privilege to judge the prize, and a vast relief not to be in competition with these writers.” –Nick Harkaway

“What an honour to be confronted with so many beautiful books, it can make any creator feel…quite inadequate. Their overall quality made judging a tricky business, and many post-it notes were lost to the greater good, but our entire judging panel was professional, balanced and placated with The Kraken Rum. We didn’t even draw blood.” –Emma Vieceli

You can check out some more information about the prize, its criteria and the judges, and see a breakdown of this year’s submissions!