I answered this in another forum, but will do so here for those who want to know.
The little red "H" next to a story stands for "Hot". A story that has 10+ votes that average 4.5 or more will have one of those little "H" thingies pop up. Of course, if the next vote is a "1", it could drop the average score to 4.49 and you lose the "H". Yeah, that sucks the big one. "H" ratings are very arbitrary as it depends on what readers vote.
The "E" is a designation given to a story by Laurel. What she uses I don't know. Maybe an unusual story, or one that happens to be very well written. It is simply her opinion, however. While it is an honor to be selected, I think those little "E" thingies mean more to the writers than readers. But I could be wrong.
