StokerCon 2025: Full Schedule

Welcome to the premiere horror literary convention presented by the Horror Writers Association. Registration for StokerCon 2025 is now available! This year the convention is being hosted by the city of Stamford, Connecticut, at the Hilton Stamford Hotel and Executive Meeting Center. We’re taking over from June 12th through the 15th, 2025.

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10:00am EDT

What's So Scary About Video Games?

Sunday June 15, 2025 10:00am - 10:45am EDT

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Horror is a fertile ground for video game stories. Whether we are talking about survival games, story games, or action horror games, it's clear the horror golden age includes games. How does one write for a horror game, what narrative tricks and techniques work? How does narrative intersect with mechanics to create atmosphere and scares in effective ways? And what is missing from the horror genre that we should hope (or fear!) in works to come?

Moderators

Jesse Scoble

Senior Narrative Designer, Beamdog

Jesse Scoble is a Senior Narrative Designer at Beamdog Studios. Previously, he has been Chief Narrative Designer at Tencent; lead writer on HyperScape for Ubisoft; and contributed to Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Far Cry 5, AC Origins, and Watch Dogs 2. Before Ubisoft, he was lead writer... Read More →

Speakers

Todd Keisling

Author, Graphic Designer, Precipice Books / Dullington Design Co.

TODD KEISLING is the two-time Bram Stoker Award®-nominated author of Devil’s Creek, Scanlines, Cold, Black & Infinite, and most recently, The Sundowner’s Dance, among several others. A pair of his earlier works were recipients of the University of Kentucky’s Oswald Research... Read More →

Richard Dansky

Narrative Director, Romero Games

Richard Dansky is a 25+ year veteran of the video game industry and is widely regarded as a leading authority on game writing and narrative. He has written and narrative designed for bestselling franchises including The Division, Assassins Creed, Far Cry, and Splinter Cell. His book... Read More →

Amanda Headlee

Amanda Headlee is the author of Till We Become Monsters, This is How a Villain is Made, Madness and Greatness Can Share the Same Face, and several short stories. A devoted connoisseur of cosmic and psychological horror, Amanda can often be found unraveling the universe’s darkest... Read More →

Robert Ottone

Robert P. Ottone is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of THE TRIANGLE and is also the best-selling author of CURSE OF THE COB MAN, THE SLEEPY HOLLOW GANG, THE VILE THING WE CREATED and NOCTURNAL CREATURES.His short fiction has been collected in TEAR ME OPEN as well as HER INFERNAL... Read More →

Logan Alexander Johnson

Logan Alexander Johnson is a writer, designer, and researcher who uses words as a vehicle for activism, inclusion, and empowerment. He brings a designer’s empathy to the page, shaped by over a decade of experience in human-centered design. Logan writes stories that highlight the... Read More →

Sunday June 15, 2025 10:00am - 10:45am EDT
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Convention Event

12:00pm EDT

Closing Ceremony

Sunday June 15, 2025 12:00pm - 12:45pm EDT

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Say goodbye to StokerCon 2025 as we usher in the StokerCon 2026 season!

Speakers

James Chambers

Trustee; Co-Chair, StokerCon Governing Committee; Chair, Horror University, Horror Writers Association

James Chambers is the Bram Stoker Award® and Scribe Award-winning editor and author of A Bright and Beautiful Eternal World, On the Night Border, On the Hierophant Road, the graphic novel, Kolchak the Night Stalker: The Forgotten Lore of Edgar Allan Poe, and editor of Under Twin... Read More →

Lisa Wood

Vice President, Horror Writers Association

L. Marie Wood is an award-winning psychological horror author and screenwriter. She won the Golden Stake Award for her novel The Promise Keeper. Her screenplays have won Best Horror, Best Afrofuturism/Horror/Sci-Fi, and Best Short Screenplay awards at several film festivals. Wood’s... Read More →

Sunday June 15, 2025 12:00pm - 12:45pm EDT
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HWA Event

10:00am EDT

12:00pm EDT

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