Name: Crafting Original Monsters
Start: 2025-06-14T14:00:00-0400
End: 2025-06-14T14:45:00-0400

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.

Saturday June 14, 2025 2:00pm - 2:45pm EDT

Glen 2 & 3

The legendary pantheon of horror monsters is never too full! These innovative novels introduce a brand-new bestiary with creeping, crawling critters beyond your wildest nightmares. In this panel, authors will discuss how they developed these lustful zombies, apocalyptic students, and fears-made-flesh—and offer advice on how budding writers can develop unique monsters of their own.

Moderators

Michael Arnzen

Asst Director, MFA in Writing Popular Fiction at SHU

Amityville-born horror writer Michael Arnzen holds four Bram Stoker Awards® and an International Horror Guild Award for his often funny, always disturbing fiction and poetry. In addition to his creative books—like the novel, Grave Markings, the short story collection, Proverbs... Read More →

Speakers

S. A. Barnes

S.A. Barnes works in a high school library by day, recommending reads, talking with students, and removing the occasional forgotten cheese stick as bookmark. Barnes has published numerous novels across different genres under the pen name Stacey Kade. She lives in Illinois with more... Read More →

Tim Waggoner

i've published over sixty novels and eight collections of short stories. I write original horror and dark fantasy as well as media tie-ins. I'm a four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award, a one-time winner of the Scribe Award, and I've been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award... Read More →

Cassandra Khaw

CASSANDRA KHAW is the USA Today bestselling author of Nothing But Blackened Teeth and the Bram Stoker Award-winner, Breakable Things. Other notable works of theirs are The Salt Grows Heavy and British Fantasy Award and Locus Award finalist, Hammers on Bone. Khaw’s work can... Read More →

Nat Cassidy

Nat Cassidy writes horror for the page, stage, and screen. His acclaimed novels Mary: An Awakening of Terror and Nestlings were featured in best-of lists from Esquire, Harper's Bazaar, NPR, the Chicago Review of Books, the NY Public Library, and more, and he was named one of the... Read More →

CJ Leede

CJ Leede is a horror writer, hiker, and Trekkie. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University, and a BA from NYU’s Gallatin School, where she studied Mythology and the Middle Ages. When she is not driving around the country, she can be found in LA with her boyfriend... Read More →

Saturday June 14, 2025 2:00pm - 2:45pm EDT
Glen 2 & 3

Convention Event, Livestreamed Session

Attendees (95)

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StokerCon 2025