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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.
Type: HWA Event clear filter
Thursday, June 12
 

5:00pm EDT

Folklore And Fiction: Turning Ancient Myths Into Modern Stories
Thursday June 12, 2025 5:00pm - 5:45pm EDT
Grove Ballroom 2
Panelists will discuss how they have successfully implemented folklore in their writing, then describe how others can find, research, and use folklore as a basis or inspiration for fresh stories.
Moderators
avatar for Kristy Park Kulski (K.P. Kulski)

Kristy Park Kulski (K.P. Kulski)

KRISTY PARK KULSKI (K.P. KULSKI) is a Hawaii-born Korean-American author, historian, and career vampire of patriarchal tears. Channeling a lifelong obsession with history and the morose she’s managed to birth the gothic horror novel, Fairest Flesh, and novella, House of Pungsu... Read More →
Speakers
avatar for Ricardo D. Rebelo

Ricardo D. Rebelo

Writer, Swamp Yankee Press
Ricardo D. Rebelo is a horror author and documentarian based in Massachusetts. He’s published short fiction in Dracula Beyond Stoker Issue 6, Monsters in the Mills, Halloweenthology, Flash of the Undead, and more. His self-published cryptid books explore folklore from New England... Read More →
avatar for Sarah Read
avatar for Hilary Wilson

Hilary Wilson

Literary Correspondent, The Folklore Podcast
avatar for Adam Nevill

Adam Nevill

Adam L. G. Nevill was born in Birmingham, England, in 1969 and grew up in England and New Zealand. He is an author of horror fiction. Of his novels, The Ritual, Last Days, No One Gets Out Alive and The Reddening were all winners of The August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel. He... Read More →
avatar for Cindy O'Quinn

Cindy O'Quinn

About the authorCindy O’Quinn is an Appalachian writer. She grew up in the beautiful mountains of WestVirginia. She writes fiction, nonfiction, and speculative poetry, which all lean heavily into thehorror genre. It was with Cindy’s fifth Bram Stoker Award® nomination that garnered... Read More →
Thursday June 12, 2025 5:00pm - 5:45pm EDT
Grove Ballroom 2
  HWA Event, Livestreamed Session

8:00pm EDT

Opening Ceremony
Thursday June 12, 2025 8:00pm - 10:00pm EDT
Garden Pavillion
Hosted by HWA President, Angela Yuriko Smith, come experience our opening festivities, meet our Guests of Honor, and enjoy light appetizers and a cash bar.

HWA Secretary Becky Spratford will deliver the Keynote Speech, "Why I Love Horror."
Moderators
avatar for Maxwell Ian Gold

Maxwell Ian Gold

Executive Director, Horror Writers Association
Maxwell I. Gold is a Jewish American multiple award nominated author who writes prose poetry and short stories in cosmic horror and weird fiction with half a decade of writing experience. Five time Rhysling Award nominee, two time Pushcart Award nominee, and author of the Bram Stoker... Read More →
Speakers
avatar for Scott Edelman

Scott Edelman

Author
SCOTT EDELMAN has published 125+ short stories in magazines such as Lightspeed, Analog, Apex, and The Twilight Zone, and in anthologies such as Why New Yorkers Smoke, Crossroads: Southern Tales of the Fantastic, and MetaHorror. He began his professional writing career in the comics... Read More →
avatar for Tim Waggoner

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 →
avatar for Gaby Triana

Gaby Triana

GABY TRIANA is the Cuban-American author of 24 books for adults and teens, including Dark and Dangerous Things, Moon Child, Island of Bones, River of Ghosts, City of Spells, Wake the Hollow, Cubanita, and Summer of Yesterday. Her short stories have appeared in Classic Monsters... Read More →
avatar for Adam Nevill

Adam Nevill

Adam L. G. Nevill was born in Birmingham, England, in 1969 and grew up in England and New Zealand. He is an author of horror fiction. Of his novels, The Ritual, Last Days, No One Gets Out Alive and The Reddening were all winners of The August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel. He... Read More →
avatar for Paula Guran

Paula Guran

Editor, anthologist, and reviewer Paula Guran has edited more than 50 science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologies and more than 50 novels and collections featuring the same. She was senior editor for Prime Books for seven years. Previously, she edited the Juno fantasy impr... Read More →
avatar for Becky Spratford

Becky Spratford

Readers’ Advisory Specialist; HWA Secretary, RA for All
 Becky Spratford [MLIS] is a Librarian in Illinois specializing in serving patrons ages 13 and up. She trains library staff all over the world on how to match books with readers through the local public library. She runs the critically acclaimed RA training blog RA for All. She writes reviews for Booklist and a Horror review column for Library Journal. Becky was a 24 year locally elected Library Trustee and a former Board member for both the Reaching Across Illinois Library System and the Illinois Library Association. Known for her work with Horror... Read More →
avatar for Lisa Wood

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 →
Thursday June 12, 2025 8:00pm - 10:00pm EDT
Garden Pavillion
  HWA Event
 
Friday, June 13
 

11:00am EDT

HWA Open Member Board Meeting
Friday June 13, 2025 11:00am - 11:45am EDT
Grove Ballroom 2
The annual HWA Board meeting. This will include updates from Board members and a Question and Answer period.

This panel will be live-streamed.
Moderators
avatar for Becky Spratford

Becky Spratford

Readers’ Advisory Specialist; HWA Secretary, RA for All
 Becky Spratford [MLIS] is a Librarian in Illinois specializing in serving patrons ages 13 and up. She trains library staff all over the world on how to match books with readers through the local public library. She runs the critically acclaimed RA training blog RA for All. She writes reviews for Booklist and a Horror review column for Library Journal. Becky was a 24 year locally elected Library Trustee and a former Board member for both the Reaching Across Illinois Library System and the Illinois Library Association. Known for her work with Horror... Read More →
Speakers
avatar for Lisa Kröger

Lisa Kröger

Trustee, Horror Writers Association
Horror writer. Author of MONSTER, SHE WROTE and TOIL AND TROUBLE. Cohost of the Know Fear Cast and The Monster, She Wrote podcast.
avatar for Brian Matthews

Brian Matthews

Trustee; Co-Chair, StokerCon Governing Committee; Bram Stoker Awards® Show Coordinator; Pitch Session Coordinator, Horror Writers Association
Author, financial planner, former psychologist, husband, and father. Trustee for the Horror Writers Association, as well a National Co-Chair for StokerCon. I also run the Pitch Sessions and act as the Bram Stoker Awards Show Coordinator. That pretty much sums it up.
avatar for Marc Abbott

Marc Abbott

Author/Teacher/Storyteller/Treasurer, Horror Writers Association
I’m the author of the horror anthologies Hell at the Way Station (Winner of the African Literary award for Best Anthology)and Hell at Brooklyn Tea. My works have been featured in Blackened Roots, The Chaos Clock, Under Twin Suns, Even in the Grave, New York State of Fright and Hells... Read More →
avatar for Linda D. Addison

Linda D. Addison

Trustee, Horror Writers Association
Linda D. Addison is an award-winning author of five collections, including How To Recognize A Demon Has Become Your Friend, recipient of the HWA Lifetime Achievement Award, HWA Mentor of the Year and SFPA Grand Master of Fantastic Poetry.
avatar for Ellen Datlow

Ellen Datlow

Trustee, Editor of short fiction through novellas
Ellen Datlow has been editing sf/f/h, short fiction for more than forty years. She currently acquires short fiction and novellas for Tor.com. She’s edited more than one hundred anthologies, including the annual The Best Horror of the Year series and has won multiple awards for... Read More →
avatar for Patrick Barb

Patrick Barb

Patrick Barb is an author of weird, dark, and spooky tales, currently living (and trying not to freeze to death) in Saint Paul, Minnesota. His published works include the dark fiction collection Pre-Approved for Haunting (Keylight Books), the novellas Gargantuana's Ghost (Grey Matter... Read More →
avatar for Lisa Wood

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 →
avatar for Maxwell Ian Gold

Maxwell Ian Gold

Executive Director, Horror Writers Association
Maxwell I. Gold is a Jewish American multiple award nominated author who writes prose poetry and short stories in cosmic horror and weird fiction with half a decade of writing experience. Five time Rhysling Award nominee, two time Pushcart Award nominee, and author of the Bram Stoker... Read More →
avatar for Frances Lu-Pai Ippolito

Frances Lu-Pai Ippolito

Editor, Writer, Publisher
Frances Lu-Pai Ippolito (she/her) is a Chinese American judge, mom, and writer in Portland, Oregon. Her writing has appeared in Nightmare Magazine, Flame Tree’s Asian Ghost Stories, Chromophobia, Mother: Tales of Terror and Love, Death’s Garden Revisited, and Unquiet Spirits... Read More →
avatar for James Chambers

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 →
Friday June 13, 2025 11:00am - 11:45am EDT
Grove Ballroom 2
  HWA Event, Livestreamed Session
 
Saturday, June 14
 

6:00pm EDT

HWA Diversity Grant Raffle Drawing!
Saturday June 14, 2025 6:00pm - 6:15pm EDT
Grand Ballroom Foyer
If you entered the HWA Diversity Grant Raffle, head to the end of the Grand Ballroom Foyer to see if you won! Linda Addison and Brian Matthews will draw the winners for each raffle item.

YOU MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN. IF YOU'RE NOT THERE IF YOUR NAME IS CALLED, WE WILL CALL ANOTHER NAME. 
Moderators
avatar for Linda D. Addison

Linda D. Addison

Trustee, Horror Writers Association
Linda D. Addison is an award-winning author of five collections, including How To Recognize A Demon Has Become Your Friend, recipient of the HWA Lifetime Achievement Award, HWA Mentor of the Year and SFPA Grand Master of Fantastic Poetry.
avatar for Brian Matthews

Brian Matthews

Trustee; Co-Chair, StokerCon Governing Committee; Bram Stoker Awards® Show Coordinator; Pitch Session Coordinator, Horror Writers Association
Author, financial planner, former psychologist, husband, and father. Trustee for the Horror Writers Association, as well a National Co-Chair for StokerCon. I also run the Pitch Sessions and act as the Bram Stoker Awards Show Coordinator. That pretty much sums it up.
Saturday June 14, 2025 6:00pm - 6:15pm EDT
Grand Ballroom Foyer
  HWA Event

6:00pm EDT

Bram Stoker Awards® Cocktail Reception
Saturday June 14, 2025 6:00pm - 6:45pm EDT
Grand Ballroom Foyer
Gather with friends old and new at the cocktail mixer. Cash bar available.
Saturday June 14, 2025 6:00pm - 6:45pm EDT
Grand Ballroom Foyer
  HWA Event

7:00pm EDT

Bram Stoker Awards® Banquet
Saturday June 14, 2025 7:00pm - 7:45pm EDT
Grand Ballroom 2-3
Come join us for the annual Bram Stoker Awards Banquet!

This is a ticketed event. Separate purchase necessary.
Saturday June 14, 2025 7:00pm - 7:45pm EDT
Grand Ballroom 2-3
  HWA Event

8:00pm EDT

Bram Stoker Awards® Presentation
Saturday June 14, 2025 8:00pm - 10:00pm EDT
Grand Ballroom 2-3
The annual Bram Stoker Awards Show with emcee Kevin Wetmore, Jr. Come help celebrate this year's winners!
Speakers
avatar for Kevin Wetmore Jr.

Kevin Wetmore Jr.

Volunteer Coordinator, HWA LA
Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr. is the author, editor or co-editor of thirty books, including Bram Stoker Award nominees Uncovering Stranger Things, The Streaming of Hill House, Devil’s Advocates: The Conjuring, and Eaters of the Dead: Myths and Realities of Cannibal Monsters. He is also... Read More →
Saturday June 14, 2025 8:00pm - 10:00pm EDT
Grand Ballroom 2-3
  HWA Event, Livestreamed Session

10:00pm EDT

Bram Stoker Awards® After Party
Saturday June 14, 2025 10:00pm - 11:30pm EDT
Garden Pavillion
The closing party for StokerCon 2025. Light appetizers and a cash bar will be available.
Saturday June 14, 2025 10:00pm - 11:30pm EDT
Garden Pavillion
  HWA Event
 
Sunday, June 15
 

12:00pm EDT

Closing Ceremony
Sunday June 15, 2025 12:00pm - 12:45pm EDT
Aspen 2
Say goodbye to StokerCon 2025 as we usher in the StokerCon 2026 season!
Speakers
avatar for James Chambers

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 →
avatar for Maxwell Ian Gold

Maxwell Ian Gold

Executive Director, Horror Writers Association
Maxwell I. Gold is a Jewish American multiple award nominated author who writes prose poetry and short stories in cosmic horror and weird fiction with half a decade of writing experience. Five time Rhysling Award nominee, two time Pushcart Award nominee, and author of the Bram Stoker... Read More →
avatar for Lisa Wood

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
Aspen 2
  HWA Event
 
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