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.

3:00pm EDT

Roleplaying Games and Horror

Thursday June 12, 2025 3:00pm - 3:45pm EDT

Aspen 2

TTRPGS and LARPs allow players to take on the roles of their characters in a truly immersive way. Yet how does that work in a horror setting, where classic heroism might be in short supply, goals are less about acquiring treasure and more about staying alive and sane, and players must lean into what their characters would do even if it isn't always the smartest thing? Let's explore how to create horror in a roleplaying setting in this panel aimed at players, game masters, and writers.

Moderators

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 →

Speakers

Bill Bridges

Author, Game designer

Bill Bridges is a writer and game designer, most known for developing White Wolf’s World of Darkness and the Fading Suns science-fiction universe. He currently serves as the project manager for Ulisses’ line of Fading Suns roleplaying-game books. Bill lives near Atlanta, GA, where... 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 →

Oliver Baer

Oliver Baer does many things. He was the editor of Cthulhu Sex Magazine and Two Backed Books. His epistolary novel, Letters to the Editor of Cthulhu Sex Magazine, was published in October 2019. His short stories have appeared in April Grey's anthologies as well as others. His essays... Read More →

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 →

Thursday June 12, 2025 3:00pm - 3:45pm EDT
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Convention Event

4:00pm EDT

Eco-Horror: Is Nature Trying to Kill Us?

Thursday June 12, 2025 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT

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This panel will discuss some of the early examples of eco-horror in literature, like Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows, and trace those influences on today’s eco-horror classics. We will also seek to define the sub-genre more clearly through our discussion: Is eco-horror merely a horror story set in the woods? Is it when nature turns against humanity? Or is it when the story carries a message about humanity's impact on the ecosystem?

Moderators

Marc E. Fitch

Speakers

Brian Cummings

Christopher Hawkins

Co-chair, Chicagoland Chapter

Christopher Hawkins (he/him) is the multi-award-winning author of Downpour and Suburban Monsters. His latest novel is I Contain Multitudes.

Raymonde Chira

Author

Raymonde Chira (she/they) is a writer, illustrator and librarian based in New York City. She is the author of multiple dark short stories and comics, having been published in Ghost Parachute, Dark Matter Presents: The Off-Season, Let Her Be Evil, and Bump in the Night (forthcoming... Read More →

Sean Carlin

Author

Sean Patrick Carlin (he/him) is an author and essayist, as well as an environmental activist with the Climate Reality Project. His debut novel, The Dogcatcher, was published in 2023 by DarkWinter Press. An occult horror/dark comedy in the spirit of Shaun of the Dead, it's the story... Read More →

Thursday June 12, 2025 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT
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Convention Event

5:00pm EDT

Stake the Landing

Thursday June 12, 2025 5:00pm - 5:45pm EDT

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Horror fiction thrives in establishing mood and creating suspense…but, as many aficionados will tell you, too often it flubs the finale. Panelists will contend with the bugbear of their chosen field. What makes a good horror ending? Is there something inherent to the genre which complicates crafting a satisfying resolution? What stories end well…and which don’t? Does a climax that accentuates the uncanny or ineffable lose clarity? Do any stories adapted to film/video change the original prose endings for the better?

Moderators

Jason A. Wyckoff

Jason A. Wyckoff is the author of two short story collections published by Tartarus Press, Black Horse and other Strange Stories (2012) and The Hidden Back Room (2016). HIs short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies and journals. His debut novel, IXIXIKLIS is due in early... Read More →

Speakers

Kristin Dearborn

JG Faherty

HWA, Writer, Editor

Writer of dark fiction (horror, S/F, fantasy). HWA Mentorship Program Manager. Editor at large. Talk to me about horror, writing, books, editing, movies, guitars, bourbon, or just about anything except politics!

Sephera Giron

Writer/screenwriter

Erika T. Wurth

Writer/Professor, Flatiron/Macmillan

Erika T. Wurth’s novel WHITE HORSE is a New York Times editors pick, a Good Morning America buzz pick, and an Indie Next, Target book of the Month, and Book of the Month Pick. She is both a Kenyon and Sewanee fellow, and Kenyon faculty. She’s published in Buzzfeed, and The Writer’s... Read More →

Thursday June 12, 2025 5:00pm - 5:45pm EDT
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Convention Event, Livestreamed Session

6:00pm EDT

Sex and Monsters: How Horror Is Redefining Bodies and Relationships

Thursday June 12, 2025 6:00pm - 6:45pm EDT

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The panel explores the intersections of desire and the monstrous. How does horror defy boundaries, transform bodies, intimacy, and connection? Join us as we discuss the grotesque, sexuality, and how monsters can subvert norms, fear, and taboo cravings.

Moderators

Catlyn Ladd

Writer

Catlyn Ladd loves alliteration, the poetic slip of similar sounds through throat and tongue. She blends metaphors and archetypes from the shadow self, illuminating the monsters, beautiful and horrifying, that gestate there. Her speculative fiction has been published in over a dozen... Read More →

Speakers

V. Castro

Hailey Piper

Hailey Piper is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth, No Gods for Drowning, The Worm and His Kings, Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy, Benny Rose the Cannibal King, and Your Mind Is a Terrible Thing. She is an active member of the Horror Writers Association, with... Read More →

Eric LaRocca

Eric LaRocca (he/they) is a 3x Bram Stoker Award® finalist and Splatterpunk Award winner. He was named by Esquire as one of the “Writers Shaping Horror’s Next Golden Age” and praised by Locus as “one of the strongest and most unique voices in contemporary horror fiction... Read More →

Clare Castleberry

Clare Castleberry is an author, artist, and narrator from Louisiana. She began her career writing adult content for online zines, then moved on to erotic horror shorts such as Hungry for Control (which also appeared in Year's Best Hardcore Horror, Volume I) and Toxic Femininity. Several... Read More →

Carina Stopenski

Teen Librarian, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

Carina Stopenski (they/them) is a librarian, author, and scholar based in Pittsburgh, PA. In their day to day, Carina works as a teen librarian at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, as a freelance humanities educator for teens, and as the director of the Pittsburgh Mobile Cartoon... Read More →

Thursday June 12, 2025 6:00pm - 6:45pm EDT
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Convention Event

9:00am EDT

How To Be A Pro

Friday June 13, 2025 9:00am - 9:45am EDT

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A discussion of proper etiquette and professional behavior for authors approaching agents, editors, and publishers, promoting their work, engaging in the writing community, interacting with readers, being active online, and other aspects of being a professional writer. The panel will offer tips, do's and don'ts and general advice about how to succeed in making good connections and advancing your career.

Moderators

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.

Speakers

Patrick Freivald

Becky LeJeune

Agent, Bond Literary Agency

Becky LeJeune is an agent at Bond Literary Agency, a Denver-based agency run by Sandra Bond. Prior to joining the agency, Becky spent time working as a bookseller, a freelance cookbook editor, and an acquisitions editor for a small, regional press. She is a graduate of the Denver... Read More →

Emily Hughes

Author, reviewer, listmaker

Emily C. Hughes (she/her) wants to scare you. Formerly the editor of Unbound Worlds and TorNightfire.com, she writes about horror and curates a list of the year’s new scary books. Her first book, Horror For Weenies: Everything You Need to Know About the Films You’re Too Scared... Read More →

Michael Dolan

Editorial Director, Winding Road Stories

Michael Dolan is a writer and editor with over 25 years of experience at the highest levels of publishing. In addition to being the author of several books, he has served as executive editor for many publishing companies, including Condé Nast. As the founder of Winding Road Stories... Read More →

Douglas Murano

Founder/CEO, Bad Hand Books

Friday June 13, 2025 9:00am - 9:45am EDT
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Convention Event

10:00am EDT

Combating Loneliness in the Writing Profession

Friday June 13, 2025 10:00am - 10:45am EDT

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As we fuel both creativity and resilience, so much of our work unfolds in seclusion. We need communities for support and to stay informed in a rapidly changing field. Join these writers for a conversation on how they manage loneliness and establish connection.
--Our best strategies for combating loneliness in the writing profession
--Explore the anthology experience as editors/authors seeking connection
--Special events, conventions, readings, writing groups
--Overcoming geography and using tech
--Good manners and mind, body, spirit takeaways

Moderators

Jamal Hodge

CEO, Hodge Cinema

JAMAL HODGE is a multi-award-winning filmmaker and writer from Queens NYC who has won over 80 awards with screenings at Tribeca Film Festival, Sundance, Cannes, and others. He directed the first season of Investigation Discovery Channel’s ‘Primal Instinct’ and is a Producer... Read More →

Speakers

Crystal O’Leary-Davidson (C. O. Davidson)

Writer and Teacher

Crystal’s work has appeared in Pseudopod, Vastarien, Cemetery Gates and in various horror anthologies. She co-edited MONSTERS OF FILM, FICTION, AND FABLE and is a founding member of the Atlanta chapter of the HWA. She teaches writing, the Gothic, and horror at Middle Georgia State... Read More →

Mark Matthews

Mark Matthews is a Shirley Jackson Award Finalist, a graduate of the University of Michigan, and a licensed professional counselor. He is the author of On the Lips of Children, All Smoke Rises, Milk-Blood, and The Hobgoblin of Little Minds. He also edited, published, and contributed... Read More →

Lauren Elise (L. E.) Daniels

Editor, Author, Poet, HWA Wellness Committee, Brisbane Writers Workshop

A Bram Stoker Awards® finalist, co-chair for the HWA Mental Health Initiative with Mark Matthews, and Rhode Islander living in Australia, Lauren Elise (L. E.) Daniels has worked in publishing since '92. An Emerson College MFA grad, she's edited over 140+ titles, including the Aurealis... Read More →

Geneve Flynn

Editor and author

Geneve Flynn is a speculative fiction editor, author, and poet. Winner of two Bram Stoker Awards and the Shirley Jackson, Aurealis, and Brave New Weird Awards; recipient of the 2022 Queensland Writers Fellowship. Her work has been nominated and short/longlisted for the British Fantasy... Read More →

Katherine Silva

Author and EIC, Strange Wilds Press

Katherine Silva is an ace Maine horror author, a connoisseur of coffee, and victim of cat shenanigans. Her favorite flavors of the genre mix grief and existentialism which she combines with her love of the New England wilderness in her works. She is a three-time Maine Literary Award... Read More →

Friday June 13, 2025 10:00am - 10:45am EDT
Aspen 2

Convention Event

12:00pm EDT

Oi Vey, The Horror! Issac Bashevis Singer and the Unholy Horror

Friday June 13, 2025 12:00pm - 12:45pm EDT

Aspen 2

Issac Bashevis Singer, Polish-born novelist and essayist known famously for his works that inspired films such as Yentl from his acclaimed work “Yentl the Yeshiva Boy” aren’t usually the first on the shelf for horror readers. His works explore a wide array of literary themes such as cultural and political trauma, and Jewish folklore to name a few. This panel will explore the connection between Singer’s nuanced use of the absurd and the innate darkness within his stories.

Moderators

Daniel Braum

Speakers

Lila Denning

HWA-Volunteer Coordinator, St Petersburg Library System

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 →

Lane Heymont

President, The Tobias Literary Agency

As Literary Assistant at the Seymour Agency, Lane led the marketing efforts for their authors and enjoyed connecting clients with readers. As a lover of literature since childhood, and at the prodding of his mentor Nicole Resciniti, he decided to pursue his passion as a literary... Read More →

John Langan

Author, THE FISHERMAN

John Langan is the author of two novels and five collections of stories. For his fiction, he has received the Bram Stoker and the This Is Horror awards. With Paul Tremblay, he co-edited Creatures: Thirty Years of Monsters (2011). He is one of the founders of the Shirley Jackson... Read More →

Friday June 13, 2025 12:00pm - 12:45pm EDT
Aspen 2

Convention Event

1:00pm EDT

Industrial Gothic: Horror in the Industrial and Post-Industrial Age

Friday June 13, 2025 1:00pm - 1:45pm EDT

Aspen 2

Many American cities grew powerful during the Industrial Revolution by establishing factories and mills, luring immigrants with the promise of the American Dream. When the boom ended, the cities were left in ruins. The ghosts of the past loom in every decrepit mansion, lavish cemetery, worker row house, or the block-spanning structures left to decay. This panel will explore the unique subgenre of industrial horror and towns left to ruin. What happens when a capitalistic dream dies and the machines go off, never to turn on again?

Moderators

Leanna Renee Hieber

Author, Ghost Tour Guide, Actress, Kensington, Tor and Union Square Books

An actress, playwright, ghost tour guide and award-winning, bestselling author of fiction and non-fiction for Kensington, Tor and Union Square, Leanna’s A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America’s Ghosts, co-authored with Andrea Janes, was a Stoker Award Finalist... Read More →

Speakers

Paul Magnan

Victoria Dalpe

Victoria L. Dalpe is a Providence-based horror writer and painter. She has published over forty-five short stories in various collections, the gothic horror novel PARASITE LIFE and the short story collection LES FEMMES GROTESQUES. “Dalpe’s horror stories are equal parts int... Read More →

Gwendolyn Kiste

Gwendolyn Kiste is the three-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Rust Maidens, Reluctant Immortals, Boneset & Feathers, Pretty Marys All in a Row, and The Haunting of Velkwood. Her short fiction and nonfiction have appeared in outlets including Lit Hub, Nightmare, Best... Read More →

Errick Nunnally

Friday June 13, 2025 1:00pm - 1:45pm EDT
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Convention Event

2:00pm EDT

Slashers Never Die!

Friday June 13, 2025 2:00pm - 2:45pm EDT

Aspen 2

Recent years have seen a resurgence of the slasher subgenre on the page and the screen. This panel of slasher fans and writers will explore which tropes endure through the decades, which have been left in the bloody dust, and how modern writers can carve new paths to keep the blood flowing into the future.

Moderators

Brian McAuley

Author / Screenwriter / Professor

Brian McAuley’s debut novel Curse of the Reaper was named one of the Best Horror Books of 2022 by Esquire. His holiday slasher novella Candy Cain Kills earned praise from Kirkus Reviews for its “sublimely drawn characters,” some of whom survived for the sequel, Candy Cain Kills... Read More →

Speakers

Craig Engler

Craig Engler is the co-creator of the TV series Z Nation and executive producer of the Netflix spin-off, Black Summer. He worked at the Syfy Channel and Chiller TV before becoming the head of Shudder at AMC Networks from 2018-2022. He's currently at work on several horror screenplays... Read More →

Jonathan Lees

Jonathan Lees has spent over twenty years championing filmmakers through his programming work with the New York Underground Film Festival, Anthology Film Archives, TromaDance, and currently at the Final Frame Horror Short Film Competition at StokerCon.

Angela Sylvaine

Angela Sylvaine is a Bram Stoker Award nominated author and self-proclaimed cheerful goth who writes speculative fiction and poetry. Her novel, Frost Bite, a ‘90s sci-fi horror comedy, and her retro ‘80s YA mall slasher novella, Chopping Spree, embody her cheerful side. Her short... Read More →

Del Howison

Owner, Dark Delicacies

Del Howison is an author, journalist, SAG actor including a cameo in the upcoming horror film Big Baby produced by Cher and directed by Spider One. He is a Bram Stoker Award-winning editor of the anthology Dark Delicacies: Original Tales of Terror and the Macabre by the World’s... Read More →

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 →

Friday June 13, 2025 2:00pm - 2:45pm EDT
Aspen 2

Convention Event

9:00am EDT

New England Gothic

Saturday June 14, 2025 9:00am - 9:45am EDT

Aspen 2

In Gothic fiction, the past returns to haunt the present. From ghosts to witches to the Jewett City vampires, New England is emblematic of the dark themes of the Gothic literary tradition, its history combed by writers from Hawthorne to King. Yet while areas in Canada and eastern Virginia have longer histories of European presence, none carry the same mystique as New England. We will delve into some possible reasons why this is, and through comparisons to other regions like the American South and Appalachia, attempt to pinpoint what separates New England from the rest. Finally, we will explore whether New England has any ore left to mine for the modern Gothic writer.

Moderators

Jackson Kuhl

StokerCon 2025 Author Readings Coordinator

Speakers

Norman Prentiss

NORMAN PRENTISS is the author of ODD ADVENTURES WITH YOUR OTHER FATHER, THE APOCALYPSE-A-DAY DESK CALENDAR, and LIFE IN A HAUNTED HOUSE, and he won the 2010 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction for INVISIBLE FENCES, published by Cemetery Dance (www.cemeterydance.com... Read More →

Christa Carmen

writer

Christa Carmen is the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of The Daughters of Block Island and Beneath the Poet’s House, coming fall 2024 from Thomas & Mercer.Additional work can be found in Vastarien, Nightmare, Orphans of Bliss, Year’s Best Hardcore Horror, and the Stoker-nominated... Read More →

Rebecca Cuthbert

Writer, Undertaker Books

Rebecca Cuthbert writes feminist horror, gothic fiction, and dark poetry. Her books include IN MEMORY OF EXOSKELETONS (dark poetry, Alien Buddha Press, 2023); CREEP THIS WAY (nonfiction, Seamus and Nunzio Productions, 2024); SELF-MADE MONSTERS (feminist horror stories and poetry... Read More →

Victoria Dalpe

Saturday June 14, 2025 9:00am - 9:45am EDT
Aspen 2

Convention Event

10:00am EDT

Pitch Session Panel

Saturday June 14, 2025 10:00am - 10:45am EDT

Aspen 2

The Pitch Session Pitch Takers will discuss what they are looking for in pitches, what to do during a pitch, and what not to do. There will be a questions and answer section.

Moderators

Brian Matthews

Trustee; Co-Chair, StokerCon Governing Committee; Bram Stoker Awards® Show Coordinator; Pitch Session Coordinator, Horror Writers Association

Speakers

Alec Shane

Writers House

Writers House is one of the largest literary agencies in the world and prides itself on providing an extraordinary amount of individual client attention combined with the full service benefits of foreign and sub rights departments, as well as a full accounting and royalty staff.I... Read More →

Becky LeJeune

Agent, Bond Literary Agency

Cherry Weiner

Cherry Weiner grew up in Australia, lived in Europe for three and a half years and moved to American when she married her husband, Jack in1972. She has been agenting since 1977, when she left the Robert P. Mills AgencyMills’ famous clients (she will not any drop further names... Read More →

Michael Dolan

Editorial Director, Winding Road Stories

Christoph Paul

Christoph Paul is the singer/songwriter of Goth Rock band The Dionysus Effect, he is the EIC of CLASH Books, and an award-winning author represented by Inkwell.

Rachel Glimer

Editor, Sourcebooks

I acquire for both the Poisoned Pen Press and Casablanca imprints at Sourcebooks, and my books are primarily in Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Romance, and Contemporary Fantasy. I especially enjoy character-driven projects and am eagerly looking for diverse voices and stories.

Emma Cole

Editor, Harlequin

Editor @Harlequin, acquiring for Intrigue as well as for our Harlequin Trade Publishing imprint Hanover Square Press, which publishes horror, mystery, speculative fiction and nonfiction.

Bradley Englert

Executive Editor, Run For It / Orbit Books

Bradley Englert is an Executive Editor at Run For It, the new horror imprint from Orbit Books. He’s worked with horror authors Craig DiLouie, Andy Marino, and Nicholas Pullen. He is now looking forward to building Run For It into a premiere destination for diehard horror readers... Read More →

Amanda Manns

Saturday June 14, 2025 10:00am - 10:45am EDT
Aspen 2

Convention Event

11:00am EDT

Fowl Play: Birds in Horror

Saturday June 14, 2025 11:00am - 11:45am EDT

Aspen 2

Our avian friends have long accompanied dark tales, sometimes as companions and other times as ingredients in a spell. From old myths and fairy tales to Hitchcock’s famous adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s “The Birds”, to contemporary works of horror and even stories in the news, there’s something about these creatures that evolved from small, carnivorous dinosaurs that invites us to welcome them into our fiction.

Moderators

Sara Tantlinger

Sara Tantlinger is the author of the Bram Stoker Award-winning The Devil’s Dreamland: Poetry Inspired by H.H. Holmes, and the Stoker-nominated works To Be Devoured and Cradleland of Parasites. She has also edited Not All Monsters and Chromophobia. She is an active HWA member... Read More →

Speakers

Christa Carmen

writer

Douglas Gwilym

Bram Stoker Award nominated short story author, novelist seeking representation, editor of NOVUS MONSTRUM

Douglas Gwilym has been known to write a weird-fiction rock opera or two, and carry a uke around at StokerCon. His short story "Poppy's Poppy" was a Bram Stoker Award finalist last year. His story "Year Six" was on the longlist in 2022, and is on Ellen Datlow’s recommended reading... Read More →

Gwendolyn Kiste

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 →

A.C. Wise

A.C. Wise's fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld, Apex, and several Year's Best anthologies, among other places. Her work has won the Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, as well as twice being a finalist for the Sunburst Award, twice being a finalist... Read More →

Saturday June 14, 2025 11:00am - 11:45am EDT
Aspen 2

Convention Event

12:00pm EDT

The Chapter Experience: Making the Most of Your Horror Writers Association Membership

Saturday June 14, 2025 12:00pm - 12:45pm EDT

Aspen 2

Curious about joining an HWA chapter or launching one in your area? This panel explores how local chapters can expand your creative community. From critique groups and author events to mentorship and networking, chapters offer meaningful ways to connect and grow. Panelists will share what they’ve learned from building and participating in chapters, including what’s worked, what to avoid, and how to get the most from your involvement. Whether you’re new to HWA or a longtime member looking to engage more deeply, this session will show you how to bring your membership to life.

Moderators

Carol Gyzander

I love quiet horror, weird fiction, and cosmic horror.

Speakers

B.C. Bull

Douglas Ford

Christopher Hawkins

Co-chair, Chicagoland Chapter

Christopher Hawkins (he/him) is the multi-award-winning author of Downpour and Suburban Monsters. His latest novel is I Contain Multitudes.

Janine Cross

Author

Janine Cross's dark fantasy trilogy The Dragon Temple Saga was published with Random House USA and with Heyne in Germany. Publishers Weekly called the trilogy a “bold debut in a richly detailed, well-imagined world”, and Library Journal voted Touched by Venom (Book One in the... Read More →

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 →

Saturday June 14, 2025 12:00pm - 12:45pm EDT
Aspen 2

Convention Event

1:00pm EDT

Writing for Performance: Horror Across Audio and Screen

Saturday June 14, 2025 1:00pm - 1:45pm EDT

Aspen 2

This panel explores the craft of writing horror for performance, whether it's through the chilling intimacy of audio storytelling or the visual tension of television and film. What unique considerations must a writer consider when adapting horror from the page to the ear or the screen? How do pacing, structure, and atmosphere shift when a story is meant to be heard or seen rather than read? Panelists will discuss the challenges and opportunities of writing for mediums like audiobooks, podcasts, TV, and film, where timing, voice, and visual storytelling carry the weight of fear. They'll also explore why authors should consider expanding into performance-based formats and how doing so can amplify both reach and impact.

Moderators

Alex Hofelich

co-Editor, PseudoPod

Alex Hofelich is Co-Editor of Pseudopod, a weekly horror podcast magazine. It is part of the pro-paying Escape Artists network, which has been delivering weekly short fiction in multiple genres since 2005. He has been involved with PseudoPod since 2009, and edited the anthology... Read More →

Speakers

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 →

Tony Sarrecchia

Tony is a writer who creates audio dramas, including the award-winning, HARRY STRANGE RADIO DRAMA, and SCARLETT HOOD ADVENTURES. His LADY SHERLOCK HOLMES Episode, ‘The Lady in Red’, performed at DragonCon and the National Audio Theatre Festival won the NATF’s Platinum Festival... Read More →

Teel James Glenn

writer, self

Teel James Glenn has killed hundreds and been killed more times-- on stage and screen as he has traveled the world for forty plus years as a stuntman, fight choreographer, swordmaster, jouster, illustrator, storyteller, bodyguard, actor and haunted house barker.His stories have been... Read More →

Jamie Flanagan

Jamie Flanagan writes television shows. Credits include The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club, The Fall of the House of Usher. Theatre nerd. Avid gamer (tabletop and video).

Clay Vermulm

Saturday June 14, 2025 1:00pm - 1:45pm EDT
Aspen 2

Convention Event

2:00pm EDT

The House Is Trying To Kill Me And Other Single-Location Horror

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

Aspen 2

Whether it's a haunted house, a group of campers stuck in a supernatural patch of woods that won't let them leave (This Wretched Valley), or a family trapped in their bathroom after a storm (We Need to Do Something) or even a crew of workers after hours fighting ghosts (Horrorstor), contained horror is a unique subset of the genre. Single-location horror can present certain challenges that a larger setting does not.

Moderators

Jenny Kiefer

Jenny Kiefer is a horror writer and owner of the horror-only bookstore Butcher Cabin Books in Louisville, Kentucky. Her debut novel, THIS WRETCHED VALLEY, is a Bram Stoker Nominee. Her next book, CRAFTING FOR SINNERS, releases October 2025. Stories have appeared in Cosmic Horror Monthly... Read More →

Speakers

Sofia Ajram

Queer writer, poet & metalsmith. Writer of “Coup De Grâce” (Titan Books) 10/24. Editor of “Bury Your Gays: An Anthology of Tragic Queer Horror” (Ghoulish Books) 03/24

Johnny Compton

Chelsea Conradt

Chelsea Conradt (she/her) writes twisty speculative thrillers and horror. Her books are packed with both murder and kindness because we can be more than one thing.When not writing stories that make you question what’s real, she is likely watching a baking show or a true-crime documentary... Read More →

Corey Farrenkopf

Staff Librarian, Eastham Public Library

Corey Farrenkopf is a Cape Cod based writer and librarian. His work has been published in Nightmare, The Deadlands, Strange Horizons, Vastarien, Three-Lobed Burning Eye, Cosmic Horror Monthly, Bourbon Penn, and elsewhere. He is the author of the novel, Living in Cemeteries and the... Read More →

Joshua Ginsberg

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

Convention Event

about Jenny Kiefer is a horror writer and owner of the horror-only bookstore Butcher Cabin Books in Louisville, Kentucky. Her debut novel, THIS WRETCHED VALLEY, will be released by Quirk on January 16, 2024. Stories have appeared in Cosmic Horror Monthly, Pseudopod, Howls from the Dark Ages, and Miracle Monocle.

3:00pm EDT

50 Years of Jaws and Aquatic Horror

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

Aspen 2

50 years ago, Jaws made audiences afraid to go in the water. Join us as we explore the impact of the film as well as other aquatic horrors; be they from the ocean depths, the murky swamps, our inland lakes and rivers, or even the plumbing of your home. The panel will also examine an early 1973 draft of Jaws. This panel is sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Library System.

Moderators

Ben Rubin

Horror Studies Collection Coordinator, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Horror Studies Collection Coordinator for Archives & Special Collections at the University of Pittsburgh Library System - responsible for building, managing, and curating archival and rare book resources related to horror studies and serving as subject area expert for reference related... Read More →

Speakers

John Langan

Author, THE FISHERMAN

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.

Bridget Keown

Professor, University of Pittsburgh

Bridget Keown is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh, and is the head of the Gender and Science Initiative. She earned her PhD in history at Northeastern University, where her research focused on the... Read More →

Judy Pancoast

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

Convention Event, Livestreamed Session

4:00pm EDT

Gunslingers And Ghouls: Western Horror

Saturday June 14, 2025 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT

Aspen 2

Authors share their insights around the growing popularity and diversity of horror westerns; tips for writing in this unique subgenre; and their reading recommendations. This panel will touch on why westerns are so fitting for the horror genre and how horror westerns have become an avenue for telling more diverse stories of the Old West.

Moderators

KC (Kristina) Grifant

Author, Editor, San Diego HWA co-chair

A previous StokerCon chair, KC Grifant is an award-winning writer based in Southern California who creates internationally published horror, fantasy, science fiction, and weird west stories. Dozens of her short stories have appeared in podcasts, magazines, games, and Stoker-nominated... Read More →

Speakers

Nicole Kurtz

C.S. Humble

Rhonda Jackson Garcia AKA RJ Joseph

academic and creative writer/editor/professor, RJ Joseph, Writer/Speaker

Rhonda Jackson Garcia, AKA RJ Joseph, is a Stoker Award™ and Shirley Jackson Award nominated, Texas based academic and creative writer/professor whose writing regularly focuses on the intersections of gender and race in the horror and romance genres and popular culture. She has... Read More →

John Opalenik

John Opalenik is an author and educator from Connecticut. He is the author of The Primeval series, The Blue Beneath the Mountain, and the short story collection Among the Willows & Other Strange Tales. He’s had numerous short stories published in anthologies, and zines. He lives... Read More →

Saturday June 14, 2025 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT
Aspen 2

Convention Event

10:00am EDT

What's So Scary About Video Games?

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

Aspen 2

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 →

Maria Alexander

Maria Alexander is a produced screenwriter, games writer, virtual world designer, award-winning copywriter, prolific fiction writer, and poet. Since 1999, her stories have appeared in acclaimed publications and anthologies.Her debut novel, Mr. Wicker, won the 2014 Bram Stoker Aw... Read More →

Richard Dansky

Narrative Director, Romero Games

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 →

Sunday June 15, 2025 10:00am - 10:45am EDT
Aspen 2

Convention Event

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

James Chambers

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

Maxwell Ian Gold

Executive Director, Horror Writers Association

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