StokerCon 2026: Full Schedule

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7:00am EDT

Boardroom

Friday June 5, 2026 7:00am - 10:00pm EDT

Crawford

The HWA Boardroom. HWA Officers, Trustees, and StokerCon volunteers only.

Friday June 5, 2026 7:00am - 10:00pm EDT
Crawford

Con Ops

8:00am EDT

Welcome To Librarians' Day!

Friday June 5, 2026 8:00am - 8:25am EDT

Pennsylvania Ballroom

Meet the Librarians’ Day team and fellow librarians from across the country while enjoying coffee and bites courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh Library System.

Moderators

Ben Rubin

Horror Studies Collection Coordinator; Co-Chair StokerCon Governing Committee, 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 the horror genre and serving as subject area expert for reference... Read More →

Becky Spratford

Readers' Advisory Specialist and Reviewer, RA for All

Emily Vinci

Librarian, Horror Reviewer

Friday June 5, 2026 8:00am - 8:25am EDT
Pennsylvania Ballroom

Librarians' Day

8:00am EDT

Registration

Friday June 5, 2026 8:00am - 6:00pm EDT

Third Floor Coat Check

Check-in for StokerCon 2026! Receive your name badge and your swag bag.

This is also a good place to find someone who can answer your questions about the Con.

Friday June 5, 2026 8:00am - 6:00pm EDT
Third Floor Coat Check

Con Ops

8:15am EDT

Panel A: Conspicuous Consumption

Friday June 5, 2026 8:15am - 9:30am EDT

Butler

"Cannibal Horror in Italy"
Spencer Stoller

"“Everything is for Sale”: Commensurability and the Horror of Capitalist Forms in Stephen King’s Needful Things"
Eric Otto

"Occult Wars in the Age of Aquarius: The Battle on the Bookshelf"
Katherine Kerestman

Speakers

Spencer Stoller

English major at Scripps College and aspiring writer.

Eric Otto

Professor and Chair, Department of Integrated Studies, Florida Gulf Coast University

Eric Otto is Professor of Environmental Humanities at Florida Gulf Coast University. He is the author of Green Speculations: Science Fiction and Transformative Environmentalism (2012) and is currently editing The Liverpool Handbook of Environmental Science Fiction. His work spans environmental humanities, science fiction, horror, and scenario-based humanities pedagogy... Read More →

Katherine Kerestman

Author & Independent Scholar

Katherine Kerestman is the author of Lethal (PsychoToxin Press, 2023), Creepy Cat's Macabre Travels: Prowling around Haunted Towers, Crumbling Castles, and Ghoulish Graveyards (WordCrafts Press, 2020), and Haunted House and Other Strange Tales (Hippocampus Press, 2024), and a... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 8:15am - 9:30am EDT
Butler

Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference

8:30am EDT

Brains! Brains! Brainstorming Ways to Engage Your Community

Friday June 5, 2026 8:30am - 9:20am EDT

Pennsylvania Ballroom

Join HWA Library Advisory Council members in small group discussions to meet some of your fellow librarians, share experiences, and gather ideas for how to engage your community with the horror community.

Moderators

Jocelyn Codner

Head of Library Instruction and Outreach, Chatham University

Carina Stopenski

Librarian | Author | Horror Scholar

Carina Stopenski (they/them) is a writer, scholar, and librarian born and bred in Pittsburgh, PA. They are an academic member of the HWA and currently serve on the Library Advisory Council and as co-chair of the Pittsburgh chapter. Carina is pursuing a PhD in Literature and Criticism... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 8:30am - 9:20am EDT
Pennsylvania Ballroom

Librarians' Day

9:00am EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 9:00am - 9:50am EDT

Armstrong

Speakers

Rachel Horak Dempsey

Author

Rachel Horak Dempsey is a writer of dark fiction living in Denver. Her debut novella, PN0K0, a retelling of Pinocchio with a terrifying techno twist, releases on June 9, 2026. Her short fiction is available or forthcoming from Creepy Pod, Brigids Gate Press, Timber Ghost Press, Twenty... Read More →

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.

Peter OKeefe

Peter O'Keefe is a writer and filmmaker, born and raised in Detroit, now living in Racine, Wisconsin. His first novel Counted With the Dead—a reimagining of Frankenstein set in late-90s Detroit—was released by Grendel Press in 2024. Peter's second novel White Flight was relea... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 9:00am - 9:50am EDT
Armstrong

Author Readings

9:00am EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 9:00am - 9:50am EDT

Lawrence

Speakers

Kenya Moss-Dyme

Author/Nightmare Vendor

As a child, I realized that my entertainment choices leaned more toward ghosts and goblins than princesses and fairy godmothers. My favorite authors were Stephen King and Jack Ketchum, as I wasn't aware of any BIack women - or Black men - who wrote horror, so I began writing short-form hor... Read More →

Erin Louis

Author, Winding Roads Stories

Erin is a former exotic dancer with a love of books, writing and humor. She spent twenty five years as a stripper on and off and started writing as a way to shed light on a misunderstood industry and profession. But also, to destigmatize and humanize those who choose to work in the... Read More →

Alex Gonzalez

Wrote "rekt" and "The Man of Wind and Moss" for Erewhon. Happy to be here! Cheeky pint, king?

Friday June 5, 2026 9:00am - 9:50am EDT
Lawrence

Author Readings

9:00am EDT

Adolescent Terrors: Writing Young Adult Horror

Friday June 5, 2026 9:00am - 9:50am EDT

Somerset

Teens have been a staple in the horror genre for its whole existence, but their role as victims vs heroes vs monsters themselves has evolved, creating a breadth of teen portrayals in horror. How do writers go about writing stories about young people? How do Young Adult horror novels differ from Adult horror novels looking back? Join panelists as they discuss the potential of YA horror, its growth over recent years, and more.

Moderators

Ann Fraistat

Author

Ann Fraistat is an author, playwright, and narrative designer. Her debut novel, What We Harvest, is a 2022 Bram Stoker finalist, a 2026 HWA Summer Scares selection, and an ABA Indies Introduce and Kids' Indie Next Pick. A Place For Vanishing, her second book, is a 2024 Bram Stok... Read More →

Speakers

Rebekah Faubion

Rebekah Faubion is a queer author and screenwriter living in Los Angeles. Her books include the YA dark speculative thriller Lost Girls of Hollow Lake out now from Delacorte Press, sapphic rom-coms The Lovers and The Sun and the Moon, and her adult horror debut What a Nightmare, releasing... Read More →

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 s... Read More →

Robert Ottone

Robert P. Ottone is a two-time Bram Stoker Award winning author from Long Island. He is the author of the novels AMITYVILLE AWAKENS, THE VILE THING WE CREATED, THE TRIANGLE, THERE'S SOMETHING SINISTER IN CENTERFIELD and the collections TEAR ME OPEN: FEARS UNWRAPPED and HER INFERNAL... Read More →

Diana Rodriguez Wallach

Young Adult Author

Diana Rodriguez Wallach is a multi-published author of young adult novels, most recently YA horror novels. Her next book, THE SILENCED, described as Girl Interrupted meets Poltergeist, comes out in September 2025 through Random House/Delacorte. In October 2023, she released HATCHET GIRLS, a modern twist on the legend of Lizzie Borden, and in 2021, she published SMALL TOWN MONSTERS, named one of the “13 Scariest Books of 2021” by Kirkus Reviews (both through... Read More →

Carlyn Greenwald

Author

Carlyn Greenwald a YA and Adult horror and thriller author and screenwriter of YA horror-thriller MURDER LAND, which was featured in Forbes, Daily Dead, and Goodreads’ Biggest Summer Thrillers. Her upcoming works include YA horror-thriller WHAT HAPPENED TO THOSE GIRLS and Adult... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 9:00am - 9:50am EDT
Somerset

Horror Genre and Media

9:00am EDT

Are We Rehearsing for the Fall of Civilization?

Friday June 5, 2026 9:00am - 9:50am EDT

Cambria

Why do we see so much post-apocalypse writing, cinema, television now? Why are these stories so popular? Are we unconsciously rehearsing for apocalypse? What do the many visions of the fall of civilization mean to you? This panel will discuss the current state of apocalyptic and dystopian fiction, its place in the horror genre, and what insights it provides into contemporary society.

Moderators

Tim Waggoner

Tim Waggoner’s first novel came out in 2001, and since then he’s published over sixty novels and eight collections of short stories. He writes original dark fantasy and horror, as well as media tie-ins. He’s written tie-in fiction based on Supernatural, Conan the Barbarian... Read More →

Speakers

Ai Jiang

Ai Jiang is a Chinese-Canadian writer, Ignyte, Bram Stoker, and Nebula Award winner, and Hugo, Astounding, Locus, Aurora, and BFSA Award finalist from Changle, Fujian currently residing in Toronto, Ontario. Her work can be found in F&SF, The Dark, The Masters Review, among others... Read More →

CJ Leede

CJ Leede is a rescue dog mom, hiker, Trekkie, and author of USA-Today bestselling novels Maeve Fly and American Rapture. Her debut novel, Maeve Fly, won the Splatterpunk Award, the Golden Poppy Octavia E. Butler Award, and earned a Bram Stoker Award nomination. CJ's third book, Headlights... Read More →

Norman Prentiss

Keith Rosson

Keith Rosson is the author of the novels The Devil by Name, Fever House, Smoke City, Road Seven, and The Mercy of the Tide, as well as the Shirley Jackson Award–winning story collection Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his partner and their two children. More can be found at keithrosson.com... Read More →

John Shirley

Decades of experience in horror, television, science fiction,thriller writing, movie scripting. Strong opinions on AI, the future of our civilization, esoteric spirituality. Weird poetry.The book I won the Bram Stoker for: Black Butterflies. My new horror novel (written with Ma... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 9:00am - 9:50am EDT
Cambria

Horror Genre and Media

9:00am EDT

Out of the Shadows: the Evolution of Horror into Everyday Life

Friday June 5, 2026 9:00am - 9:50am EDT

Westmoreland

In the 20th century, horror moved out of the realm of antiquarians, mad scientists, old dark houses, and forgotten villages–and into the modern world! Richard Matheson pioneered the idea of the common man as a horror protagonist in I Am Legend and The Shrinking Man and decades later, Stephen King made the everyman central to the genre with characters such as Carrie White, Jack Torrance, Johnny Smith, Stu Redman, and others living ordinary lives invaded by horrors they never sought or contemplated. Ira Levin wrote about an ordinary young couple starting out in New York City in Rosemary’s Baby, and Joyce Carol Oates wrote about teenage murderer, Richard Everett, in Expensive People. What made this brand of horror so popular. How has it influenced the genre? Did it hold it back creatively or help expand interest to general readers?

Moderators

Tom Deady

Speakers

Nat Cassidy

Nat Cassidy is a bestselling and Bram Stoker Award-nominated author whose acclaimed works include Mary ("One of the Best Horror Novels of All Time" - Audible), Nestlings, and Rest Stop. Esquire described him as one "of the best horror writers of this generation" and among the writers "shaping horror's next golden age." His award-winning plays have been produced across the country, including Off-Broadway and the Kennedy Center. You've also maybe seen Nat guest-starring... Read More →

Gillian Daniels

Gillian Daniels' poetry and short fiction have appeared in Nightmare Magazine, Strange Horizons, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies, among more than thirty other publications. She was born in Des Moines, Iowa, grew up in Greater Cleveland, Ohio, and she now writes, works, and haunts the... Read More →

Sephera Giron

Writer/Screenwriter/HWA Trustee

John G. Hartness

Author, Podcaster, Editor, Publisher, Billionaire, Philanthropist, Playboy, Falstaff Books

John G. Hartness is a teller of tales, a righter of wrong, defender of ladies’ virtues, and some people call him Maurice, for he speaks of the pompatus of love. He is also the award-winning author of the urban fantasy series The Black Knight Chronicles, the Bubba the Monster Hunter... Read More →

Kevin Lucia

Kevin Lucia’s short fiction has been published in many venues, most notably with Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, David Morell, Peter Straub, Bentley Little, and Robert McCammon. His first novel, The Horror at Pleasant Brook, was released from Crystal Lake Publishing, October 2023... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 9:00am - 9:50am EDT
Westmoreland

Horror History

9:00am EDT

HU: Understanding Tone and Word Placement in Poetry

Friday June 5, 2026 9:00am - 10:50am EDT

Washington

As a poet, words are like gold. With so many lines, or so few, a poet must understand the weight each word has on every line. The goal of this workshop is to examine word choice, tone, and rhythm by looking at both classic and modern examples from Milton to Shelley to Lovecraft to Ginsberg.

This is a separately ticketed workshop. For more information on Horror University and registration information see: https://www.stokercon.com/horror-university

Speakers

Maxwell I Gold

Author, Poet, and Executive Director of the Horror Writers Association, Horror Writers Association

Maxwell I. Gold is a Jewish-American author and poet with an extensive body of work comprising over 350 poems and nine poetry collections since 2017. His work has appeared in numerous literary journals, magazines, and anthologies. Maxwell’s work has earned nominations for two Bram... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 9:00am - 10:50am EDT
Washington

Horror University

9:30am EDT

How to Feature Horror at Your Library

Friday June 5, 2026 9:30am - 10:20am EDT

Pennsylvania Ballroom

Hear librarians from across the country share their experiences featuring horror at their libraries, from book discussions to writing groups to author events and more.

Moderators

Corey Farrenkopf

Staff Librarian / Writer, Eastham Public Library

Speakers

Perla X. Caballero

The Noir Pearl-Book Club Host, Seattle Horror Book Club

HWA Seattle Chapter Member. Host and Curator of The Seattle Horror Book Club, Undertaker of the Morbidly Curious Book Club, West Seattle Chapter.

Kate Federiconi

Library Manager, Roosevelt Island Branch, New York Public Library

Kate Federiconi is a Branch Manager at the New York Public Library and a seasoned leader in nonprofit development and library services. Throughout her career, including roles in the New York State Archives and the Saratoga Springs Public Library, Kate has focused on fostering information... Read More →

Matt McCleland

Senior Librarian, Prince William County

Hi, my name is Matt and I am a public librarian from Northern VA. I enjoy reading scary books, watching scary movies, and playing (and streaming) scary video games. Join my scary book club!

Trevor Oakley

Head of Access and Outreach Services, Saratoga Springs Public Library

Horror in libraries, including/featuring horror in book festivals/community reads, horror RA, horror programming

Marguerite Turley

Bookseller, Lahaska/Doylestown Bookshop

I’m a bookseller in Bucks County Pa and the horror section is all mine! I love horror more than any other genre. I also love to go outside and take nature photos, it’s my other passion!

Friday June 5, 2026 9:30am - 10:20am EDT
Pennsylvania Ballroom

Librarians' Day

9:45am EDT

Panel B: "Strangely are Our Souls Constructed": On Frankenstein

Friday June 5, 2026 9:45am - 11:00am EDT

Butler

“Creation, Grief, Ambition, and the Divine in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818)”
Cynthia Pelayo

"Created by Misogyny: The Bride Archetype in James Whale’s The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)"
Stephanie Wytovich

"“I Am Fearless and Therefore Powerful”: Bisexuality, Belonging, and Reanimated Revenge in Frankenstein"
Gwendolyn Kiste

"Frankenstein and his Creature: Narcissism's Tragic Consequences"
George Hagman

Speakers

Cynthia Pelayo

Cynthia Pelayo is an International Latino Book Award winning poet and author.

She is the author of Loteria, Santa Muerte, The Missing, Poems of My Night, Into the Forest and All the Way Through, Children of Chicago, Crime Scene, The Shoemaker’s Magician, as well as dozens of sta... Read More →

Stephanie M. Wytovich

Stephanie M. Wytovich is an American poet, novelist, and essayist. Her work has been featured in magazines and anthologies, such as Weird Tales, Nightmare Magazine, Southwest Review, Year's Best Hardcore Horror: Volume 2, and The Best Horror of the Year: Volumes 8 & 15.

Wytovich is the Poetry Editor for Raw Dog Screaming Press and an adjunct at Western Connecticut State University, Southern New Hampshire University, and Point Park University. She has received the Elizabeth Matchett Stover Memorial Award, the 2021 Ladies of Horror Fiction Writers... Read More →

Gwendolyn Kiste

Gwendolyn Kiste is the four-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 American Science Fiction and Fantasy, CrimeReads, Titan Books, The Lineup, and The Dark. She's a Lambda Literary Award winner, and her fiction has also received the This Is Horror Award... Read More →

George Hagman

Friday June 5, 2026 9:45am - 11:00am EDT
Butler

Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference

10:00am EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am EDT

Fayette

Speakers

Scott Edelman

Author

SCOTT EDELMAN has published 135+ 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 →

John Kachuba

Author

Shapeshifters! Ghosts! Middle Grade horror! Author of 15 books, including the historical fantasy trilogy, “The Bottle Conjuror,” and the middle/grade novel, “Haycorn Smith and the Castle Ghost.”Several of my nonfiction books are about ghosts and the paranormal and I am a... Read More →

Jo Kaplan

Author, HWA LA co-chair

Jo Kaplan is a Shirley Jackson Award nominated author whose work has been described as “immersive, chilling, and compelling” by Library Journal and “delightfully creepy” by Booklist. She is the author of It Will Just Be Us, When the Night Bells Ring, and The Midnight Muse... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am EDT
Fayette

Author Readings

10:00am EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am EDT

Armstrong

Speakers

Ann Fraistat

Author

Russ Colchamiro

Craig Brownlie

Friday June 5, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am EDT
Armstrong

Author Readings

10:00am EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am EDT

Lawrence

Speakers

Jay Bechtol

The Alaskan Delegation

Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Clare Castleberry

Clare Castleberry is an author, artist, and narrator from Louisiana. For updates, follow https://femmebionic.substack.com/

barbara barnett

Author/Editor

Barbara Barnett is the author of The Apothecary's Curse and Alchemy of Glass, both published by Pyr Books. The Apothecary's Curse was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award (2017). She is also the author of Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House M.D., published in five langua... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am EDT
Lawrence

Author Readings

10:00am EDT

Better the Devil You Know: A Panel on the Value of Queer Villians

Friday June 5, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am EDT

Somerset

The Bury Your Gays trope is a great example of how the queer community has been used to advance a plot while being punished for who they are, even when their actions are heroic. Often we feel forced to only represent our queer characters as tokenized heroes. So why not claim our birthright to become a villain? This panel explores why queer creators should present both positive and negative representations of queer characters in horror.

Moderators

Andrew Robertson

Founder, Great Lakes Horror Company

Speakers

Sephera Giron

Writer/Screenwriter/HWA Trustee

Jonathan Lees

Event Director: Final Frame Film Competition

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.
He has recently produced arcane texts such as "We Have (Never) Been Here Before" in The Rack (Vol. II) and “To What Do We Owe This Pleasure” from the Bram Stoker Award nominated, Long Division: Stories of Social Decay, Societal Collapse and Bad Manners. Other stories in print... Read More →

Emma Murray

Author of Crushing Snails, When the Devil, and Shoot Me in the Face on a Beautiful Day

Hailey Piper

Hailey Piper is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth, A Game in Yellow, A Light Most Hateful, Teenage Girls Can Be Demons, The Worm and His Kings, and other books of horror. She is also the author of over 120 short stories appearing in Weird Tales, Pseudopod... Read More →

James Tynion IV

CEO & Founder, Tiny Onion, Inc.

James Tynion IV started his career at DC Comics, spending 10 years honing his craft on Batman comics before breaking out on his own creating the most celebrated, bestselling horror comics of the last decade, which have earned him five Eisner Awards -- The most prestigious award in... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am EDT
Somerset

Horror Genre and Media

10:00am EDT

Nevertheless We Persist: Resilient Souls Share Their Journeys

Friday June 5, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am EDT

Westmoreland

Writers with lived experience and who face mental health challenges, yet continue to write, will share their journey. How do these challenges present themselves? How do writers deal with these challenges while typically playing multiple other roles (parents, caregivers, employees) yet persist to write and publish and stay engaged with the Horror Writing community? In a supportive, non-stigmatizing environment, panelists will discuss these experiences, and how it expresses itself in their horror fiction. Is horror fiction itself a coping skill? Walk for a mile in their shoes and discuss how horror and hope intersect in facing mental health symptoms with courage and resilience.

This panel is part of the HWA Mental Health Initiative.

Moderators

Lauren Elise (L. E.) Daniels

Author/Editor, HWA Mental Health Initiative Co-Chair, Brisbane Writers Workshop

Speakers

Douglas Gwilym

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

Douglas Gwilym has written a rock opera or two. He's also edited five anthologies of speculative fiction, including NOVUS MONSTRUM with Ken MacGregor, which features Jonathan Maberry, Gwendolyn Kiste, Ramsey Campbell, and other amazing authors, and Triangulation: Harmony & Dissonance... Read More →

Carina Bissett

The Storied Imaginarium

Geneve Flynn

Author, editor, poet. HWA Diverse Works Inclusion Committee

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 →

Tim Waggoner

Friday June 5, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am EDT
Westmoreland

HWA Spotlight

about <br>

10:00am EDT

Pitch Session Panel

Friday June 5, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am EDT

Cambria

Meet the Pitch Session Pitch Takers as they discuss what they are looking for in pitches, what to do during a pitch, and what not to do. The panel will include time for Q&A from the audience. You do not have to be scheduled for a pitch to attend this panel. If you are thinking of pitching a work in the future, you are encourage to attend this panel and learn about the process.

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

Lauren Bajek

Literary agent, Liza Dawson Associates

Literary agent at Liza Dawson Associates

Daniel Carpenter

Commissioning Editor, Titan Books

Horror commissioning editor at Titan Books, author of Hunting by the River (Black Shuck Books, 2024)

Rachel Gilmer

Editor, Sourcebooks, Poisoned Pen Press

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

Becky LeJeune

Literary Agent, Confluence Literary Agency

John G. Hartness

Author, Podcaster, Editor, Publisher, Billionaire, Philanthropist, Playboy, Falstaff Books

Arley Sorg

associate literary agent, senior editor, kt literary agency, Locus Magazine

Christoph Paul

CLASH Books

Theresa Glover

Associate Publisher, editor and author, Falstaff Books

Author of the Caitlin Kelley Monster Hunter series, a founding partner of Authors Essentials and an editor and convention coordinator for Falstaff Books.

www.falstaffbooks.com

Looking for novel-length work in horror, dark fantasy, dark romantasy, fantasy, science fiction, or mystery. Not looking for short story collections or anthology pitches, and we prefer books at least 75K in length. No splatter punk or extreme horror, no erotica or erotic horror, no... Read More →

Cherry Weiner

Born and raised in Australia. Came to American when I married a Brooklyn boy. I worked for one of the biggest Literary Agents in NY until he fired me and then his clients took two years to convince me to open my own agency by sending me authors and their manuscripts. I handle all... Read More →

Emma Cole

Editor; Author, MIRA Books

Editor at MIRA Books. Writer of Love Never Dies: Romance in Horror Movies.

R. B. Wood

CEO/Editor-in-Chief, Ruadán Books

Ruadán Books editors seek unpublished, original speculative fiction stories, dark thriller narratives, and genre-bending tales that explore the darkness within us. We expect deeply flawed characters, sweeping settings, and gritty detective work.

We would love to speak to you abou... Read More →

Alec Shane

Agent, Writers House

Alexandra Murphy

Editor, Page Street Publishing

Alexandra Murphy is an editor at Page Street Publishing where she works on nonfiction and adult horror. Her first acquired title, 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered, won the Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement in Long Nonfiction. She is currently leading her... Read More →

Rena Mason

Sarah Read

Friday June 5, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am EDT
Cambria

HWA Spotlight

10:00am EDT

Dealers Room

Friday June 5, 2026 10:00am - 7:00pm EDT

Allegheny Ballroom I

Friday June 5, 2026 10:00am - 7:00pm EDT
Allegheny Ballroom I

Dealers Room

10:30am EDT

Buzzing About Horror Books

Friday June 5, 2026 10:30am - 11:20am EDT

Pennsylvania Ballroom

Join librarians and book reviewers as they share the buzz about a slew of exciting new and upcoming horror titles. Come for the book talks; stay for the free books and swag!

Moderators

Emily Vinci

Librarian, Horror Reviewer

Speakers

Anna Dupre

Stephanie Gagnon

Host, Books in the Freezer Podcast

Emily Hughes

Author, critic, listmaker, Darker Times

Lauren Komer

Co-Owner, The Twisted Spine

Allison Nellis

Friday June 5, 2026 10:30am - 11:20am EDT
Pennsylvania Ballroom

Librarians' Day

11:00am EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 11:00am - 11:50am EDT

Armstrong

Speakers

Hildy Silverman

Author and editor. Former publisher and Space and Time Magazine.

Ann Dávila Cardinal

Author

Ann Dávila Cardinal is a Nuyorican poly-genre author. Her young adult horror novels include Five Midnights (winner of an International Latino Book Award and a Bram Stoker finalist), Category Five, Breakup from Hell, and You’ve Awoken Her. Ann lives in a little house in Vermon... Read More →

Shane Hawk

Writer-Editor, PRH-Counterpoint

Shane Hawk is a horror writer, editor, and creator of the Native Horror Index. He serves as a contributing editor at Counterpoint Press, where he exclusively acquires and edits works by Indigenous North American writers. His writing career began in 2020 with the release of his short... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 11:00am - 11:50am EDT
Armstrong

Author Readings

11:00am EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 11:00am - 11:50am EDT

Lawrence

Speakers

Victoria Dalpe

Victoria Dalpe is a Providence-based horror writer and painter. To date, her short fiction has appeared in over sixty anthologies. She has put out the collection Les Femmes Grotesques and the horror fantasy trilogy Selene Shade: Resurrectionist for Hire with CLASH Books. Book 2 Selene... Read More →

C.S. Humble

Diane Sismour

Producer/Screenwriter/Author, Author / Screenwriter

Diane Sismour keeps her fans up at night with grounded horror, thrillers, and psychological suspense. Her characters and audiences never know what perils await them or the predicaments they must resolve. She’s a member of national and local writing and screenplay groups.

Her scr... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 11:00am - 11:50am EDT
Lawrence

Author Readings

11:00am EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 11:00am - 11:50am EDT

Fayette

Speakers

Tom Deady

Meg Ripley

Writer of horror and dark fantasy, designer, and drawer. Her debut novel, NECROLOGY, (Book #1 of the Dirty) is a Foreword INDIES Bronze Medalist in Fantasy (2024).

Book 2 of the Dirty, WOODFEAST, due Fall 2026, Creature Publishing.

Grace Daly

Author

Grace Daly (she/her) is a disabled author with multiple invisible chronic illnesses. She lives near Chicago and spends most of her free time with her dog, who is a very good boy. Her debut horror comedy novel, “The Scald-Crow”, is currently available and her fantasy novella, “The... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 11:00am - 11:50am EDT
Fayette

Author Readings

11:00am EDT

Bloodsplatters: Art, Storytelling, and Horror

Friday June 5, 2026 11:00am - 11:50am EDT

Somerset

It’s more important than ever to support visual art made by humans. Join artists, book designers, cover artists and other creators in horror to learn more about their process and inspiration, and also to discuss actionable ways to continue the support of art created by people.

Moderators

Chris Panatier

Writer

Speakers

Grey Cross

Lynne Hansen

Artist, Lynne Hansen Art

Lynne Hansen is a horror artist who specializes in book covers. She loves creating art that tells a story and that helps connect publishers, authors and readers. Her art has appeared on the cover of the legendary Weird Tales Magazine, and she was selected by Bram Stoker’s great-grandnephew... Read More →

Christi Nogle

Author of BEULAH and three short fiction collections

Christi Nogle is the author of the Bram Stoker Award® winning and Shirley Jackson Award nominated novel Beulah (Cemetery Gates Media, 2022) and the Bram Stoker Award® nominated short story collection The Best of Our Past, the Worst of Our Future.

She is co-editor with Willow Daw... Read More →

May Walker

Hazel Zorn

REEF MIND is out now from Tenebrous Press! Short work in Cosmic Horror Monthly, Dark Matter INK. Horror writer/ oil painter.

Friday June 5, 2026 11:00am - 11:50am EDT
Somerset

Business and Craft of Writing and Publishing

11:00am EDT

Working with Big 5 Publishers

Friday June 5, 2026 11:00am - 11:50am EDT

Cambria

Is it everything it's cracked up to be, and how do you know if it's the route you want to go? What realistic expectations and highlights do Big 5 authors have to share, and what can new and established indie writers learn from them?

Moderators

Jessi Ann York

Debut Author with Macmillan

Jessi Ann York’s debut novel, TALONS AND NIGHTSHADE, is forthcoming Fall 2027 from Wednesday Books, an imprint of Macmillan. Her first two published short stories, “Phases of the Shadow” and “Women of the Mere,” were mentioned as standouts in the Summation section of The... Read More →

Speakers

ROYCE BUCKINGHAM

Author--Penguin/Random House (Blanvalet)

Royce is an author of 14 novels with Penguin/Random House (Blanvalet) in Germany and with Putnam's and St. Martin's Press in North America. He is a member of the HWA and WGAw. Royce grew up with Stephen King and D&D and has been publishing horror and fantasy as a grown-up since 2006... Read More →

Andy Davidson

Andy Davidson is the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of In the Valley of the Sun, The Boatman's Daughter, and The Hollow Kind. His novels have been listed among NPR's Best Books, the New York Public Library's Best Adult Books of the Year, and Esquire’s Best Horror of the Year. His short stories have appeared online and in print journals, as well as numerous anthologies. Born and raised in Arkansas, Andy makes his home in Georgia, where he teaches creative writing at Middle Georgia State University. He lives with his wife, Crys... Read More →

Luke Dumas

Author

Luke Dumas is the USA TODAY bestselling author of Nothing Tastes as Good, The Paleontologist, and A History of Fear. He is the winner of an ITW Thriller Award and his work has been optioned for film and TV. His debut middle grade horror novel, The Sweet Revenge of Bertrand Berry, is forthcoming from Random House Children's in fall 2027. Luke was born and raised in San Diego, California, where he works for a biomedical research institute... Read More →

Philip Fracassi

Philip Fracassi is the Bram Stoker and British Fantasy Award-nominated author of the novels A Child Alone with Strangers, Gothic, Boys in the Valley, and The Third Rule of Time Travel, as well as the award-winning story collections Behold the Void, Beneath a Pale Sky, and No O... Read More →

Jennifer McMahon

Author

Jennifer McMahon is the author of My Darling Girl and twelve other novels, including the New York Times bestsellers Promise Not to Tell and The Winter People. She lives in Florida with her partner, Drea. Visit her at jennifer-mcmahon.com or connect with her on Instagram @jennifer... Read More →

Mar Romasco-Moore

Author of queer YA multimedia horror novel Deadstream (VIking, 2025) and several other books.

Friday June 5, 2026 11:00am - 11:50am EDT
Cambria

Business and Craft of Writing and Publishing

11:00am EDT

Guest of Honor Spotlight: Speculative Musings: the influence of Linda D. Addison

Friday June 5, 2026 11:00am - 11:50am EDT

Westmoreland

Guest of Honor Linda D. Addison is one of the most esteemed (and beloved) speculative poets of our time. Join Linda and fellow panelists as we honor her influence, share advice about working collaboratively on projects, discuss the growth of dark poetry, and reflect on the importance of community within horror.

Moderators

Sara Tantlinger

Sara Tantlinger is the author of the Bram Stoker Award-winning The Devil’s Dreamland: Poetry Inspired by H.H. Holmes, as well as other works like To Be Devoured, Cradleland of Parasites, and her recent fiction collection, Cyanide Constellations. She embraces all things macab... Read More →

Speakers

Linda Addison

Trustee, Horror Writers Association

Maxwell I Gold

Author, Poet, and Executive Director of the Horror Writers Association, Horror Writers Association

Jamal Hodge

Founder, Hodge Cinema

Jamal Hodge is a 2x Bram Stoker Award-nominated writer and an award-winning director. He has directed for Investigation Discovery’s Primal Instinct and PBS’s Southern Storytellers, while producing credits include the Academy Award–nominated documentary Armed Only With a Camera... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 11:00am - 11:50am EDT
Westmoreland

Guest of Honor/Lifetime Achievement Winner Spotlight

11:00am EDT

HU: The Human Touch: Outwriting AI

Friday June 5, 2026 11:00am - 12:50pm EDT

Washington

This workshop will present techniques to take your horror writing to a higher level, so readers choose your stories over those “written” by AI. Topics covered include recognizing and avoiding horror clichés, reworking familiar tropes, mining everyday life for ideas, writing with a deep point of view, and developing a distinctive writer’s voice.

This is a separately ticketed workshop. For more information on Horror University and registration information see: https://www.stokercon.com/horror-university

Speakers

Tim Waggoner

Friday June 5, 2026 11:00am - 12:50pm EDT
Washington

Horror University

12:00pm EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 12:00pm - 12:50pm EDT

Fayette

Speakers

Erika T. Wurth

Writer/Professor, Flatiron/Macmillan

Erika T. Wurth is the author of WHITE HORSE and THE HAUNTING OF ROOM 904. She's a New York Times editors pick, a Good Morning America buzz pick, and an Indie Next, Target book of the Month, and BOTM Pick. She’s both a Kenyon and Sewanee fellow, has published in The Kenyon Revi... Read More →

Chloe Spencer

Minnesota native Chloe Spencer is an award winning writer, indie gamedev, and filmmaker. She is the author of multiple sapphic horror novellas, novels, and short stories. In her spare time she enjoys playing video games, trying her best at Pilates, and cuddling with her cats. She... Read More →

Jamal Hodge

Founder, Hodge Cinema

Friday June 5, 2026 12:00pm - 12:50pm EDT
Fayette

Author Readings

12:00pm EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 12:00pm - 12:50pm EDT

Armstrong

Speakers

Stephanie M. Wytovich

Cynthia Pelayo

Francesca Maria

SF Bay Area HWA Co-Chair, Black Cat Publishing

Francesca Maria writes dark fiction surrounded by cats near the Pacific Ocean. She is the award-winning, bestselling author of They Hide: Short Stories to Tell in the Dark from Brigids Gate Press, the co-editor of Black Cat Tales: An Anthology of Black Cats which debuted as a... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 12:00pm - 12:50pm EDT
Armstrong

Author Readings

12:00pm EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 12:00pm - 12:50pm EDT

Lawrence

Speakers

Tommy B. Smith

Tommy B. Smith is a writer of horror and dark fiction whose works meander through the darker spaces of the psychological and the cosmic. A two-time Imadjinn Award-winning author and 2023 nominee for the Michael Knost Wings Award, he has been featured in numerous publications to span... Read More →

Darius Jones

Darius Jones’s stories and poems have appeared in Strange Horizons, The No Sleep Podcast, Space and Time Magazine, and Star*Line Magazine. His first book, The Books of Hours, a collection of 24 Dark Cosmic poems, was published in 2025.

Darius is a member of the HWA, the SFWA, t... Read More →

CJ Dotson

Author

C. J. Dotson possesses the statistically average number of body parts for a human being to have. She and her husband, stepson, and children (all of whom also appear human) share a cabin in the woods with more bugs than she would ever like to see. She is the author of THE CUT (4/8/25... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 12:00pm - 12:50pm EDT
Lawrence

Author Readings

12:00pm EDT

Publishing and Promoting on a Shoestring Budget

Friday June 5, 2026 12:00pm - 12:50pm EDT

Somerset

Indie presses have gotten slammed the last few years as funding for arts has been pulled in all directions, but we're a scrappy bunch and where there is a will, there is a way. Join panelists as they discuss what resources authors and publishers use to market, publish, promote, and more without a large marketing budget. Together, they’ll suggest strategies, actions, and practical tips to keep costs low and how to create more buzz to reach readers.

Moderators

LC Allingham

Author / Editor / Artist / Publisher, Speculation Publications

LCW Allingham is an award-winning author, artist, and editor. Her publications include her novel, LADY, and novella MUSE, as well as short fiction. She is the co-founder and executive editor of the indie press, Speculation Publications, a member of the Historical Novel Society and... Read More →

Speakers

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 →

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 →

Ananda Lima

Author

Ananda Lima is the author of the linked short story collection Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil (Tor Books, 2024) and the poetry collection Mother/land (Black Lawrence Press, 2021), winner of the Hudson Prize. Her work has appeared in American Poetry Review, Poets.org, Ke... Read More →

Stephanie Sanders-Jacob

Author

Stephanie Sanders-Jacob writes horror and weird fiction. Her books include Pyramidia, Dropshipped, Hearsepower, and Singing All the Way Up. She loves murderous and mystical cowboys, satirical stories, and Furbys. She is the editor-in-chief of Squirm Books, the YA imprint of Slashic Horror Press... Read More →

Danielle Ackley-McPhail

Author, Editor, Publisher, eSpec Books

Award-winning author, editor, and publisher Danielle Ackley-McPhail has worked in publishing for over thirty-five years, been a published author for twenty-five years, and a publisher for eleven years. She is also a book and cover designer, having worked on hundreds of books in... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 12:00pm - 12:50pm EDT
Somerset

Business and Craft of Writing and Publishing

12:00pm EDT

Female Asian Gothic: Fury and Metamorphosis

Friday June 5, 2026 12:00pm - 12:50pm EDT

Westmoreland

Every Gothic fiction wave reflects the anxieties of its time and its cohort. What fears, furies, and transformations have emerged in the recent groundswell of Asian female horror? Join authors and editors as they discuss the influences that have shaped their works, how the female Asian Gothic converges and diverges from other Gothic literature, share recommendations, and explore what’s next.

Moderators

Geneve Flynn

Author, editor, poet. HWA Diverse Works Inclusion Committee

Speakers

Kylie Lee Baker

Ai Jiang

Kristy Park Kulski

Kristy Park Kulski is a Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson Award nominated, Korean-American author and editor. Her work includes Silk & Sinew: A Collection of Folk Horror from the Asian Diaspora, the novel Fairest Flesh, and novella House of Pungsu. Born in Honolulu, she now lives in... Read More →

Rena Mason

Friday June 5, 2026 12:00pm - 12:50pm EDT
Westmoreland

Horror Genre and Media

12:30pm EDT

Panel C: "Hell with the Lid Taken Off": Steeltown and the USA

Friday June 5, 2026 12:30pm - 1:45pm EDT

Butler

"Pittsburgh as Embodiment of Zombie Culture in Four Snapshots"
Kevin Wetmore

"Female Representation in the Living Dead Films of George A. Romero"
Victoria Timpanaro

"George A. Romero's Martin and Mental Health in Postindustrial Communities"
Ande Thomas

"Nihilism, Gun Violence, and The Long Walk (2025)"
Emma Johnson-Rivard

Speakers

Kevin Wetmore, Jr.

Volunteer Coordinator, HWA LA

Victoria Timpanaro

Graduate Student/Educator/Film Scholar, Rutgers University

Educator and film scholar. PhD candidate with focus on women in genre film.

Ande Thomas

Editor in Chief, What Sleeps Beneath

Ande Thomas is a founding member and Editor in Chief of What Sleeps Beneath, an online zine that explores horror in all its forms. He is a member of the HWA and the Society For Cinema and Media Studies. He is also co-sponsor of Poetry After Dark, a monthly series that features screenings... Read More →

Emma Johnson-Rivard

Friday June 5, 2026 12:30pm - 1:45pm EDT
Butler

Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference

1:00pm EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT

Fayette

Speakers

Rebecca Cuthbert

Writer, Undertaker Books

Stephanie Feldman

Stephanie Feldman is the author of the novels Saturnalia and The Angel of Losses, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, winner of the Crawford Fantasy Award, and finalist for the Mythopoeic Award. She is co-editor of the multi-genre anthology Who Will Speak f... Read More →

Ai Jiang

Friday June 5, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT
Fayette

Author Readings

1:00pm EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT

Armstrong

Speakers

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 →

Christi Nogle

Author of BEULAH and three short fiction collections

Chelsea Conradt

Chelsea Conradt is the USA Today bestselling author of The Farmhouse and The Secret Attic. She writes twisty speculative thrillers and psychological horror. Her short fiction has been featured in The Sunday Morning Transport and the Fractured Reveries anthology. Her stories 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. She is nothing if not on brand. Chelsea lives in... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT
Armstrong

Author Readings

1:00pm EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT

Lawrence

Speakers

Sarah Langan

Sarah Langan is the three-time Bram Stoker Award Winning author of the novels Trad Wife (2026) A Better World (2024), Good Neighbors (2021), Audrey's Door (2009), The Missing (2007), and The Keeper (2006). She works in prose and film and lives in Los Angeles.

Mikayla Randolph

writer

Mikayla Randolph (she/her) is the author of Not Your Final Girl. Her short fiction has been published in The Chamber Magazine, Watershed Review, and Coffin Bell. She lives in Monterey, California with her husband, two dogs, and an overwhelming pile of books to be read.

... Read More →

Diana Rodriguez Wallach

Young Adult Author

Friday June 5, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT
Lawrence

Author Readings

1:00pm EDT

Hooked on Horror (Again): Middle Grade Books

Friday June 5, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT

Cambria

Horror has long captivated young readers, from those first spine-chilling stories around campfires to stories read with flashlights under the covers. Panelists will discuss their experiences with horror as young readers, how they craft engaging yet age-appropriate stories, and the unique challenges of writing for children. Topics will include what’s “too scary,” representation, and navigating sensitive issues like book bans and censorship in YA and Middle Grade literature.

Moderators

Sarah Faxon

Speakers

Meghan Arcuri

Ann Dávila Cardinal

Author

S. Alessandro Martinez

Author

S. Alessandro Martinez is a Bram Stoker Award® -nominated author of Mexican and Spanish descent who writes horror and fantasy from middle grade to adult. He lives in a haunted manor and loves playing video/board games, practicing necromancy, watching bat videos, collecting skulls... Read More →

Kathleen Palm

Ally Russell

Ally Russell is the USA TODAY bestselling author of It Came from the Trees, the Mystery James series, Down Came the Spiders, and Wednesday Book of Outcasts. She grew up on a steady diet of Halloween parties, horror films, Unsolved Mysteries, and Goosebumps books. She has always loved scary stories, and got her MFA from Simmons University and, eventually, a job working in children’s publishing. She hails from Pittsburgh—ground zero for the zombie apocalypse. Ally lives with her husband and her two black cats, Nox... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT
Cambria

Business and Craft of Writing and Publishing

1:00pm EDT

Sell Your Books! Tips and Tricks for Hand-Selling Books

Friday June 5, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT

Somerset

Authors are stereotypically quiet and insular people, working alone most of the time. How can an author best shift focus to meet people at signings, conventions, and events, and more importantly, sell their books? This panel will give authors a solid foundation on tactics and strategies on picking events to sell at, the nuts and bolts of pitching your books to strangers, and pitfalls to avoid for the experienced and inexperienced alike.

Moderators

Joshua Ginsberg

Author

Speakers

Russ Colchamiro

Robbie Dorman

Author and podcaster

Kelly Lonesome

Executive Editor, Tor Nightfire

I am a Hugo Award nominated editor of novels and novellas. I joined Tor Publishing Group in 2019, and I have had the privilege of working with terrifyingly talented authors for our Nightfire imprint. I acquire adult fiction across TPG and while I am always searching for unique stories... Read More →

Kenya Moss-Dyme

Author/Nightmare Vendor

Sonora Taylor

Author

Sonora Taylor (she/her) is the award-winning author of several books and short stories. Her books include Someone to Share My Nightmares: Stories, Seeing Things, Little Paranoias: Stories, Without Condition, The Crow’s Gift and Other Tales, and Wither and Other Stories. She a... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT
Somerset

Business and Craft of Writing and Publishing

1:00pm EDT

Bizarro Fiction: The Wrecking Ball of Weird vs. the Boundaries of Genre

Friday June 5, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT

Westmoreland

In the early 2000s, a new subgenre peeled itself off of horror and slithered forward, picking up the detritus of other genres on its way. Bizarro fiction is the genre for people who don't like to color inside the lines. Too funny, too weird, too off-beat for traditional horror publishers, the bizarro community coalesced around the same purity of storytelling as children: no boundaries, no limits, and an internal logic that assumed it didn't matter how things would happen in the real world. From surreal lit fiction to pulpy insanity, and weirding up everything from spaghetti westerns to noir, Bizarro has come into its own over the past two decades, but still maintains a strong tie to its roots in the horror scene. How is the Adult Swim of literature helping shape modern horror? Let's talk about that.

Moderators

Michael Allen Rose

Bizarro Writers Association President, RoShamBo Publishing

Speakers

Jennifer Barnes

Managing Editor, Raw Dog Screaming Press

Jennifer Barnes is managing editor of Raw Dog Screaming Press which has been publishing off-kilter books for nearly two decades. She spent four years as an editor for The Dream People Literary Magazine. Her children’s book, Better Haunted Homes and Gardens, illustrated by Kristen... Read More →

Bridget D. Brave

author, lawyer, weirdo

Jessica McHugh

Jessica McHugh is a 3x Bram Stoker Award-nominated poet, a multi-genre novelist, & an internationally-produced playwright who spends her days surrounded by artistic inspiration at a Maryland tattoo shop. She’s had thirty-two books published in seventeen years, including her Elgin... Read More →

Danger Slater

Writer guy. Good time party dude.

I'm an author and a performer and a good time party dude. I eat a lot of soup. I am soup.

Friday June 5, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT
Westmoreland

Horror History

1:00pm EDT

What Horror Means to Me

Friday June 5, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT

Pennsylvania Ballroom

Join StokerCon 2026’s Guests of Honor for a lively discussion about why readers of all ages enjoy a good scare, from fictional frights to all-too-true terrors.

Moderators

Lila Denning

HWA-Volunteer Coordinator, St Petersburg Library System

Speakers

Linda Addison

Trustee, Horror Writers Association

Rachel Harrison

Rachel Harrison is the New York Times Bestselling author of PLAY NICE, SO THIRSTY, BLACK SHEEP, SUCH SHARP TEETH, CACKLE, and THE RETURN. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies and in her debut story collection BAD DOLLS.

Her next novel, KISS SLAY REPLAY, is out this September from Berkley in the US and Titan in the UK... Read More →

Billy Martin

Stephen King, John Kennedy Toole, cats, birds (wild ones, not pets), New Orleans, Jaws, Goodfellas, international food, travel, old music (mainly 1960s - 1980s)

John Shirley

James Tynion IV

CEO & Founder, Tiny Onion, Inc.

Ann VanderMeer

editor/anthologist/writer, VanderMeer Creative, Inc.

Ann VanderMeer is an award-winning editor & anthologist. She currently serves as an acquiring editor for Reactormag.com. She was the editor-in-chief for Weird Tales, during which time she won the Hugo Award. Along with multiple other nominations, she has won a World Fantasy Award... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT
Pennsylvania Ballroom

Librarians' Day

1:00pm EDT

HU: Little Monsters: Writing the Unsettling Child in Horror

Friday June 5, 2026 1:00pm - 2:50pm EDT

Washington

We instinctively view children as innocent, vulnerable, and deserving of protection. Horror becomes especially disturbing when that perception collapses; this workshop explores how writers can create unsettling children in horror fiction by disrupting the psychology of innocence. Drawing on examples from literature and film, the class examines how distorted morality, emotional detachment, manipulation, and supernatural influence can transform child characters into powerful engines of horror.

This is a separately ticketed workshop. For more information on Horror University and registration information see: https://www.stokercon.com/horror-university

Speakers

Mo Moshaty

Writer, Lecturer, Producer and Journalist, NightTide Magazine/Mourning Manor Media

Mo Moshaty is a multi-award-winning horror writer, producer, and international lecturer whose work explores trauma, folklore, and the boundaries of fear through a diverse and inclusive lens. She is the author of Maddalena – 206 Word Stories (2022), Henry – A Quaint and Curious... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 1:00pm - 2:50pm EDT
Washington

Horror University

2:00pm EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 2:00pm - 2:50pm EDT

Armstrong

Speakers

Douglas Gwilym

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

Nicole Willson

Stoker-nominated author of TIDEPOOL (2021), THE SHADOW DANCERS OF BRIXTON HILL (2023) and THE KEEPER OF THE KEY (2024). Find out more about me at http://www.nicolewillson.com

Dave V. Riser

Writer & Researcher

Friday June 5, 2026 2:00pm - 2:50pm EDT
Armstrong

Author Readings

2:00pm EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 2:00pm - 2:50pm EDT

Fayette

Speakers

Ace Antonio-Hall

Omnium Gatherum

Dacia M Arnold

AMS/ AMG Marketing Account Manager, Liquid Mind Marketing, Dacia M Arnold LLC

Friday June 5, 2026 2:00pm - 2:50pm EDT
Fayette

Author Readings

2:00pm EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 2:00pm - 2:50pm EDT

Lawrence

Speakers

Brandon Ketchum

LCSW, Local Recovery Coordinator, Mental Health Champion of the Pittsburgh VA, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and Author

By day, Brandon Ketchum is a social worker at the VA. By night he is a spec fic writer putting a weird spin or strange vibe in every story, dark or light. He is a member of SFWA and the Horror Writers Association, and his work has been published with Air & Nothingness Press, Perihelion... Read More →

Lauren Elise (L. E.) Daniels

Author/Editor, HWA Mental Health Initiative Co-Chair, Brisbane Writers Workshop

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 →

Friday June 5, 2026 2:00pm - 2:50pm EDT
Lawrence

Author Readings

2:00pm EDT

Artificial Intelligence: How to Identify Who's Using It ; How to Avoid It; How to Fight Back Against It

Friday June 5, 2026 2:00pm - 2:50pm EDT

Cambria

Everyone is talking about AI and for good reason. This informative and proactive focused panel will discuss the state of AI in the publishing industry, including strategies on how to identify and avoid it. Further examination will include what is being done to protect creators by organizations like the HWA and the Author’s Guild, the state of legal action, and what obstacles the creative community faces.

Moderators

Pauline Chow

Pauline Chow is a writer, coach, and ancestral magic practitioner, crafting alternative histories and optimistic futures. She is a Pushcart Prize nominated author with words in Cosmic Monthly Horror, Space and Time Magazine, Apocalypse Confidential, and more. Not your average data... Read More →

Speakers

John Edward Lawson

Author

John Edward Lawson is an author, artist, and musician from Maryland. His work has been nominated for the Dwarf Stars, Rhysling, Stoker, and Wonderland Awards. For his work as an editor John received the 2018 HWA Specialty Press Award. He is a former President of the Horror Writers... Read More →

Rebecca Cuthbert

Writer, Undertaker Books

Patrick Barb

Author & HWA Treasurer

Patrick Barb is the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of weird, dark, and horrifying tales, currently living in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. His published works include the short-story collections The Children's Horror and Pre-Approved for Haunting; novellas The Big One, The Nu... Read More →

Alec Shane

Agent, Writers House

Friday June 5, 2026 2:00pm - 2:50pm EDT
Cambria

Business and Craft of Writing and Publishing

2:00pm EDT

Guest of Honor Spotlight: The Writing Life and Building a Career with James Tynion

Friday June 5, 2026 2:00pm - 2:50pm EDT

Westmoreland

Join Guest of Honor James Tynion, Clay McLeod Chapman, Hailey Piper, and moderator Erika T. Wurth for a discussion of the writing life, balancing creative and commercial goals, how to connect with readers, and build a successful writing career while realizing your creative visions. Explore how to market your work, protect your copyrights and intellectual properties, and build strong collaborative relationships.

Moderators

Erika T. Wurth

Writer/Professor, Flatiron/Macmillan

Speakers

James Tynion IV

CEO & Founder, Tiny Onion, Inc.

Clay McLeod Chapman

Author of Devil Inside, Bodies of Work, Wake Up and Open Your Eyes, Acquired Taste, Shiny Happy People, Kill Your Darling, Stay on the Line, What Kind of Mother, Ghost Eaters, Whisper Down the Lane, The Remaking, and others.

Hailey Piper

Friday June 5, 2026 2:00pm - 2:50pm EDT
Westmoreland

Guest of Honor/Lifetime Achievement Winner Spotlight

2:00pm EDT

Digital Campfires: How Internet Built a New Generation of Readers and Writers

Friday June 5, 2026 2:00pm - 2:50pm EDT

Somerset

Internet horror has evolved from anonymous forum posts and copy-paste folklore into one of the most powerful pipelines in modern genre storytelling. This panel explores the history of online horror, its roots in urban legend and campfire storytelling, and how digital platforms reshaped craft, readership, and publishing paths. Panelists will discuss what makes internet horror distinct on the page, how community feedback accelerates voice and concept, and how writers can ethically and effectively leverage these spaces today.

Moderators

D.R. Forge (CJ Ruff)

D.R. Forge needed a pen name on the fly to submit her first entry to a zine, which, against the odds, was published, along with her hastily cobbled together bio. Thusly spawned her nom de plume. She did not think this through. So many years later, regularly struggles at introductions... Read More →

Speakers

Alex Gonzalez

Wrote "rekt" and "The Man of Wind and Moss" for Erewhon. Happy to be here! Cheeky pint, king?

Jonathan Lees

Event Director: Final Frame Film Competition

Gray O'Reilly

Gray O’Reilly is a Resource Sharing Specialist for the University of Pittsburgh who works at Hillman Library. A writer and archival researcher with a background in Film and Media Studies, they are a frequent collaborator with the George A. Romero Foundation, as well as the Horror... Read More →

Mar Romasco-Moore

Author of queer YA multimedia horror novel Deadstream (VIking, 2025) and several other books.

Ande Thomas

Editor in Chief, What Sleeps Beneath

Friday June 5, 2026 2:00pm - 2:50pm EDT
Somerset

Horror History

2:00pm EDT

The Past is Undead: Exploring an American Vampire Canon

Friday June 5, 2026 2:00pm - 2:50pm EDT

Pennsylvania Ballroom

The vampire lurks throughout the history of horror storytelling and serves as a powerful allegory for understanding history, culture, and social forces. Vampire stories frequently evoke imagery from their 19th century European literary texts of old castles, aristocracy, and Victorian moral strictures. But once we remove these stories from their European settings and examine the stories that emerged to reflect American culture and history, what new tropes and images best define the vampire canon? Join us as we explore the contours and features that help define the American vampire story and why these stories are essential for library shelves.

Moderators

Ben Rubin

Horror Studies Collection Coordinator; Co-Chair StokerCon Governing Committee, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Speakers

Liz Kerin

LIZ KERIN is the author of the critically acclaimed NIGHT’S EDGE duology, YA horror THE PHANTOM FOREST, and the forthcoming HOW TO DISAPPEAR COMPLETELY from Sourcebooks in February 2027. She’s also a playwright and screenwriter, who graduated from NYU Tisch, where she majored... Read More →

Gwendolyn Kiste

Michelle Renee Lane

Writer

Michelle Renee Lane holds an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University and is an instructor for Speculative Fiction Academy. She writes dark speculative fiction about identity politics and women of color battling their inner demons while fighting/falling in love with... Read More →

Billy Martin

Stephen King, John Kennedy Toole, cats, birds (wild ones, not pets), New Orleans, Jaws, Goodfellas, international food, travel, old music (mainly 1960s - 1980s)

Sarah Read

Friday June 5, 2026 2:00pm - 2:50pm EDT
Pennsylvania Ballroom

Librarians' Day

2:00pm EDT

Panel D: Worlds of Horror

Friday June 5, 2026 2:00pm - 3:15pm EDT

Butler

"The Egg-Shaped Universe: Séances, Channelings & Hilma af Klint’s Transcendent Paintings"
Shannon Kearns

"Becoming the Apocalypse: The Indigipoetics of Horror"
Naomi Simone Borwein

"Haunted Tongues: Multilingualism and Gothic Elements in Gambian Literature"
Modou Lamin Age-Almusaf Sowe

"Generic Rhetorical Violations and Reconfiguration of Fear in Dead by Daylight"
Janice Day

Speakers

Shannon Kearns

Naomi Simone Borwein

Janice Day

Friday June 5, 2026 2:00pm - 3:15pm EDT
Butler

Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference

3:00pm EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 3:00pm - 3:50pm EDT

Fayette

Speakers

Darrell Schweitzer

Darrell Schweitzer's books include four novels, THE WHITE ISLE, THE SHATTERED GODDESS, THE MASK OF THE SORCERER, and THE DRAGON HOUSE, plus nine short-story collections, the most recent of which is a volume of Lovecraftian stories, THE CHILDREN OF CHORAZIN, published by Hippocampus... Read More →

DIane Corso

Barbara Cottrell

Vanishing Edge Press

Barbara Cottrell is a former professor who gave up her career to pursue her true passion: writing weird fiction. The first book in her series of supernatural thrillers, Darkness Below, won a gold medal at the Book Fest, was named best first novel by Indie Reader and was an editor... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 3:00pm - 3:50pm EDT
Fayette

Author Readings

3:00pm EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 3:00pm - 3:50pm EDT

Armstrong

Speakers

Brittany Cekus (B.S. Miller)

B.S. Miller is a writer and teacher who lives with her husband and children in a secluded area south of Pittsburgh, surrounded by critters, crows, and coyotes. Miller earned her MA in Literature from the University of New Orleans and BSEd in Secondary English from Slippery Rock University... Read More →

Leticia A Urieta

Leticia Urieta (she/her/hers) is a Tejana writer from Austin, TX. She works as a teaching artist and freelance writer and editor. She is the author of Las Criaturas, published in 2021 by Flowersong Press and was a finalist for the Sergio Troncoso Award for Best First Book of Fic... Read More →

Valerie Williams

Writer, reader, dog lover.

Valerie B. Williams' short fiction has been published by Flame Tree Press, Dark Recesses Press, and Crystal Lake Publishing, among others. Her debut novel, "The Vanishing Twin" was released by Crossroad Press in October 2024.Her first collection of dark tales, "Penfold's Menu of Ma... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 3:00pm - 3:50pm EDT
Armstrong

Author Readings

3:00pm EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 3:00pm - 3:50pm EDT

Lawrence

Speakers

ROYCE BUCKINGHAM

Author--Penguin/Random House (Blanvalet)

Christa Carmen

Author

Christa Carmen lives in Rhode Island. She is the Bram Stoker Award-winning and two-time Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author of The Daughters of Block Island, Beneath the Poet's House, and How to Fake a Haunting, as well as the Indie Horror Book Award-winning Something Borrowed... Read More →

Sara Tantlinger

Friday June 5, 2026 3:00pm - 3:50pm EDT
Lawrence

Author Readings

3:00pm EDT

Creative Resilience: Overcoming Disappointment

Friday June 5, 2026 3:00pm - 3:50pm EDT

Cambria

How do we cope with disappointment? How can we arm our creative spirits with resilience, and craft enough sustainability for the long game? Sensitivity to rejection can provoke profound emotional turmoil that can prevent us from pursuing publication. Once we’re established, anxiety can derail our submissions to more prestigious publishers along our journey. Let these panelists share with you how they stay balanced and optimistic across such challenging landscapes.

Moderators

Ace Antonio-Hall

Omnium Gatherum

Speakers

Linda Addison

Trustee, Horror Writers Association

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 Awa... Read More →

Monique Asher

Author

Monique Asher is the American author of Don’t Eat the Pie and The Red Knot. She is a member of the HWA. When she isn't writing you will find her talking to ghosts and chasing her pets through the garden.

Zoje Stage

Author

Zoje Stage is both an international and a USA Today bestselling author whose books have been named “Best of the Year” by Library Journal, Forbes, PopSugar, Bloody Disgusting, and more. Her debut novel, Baby Teeth, was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award. Other critically-acc... Read More →

Tim Waggoner

Friday June 5, 2026 3:00pm - 3:50pm EDT
Cambria

Business and Craft of Writing and Publishing

3:00pm EDT

Editing as an Art Form

Friday June 5, 2026 3:00pm - 3:50pm EDT

Westmoreland

Most authors know—and many quickly learn—that an editor is more than a simple curator of stories. A good editor can be the difference between a flawed gem and a brilliant masterpiece. What can we gain from viewing the work of editing as an art in its own right? How does the craft of editing vary from place to place? What happens when authors push back on certain edits?

Moderators

Emma Cole

Editor; Author, MIRA Books

Editor at MIRA Books. Writer of Love Never Dies: Romance in Horror Movies.

Speakers

Ardyce Alspach

Senior Editor, Union Square / Hachette

Ardyce Alspach (she/her) is a senior editor of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. She has held positions in a variety of disciplines throughout her career (though book editing is her favorite). Prior to joining Union Square & Co. in 2015, Ardyce was an instructor at Clemson University... Read More →

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 her work. Her most recent original anthology is Night and Day published by Saga Press. She has won the Karl Edward Wagner (special) award given by the British Fantasy Convention, and Life Achievement Awards given by the Horror Writers Association... Read More →

Joe Monti

Editorial Director, Saga Press, S&S

Anything!

Arley Sorg

associate literary agent, senior editor, kt literary agency, Locus Magazine

Kristin Temple

Associate Editor, Tor Nightfire

Kristin Temple has been at Tor Publishing Group since 2016 and has been editing nightmares for Nightfire since its inception. She acquires novels and novellas, and has had the honor of working with many of the twistedly talented authors in the Nightfire coven. She's always on the... Read More →

Ann VanderMeer

editor/anthologist/writer, VanderMeer Creative, Inc.

Friday June 5, 2026 3:00pm - 3:50pm EDT
Westmoreland

Business and Craft of Writing and Publishing

3:00pm EDT

Making Modern Spaces Scary

Friday June 5, 2026 3:00pm - 3:50pm EDT

Somerset

Dilapidated castles and decrepit asylums? Easy-peasy-horror-trope-squeezy. Many of us love abandoned places for all the scary opportunities they offer, but what about contemporary office high-rises, new-build subdivisions, and corporate pressboard landscapes? They may lack gothic atmosphere, but they're awash in their own beige nightmares. Panelists would discuss the narrative opportunities of these fluorescent and anonymous spaces, showing attendees they can be just as scary as any creaky haunted house

Moderators

Rebecca Cuthbert

Writer, Undertaker Books

Speakers

Grace Daly

Author

Jamal Hodge

Founder, Hodge Cinema

Allison Mick

Writer

Allison Mick is a Los Angeles-based horror-comedy writer, originally from the Great Lakes. She is the author of Humboldt Cut (Erewhon Books) out January 2026, and DIVE (Tenebrous Press) out November 2026.

Mick’s humor writing appears in Trailer Park Boys: Big A$$ Comic Collectio... Read More →

Sarah Read

Andrew F. Sullivan

Author of The Marigold and The Handyman Method

Andrew F. Sullivan is the author of The Marigold, a finalist for Best Novel at the Aurora Awards and named a Best Book of the Year by The Verge, Book Riot and the Winnipeg Free Press. He cowrote The Handyman Method with Nick Cutter, a novel about home improvement gone wrong. Su... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 3:00pm - 3:50pm EDT
Somerset

Horror Genre and Media

3:00pm EDT

Summer Scares: A Thrilling Summer Reading Program

Friday June 5, 2026 3:00pm - 3:50pm EDT

Pennsylvania Ballroom

Join Summer Scares current and past selected authors, spokespeople, and partners to learn more about the HWA’s popular summer reading program, how to get involved, and how to use Summer Scares resources to better serve your patrons. Featuring Jennifer McMahon with more panelists to be announced soon!

Moderators

Yaika Sabat

Speakers

Linda Cheng

Author

Linda Cheng is the Taiwanese-Canadian author of the Stoker Award nominated YA horror Beautiful Brutal Bodies. Her debut novel Gorgeous Gruesome Faces was named one of Kirkus Review’s best young adult books of 2023, and was nominated for the White Pine Award. Her middle grade debut... Read More →

Ann Fraistat

Author

Shane Hawk

Writer-Editor, PRH-Counterpoint

Grady Hendrix

I own too many paperbacks and write too many books. I apologize for both of these sins.

CJ Leede

Ally Malinenko

Ally Malinenko is the author of several poetry collections as well as Ghost Girl and the Stoker nominated This Appearing House both from Katherine Tegen Books/Harper Collins

Jennifer McMahon

Author

Ally Russell

Ted Van Alst

Writer, Vintage/PRH

Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. is the author of Chicago-set award-winning story collections Sacred Smokes, Sacred City; and Sacred Folks as well as Pour One for the Devil. He is the co-editor of the bestselling Never Whistle at Night from Vintage/Penguin Random House. His debut novel... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 3:00pm - 3:50pm EDT
Pennsylvania Ballroom

Librarians' Day

3:00pm EDT

HU: The Five Senses of Dread

Friday June 5, 2026 3:00pm - 4:50pm EDT

Washington

In this workshop, Bram Stoker Award-winning author Michael Arnzen takes you on a tour of the "five senses of dread" -- exploring how fear operates on your nerve endings, from the tips of your fingers all the way up to your brain. Learn how words work to paint haunting portraits of fear and generate anxiety, and how characters express their darkest fears from a whisper to a scream. Recommended for poets as well as full-length novel writers, this course will zoom in on what makes horror tick at the level of language.

This is a separately ticketed workshop. For more information on Horror University and registration information see: https://www.stokercon.com/horror-university

Speakers

Michael Arnzen

Director, MFA in Writing Popular Fiction at SHU

Michael Arnzen holds four Bram Stoker Awards and an International Horror Guild Award for his disturbing (and often funny) fiction, poetry and literary experiments. He has been teaching as a Professor of English in the MFA program in Writing Popular Fiction at Seton Hill University sin... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 3:00pm - 4:50pm EDT
Washington

Horror University

3:30pm EDT

Panel E: Gendered Tensions and Feminist Rebellions

Friday June 5, 2026 3:30pm - 4:45pm EDT

Butler

"Locking the Door from the Inside: marriage, surveillance, and institutional power in horror cinema"
Mo Moshaty

"Dracula's Monstrous Femininity"
Rachel Allison

"What's in a Name? Cassandra in horror: resilience through tragedy"
Cassandra O'Sullivan Sachar

Speakers

Rachel Allison

Graduate Teaching Assistant, George Mason University

Rachel is a first year English master’s student concentrating in literature at George Mason University. They received their Bachelor of Arts in English at George Mason University and currently hold a graduate teaching assistantship. As an emerging scholar, Rachel believes in diversifying... Read More →

Mo Moshaty

Writer, Lecturer, Producer and Journalist, NightTide Magazine/Mourning Manor Media

Cassandra O’Sullivan Sachar

Author/Editor/English Professor

Cassandra O’Sullivan Sachar is a Pennsylvania writer, editor, and English professor who teaches creative writing, composition, and composition theory classes. A former secondary English teacher in Delaware public schools, she received her Doctorate of Education with a Literacy Specialization... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 3:30pm - 4:45pm EDT
Butler

Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference

4:00pm EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 4:00pm - 4:50pm EDT

Fayette

Speakers

Meghan Arcuri

Scotty Milder

Sonora Taylor

Author

Friday June 5, 2026 4:00pm - 4:50pm EDT
Fayette

Author Readings

4:00pm EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 4:00pm - 4:50pm EDT

Lawrence

Speakers

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 Jac... Read More →

Jessica McHugh

Jason A. Wyckoff

Jason A. Wyckoff's first novel, IXIXIKLIS was published in 2025 by Grendel Press. His third collection of short stories, Snare for a Small Eclipse, is forthcoming from Nightmare Press. He is the author of two prior collections published by Tartarus Press, Black Horse and other St... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 4:00pm - 4:50pm EDT
Lawrence

Author Readings

4:00pm EDT

Author Readings

Friday June 5, 2026 4:00pm - 4:50pm EDT

Armstrong

Speakers

Jonathan Kincade

Author & Artist, Story Logic Media

Jonathan Kincade is a writer and photographer interested in mining the uncanny. His fiction and art appear or are forthcoming in FIYAH, Clarkesworld, and The Sun Magazine. When he's not investigating the hidden world, you'll find him gardening, playing guitar, or spending time with... Read More →

Emma Murray

Author of Crushing Snails, When the Devil, and Shoot Me in the Face on a Beautiful Day

Jessi Ann York

Debut Author with Macmillan

Friday June 5, 2026 4:00pm - 4:50pm EDT
Armstrong

Author Readings

4:00pm EDT

Navigating the Horror of the Parasocial

Friday June 5, 2026 4:00pm - 4:50pm EDT

Cambria

In an era where authors often engage with their audience directly via social media, the lines between friends, fans, and strangers can become blurry. How can authors be accessible without opening themselves up to unpleasant interactions? How can we encourage fans to be more mindful when interacting with creators?

Moderators

Diana Rodriguez Wallach

Young Adult Author

Speakers

Christopher Golden

CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Carry Me to My Grave, The House of Last Resort, All Hallows, Road of Bones, and Ararat, among many others. He has also written and cowritten screenplays, comic books, and audio dramas. His work has won the Bram Stoker Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the Audie Award, and been nominated for the British Fantasy and Eisner Awards, among others... Read More →

Clay McLeod Chapman

Jonathan Fortin

Jonathan Fortin is the author of the LILITU series from Crystal Lake Publishing, specializing in Gothic Horror and Dark Fantasy. He attended the Clarion Writing Program in 2012, one year after graduating summa cum laude from San Francisco State University's Creative Writing program... Read More →

Rachel Harrison

Rae Wilde

Rae Wilde (she/her) is a queer woman and author of dark fiction who has published numerous works under the pen name Rae Knowles. Her collection, I Do Not Apologize for My Position on Men, will re-release in July 2026 from Shortwave Publishing and her commercial fiction debut, ... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 4:00pm - 4:50pm EDT
Cambria

Business and Craft of Writing and Publishing

4:00pm EDT

Guest of Honor Spotlight: John Shirley, The Nature of Death in Horror Fiction

Friday June 5, 2026 4:00pm - 4:50pm EDT

Westmoreland

Join Guest of Honor John Shirley to explore horror writers’ relationship to death, as a fact, an anticipation, and beyond. Is death a release or a harvesting? Does the contemplation of death improve the writing of horror? Does horror fiction help readers cope with fear of death?

Moderators

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 →

Speakers

John Shirley

Sarah Langan

Jennifer McMahon

Author

Friday June 5, 2026 4:00pm - 4:50pm EDT
Westmoreland

Guest of Honor/Lifetime Achievement Winner Spotlight

4:00pm EDT

The Ghost in the Margins: Queerness in Gothic Horror

Friday June 5, 2026 4:00pm - 4:50pm EDT

Somerset

With queer authors such as Mary Shelley and Oscar Wilde at the forefront of the genre, the gothic has long been a sanctuary for LGBTQ+ writers, characters, and readers. From Frankenstein and The Picture of Dorian Gray to The Haunting of Hill House and The Gilda Stories, the genre abounds with tales that are at once transcendent and terrifying. Join our panelists as we discuss our love of the queer gothic and how we employ the gothic tradition in our own work as well as why the gothic is such a perfect outlet for queerness in horror.

Moderators

Gwendolyn Kiste

Speakers

Corey Niles

Corey Niles was born and raised in the Rust Belt. A graduate of Seton Hill’s MFA program, he has published over thirty works of poetry and short fiction, appearing in Nightmare Magazine, Space and Time Magazine, and The Horror Zine. He is the author of What Remains and Blood & Dirt... Read More →

Andrew Robertson

Founder, Great Lakes Horror Company

Mae Murray

Billy Martin

Stephen King, John Kennedy Toole, cats, birds (wild ones, not pets), New Orleans, Jaws, Goodfellas, international food, travel, old music (mainly 1960s - 1980s)

Friday June 5, 2026 4:00pm - 4:50pm EDT
Somerset

Horror Genre and Media

5:00pm EDT

Mass Author Signing

Friday June 5, 2026 5:00pm - 6:30pm EDT

Allegheny Ballrooms 1-2-3 Foyers

The Mass Author Signing Event. Get your books inscribed by some of your favorite authors!

Full list of authors at the signing coming soon.

You must have preregistered for this event.

Friday June 5, 2026 5:00pm - 6:30pm EDT
Allegheny Ballrooms 1-2-3 Foyers

HWA Spotlight

6:00pm EDT

Nightfire Happy Hour

Friday June 5, 2026 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT

Second Floor Rotunda and Pennsylvania Ballroom Foyer

Nightfire is sponsoring a Happy Hour, where you can stop by, meet and chat their authors, and have a drink or two.

There will be a hosted bar at this event - one will be in the Second Floor Rotunda and the other in Pennsylvania Foyer also located on the second floor.

Friday June 5, 2026 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
Second Floor Rotunda and Pennsylvania Ballroom Foyer

8:00pm EDT

Final Frame Film Competition

Friday June 5, 2026 8:00pm - 10:00pm EDT

Allegheny Ballroom II

The Final Frame Film Competition is one of StokerCon's most popular events. Catch what's new and terrifying in the world of horror short films and cast your vote for the audience award!

Our judges this year are Craig Engler, Jamal Hodge, Lisa Morton, Jenn Wexler, and L. Marie Wood.

This year's films are:
Blister - directed by Olivia Simon
Breeder - directed by Sapphire Sandalo
Chäir - directed by Chris McInroy
The Creature of Darkness - directed by Lisa Marie Malloy and Ray Whitaker
Infestation - directed by David Calbert
I Spy - directed by David Yorke
Man Eating Pussy - directed by Emily Lawson
Prime - directed by Meagan Coyle
Scissors - directed by Hannah Alline

For more information on the films and Final Frame visit: https://www.stokercon.com/finalframe

The Final Frame Short Film Competition is sponsored by The George A Romero Foundation.

Moderators

Jonathan Lees

Event Director: Final Frame Film Competition

Friday June 5, 2026 8:00pm - 10:00pm EDT
Allegheny Ballroom II

HWA Spotlight

10:00pm EDT

Final Frame Reception

Friday June 5, 2026 10:00pm - 11:45pm EDT

Allegheny Ballroom Foyer II

Enjoy some refreshments while you wait for the results of the Final Frame Film Competition.

This event is catered with a cash bar. The bar accepts credit/debit cards, or, if you are staying at the Westin, you can charge drinks to your room. No cash accepted.

Friday June 5, 2026 10:00pm - 11:45pm EDT
Allegheny Ballroom Foyer II

HWA Spotlight

11:00pm EDT

Special Screening of "Mourning Meal"

Friday June 5, 2026 11:00pm - 11:50pm EDT

Allegheny Ballroom II

Attend a special screening of the short film "Mourning Meal" (2020) directed by Jamal Hodge and adapted from the poem of the same name by Linda D. Addison from her Bram Stoker Award winning poetry collection How to Recognize a Demon has Become Your Friend (2011).

Synopsis:
After the tragic loss of her son, Cheryl, a grieving mother, adopts a new philosophy, one that changes her outlook on life and grief. One where suffering has become a dear friend... that must be shared.

Speakers

Linda Addison

Trustee, Horror Writers Association

Jamal Hodge

Founder, Hodge Cinema

Friday June 5, 2026 11:00pm - 11:50pm EDT
Allegheny Ballroom II

HWA Spotlight