StokerCon 2026: Full Schedule

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9:00am EDT

Adolescent Terrors: Writing Young Adult Horror

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

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

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

I’m a YA and Adult horror and thriller author and screenwriter, most famous for MURDER LAND, out with Sourcebooks Fire. I have another YA horror-thriller coming out in summer 2026 called WHAT HAPPENED TO THOSE GIRLS with more YA and adult titles to be announced. I’m an LA native... Read More →

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

Horror Genre and Media

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/trustee

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.
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

James Tynion IV is the writer of the New York Times Best-Selling BATMAN/TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES cross-over for DC Comics and IDW Publishing, as well as the bi-weekly DETECTIVE COMICS, a key title in DC Comics' Rebirth initiative.He is best known for his work on the Batman titles... Read More →

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

Horror Genre and Media

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

I'm an oil painter and SFF/ Horror writer-- REEF MIND is out now from Tenebrous Press!

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

Somerset

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

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 →

Kristy Park Kulski

Rena Mason

J.A.W. McCarthy

J.A.W. McCarthy is a two-time Bram Stoker Award and two-time Shirley Jackson Award finalist and author of Sometimes We’re Cruel and Other Stories and Sleep Alone. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous publications, including Vastarien, PseudoPod, Split Scream Vol. 3, The D... Read More →

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

Horror Genre and Media

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

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

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 →

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

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

DR Forge

Speakers

Alex Gonzalez

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

Jonathan Lees

Gray O'Reilly

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

Ande Thomas is a life-long horror fan, supporting member of the Horror Writers Association and a founding member of What Sleeps Beneath. His work centers on original academic research that links narrative and plot to current political and social discourse. As a standing judge of the Pittsburgh Moving Picture Festival, Ande looks for independently made films that disrupt and challenge the definition of the horror genre... Read More →

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

Horror History

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

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 →

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 Cam... Read More →

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

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

Horror Genre and Media

9:00am EDT

10:00am EDT

11:00am EDT

12:00pm EDT

1:00pm EDT

2:00pm EDT

3:00pm EDT

4:00pm EDT

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