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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 →

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 Camera... 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

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 →

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 →

Horror Genre and Media

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1:00pm EDT

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4:00pm EDT

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