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Uncanny Educators: Learning Horror, Writing Horror
Saturday June 6, 2026 9:00am - 9:50am EDT
Westmoreland
Is it any wonder that the works of authors like Edgar Allan Poe and Shirley Jackson are popular with students and can catch the imagination of potential authors at an early age? This panel explores how horror fiction can help turn readers into writers--and how teachers and well-meaning family can encourage the process. Horror fiction helps introduce us to techniques of atmosphere, suspense, and world-building, additionally lending itself well to the creative joys of imitation and parody. Panelists will discuss reading approaches and teaching strategies that have helped them mentor students to become successful horror writers.
Moderators
avatar for Norman Prentiss
Speakers
avatar for Michael Arnzen

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 →
avatar for Douglas Ford

Douglas Ford

Oh, god, another writer. This one has written a body of work that contains several short stories, including "The Boy in the Closet," which appeared as a selection in Ellen Datlow's The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 17. More recent stuff includes a novel, The Bloody Bucket, and a... Read More →
avatar for Alice Garcia

Alice Garcia

Educator, advocate, and 2nd generation horror aficionado (Thanks, Mom!) with deep, gnarled roots in horror fiction/literature from classic to contemporary. 
avatar for Jonathan Kincade

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 →
avatar for Cassandra O’Sullivan Sachar

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 →
Saturday June 6, 2026 9:00am - 9:50am EDT
Westmoreland
  Business and Craft of Writing and Publishing

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