Name: A Decade of StokerCon
Start: 2026-06-04T22:00:00-0400
End: 2026-06-04T22:50:00-0400

Thursday June 4, 2026 10:00pm - 10:50pm EDT

Join us for a special late night panel to celebrate StokerCon’s 10th anniversary!

Learn the history of the HWA’s annual conference from the people who pioneered it and carried the torch forward-a milestone assembly of con chairs from years past and present. Why did the HWA start StokerCon? What has it come to mean to the HWA and the horror community? Join in the discussion for memorable anecdotes and memories of our favorite event.

Moderators

Kevin Wetmore, Jr.

Volunteer Coordinator, HWA LA

Speakers

Lisa Morton

Co-Chair, StokerCon 2026

Author of four novels and over 200 short stories, screenwriter, Halloween and paranormal expert, past President of the Horror Writers Association, and 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award winner.

Rena Mason

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.

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

Dennis K. Crosby

Sarah Faxon

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 →

Logan Alexander Johnson

Logan Alexander Johnson is a writer, designer, and researcher who uses words as a vehicle for activism, inclusion, and empowerment. He brings a designer’s empathy to the page, shaped by over a decade of experience in human-centered design. Logan writes stories that highlight the... Read More →

Thursday June 4, 2026 10:00pm - 10:50pm EDT
Westmoreland

Horror History

StokerCon 2026