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