Name: Abridge to Terror: The Horror Short Story
Start: 2026-06-07T10:00:00-0400
End: 2026-06-07T10:50:00-0400

Abridge to Terror: The Horror Short Story

Sunday June 7, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am EDT

Westmoreland

Short stories are more than just stepping stones in an author’s journey. They allow writers to hone their craft, experiment with structure and point of view, and are a strong way to connect with editors and publishers. Short stories can also help writers achieve Active Membership in the HWA, and they build up the potential for an eventual collection. Join panelists to discuss how short stories helped strengthen their craft and career, why this length works so well for horror, and what makes a story stand out.

Moderators

Arley Sorg

associate literary agent, senior editor, kt literary agency, Locus Magazine

Speakers

Christa Carmen

Author

Christa Carmen lives in Rhode Island. She is the Bram Stoker Award-winning and two-time Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author of The Daughters of Block Island, Beneath the Poet's House, and How to Fake a Haunting, as well as the Indie Horror Book Award-winning Something Borrowed... Read More →

Raymonde Chira

Author

Raymonde Chira (she/they) is a writer, illustrator and librarian based in New York City. She is the author of multiple dark short stories and comics, having been published in Ghost Parachute, Dark Matter Presents: The Off-Season, Let Her Be Evil, and Bump in the Night (forthcoming... Read More →

Lauren Elise (L. E.) Daniels

Author/Editor, HWA Mental Health Initiative Co-Chair, Brisbane Writers Workshop

Julie C. Day

Writer | Publisher | Editor-in-Chief, Essential Dreams Press

Julie C. Day is a finalist for the Lambda, Locus, and Bram Stoker awards. Her longer works include her novella The Rampant and her genre-bending debut collection Uncommon Miracles, which was praised by Kelly Link, John Crowley, Nathan Ballingrud, and Jeffrey Ford. She is the editor-in-chief... Read More →

S. Alessandro Martinez

Author

S. Alessandro Martinez is a Bram Stoker Award® -nominated author of Mexican and Spanish descent who writes horror and fantasy from middle grade to adult. He lives in a haunted manor and loves playing video/board games, practicing necromancy, watching bat videos, collecting skulls... Read More →

Erika T. Wurth

Writer/Professor, Flatiron/Macmillan

Erika T. Wurth is the author of WHITE HORSE and THE HAUNTING OF ROOM 904. She's a New York Times editors pick, a Good Morning America buzz pick, and an Indie Next, Target book of the Month, and BOTM Pick. She’s both a Kenyon and Sewanee fellow, has published in The Kenyon Revi... Read More →

Sunday June 7, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am EDT
Westmoreland

Business and Craft of Writing and Publishing

StokerCon 2026

Arley Sorg

Christa Carmen

Raymonde Chira

Lauren Elise (L. E.) Daniels

Julie C. Day

S. Alessandro Martinez

Erika T. Wurth

Attendees (159)

Get help with the event

Attendees (159)

Log in to save this to your schedule, view media, leave feedback and see who's attending!

Get help with the event