StokerCon 2026: Full Schedule

4:00pm EDT

Thursday June 4, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT

Our annual Open Mic Poetry Readings hosted by Linda D. Addison!

Open Mic is a great place to read your poetry to a supportive audience and to be inspired by hearing the poetry of others.

Each poet reads for 5 minutes or less.

The host will loop around the room until we run out of time. All poets are welcome.

Note that this session is schedule for 90 minutes.

Moderators

Linda Addison

Trustee, Horror Writers Association

Thursday June 4, 2026 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT
Butler

Horror Genre and Media

8:15am EDT

Panel A: Conspicuous Consumption

Friday June 5, 2026 8:15am - 9:30am EDT

Butler

"Cannibal Horror in Italy"
Spencer Stoller

"“Everything is for Sale”: Commensurability and the Horror of Capitalist Forms in Stephen King’s Needful Things"
Eric Otto

"Occult Wars in the Age of Aquarius: The Battle on the Bookshelf"
Katherine Kerestman

Speakers

Spencer Stoller

English major at Scripps College and aspiring writer.

Eric Otto

Professor and Chair, Department of Integrated Studies, Florida Gulf Coast University

Eric Otto is Professor of Humanities and Chair of the Department of Integrated Studies at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Katherine Kerestman

Author & Independent Scholar

Katherine Kerestman is the author of Lethal (PsychoToxin Press, 2023), Creepy Cat's Macabre Travels: Prowling around Haunted Towers, Crumbling Castles, and Ghoulish Graveyards (WordCrafts Press, 2020), and Haunted House and Other Strange Tales (Hippocampus Press, 2024), and a... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 8:15am - 9:30am EDT
Butler

Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference

9:45am EDT

Panel B: "Strangely are Our Souls Constructed": On Frankenstein

Friday June 5, 2026 9:45am - 11:00am EDT

Butler

“Creation, Grief, Ambition, and the Divine in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818)”
Cynthia Pelayo

"Created by Misogyny: The Bride Archetype in James Whale’s The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)"
Stephanie Wytovich

"“I Am Fearless and Therefore Powerful”: Bisexuality, Belonging, and Reanimated Revenge in Frankenstein"
Gwendolyn Kiste

"Frankenstein and his Creature: Narcissism's Tragic Consequences"
George Hagman

Speakers

Cynthia Pelayo

Cynthia Pelayo is an International Latino Book Award winning poet and author.

She is the author of Loteria, Santa Muerte, The Missing, Poems of My Night, Into the Forest and All the Way Through, Children of Chicago, Crime Scene, The Shoemaker’s Magician, as well as dozens of sta... Read More →

Stephanie M. Wytovich

Gwendolyn Kiste

George Hagman

Friday June 5, 2026 9:45am - 11:00am EDT
Butler

Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference

12:30pm EDT

Panel C: "Hell with the Lid Taken Off": Steeltown and the USA

Friday June 5, 2026 12:30pm - 1:45pm EDT

Butler

"Pittsburgh as Embodiment of Zombie Culture in Four Snapshots"
Kevin Wetmore

"Female Representation in the Living Dead Films of George A. Romero"
Victoria Timpanaro

"George A. Romero's Martin and Mental Health in Postindustrial Communities"
Ande Thomas

"Nihilism, Gun Violence, and The Long Walk (2025)"
Emma Johnson-Rivard

Speakers

Kevin Wetmore, Jr.

Volunteer Coordinator, HWA LA

Victoria Timpanaro

Graduate Student/Educator/Film Scholar, Rutgers University

Educator and film scholar. PhD candidate with focus on women in genre film.

Ande Thomas

Editor in Chief, What Sleeps Beneath

Ande Thomas is a life-long horror fan, supporting member of the Horror Writers Association and a founding member of What Sleeps Beneath. His work centers on original academic research that links narrative and plot to current political and social discourse. As a standing judge of the Pittsburgh Moving Picture Festival, Ande looks for independently made films that disrupt and challenge the definition of the horror genre... Read More →

Emma Johnson-Rivard

Friday June 5, 2026 12:30pm - 1:45pm EDT
Butler

Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference

2:00pm EDT

Panel D: Worlds of Horror

Friday June 5, 2026 2:00pm - 3:15pm EDT

Butler

"The Egg-Shaped Universe: Séances, Channelings & Hilma af Klint’s Transcendent Paintings"
Shannon Kearns

"Becoming the Apocalypse: The Indigipoetics of Horror"
Naomi Simone Borwein

"Haunted Tongues: Multilingualism and Gothic Elements in Gambian Literature"
Modou Lamin Age-Almusaf Sowe

"Generic Rhetorical Violations and Reconfiguration of Fear in Dead by Daylight"
Janice Day

Speakers

Shannon Kearns

Naomi Simone Borwein

Janice Day

Friday June 5, 2026 2:00pm - 3:15pm EDT
Butler

Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference

3:30pm EDT

Panel E: Gendered Tensions and Feminist Rebellions

Friday June 5, 2026 3:30pm - 4:45pm EDT

Butler

"Locking the Door from the Inside: marriage, surveillance, and institutional power in horror cinema"
Mo Moshaty

"Dracula's Monstrous Femininity"
Rachel Allison

"What's in a Name? Cassandra in horror: resilience through tragedy"
Cassandra O'Sullivan Sachar

Speakers

Mo Moshaty

Writer, Lecturer, Producer and Journalist, NightTide Magazine/Mourning Manor Media

Mo Moshaty is a multi-award-winning horror writer, producer, and international lecturer whose work explores trauma, folklore, and the boundaries of fear through a diverse and inclusive lens. She is the author of Maddalena – 206 Word Stories (2022), Henry – A Quaint and Curious... Read More →

Cassandra O’Sullivan Sachar

Professor of English/Author

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... Read More →

Friday June 5, 2026 3:30pm - 4:45pm EDT
Butler

Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference

9:00am EDT

Survival Guide for Horror Writers in an Age of Censorship and AI

Saturday June 6, 2026 9:00am - 9:50am EDT

Butler

With the rise of censorship of creative work and scholarship, as well as online harassment and now the infiltration of AI, how can creatives protect themselves and fight back? Panelists discuss how to find hope, take care of their mental health, as well as strategies for protection and self-preservation in the current political climate.

Moderators

Jack LaRoche

QAA

Book reviewer. Wildlife/Exotic animal rehabber. Werewolf enthusiast.

Speakers

Scott Edelman

Author

SCOTT EDELMAN has published 135+ short stories in magazines such as Lightspeed, Analog, Apex, and The Twilight Zone, and in anthologies such as Why New Yorkers Smoke, Crossroads: Southern Tales of the Fantastic, and MetaHorror. He began his professional writing career in the comics... Read More →

Alma Katsu

Alma Katsu is the author of historical horror novels such asThe Hunger and The Fervor, as well as the Red Widow spy series. Her books have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal, been featured in the NY Times and Washington Post, been nominated for multiple prestigious awards (and won a few), and appeared on numerous Best Books lists including NPR, the Observer, Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, Goodreads, and Amazon... Read More →

Brandon Ketchum

LCSW, Local Recovery Coordinator, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System

David Simms

Writer. Psychologist. Musician. Reviewer.

6 published novels (Crossroad Books)
A few dozen short story sales
Psychologist, therapist, musician (The Slushpile band was awful but played all over the country with other writers)
Reviewer for 3 magazines
Teacher
Ghost tour guide

(2nd submission) 5 published novels (6 or 7 by the ti... Read More →

Nicole M. Wolverton

Horror Writer, Editor, & Academic, Professionally Unsettling Fear Enthusiast

Nicole M. Wolverton is the author of A Misfortune of Lake Monsters (2024, CamCat Books/Marble Press) and the upcoming Meat Sweats (March 2027, Horrorsmith Publishing) and Mother Mort's Carnival Phantasmagoria (October 2027, Ethereal Visions Publishing). She served as Editor of th... Read More →

Saturday June 6, 2026 9:00am - 9:50am EDT
Butler

Business and Craft of Writing and Publishing

about <br>

10:00am EDT

Marketing Nightmares: Can Horror Become Too Commercial?

Saturday June 6, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am EDT

Butler

The rise of trendy terms like “sporror,” “weird girl lit,” “pink horror,” and others have taken over Booktok, Bookstagram, and endcap displays in bookstores. Do these descriptors help sell books? What are the benefits or drawbacks of falling into what is currently trending within horror? Is there a risk of horror becoming too commercial? Join panelists as they discuss marketing language for horror, the pros and cons of writing what’s trending, and more.

Moderators

Dacia M Arnold

AMS/ AMG Marketing Account Manager, Liquid Mind Marketing, Dacia M Arnold LLC

Speakers

Mary Berman

Author, UNTIL DEATH (Little, Brown 2026)

Mary Berman is a Philadelphia-based novelist. Her debut, UNTIL DEATH, a horror novel about wedding planning, is coming May 19, 2026 from Little, Brown.

Ace Antonio-Hall

Omnium Gatherum

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 →

Susan Russell

Editor in Chief, Grendel Press

Susan Russell is the Editor-in-Chief and founder of Grendel Press, an independent publisher devoted to dark fantasy, horror, and dark romance. Guided by the belief that in the heart of every monster is a truth waiting to be told, she built Grendel Press to champion stories that explore... Read More →

Chelsea Conradt

Chelsea Conradt is the USA Today bestselling author of The Farmhouse and The Secret Attic. She writes twisty speculative thrillers and psychological horror. Her short fiction has been featured in The Sunday Morning Transport and the Fractured Reveries anthology. Her stories are packed with both murder and kindness because we can be more than one thing. When not writing stories that make you question what’s real, she is likely watching a baking show or a true-crime documentary. She is nothing if not on brand. Chelsea lives in... Read More →

Saturday June 6, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am EDT
Butler

Business and Craft of Writing and Publishing

11:00am EDT

One of the Greats: the Folk Horror of Florence + the Machine

Saturday June 6, 2026 11:00am - 11:50am EDT

Butler

Werewolves and Witches, Krakens and Choreomania, with each new album, Florence + the Machine leans harder into horror. The marketing itself for the Everybody Scream album includes clips of horror classics such as Carrie and Rosemary's Baby. In her live performances, she is accompanied by a coven of witches singing back-up by her side. Her lyrics are filled with evocative imagery of beauty and darkness, with introspective storytelling, brought to life by a voice full of passion. This panel will explore themes of folk horror, cosmic horror, witchcraft, nature as divine, feminine power, and the duality of darkness and love, expressed within F+TM's body of work.

Moderators

Mark Matthews

Mark Matthews is a Shirley Jackson Award Finalist, a graduate of the University of Michigan, and a licensed professional counselor. He is the author of On the Lips of Children, All Smoke Rises, Milk-Blood, and The Hobgoblin of Little Minds. He also edited, published, and contributed... Read More →

Speakers

Christa Carmen

writer

Christa Carmen is the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of The Daughters of Block Island and Beneath the Poet’s House, coming fall 2024 from Thomas & Mercer.
Additional work can be found in Vastarien, Nightmare, Orphans of Bliss, Year’s Best Hardcore Horror, and the Stoker... Read More →

Eric LaRocca

Eric LaRocca (he/they) is a 3x Bram Stoker Award® finalist and Splatterpunk Award winner. He was named by Esquire as one of the “Writers Shaping Horror’s Next Golden Age” and praised by Locus as “one of the strongest and most unique voices in contemporary horror fict... Read More →

Dacia M Arnold

AMS/ AMG Marketing Account Manager, Liquid Mind Marketing, Dacia M Arnold LLC

Rae Wilde

Rae Wilde (she/her) is a queer woman and author of dark fiction who has published numerous works under the pen name Rae Knowles. Her collection, I Do Not Apologize for My Position on Men, will re-release in July 2026 from Shortwave Publishing and her commercial fiction debut, ... Read More →

Saturday June 6, 2026 11:00am - 11:50am EDT
Butler

Horror Genre and Media

about <br>

12:00pm EDT

Lend Me Your Ears! (Not Literally): Horror Podcasting

Saturday June 6, 2026 12:00pm - 12:50pm EDT

Butler

Podcasts offer a unique way to network and connect, to promote the work of authors, and to generally strengthen bonds within the horror community. How does one grow their podcast and keep the momentum going? What are some of the dos and don’ts of podcasting that we should be more aware of? Join panelists as they share their expertise and guidance on what makes a horror podcast stand out, as well as advice for those who hope to be guests on podcasts.

Moderators

Scotty Milder

Speakers

Tiffany Michelle Brown

Author of How Lovely to Be a Woman: Stories and Poems. Co-host of the Horror in the Margins podcast.

Jeff C. Carter

Host, We Bleed Orange & Black

Jeff C. Carter’s stories have been featured in dozens of anthologies, translated for international markets and adapted for podcasts.
His love of Halloween inspires his horror writing. He lives in New Mexico with a cat, a dog and a human.

He co-hosts We Bleed Orange & Black, the... Read More →

N.J. Gallegos

ER Doc by day, horror author by night. She lives with her wife and two cats in the middle of tornado alley. She is a cohost of The Scream Kings Podcast. She has two novels, The Broken Heart and The Fatal Mind, with Winding Road Stories. Her short story collection, Time of Death: A... Read More →

Sean O'Connor

Editor - PAPER CUTS Horror Literature Column, Macabredaily.com

Creator and Editor of the PAPER CUTS Horror Literature Column at Macabredaily.com. PAPER CUTS was created to amplify and support the horror literature community. From mainstream to indie authors, this column has provided a voice for creatives to expand their audience and discuss... Read More →

Steven Van Patten

Writer/ Producer/ Stage Manager, Laughing Black Vampire Productions

Brooklyn native Steven Van Patten is the author of the critically acclaimed Brookwater’s Curse trilogy that features an 1860s Georgia plantation slave who becomes law enforcement within the vampire community. In contrast, the titular character in his Killer Genius series is a m... Read More →

Saturday June 6, 2026 12:00pm - 12:50pm EDT
Butler

Business and Craft of Writing and Publishing

1:00pm EDT

Be a Dear: Trad Wife Horror

Saturday June 6, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT

Butler

The push to maintain gendered roles in and outside of the home is nothing new; however, in the era where Roe v. Wade has been overturned, "trad wives" are trending on TikTok, and women's roles in the traditional workforce are shrinking, we are seeing a resurgence of suburban nightmares in the Horror genre. How do current events shape these stories? How have modern narratives destabilized or reinforced the mad housewife archetype? What can we learn from these works of fiction that seem all too real?

Moderators

Grace R. Reynolds

Author

GRACE R. REYNOLDS is an American speculative fiction writer. She was raised in New Jersey and graduated from Rutgers University. Having lived in seven states, she currently calls Maryland “home,” where she writes dark fiction and poetry. In addition to her short fiction, she is... Read More →

Speakers

Chloe Spencer

Minnesota native Chloe Spencer is an award winning writer, indie gamedev, and filmmaker. She is the author of multiple sapphic horror novellas, novels, and short stories. In her spare time she enjoys playing video games, trying her best at Pilates, and cuddling with her cats. She... Read More →

Sarah Langan

Sarah Langan is the three-time Bram Stoker Award Winning author of the novels Trad Wife (2026) A Better World (2024), Good Neighbors (2021), Audrey's Door (2009), The Missing (2007), and The Keeper (2006). She works in prose and film and lives in Los Angeles.

Catlyn Ladd

Writer

Catlyn Ladd loves alliteration, the poetic slip of similar sounds through throat and tongue. She blends metaphors and archetypes from the shadow self, illuminating the monsters, beautiful and horrifying, that gestate there. Her speculative fiction has been published in over a dozen... Read More →

Saratoga Schaefer

author of SERIAL KILLER SUPPORT GROUP and TRAD WIFE

(they/them) author of SERIAL KILLER SUPPORT GROUP and TRAD WIFE, as well as the upcoming THE LAST TIME WE DROWNED and A THOUSAND MONSTROUS FORMS.

Wendy Dalrymple

Wendy Dalrymple loves to explore the beauty in horrific things. Wendy is a Florida-based author of feminist #pinkhorror, gothic and romance novels published both independently and with small presses. She is the author of Birthday Party Demon, a nostalgic YA novella and Credenza, a... Read More →

Saturday June 6, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT
Butler

Horror Genre and Media

about <br>

2:00pm EDT

Adaptable Terrors: writing for page and screen

Saturday June 6, 2026 2:00pm - 2:50pm EDT

Butler

In today's constantly evolving multimedia landscape, a writer must learn how to adapt across both classical and emerging storytelling platforms. This panel brings together fiction writers and screenwriters to delve into the processes that got their work published and produced in various mediums. How does a writer decide which medium is the most appropriate outlet for their original story idea? How can a writer adapt an existing IP into a different medium? We'll discuss the differences and similarities in approaches to craft when writing short stories, novels, screenplays, television series, and more..

Moderators

Brian McAuley

Speakers

Jamie Flanagan

Writer, Editor, Actor, Freelance

Jamie Flanagan (they/them) is a WGA East screenwriter, SAG actor, HWA author, and editor. Screenwriting credits include Netflix's The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club, The Fall of the House of Usher, AMC Shudder's CREEPSHOW, Peacock's HYSTERIA!, and Amazon's... Read More →

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.

Mo Moshaty

Writer, Lecturer, Producer and Journalist, NightTide Magazine/Mourning Manor Media

John Shirley

Decades of experience in horror, television, science fiction,thriller writing, movie scripting. Strong opinions on AI, the future of our civilization, esoteric spirituality. Weird poetry.The book I won the Bram Stoker for: Black Butterflies. My new horror novel (written with Ma... Read More →

Diane Sismour

Producer/Screenwriter/Author, Author / Screenwriter

Diane Sismour keeps her fans up at night with grounded horror, thrillers, and psychological suspense. Her characters and audiences never know what perils await them or the predicaments they must resolve. She’s a member of national and local writing and screenplay groups.

Her scr... Read More →

Saturday June 6, 2026 2:00pm - 2:50pm EDT
Butler

Business and Craft of Writing and Publishing

3:00pm EDT

The Politics of Pink Horror

Saturday June 6, 2026 3:00pm - 3:50pm EDT

Butler

Why are there so many wildly popular books by male authors with female protagonists, and why can’t female authors get quite the same traction for the same subject matter? Where does “Pink Horror” fit into this and how does it challenge these ideas? Our panelists will discuss how the label "Pink Horror" emerged, what it means to them, and the impact on the intersections of horror.

Moderators

Erika T. Wurth

Writer/Professor, Flatiron/Macmillan

Speakers

Zoje Stage

Author

Zoje Stage is both an international and a USA Today bestselling author whose books have been named “Best of the Year” by Library Journal, Forbes, PopSugar, Bloody Disgusting, and more. Her debut novel, Baby Teeth, was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award. Other critically-acc... 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 →

Mikayla Randolph

writer

Mikayla Randolph (she/her) is the author of Not Your Final Girl. Her short fiction has been published in The Chamber Magazine, Watershed Review, and Coffin Bell. She lives in Monterey, California with her husband, two dogs, and an overwhelming pile of books to be read.

... Read More →

Tanya Pell

author

Tanya Pell is a narcoleptic horror author who drinks bougie coffee and lives in the American South. She is the Bram Stoker nominated-author of Her Wicked Roots, Cicada, and the upcoming This B Just Won't Die! Her short fiction can be found in Fever Dreams, Mother Knows Best, ... Read More →

Alyssa Alessi

Author•Spooktastic Book Fair creator/host

Alyssa Alessi is a writer of young adult and short fiction all inspired by the unsettling macabre aesthetic of New England. You can find her hiking any trail in the Northeast said to be haunted, roaming the oldest cemeteries with a camera in hand or thrift shopping anywhere antiques... Read More →

Celina Thompson

Celina Thompson is basically a vampire. She is a disabled author with multiple invisible illnesses which cause sunlight to be painful, require blood transfusions, and even make garlic off limits. This served as inspiration for her debut novel, Sanctuary (a #1 Amazon Best Seller in... Read More →

Saturday June 6, 2026 3:00pm - 3:50pm EDT
Butler

Horror Genre and Media

4:00pm EDT

The Calls Are Coming from Inside the Spaceship! When Horror and Science Fiction Meet

Saturday June 6, 2026 4:00pm - 4:50pm EDT

Butler

Frankenstein. The Color Out of Space. The Body Snatchers. The Day of the Triffids. Alien. The Thing. Event Horizon. Cell. When horror and science fiction join forces the limits of fear seem infinite. Join our panelists for a discussion of the classics that have defined this popular blend of genres and why it is such an effective combination. How do the elements of these distinct genres complement each other? What must writers keep in mind when bringing them together? What are some of the best examples of sci-fi/horror from the 21st century?

Moderators

Russ Colchamiro

Speakers

Deanna Sjolander

Editor, Rook Creek Press

A.C. Wise

A.C. Wise's fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld, Apex, and several Year's Best anthologies, among other places. Her work has won the Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, as well as twice being a finalist for the Sunburst Award, twice being a finalist... Read More →

Patrick Freivald

Darius Jones

Darius Jones’s stories and poems have appeared in Strange Horizons, The No Sleep Podcast, Space and Time Magazine, and Star*Line Magazine. His first book, The Books of Hours, a collection of 24 Dark Cosmic poems, was published in 2025.

Darius is a member of the HWA, the SFWA, t... Read More →

Caitlin Starling

Caitlin Starling is the nationally bestselling author of The Starving Saints, the Bram Stoker-nominated The Luminous Dead, and the upcoming Milkteeth, among others. Her work showcases her love of genre-hopping horror; her bibliography spans besieged castles, alien caves, and haunted... Read More →

Saturday June 6, 2026 4:00pm - 4:50pm EDT
Butler

Horror Genre and Media

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