StokerCon 2026

Hi! I'm Michelle, a horror fan, journalist, and constant reader based on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. For the past decade, I've covered arts and culture for national publications including Smithsonian, Wired, The Atlantic, Vox, LitHub, and Catapult, among others.

But my relationship to writing transformed (for the better) in 2025 when I began covering horror. Over the past year, I've written somewhere in the neighborhood of 90,000 words for my weekly newsletter, Scare Me! From interviews with Nat Cassidy, Neil McRobert, Night Worms' Sadie Hartmann and Ashley Saywers, and more, to recommendations and reflections on the genre, I have absolutely loved becoming part of the horror community. The newsletter prompted me to also begin posting on Instagram and TikTok under @scare.me.reads. I'm currently developing a horror fiction podcast that will feature artwork by Chris Panatier.

Outside of my self-published work, I've had a lot of fun dusting off my freelance journalism skills and connecting with indie horror media. My interview with Lucy Rose was featured in Issue 004 of Phantasmag, a wonderful London-based print magazine, and I recently joined Macabre Daily as a book reviewer.

I love all things scary, with a special fondness for practical effects, queer horror, and stories that explore the aftermath of trauma. I'll be bringing a free zine with me to Stokercon, so please feel free to say hi and grab one!