StokerCon 2026

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 modern day hyper-intelligent black woman who uses high-end technology as a socially conscious serial killer.
SVP’s well reviewed short fiction includes contributions to nearly a dozen horror anthologies, including the Bram Stoker Award nominated Under Twin Suns, Even in The Grave and multiple appearances in Tales from The Canyons of The Damned and Soul Scream Antholozine. A collection of short horror stories, Hell at The Way Station, published by his company Laughing Black Vampire Productions, and co-authored by celebrated storyteller, Marc Abbott. The sequel, Hell at Brooklyn Tea, which introduces sword and sorcery writer Kirk Johnson, was released in early 2021.
In 2020, Laughing Black Vampire Productions also published an e-book on the growing of medicinal marijuana. Growth: The Basics of Our Gardens written by former MTV VJ Ray Munns, took the number one spot in new releases in the Home and Gardening category during its first days on Amazon.
Among the plethora of honors and accolades, SVP won three African American Literary Awards in 2019, two for Hell at The Way Station (Best Anthology and Best in Science Fiction) and one for Best Independent Publisher. He’s written about everything from sleep demons to the Harlem Hellfighters of WWI for episodes of the YouTube series’ Extra Credit.  He’s also been a contributing comedy writer for Viral Vignettes, a YouTube series benefitting the Actor’s Fund. His sketch Bandmates, starring TV legend Max Gail, won Best Comedy Skit in the 1stMonthly Film Festival and earned a Special Mention in the Original Screenplay category.
He’s easy to find on Facebook but goes by @svpthinks on Instagram. When he’s not writing, he can be found stage managing The Tonight Show/ w Jimmy Fallon among other TV broadcasts. Along with being a member of the New York Chapter of The Horror Writer’s Association, he’s also a member of The Director’s Guild of America and professional arts fraternity, Gamma Xi Phi. His website is www.laughingblackvampire.com.