Annnndddd we’re back from StokerCon 2023 which was amazing. It was held in Pittsburgh this year which was nice for me because it’s a place I’m very familiar with so that helped with some of the anxiety but also because I have family there too.

We drove in Thursday, and after hitting some traffic I got in with a bit of time to spare before my reading. Honestly, I hate reading from my book. And this was even harder cause the book is meant for 9-12 year olds not the adults in the room but I survived and read the teeth scene and all was good.

I had a panel called Youthful Frights: The Importance of YA and MG writing with Lora Senf (The Clackity), Darcy Coates (Dead of Winter), Clare Withers (Special Collections Librarian) which was moderated by Robert Ottone (The Triangle). It was a really great conversation and Robert – who later went on to win a Stoker (GO ROBERT!!!) was an excellent moderator.

Friday evening there was a wonderful Short Film series. And I am not joking when I say that the second to last one had a jump scare that literally made me scream (much to Lora’s delight)

But the best part of the whole weekend was meeting writers I have known only from Twitter. I didn’t take nearly enough pictures but it was an incredible time.

Agatha from She Wore Black Podcast Katrina Monroe (Graveyard of Lost Children) Trevor Williamson (SleyHouse Publishing) Brian McAuley (Curse of the Reaper)

Kathy Palm (Into the Gray), Lora Senf (The Clackity) Clay McLeod Chapman (What Kind of Mother) and Katrina Monroe (They Drown our Daughters) Rachel Harrison (Such Sharp Teeth), Nat Cassidy (Nestlings) Stephanie Gagnon (Books in the Freezer podcast) Agatha Andrews (She Wore Black podcast) Neil McRobert (Talking Scared podcast) and Brian McAuley (Curse of the Reaper) Ally Wilkes (All The White Spaces)

And there were loads of other people that I hung our with that I didn’t get a picture. I got to see Hailey Piper again and I met Cina Pelayo (and cheered when she won her Stoker!) and Catriona Ward (which was wild cause I’m a huge fan). So many wonderful storytellers!

And then it was time for the Bram Stoker Awards! Or as we call it – Horror Prom!

My nominee badge! We’re going to Horror Prom! The lovely gift package my inlaws sent to the room! The 2022 Bram Stoker winners!

It was such an exciting night. And I was so proud to hear my name and my book title read out loud during the ceremony. My biggest congratulations to Daniel Krauss for winning the first ever middle grade Bram Stoker award. And my deep thank you to the Horror Writers Association for giving us a much deserved seat at the table. Horror is for everyone and that includes kids. I’m so proud of what Daniel, Lora, Lisa, Delilah and I did. We will always be the inaugural class for middle grade and that is special.

We don’t write stories to scare kids. We write them to show kids how brave they are. I was proud of every single writer in that room, nominated or not. Every single one of us who are brave enough to tell our stories, to peer into the dark, to know that in the darkness hope resides.