Saturday before last, The Doylestown Bookshop hosted its second annual DARK INK—a gathering of some of the areas spookies readers, writers, and book lovers. From packed panels to bustling book signings, a film screening at The County Theater, and a Fright Club nightcap at Hops/Scotch, the event proved once again that horror is at home in Bucks County.

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And speaking of home, I had the privilege of sitting on a panel alongside peers Chuck Wendig, Todd Keisling, and Nat Cassidy, moderated by Violet James McMaster, where we dug into the dark heart of horror: what draws us in and what keeps us there. The conversation was sharp, funny, and heartfelt, reminding us that horror isn’t just about scares—it’s about being home. Here, we may face the things that terrify us most, but we may also find resilience, humor, and even comfort. After all, horror isn’t just about the monsters that lurk, but about the light that refuses to go out in the face of them—the hope that keeps horror stories bleeding.

Finding hope in horror is about finding strength and courage, about fighting back and persisting, and about recognizing that the very act of reading, writing, and gathering together in spaces like this is itself a way of saying: we endure.

Hope is the thread that lets protags (and readers) fight back, hold the darkness at bay, and carve out a place for community when the odds are stacked against them. It’s taking fear by the throat and making whatever that horror is hope to survive you.

Afterward, the room buzzed with readers eager to talk horror. It was so much fun to share the signing table with Chuck Wendig, Todd Keisling, Nat Cassidy, Clay McLeod Chapman, Sam Rebelein, and Dennis Mahoney. We missed the screening of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and subsequent panel with Paul Tremblay and John Langan, but for good reason: the energy was electric.

Once the sun went down the celebration continued with Fright Night, hosted at super-cool-definitely-haunted Hops/Scotch. Conversation over horror-themed cocktails and the chance to catch-up with friends (Cynthia Pelayo! Diana Rodriguez Wallach! Christoper Golden! Peg Turley!) was the perfect way to close out the weekend—proof the horror community thrives well beyond the page.

A huge thanks to The Doylestown Bookshop for hosting, to Krisy and Peg and the entire staff and crew, to the Hops/Scotch bartenders, to my fellow authors, panelists, and moderators for their brilliance and friendship, and—most of all—to the readers, who are the true beating heart of horror.

Until next year, keep reading in the dark.

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