Here’s a riddle for you: what took place in Connecticut last week, had nearly 800 people in attendance, and I was among the attendees? StokerCon! Yes, last week, horror writers from around the world descended upon Stamford, Connecticut. There, we had panels, a short film competition, and our annual awards show, the Bram Stoker Awards, noting superior achievement in horror from the previous calendar year.
(There was also apparently dripping goo and weird liminal spaces out of the Backrooms in the hotel, and somehow, I missed both! I’m annoyed about that, especially the weird liminal space. That would make a great YouTube video!)
As I said in a previous post, my goal for this StokerCon was to level up my writing career and get that much closer to writing full time. This would be achieved by going to panels that I thought would help me reach that goal, being on my first ever panel, and, of course, pitching The Shape of Evil to agents and editors. (Plus meeting new people whom I could network with, but I try to make that more about making new friends than trying to make new business connections.) Did I accomplish my goals? Well, let’s talk about the con and we’ll see.
Seeing all my friends (meeting new ones). One of my favorite things to do at StokerCon is just to see all my horror-writing friends. Many of us only know each other through social media, so it’s nice to meet in person or to catch up with one another when the last time we saw each other could be a year or two ago. So, of course, I did plenty of that. The hotel had a lobby and a restaurant/bar, so outside of panels, we would gather there or on the second floor (that was where most of the con stuff happened) and just talk. We catch up, discuss our lives and our projects, and just shoot the shit. It’s lovely!
Plus, there’s always new people to meet. I actually got to know quite a few people whom I’d never met before, and it was fun to ask how they were enjoying the con and what they were working on or up to with their horror writing careers. Obviously, some were already well-known within the community, but most were just like me: working stiffs who enjoy horror and hope to make our marks in the genre. I’ve connected with a lot of these people now, and I’m hopeful we can continue to be friends and support each other as we work on our stories.
Going to panels. As I said, with a few notable exceptions, the panels I went to were ones I thought would be helpful for me as I move forward in my writing career. This included a panel on getting your stories adapted for film (it nearly happened once to me, so I thought I’d get some tips in case it happened again), and on how to get along with others as a professional. This one was particularly important to me, because being on the spectrum, I often feel like everyone but me was given a rule book on social interaction at birth and I have a lot of catching up to do. I actually brought this up during the Q&A section at the end of the panel, and what I should do in case I made a mistake. The answers I received were very reassuring. Not just to me, but, as I learned afterwards, to others in the audience who also were neurodivergent and felt the same way. I even got thanked a few times for bringing the topic up, which surprised me but also made me glad I asked.
As for the other panels I went to, one was about a Jewish writer who, while not a horror writer, had some dark themes in some of his work (I’m going to have to read that at some point), and a panel on using public domain characters and stories in horror (as someone who’s seen the Winnie the Pooh and Steamboat Willie horror films, I couldn’t resist). All in all, they were very educational, and I’m glad I went to them.
The signature scavenger hunt. As you might expect, I went a little crazy in the dealer room and bought way too many books. One of the books was The Rack, edited by Tom Deady, which is pictured above. It’s an anthology of stories inspired by those vintage horror paperback covers from the 70s and 80s. I bought it directly from the editor, Tom Deady, in the dealer room, and he signed it. And then I ran into one of the writers in the anthology, Erick Nunnally, a little while after. On a spur of the moment, I asked him to sign the book where his story began, which he did. And then he suggested I get the other authors in the book who were in attendance at StokerCon to sign. Which I did.
Ultimately, I think I managed to get half the authors to sign their stories. Most of those were done during the Mass Author Signing, where you can go around a big room and get your books signed by the authors who wrote them all at once. That was fun, because I also had them sign other books they’d written I’d bought, and then got signatures from other authors whose books I had copies of. The rest were just during random meetings during the con, and they were always happy to sign.
So yeah, I spent a good portion of StokerCon on a bit of a scavenger hunt, but it was still a lot of fun, and I only missed three of the authors who were in attendance (maybe next year?). And now, I have a cool knickknack in my personal library, which I’m currently reading through and loving! So, no regrets whatsoever.
Being on my first live panel. I’ve done a few StokerCon panels in the past, but they were always pre-recorded on Zoom for the virtual audiences. And while that is great, I’ve always wanted to tackle being on a live one. Not only did I get to do just that last week, but it was on a topic I am passionate about: Authentic Representation in Horror, which was about including marginalized communities and voices in horror and how to do so. And wow, did a lot of people show up! By the end, nearly all the seats were taken. I guess other people wanted to talk about this as well.
To say the least, the conversations were illuminating. I even had a few moments where I was like, “I never thought of that.” Honestly, I want to give this panel its own blog post, so I’ll stop there, but I’ll say this: it was great being on a panel like that. I look forward to doing it again someday soon.
The pitches. I’m sure a few of you skipped ahead just to find out how this went. Yes, during StokerCon’s annual session dedicated to connecting authors with agents and editors, I did get to pitch The Shape of Evil. And you know what? I got results. Three agents and one editor asked me to send them part or all of The Shape of Evil, which I did on Monday after taking a little time to recover from all the travel (and that traveling is worth a blog post on its own).
To say the least, I am beyond happy about this result. It went way better than I thought it would go, even with practicing pitches beforehand (always recommended), and I am hopeful that at least one of them will want to help me get The Shape of Evil published. I’ll likely know something by the end of the summer. And, of course, if it all goes well, I’ll be sure to let you know.
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Ultimately, StokerCon was an amazing time for me. Sure, this year’s hotel was weird, but I had fun with friends, accomplished my goals, and made sure to celebrate everyone else’s accomplishments with them. And next year, we’re doing it again: at the end of the awards banquet, it was announced that, to control costs and to ensure StokerCon continues to go in a direction that’s as good as possible for as many people as possible, it’ll be in Pittsburgh for the next two years.
Obviously, I’m stoked, since that means I can drive there. In fact, I’ve already bought my ticket! And next year will be the 10th annual StokerCon, so it should be extra special. (Yeah, I thought it’d been around for longer, too. Color us both surprised.)
I wonder what will happen. Will I sit on another panel or two? Do a reading? Somehow get on the ballot and get to be a nominee? I guess we’ll see. In the meantime, I’ll work on getting my stories out there and meeting new readers and having plenty to talk about when I drive to Pittsburgh next year.
In the meantime, I’ll have a new blog post out Monday, so keep an eye out for that. And until then, my Followers of Fear, good night, pleasant nightmares, and have a wonderful start to your summer. I know I am.
Rami Ungar The Writer 