StokerCon kicks off tomorrow in Stamford, Connecticut, and — what’s this? I’m one of the Guests of Honor?

How did that happen?

If you’ll also be attending, here’s where you’ll be able to find me —

Horror Podcasts: Conversations That Feed the Genre
Friday June 13, 2025 9:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. Aspen 1
Join Guest of Horror Scott Edelman, host of Eating the Fantastic, and fellow panelists for a conversation on the power of podcasting to build community, preserve genre history, and spark meaningful dialogue. From one-on-one interviews to roundtable discussions and narrative formats, panelists will share their experiences creating and appearing on podcasts that deepen connections between horror creators and fans.
with Alex Hofelich, Tamika Thompson, David Cummings, and Stephanie Gagnon

The Myth of Making It
Friday June 13, 2025 10:00 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Grove 2
Surviving life as a creative. How we make ends meet. What we sacrifice and what we gain. Join our group of panelists as we talk day jobs, work/life balance, career shifts, and the many unconventional paths we walk as writers. The audience will have a look behind the curtain at some of their favorite writers while being invited to share their own experiences, as we collectively dispel the myth of making it, in a casual and candid conversation with lots of back-and-forth.
with Jamie Flanagan, Denise Tapscott, Meg Ripley, Mercedes M. Yardley, and Matthew Bartlett

What Horror Means to Me
Friday June 13, 2025 1:00 p.m. – 1:50 p.m. Grand Ballroom 1
Join StokerCon 2025’s Guests of Honor for a lively discussion about why readers of all ages enjoy a good scare, from fictional frights to all-too-true terrors.
with Lila Denning, Tim Waggoner, Gaby Triana, Adam Nevill, and Paula Guran

Perspectives in the Writing Life: From Rookie to Veteran
Saturday June 14, 2025 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Grove 2
This panel brings together StokerCon’s Guests of Honor—writers at different stages of their careers—to explore how the writing life evolves over time. From first publications to award wins, from chasing deadlines to mentoring the next generation, panelists will reflect on how their creative process, career goals, and relationship to the industry have changed over the years. How has the horror genre shifted? What challenges remain the same? What advice would they give to their younger selves—and to those just starting out today? Whether you’re a new writer looking for inspiration or a seasoned author reflecting on your journey, this conversation offers candid insights from those who’ve seen the industry grow and transform.
with John Langan, Joyce Carol Oates,Tim Waggoner, Gaby Triana, Adam Nevill, and Paula Guran

Chilling Comics
Saturday June 14, 2025 4:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. Grove 2
A discussion of horror comics, what makes them special and influential, how to break into comics writing, historical highlights of horror comics, and why some stories can only be told in the comics medium. This will look at key horror comics through history from the EC Comics of the 1950s to the Marvel horror comics of the 1970s, the Vertigo comics of the 1980s and 90s, to current horror manga by Junji Ito and Gou Tanabe. The emphasis will be on the unique storytelling aspects of the comic book format.
with Shawn Hainsworth, Alys Arden, Raymonde Chira, and Justina Ireland

You’ll also be able find me at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, the Breakfast with the Guests of Honor event … as well as in the dealers room and simply wandering the halls schmoozing.

If you do, please say hi!

With Balticon behind us, it’s time to move on StokerCon, which took place the following weekend in San Diego. I captured four conversations for you there, the first of them with Ai Jiang. And the timing couldn’t have been more perfect — for we chatted with the Bram Stoker Awards ceremony a mere two days in the future, where she was nominated in the Long Fiction category for Linghun. And even though as you’ll hear she had doubts she had a chance of winning — she won!

And that’s not the only thing she won following our conversation, for a week later, her I am AI won a Nebula Award. I am AI is also currently on the final ballot for the Hugo Award, where she’s also up for the Astounding Award for Best New Writer. But that’s not all when it comes to Ai Jiang and awards. She won an Ignyte Award for her poem “We Smoke Pollution,” received a Nebula Award nomination for her short story ““Give Me English,” was part of the Strange Horizons collective nominated for a semiprozine Hugo Award, and has been nominated for a British SF Association Award and Aurora Award as well.

Her fiction has also appeared in the magazines Fantasy & Science Fiction, Interzone, The Dark, Kaleidotrope, The Deadlands, Planet Scumm, and others, as well as in such anthologies as Fighting for the Future: Cyberpunk and Solarpunk Tales, Step Into the Light: An Anthology of Daylight Horror, and Mother: Tales of Love and Terror. Her short story collection Smol Tales From Between Worlds was published last year.

We discussed why being nominated for multiple awards may actually have made her Imposter Syndrome worse, what the Odyssey workshop taught her which helped her finish her first novel (and whether that book might be too ambitious a debut), the novels which made her want to be a writer, what makes us power on in the face of rejection, how writing is like competitive badminton, the secret to writing successful flash fiction, the book she was given which turned her from a pessimist into an optimist, what she learned from her “soul-draining” career as a ghostwriter, how an editorial suggestion turned Linghun from flash fiction into a novella, the most daunting aspects of revision, and much more.

Here’s how you can join us at Friend’s House Korean restaurant — (more…)

And so we bid farewell to StokerCon — now that you’ve enjoyed the ear candy of the lightning-round StokerCon Donut Spooktacular plus John R. Little’s awesome burger — with Kathe Koja, one of this year’s StokerCon Guests of Honor.

Kathe’s debut novel The Cipher, for which she won a Bram Stoker Award, had a tremendous impact on the horror field — as much of an impact on horror, in fact, as William Gibson’s first novel Neuromancer did on science fiction — a tremendously rare thing for a debut. She’s also written historical fiction, such as her Under the Poppy trilogy, as well as a number of young adult novels, starting with Straydog in 2002, and most recently Headlong. Her short stories have been published in Asimov’s, Weird Tales, Realms of Fantasy, F&SF, and many other magazines, plus anthologies such as Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells and Redshift: Extreme Visions of Speculative Fiction. She is the founder of nerve, a Detroit-based immersive theatre company.

We snuck away during StokerCon to San Chez Bistro. Not only is this tapas restaurant well-reviewed and highly rated, but they’re also amazingly sensitive to the needs of their guests, so much so they have multiple full specialized menus — not just a Vegan menu, but ones for soy allergies, tree nut allergies, citrus allergies, shellfish allergies and more. It’s one of the most accommodating restaurants I’ve ever visited when it comes to food preferences. My one regret from my trip to Grand Rapids is that time didn’t permit me to experience the full dinner menu.

We discussed her love of immersive theater (and dissected her previous night’s performance at StokerCon), why her groundbreaking debut novel The Cipher will always be The Funhole in her heart, what caused her to move into the YA world after her dark adult novels and why it’s harder to write for a younger audience, how she accidentally wrote her Under the Poppy trilogy, the allure of writing historical novels, how being in the presence of Kate Wilhelm at Clarion changed her life, what she got out of her many collaborations with Barry Malzberg and others, plus much, much more.

Here’s how you can eavesdrop on our conversation at San Chew Bistro — (more…)

The first episode of Eating the Fantastic to be recorded during this year’s StokerCon — but not the first to be shared with you, as I uploaded Saturday’s late-night StokerCon Donut Spooktacular immediately upon returning home — was lunch with
John R. Little at The Cottage Bar & Restaurant, a local institution which has been around since 1927.

USA Today says they serve the best burger in Michigan. But what did John and I think of it? Well, for that, you’ll have to give this episode a listen.

John’s a four-time finalist for the Bram Stoker Award, starting back with his first novel, The Memory Tree, in 2008. He won the following year in the category of Long Fiction for “Miranda,” for which he also won a Black Quill Award. His short fiction has been published in Cavalier (his first, in 1983), Twilight Zone, Weird Tales, Dark Discoveries, and other magazines, plus anthologies such as You, Human and Haunted Nights. His most recent novel is The Murder of Jesus Christ.

We discussed how seeing his sister’s portable typewriter for the first time changed his life forever, the way he launched his career by following in Stephen King’s men’s magazine footsteps, why he’s so fascinated by time and how he manages to come up with new ways of writing about that concept, which writer’s career he wanted when he grew up and how buying a copy of Carrie changed that, the reason a science major has ended up mostly writing horror, the most important thing he learned from a night school’s creative writing course, which of his new novel’s controversial aspects concerned him the most during creation, and much more.

Here’s how you can eavesdrop on our conversation at The Cottage Bar & Restaurant — (more…)

Regular listeners to Eating the Fantastic know that once a year, instead of serving up the usual well-researched one-on-one conversations which make up most of this podcast’s ear candy, I opt for total anarchy, plopping myself down in a heavily trafficked area of a con with a dozen donuts and chatting with anybody who’s game to trade talk for sugar and grease. It’s totally spontaneous, as I never know to whom I’ll speak until they pass by and their eyes light up at the sight of a free donut.

In 2016, you were invited to eavesdrop on the Readercon Donut Spectacular, in 2017 the Balticon Donut Extravaganza, and last year the Nebula Awards Donut Jamboree. Now it’s time for the StokerCon Donut Spooktacular!

Late Saturday night, I sat down with an assorted dozen from The Donut Conspiracy in Grand Rapids accompanied by the usual sign explaining the setup, and found no shortage of willing guests.

Join us as Michael Bailey describes his novel inspired by a fire which turned his home to ashes in seven minutes, Geoffrey A. Landis shares about the Sherlock Holmes/Jack the Ripper horror story he published in the science fiction magazine Analog, Brian Keene explains why he chose last weekend to finally reappear at an HWA event, Wile E. Young tells why he thinks of the Road Runner whenever a story gets rejected, Anton Cancre reveals which guest that weekend earned most of his squee, and Wesley Southard offers his schtick for selling books when stuck behind a dealers table at a con.

Plus Erik T. Johnson gives an unexpected (but perfectly logical) answer when asked about one of the perks of StokerCon, Patrick Freivald looks back on how his horror career began via a collaboration with his twin brother, Josh Malerman recounts how he replaced readings with full blown Bird Box interactive performances and how an audience of 85-year-olds reacted, Asher Ellis shares how the Stonecoast MFA program made him a better writer, Kennikki Jones-Jones discusses her Final Frame award-winning short film Knock Knock, Eugene Johnson celebrates his Bram Stoker Award win that night for It’s Alive: Bringing Your Nightmares to Life, and much, much more!

Here’s how you can dig into those donuts with us— (more…)

The fourth annual StokerCon is only five weeks away! I’ve been to the first three — in Las Vegas, Long Beach, and Providence — and I intend to be at the latest one in Grand Rapids as well.

If you’ll also be attending, here’s where you’ll be able to find me —

Rise of the Pod(cast) People
Thursday, May 9, 5:00 p.m-6:00 p.m.
Podcasting is growing into an entertainment powerhouse. Horror-focused podcasts have been around for over 10 years, new pods are entering the field, and nearly every pro-paying magazine has added a podcast as part of their platform. Formats range from audio magazines to horror news, film and book discussions, author interviews, fancasts, and fully-dramatized serials. How do creators distinguish themselves from the pack, get funding, and grow their audience? Are there opportunities for under-represented authors and subgenres? Aside from delivering pure, unadulterated fear directly to your brain, what other opportunities do podcasts offer the horror community?
with S. Kay Nash, Brian Keene, Tonia Thompson, Karen Bovenmyer, and Lisa Kroger

Librarians Day — Podcasting 101
Friday, May 10, 2:15 p.m.-3:15 p.m.
Join award winning Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror writer and editor, as well as podcaster [Eating the Fantastic] Scott Edelman as he moderates a panel about those who have started their own successful podcasts and YouTube book channels. Already confirmed to appear is author and podcaster Brian Keene, as well as Lisa Quigley and Mackenzie Kiera, the team behind the popular Ladies of the Fright podcast.
with Mackenzie Kiera, Lisa Quigley, and Brian Keene

Reading
Saturday, May 11, 2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.
I haven’t yet decided which story to read. If you’re in the audience, I might ask you to choose!
with Marc Abbott and Steve van Patten

For an as yet unspecified hour or two, you’ll also be able to find me in the lobby handing out donuts! But there’ll be a catch …

As part of my Eating the Fantastic podcast, I’ve hosted one donut-related lightning-round episode each of the past three years — the Readercon Donut Spectacular, the Balticon Donut Extravaganza, and the Nebula Awards Donut Jamboree — and I’ve decided to record one again during StokerCon.

I won’t know when and where I’ll let the sugary anarchy reign, not until I’m on site and have scoped out the con, but if you want to be in on the action, follow my Twitter feed for an announcement once the con begins.

Hope to see you there!

It’s time to head to Providence, Rhode Island for the final episode of Eating the Fantastic recorded during this year’s StokerCon, following my Italian lunch with Paul Di Filippo and a Portuguese dinner with Victor LaValle.

This episode I wandered off with one of the con’s Guests of Honor, Elizabeth Massie, for lunch at Apsara, a restaurant which serves up Cambodian, Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese cuisine. Massie made her first professional fiction sale 35 years ago, and since then has won two Bram Stoker Awards for the critically acclaimed novels and short stories which followed.

We discussed why Bionic Woman Lindsay Wagner is the one to thank for her Stoker Award-winning first novel Sineater, how reading Robert Bloch’s Psycho at a young age was like a knife to her heart, which episode of Twilight Zone scared the crap out of her, why you’ll probably never get to read her Millennium and Law & Order novels, her nearly impossible task of writing one spooky book for each of the 50 states in the U.S, why Kolchak: The Night Stalker was her favorite franchise to play in, the great-great grandfather who cut off his own head with a homemade guillotine, which Dark Shadows secret was only revealed in her tie-in novel, and much more.

Here’s how you can chow down on steamed pork buns with us— (more…)

It’s time to head back to Providence, Rhode Island for the third annual StokerCon—and for dinner with award-winning writer Victor LaValle.

My story “That Perilous Stuff” was up against his “The Ballad of Black Tom” for a Bram Stoker Award in the Long Fiction category last year, and it was such a powerful piece of work, I was sure he was going to win. Well, neither of us won, but that doesn’t make his story any less amazing. In fact, it’s so amazing AMC recently announced it’s planning a TV adaptation, with LaValle as co-executive producer. Among his critically acclaimed novels are Big Machine—which won the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel in 2009, the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, plus an American Book Award in 2010—and The Changeling—which was selected as one of 2017’s ten best books by the New York Public Library.

We stole away on the Friday night of StokerCon for O Dinis, one of the many Portuguese restaurants in Rhode Island, which I’ve been told contains the largest Portuguese-American population in the United States. I was extremely impressed with the restaurant. The food was delicious, and our server took great care of us, making us feel like part of a family, as if we were in someone’s home, not a restaurant. It was my favorite food experience of the weekend, and I’ll definitely try to return the next time I’m in Providence. Their hospitality was much appreciated!

We discussed the lunch during which his editor and publisher helped make The Changeling a better book, the graphic novel which made him fall in love with the X-Men, which magazine sent him the best rejection letter he ever received, why reading Clive Barker’s “Midnight Meat Train” for the first time was glorious, the differing reactions his readers have depending on whether they come from genre or literary backgrounds, the unusual way a short story collection became his first publication, why he was so uncertain of his critically acclaimed “The Ballad of Black Tom” that he almost published it online for free, the reason so many writers are suddenly reassessing H. P. Lovecraft, how his graphic novel The Destroyer came to be, and much more.

Here’s how you can dive into a bowl of tripe and beans with us— (more…)

It’s time to head to Providence, Rhode Island for the third annual StokerCon, where I was able to break bread with three fascinating creators—long-time friend Paul Di Filippo, plus two of the con’s Guests of Honor, Victor LaValle and Elisabeth Massie.

Paul Di Filippo has published more than than 200 short stories—which as you’ll hear, I teased him about as conversation began—and has appeared in such magazines as Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction,  Interzone, and many others. Some of those stories have been collected in The Steampunk Trilogy, Ribofunk, Fractal Paisleys, Lost Pages, Little Doors, Strange Trades, Babylon Sisters, and many, many others. And then there are the novels, such as Ciphers, Joe’s Liver, Fuzzy Dice, A Mouthful of Tongues, and Spondulix. He’s been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, British Science Fiction Association, Philip K. Dick, Wired magazine, and World Fantasy awards. He was also my go-to reviewer back when I edited Science Fiction Age and then, for the Syfy Channel’s Science Fiction Weekly.

Paul’s the one who suggested Angelo’s Civita Farnese as our venue. The Italian restaurant was opened in Providence 1924 by Angelo Mastrodicasa. Paul’s entree of french fries with meatballs, a combination I’ve never seen before, turned out to be one of Angelo’s signature dishes, started during the Depression as a way for customers to fill up without emptying their wallets.

We discussed why the first story he ever wrote was Man from U.N.C.L.E. fan fiction, the pact he made with a childhood friend which explains why he owns none of the Marvel Comics he read as a kid, what caused the editor who printed his debut story to make the bold claim it would be both his first and last published piece of fiction, how his life changed once he started following Ray Bradbury’s rule of writing at least 1,000 words per day, why he’s written so much alternate history and for which famous person he’s had the most fun imagining a different life, why after a career in science fiction and fantasy he’s begun a series of mystery novels, what happened to the never-published Batman story he sold DC Comics which we never got to see, and much more.

Here’s how you can share cannolis with us— (more…)

I’ve often joked that when I travel to conventions, I’m not entirely sure whether I’m actually traveling for the conventions themselves, or I’m just traveling to try new restaurants, and there only coincidentally happens to be a convention going on at the same time in that city.

I say “joked,” but really—I think I’ve only been half joking.

I hate having a “meh” restaurant experience. I hate wasting a meal. I hate eating in hotel, because they tell you nothing about a city. I’m sure the McCormick & Schmick’s inside the Providence Biltmore, which is where this year’s StokerCon was being held, would have served perfectly acceptable food. But once inside, how would I have known I was in Providence rather than Chicago? I would have learned nothing about the city.

And so, before attending any convention, I do my research, some of which I share with the Patreon supporters of my Eating the Fantastic podcast. Here are last weekend’s eight meals, three of which were venues for recording future episodes of that podcast, and one of which was, alas, outside of my control.

Angelo’s Civita Farnese

Angelo’s, where I recorded with Paul Di Filippo, has been serving Southern Italian food since 1924. You’ll get to see the full photo set from that meal as soon as Paul’s episode goes live, but I was particularly impressed by its take on calamari, which is so often pretty much the same all over. The Angelo’s version was tossed with hot pepper rings, olives, roasted red peppers, and more, and was a welcome change from the usual. (more…)