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A Word About Our Guests… |
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Peter Straub |
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Peter Straub is the author of seventeen novels, which have been translated into more than twenty languages. They include Ghost Story, Koko, Mr. X, In the Night Room, and two collaborations with Stephen King, The Talisman and Black House. He has written two volumes of poetry and two collections of short fiction, and he edited the Library of America’s edition of H. P. Lovecraft’s Tales and the forthcoming Library of America’s 2-volume anthology, American Fantastic Tales. He has won the British Fantasy Award, eight Bram Stoker Awards, two International Horror Guild Awards, and two World Fantasy Awards. In 1998, he was named Grand Master at the World Horror Convention. In 2006, he was given the HWA’s Life Achievement Award. In 2008, he was given the Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award by Poets & Writers. |
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"Peter Straub is a master at blurring the supernatural, the real-world-scary and the monsters in your psyche." — The Plain Dealer |
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David Morrell |
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"David Morrell is a master of suspense. He wields it like a stiletto — knows just where to stick it and how to turn it. If you're reading Morrell, you're sitting on the edge of your seat." — Michael Connelly |
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David Morrell is known for extending the boundaries of what horror can be. The author of First Blood, the award-winning novel in which Rambo was created, he holds a PhD in American literature from Penn State University and taught in the English department at the University of Iowa. “The mild-mannered professor with the bloody-minded visions,” as one reviewer called him, Morrell has written numerous best-selling novels that blend thrillers and horror. These include The Brotherhood of the Rose (the basis for a top-rated NBC miniseries), Creepers, Scavenger, and The Shimmer.
His short stories have appeared in many of the major horror anthologies, including the Whispers, Shadows, Night Visions, and Masters of Darkness series as well as The Twilight Zone Magazine, Prime Evil, Metahorror, Revelations, and 999. He received three Stoker awards and was nominated for two others as well as for two World Fantasy awards. The Totem was selected for Horror: 100 Best Books. His short fiction has been featured in numerous Year’s Best horror anthologies. His The Successful Novelist, discusses what he has learned during his four decades as an author. |
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Gillian Flynn is the breakout author of two critically-acclaimed novels — Sharp Objects and Dark Places. Objects was shortlisted for the Edgar Award, won two of Britain's Dagger Awards and is being developed as a feature film, while Places became a New York Times bestseller, was named a Weekend TODAY “Top Summer Read” and one of The New Yorker’s Favorites of 2009, and went on to win Dark Scribe Magazine’s Black Quill Award for Dark Genre Novel of the Year.
A self-described “movie geek with a journalism degree”, Flynn moved to New York City after earning her master’s degree from Northwestern University and joined Entertainment Weekly magazine, where she wrote happily for 10 years, visiting film sets around the world (to New Zealand for The Lord of the Rings, to Prague for The Brothers Grimm, to somewhere off the highway in Florida for Jackass: The Movie). During her last four years at EW, Flynn was the magazine’s TV critic. She currently lives in Chicago with her husband and a rather giant black cat named Roy.
Her third novel, the psychological thriller Gone Girl, will be published in fall 2010. |
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“Gillian Flynn is the real deal, a sharp, acerbic, and compelling storyteller with a knack for the macabre.” — Stephen King |
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Gillian Flynn |
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“Clegg is the best horror writer of the post-Stephen King generation.” — Bentley Little |
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Douglas Clegg wrote his first novel in Los Angeles. It was called Goat Dance, and was sold in 1987, and published in 1989 by Simon & Schuster’s Pocket Books — launching Clegg’s career as a novelist. He began writing a book a year — sometimes more — from then on, as well as dozens of short stories. He has primarily written supernatural fiction — from horror to fantasy to psychological suspense with a paranormal edge. His fiction-writing career currently spans about 20 years of constant writing and publication. Since then, he’s seen more than 20 books published — and they keep coming. His fiction has won the Bram Stoker Award, the International Horror Guild Award, and the Shocker Award.
In 1999, Douglas Clegg launched the Internet’s (and world’s) first publisher-sponsored e-serial novel. Called Naomi, Clegg later went on to sell both hardcover and paperback rights. A year later, Clegg’s short novel Purity became one of the most-downloaded fiction eBooks on the internet — reaching more than 100,000 readers in its first year on the internet. In 2001, Purity became the world’s-first fiction to appear on a cell phone — and was nicknamed an M-Book at the time (for Mobile).
Clegg’s latest release, Neverland, is a southern gothic tale of family secrets and childhood games gone awry and a novel author Bentley Little has compared it to the beloved novel To Kill a Mockingbird “as a classic modern novel that illuminates the human condition through the eyes of a child.”
Additionally, he’s been Director of Marketing for a publisher, editor for a bookstore’s website, a marketing consultant for publishers, publicity firms, and booksellers — and a wrangler for the cats, dogs and rabbits that have occupied his home. He has also co-authored the book Buzz Your Book with M.J. Rose, with whom he’s also written a screenplay. He currently lives on the coast of New England with Raul Silva, his legally-wedded husband and business partner. |
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Dacre Stoker |
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"Energetically paced and packed with outrageously entertaining action, this supernatural thriller is a well-needed shot of fresh blood for the Dracula mythos." —Publishers Weekly |
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Dacre Stoker, a Canadian citizen and resident of the United States, is the great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker. He is also the godson of H.G. Dacre Stoker, the commander of the AE2 submarine, whose tactics were instrumental in Gallipoli in World War I.
Dacre, who now calls Aiken, South Carolina home, was a member of the Canadian Men's Modern Pentathlon Team, Senior World Championships in 1979 and coach of the Canadian Men's Modern Pentathlon Olympic Team, Seoul, South Korea in 1988. Dacre is married to Jenne Stoker and is the father of two children. He is the Executive Director of the Aiken Land Conservancy.
Bram Stoker's Dracula is the prototypical horror novel, an inspiration for the world's seemingly limitless fascination with vampires. Though many have tried to replicate Stoker's horror classic-in books, television shows, and movies, only the 1931 Bela Lugosi film bore the Stoker family's support. Until now.
Written with the blessing and cooperation of Stoker family members, Dracula The Un-Dead is a bone-chilling sequel based on Bram Stoker's own handwritten notes for characters and plot threads excised from the original edition. Dracula: The Un-Dead, Dacre's literary debut, is a 2010 Thriller Award nominee for Best First Novel. |
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Anthony Timpone |
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Anthony Timpone is best known to genre fans as the longtime editor of both Fangoria Magazine and its website, Fangoria.com. He began working with the publication in 1985 and enjoyed an unprecedented 25-year run until February of 2010.
In the early 1990s, Timpone helped guide the first three Fangoria movies for Columbia TriStar Home Video: Mindwarp, Children of the Night, and Severed Ties. In the early-to-mid 2000s, he served as an acquisitions chief for Fangoria’s various video labels. In addition, he was a producer/interviewer for Fangoria TV’s Screamography, a consulting producer/recurring guest on the now-defunct Fangoria Radio show with Dee Snider and Debbie Rochon, and the co-producer and long-time Master of Ceremonies of Fangoria's popular Weekend of Horrors conventions.
Since 1993, Timpone has helped program international horror/fantasy festivals in Milan, Italy and Montreal, Canada. Before its closing, Timpone programmed and hosted The Two Boots Pioneer Theater's monthly "Monster Mondays" film series.
Timpone has been a frequent media spokesman for the horror industry, appearing on MTV, Nightline, Geraldo, Entertainment Tonight, Showbiz Today, CBS Evening News, and numerous documentaries. In the autumn of 2004, he served as a producer on Bravo’s five-hour documentary series The 100 Scariest Movie Moments.
Timpone now runs Fangoria's burgeoning Video-on-Demand network and continues to serve as the magazine’s Editor Emeritus. |
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"Deena Warner is a supremely talented artist who is also able to transfer her aesthetic vision to website design — a rare talent, indeed." —W.D. Gagliani |
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Deena Warner |
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Deena Warner has been illustrating books and magazines for over ten years for publishing companies including Earthling Publications, Cemetery Dance, Dark Scribe Press, and Thunderstorm Books. |
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We are immeasurably pleased to announce our Guests of Honor for Stoker Weekend 2011. In selecting our guests, our aim was to provide convention attendees with a sampling of the incredible variety of professional, successful authors working in the field of dark fiction today.
Echoing the convention theme, these writers reflect the many shades and variations of the genre in which we write and read. From horror legends to thriller bestsellers, from literary darlings to cult favorites, and including a real-life descendent of Bram Stoker himself, our roster of convention guests is uniquely unparalleled and will provide a once-in-a-lifetime experience for convention goers.
Each of our Guests of Honor will be center stage during an unscripted forty-five minute ‘Graveside Chat’ during which they will be interviewed about their legendary careers and works. Audience members will have a chance to ask questions about their career, thoughts on craft, and whatever else comes to mind. Each ‘Graveside Chat’ will be followed by a one-hour book signing, so be sure to bring copies of all your favorites for our guests to sign!
Each of these writers and artists have made a successful career out of thinking outside the genre box, and we are very excited to have them share their strategies, thoughts, and insights with each of you.
Without further ado, our Guests of Honor: |
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Douglas Clegg |
