Guests

  • John Joseph Adams

    John Joseph Adams

    John Joseph Adams is the bestselling editor of the horror anthologies The Living Dead, The Living Dead 2, By Blood We Live, and Wastelands. He is also the editor of the new horror magazine Nightmare.

    His other anthologies include Other Worlds Than These, Armored, Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom, Brave New Worlds, Federations, The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and The Way of the Wizard. Forthcoming work includes The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination (Tor Books, Jan. 2013), Dead Man’s Hand (Titan Books, 2013), and Robot Uprisings (co-edited with Daniel H. Wilson, 2013).

    John is a four-time finalist for the Hugo Award and a three-time finalist for the World Fantasy Award. He has been called “the reigning king of the anthology world” by Barnes & Noble, and his books have been lauded as some of the best anthologies of all time. John is also the editor and publisher of Lightspeed Magazine, and is the co-host of Wired.com’s The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast.

    For more information, visit his website at johnjosephadams.com, and you can find him on Twitter @johnjosephadams.

    HWA President Rocky Wood said, “John Joseph Adams is the type of anthology editor readers love – they know each of his books will be filled with well-written, interesting tales to captivate them during their precious reading hours. We are very pleased that John has accepted our invitation to be World Horror Convention Guest of Honor, where he is likely to find 300 horror writers, all eager to impress him with their wares!”

  • Bruce Boston

    Bruce Boston

    Bruce Boston is the author of fifty books and chapbooks, including the novels The Guardener's Tale and Stained Glass Rain. His poetry and fiction have appeared in hundreds of publications, including Asimov's SF Magazine, Amazing Stories, Weird Tales, Strange Horizons, Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, and The Nebula Awards Showcase. One of the leading genre poets for more than a quarter century, Bruce has won a record four Bram Stoker Awards® for Poetry, a record six Asimov's Readers Awards for Poetry, and a record seven Rhysling Awards from the Science Fiction Poetry Association (SFPA). He received the first Grandmaster Award of the SFPA in 1999. His fiction has received a Pushcart Prize and been a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in a Novel and the Micro Award for flash fiction. Bruce lives in Ocala, Florida, once known as the City of Trees, with his wife, writer-artist Marge Simon, and the ghosts of two cats. Visit his website at www.bruceboston.com.

    HWA President Rocky Wood said, “Bruce is one of the most respected genre poets of recent decades. His work is original, compelling and challenging. We are pleased he has agreed to share his knowledge and experience as a poet with the Convention and I know attendees will be looking forward to his Guest of Honor panel and his readings. It will be interesting to hear him expound on how he composes across genres and also writes prose, including award nominated novels. As well as being highly awarded Bruce is well known for giving back to the genre through his active participation in the Horror Writers Association and tirelessly working to promote the poetic form.”

    “We are proud to have a Poet Guest of Honor, which recognizes the importance poetry has always played in the horror genre and undoubtedly always will,” Wood added.

  • Ramsey Campbell

    Ramsey Campbell

    The Oxford Companion to English Literature describes Ramsey Campbell as "Britain’s most respected living horror writer". He has been given more awards than any other writer in the field, including the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Horror Writers Association (HWA), the Grand Master Award of the World Horror Convention and the Living Legend Award of the International Horror Guild.

    The Horror Writers Association is proud to announce Ramsey Campbell as our first Guest of Honor for the Bram Stoker Awards™ Weekend 2013, to be held in New Orleans from June 13-16 2013. HWA President Rocky Wood said, “Ramsey is a truly a legend in horror. As one of our Lifetime Achievement Award winners we couldn’t be more pleased to confirm him as our first Guest of Honor for the Weekend. He has kindly agreed to participate in all aspects of the Convention, including a one-on-one in-depth interview; panels; our mass signing and presenting during the iconic Bram Stoker Awards® Banquet. It is also pleasing that we continue our expanding international focus with a major British Guest, building on such innovations as hold the Awards Banquet in England in 2010, Canada in 2007 and significant membership growth in countries such as Italy and Australia.”

    Among Ramsey Campbell’s novels are The Face That Must Die, Incarnate, Midnight Sun, The Count of Eleven, Silent Children, The Darkest Part of the Woods, The Overnight, Secret Story, The Grin of the Dark, Thieving Fear, Creatures of the Pool, The Seven Days of Cain and Ghosts Know. Forthcoming is The Kind Folk. His collections include Waking Nightmares, Alone with the Horrors, Ghosts and Grisly Things, Told by the Dead and Just Behind You, and his non-fiction is collected as Ramsey Campbell, Probably. His novels The Nameless and Pact of the Fathers have been filmed in Spain. His regular columns appear in Prism, All Hallows, Dead Reckonings and Video Watchdog. He is the President of the British Fantasy Society and of the Society of Fantastic Films.

    Ramsey Campbell lives on Merseyside in the UK with his wife Jenny. His pleasures include classical music, good food and wine, and whatever’s in that pipe. His web site is at www.ramseycampbell.com.

    (Photo by Peter Coleborn)


  • Glenn Chadbourne

    Glenn Chadbourne

    Glenn Chadbourne is a freelance artist specializing in the horror/dark fantasy genres. His artwork has appeared in over fifty books as well as numerous magazines, comics, and computer games. His trademark pen and ink illustrations have accompanied the works of today's best-selling horror writers, most notably Stephen King. He created the extensive artwork that appears in both volumes of King's The Secretary of Dreams, as well as PS Publishing's edition of The Colorado Kid. Chadbourne has a longstanding relationship with Cemetery Dance Publications where a great body of his work can be seen in various books published by the company. He lives in Newcastle, Maine with his wife, Sheila, and their pug dog, Rocket.

    For more information, visit his website at www.glennchadbourne.com. For a gallery of Glenn's work, please click here.

    HWA President Rocky Wood said, "Glenn Chadbourne is a quiet achiever with a truly unique artistic style. I am fortunate to know him well - he is a character, a Mainer through and through and a true gentleman. He illustrated my first graphic novel, enhancing every word with astounding new views of such iconic characters as Frankenstein's monster and Count Dracula, as well as authors such as Mary Shelley and HWA's old friend, Bram Stoker. We are proud to have Glenn as WHC's Artist Guest of Honor. Attendees are in for a real treat, viewing his artwork and getting to know the huge personality that is Glenn."

    (Above image is from Horrors!: Great Tales of Fear and Their Creators; photo of Glenn Chadbourne by Sherwood Olin, The Lincoln County News(Maine))

  • Caitlin R. Kiernan

    Caitlin Kiernan

    The New York Times recently called Caitlín R. Kiernan “one of our essential writers of dark fiction.” She is the author of various dark-fantasy novels, beginning with Silk and followed by Threshold, Low Red Moon, The Five of Cups, Murder of Angels, Daughter of Hounds, and The Red Tree. Her ninth novel, The Drowning Girl: A Memoir, was released in April 2012.

    In 2011, Subterranean Press released Two Worlds and In Between: The Best of Caitlín R. Kiernan (Volume 1), a retrospective of her short fiction from 1993-2004 (a second volume is planned for 2014). Publisher’s Weekly declared the collection one of the six best F/SF works of 2011. Two of her novellas have appeared as short hardbacks: In the Garden of Poisonous Flowers and The Dry Salvages. She has also worked in comics, scripting thirty-eight issues of the DC/Vertigo comic The Dreaming, along with two mini-series: The Girl Who Would Be Death and Bast: Eternity Game. In April 2012, she returned to comics and graphic novels, writing Alabaster, which features her albino monster-slayer, Dancy Flammarion. Her next novel, Blood Oranges, will be released in 2013. Illustrated versions of The Red Tree and The Drowning Girl: A Memoir will be published in 2013 and 2014.

    Born in Dublin, Ireland, Kiernan was raised in the south-eastern US, and now lives in Providence, Rhode Island with her partner.

    HWA President Rocky Wood said, "Caitlín R. Kiernan's reputation increases with every novel, graphic novel and short story she releases. She has received multiple Bram Stoker Award®, British Fantasy Award, World Fantasy Award and Shirley Jackson Award nominations. She is a worthy Author Guest of Honor for World Horror Convention and we look forward to her sharing more about her career to date, the importance of dark fantasy and her plans for the future.”

    Please visit Caitlin's website at www.caitlinrkiernan.com.

    (Photo of Caitlin R. Kiernan by Kyle Cassidy)

  • Jonathan Maberry

    Jonathan Maberry

    Jonathan Maberry is a New York Times best-selling author, multiple Bram Stoker Award® winner, and Marvel Comics writer. His novels include Assassin’s Code, Flesh & Bone, Ghost Road Blues, Rot & Ruin, Dust & Decay, Patient Zero, The Wolfman and many others. His Non-fiction books include Ultimate Jujutsu, The Cryptopedia, Zombie CSU, Wanted Undead Or Alive and others. He’s the editor/co-author of V-Wars, a vampire-themed anthology; and was a featured expert on The History Channel special Zombies: A Living History. Since 1978 he’s sold more than 1200 magazine feature articles, 3000 columns, two plays, greeting cards, song lyrics, and poetry. His comics include Captain America: Hail Hydra, Doomwar, Marvel Zombies Return and Marvel Universe vs. The Avengers. He teaches the Experimental Writing for Teens class, is the founder of the Writers Coffeehouse, and co-founder of The Liars Club. Jonathan lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania with his wife, Sara and their dog, Rosie. You can find him on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook or at his author website: www.jonathanmaberry.com.

    HWA President Rocky Wood said, “Jonathan is proof positive that a talented, hard-working writer can achieve both sales and critical break-through even in the difficult publishing environment writers have been facing over recent years. Since moving into the horror genre and winning the Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in a First Novel for 2006, he has published at a rate that would challenge even Stephen King! He has built a strong following in the booming Young Adult market as well as the adult horror and thriller genres, has proven to be a very effective marketer of his own work and a strong supporter of the HWA, paying back to the genre. I expect those attending the Bram Stoker Awards® Weekend will learn a lot from Jonathan about cross genre writing, planning a writer’s work day, and marketing; and that they will be infected by his all-round enthusiasm for our profession and life in general.”


  • Jeff Strand

    Jeff Strand

    The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is proud to announce Jeff Strand will emcee the 2013 Bram Stoker Awards® Banquet and also act as Toastmaster at the World Horror Convention 2013. Both of these events are part of the Bram Stoker Awards Weekend, to be held in New Orleans from June 13-16, 2013.

    Jeff has emceed four of the past five Bram Stoker Awards® banquets (he couldn’t make it to Brighton, dammit!), and is thrilled to be back for a fifth time. His books include Pressure (which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award® but did not win), Dweller (which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award® but did not win), Gleefully Macabre Tales (which was nominated for but DID...not win), and also such non-Bram Stoker Award®-nominated books as Wolf Hunt, Fangboy, Lost Homicidal Maniac (Answers to “Shirley”), and Benjamin’s Parasite. His latest novel, A Bad Day for Voodoo, will be out in June 2012. You can visit his Gleefully Macabre website at http://www.jeffstrand.com.

    HWA President Rocky Wood said, “Anyone who’s ever been to one of our Awards Banquets hosted by Jeff knows what a treat they are in for. Jeff is the funniest straight man I have ever seen, or heard from, or run screaming down a corridor from.”

    Check out part of Jeff’s last appearance at the Bram Stoker Awards® Banquet in Salt Lake City 2012, here (thanks to Scott Edelman).