StokerCon 2026: A Recap from an Introverted First-Timer

Behind the PagesEvents
Written By Christopher Ruíz

Two days ago, I returned home from my StokerCon roadtrip. It was my first time attending this or any writers’ conference, so I have some things to share from that perspective. As StokerCon 2027 will be held at the same hotel as 2026, I will be including my experiences with travel and the hotel, as well as some tips on things to bring.

First, let me say that I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to attend StokerCon’s 10th anniversary in Pittsburgh. Writers are famously an impoverished bunch, and I recognize the privilege I have in being able to afford the expenses of such an experience. I’ll add up the costs later on, for those interested.

In this post, I’ll recap each day from my introvert’s point of view, list the books I received, the people I met, and the things I recommend bringing.

Day 0 (Wed)

I rolled in at the end of a 10-hour drive, and despite feeling the exhaustion of such a drive, I was bursting with excitement to meet my people. And there they were, congregating in the lobby, groups of nerds in black attire, glasses on almost every pair of anxious and excited, if not travel-weary, eyes, books in hands, packs on backs, and luggage in tow.

I checked in, was given an already occupied room, swapped into an unoccupied room, and then parked my car.

Here now began the plight of the introvert.

I returned to the lobby, which had a burger restaurant by the entrance. There was live music, a crowd at the bar, and a few large tables of large groups of writers. I checked for any open seats at the bar, of which there were none, and I reluctantly asked for a table. I ate a good meal, though I ate it in solitude. No worries, there was always tomorrow.

Day 1 (Thur)

Registration: I was surprised to see the size of the line for registration, which was listed to run noon to 1900 but we writers, burdened by excitement, rushed in hordes to get our badges at the earliest possibility, and so I waited roughly 40 minutes to get my name badge and a swag bag which included four books: Something Followed Us Home, Rooted, Our Cut of Salt, and the StokerCon 2026 Souvenir Anthology (links below). I did feel a little overdressed upon seeing my fellow attendees, me in a freshly ironed dress shirt amongst a crowd of horror-branded tees and band shirts. But it was my first writers’ con and I was unsure of the expectations. For those attending next year, maybe consider gathering up about half an hour early and see if you can strike up conversations with the other early birds.

Readings/Panels: I started the day with author readings before heading into panels. There were some wonderful panelists, with Alma Katsu and Nick Cutter among those discussing aquatic horrors.

As it was on Day 0, I found it difficult to socialize. I smiled and said hello and such but the needle never moved beyond a casual greeting. And I feel these types of cons really require more than a brief handshake to get your money's worth out of them, so I set my mind on making con friends.

Opening Ceremony: The opening ceremony was held in one of the 3rd floor ballrooms. I was one of the first to enter and took a guess at which table would be near the front, ultimately ending up at the very back. I didn't see this as an issue until later on. There was food up for grabs and a cash bar. I took a chair at a 4-person table and watched as the room slowly became overwhelmed by the hundreds of attendees (I heard at this point half of the 900+ ticket holders had registered). Eventually, 3 other men joined my table to sit as they ate and it was about this time the cadre and guests of honor took to the microphone. They gathered at the other end of the room and a crowd encircled them.

If you have ever been on a public tram or subway car and heard the garbled, unintelligible noises of the conductor attempting in vain to convey something to the passengers, this was worse. The four of us at the table turned to each other with smiles reassuring each other that nothing could be understood. For whatever reason, the entire back half of the room took this failure in sound equipment to just continue conversing among themselves, further ensuring that nothing could be heard or understood from those speaking up front.

Opening Panel: When the speeches ended, the room quickly grew in volume and my table left to get group pictures. I waited in solitude for a little while, and then took a stroll around the room with a glass of water in the hopes of attaching myself to any group of potential friends like some social barnacle but I realized the noise of the room combined with my tinnitus and hearing loss made it so that I could not join any conversation unless I stuck my head intrusively, invasively into any one of the groups, which I obviously avoided. So I wandered down to the next panel early, which was one focused on the 10-year history of StokerCon.

This was a group of a dozen co-chairs and coordinators discussing their experiences with StokerCon, both positive and negative, over the years. By the end, I was feeling too tired to attend the monster mash panel (panelists arguing which classic horror monsters could defeat the others). So I retreated to my room to get some early rest and chalk it up as a loss.

That night I was really questioning if I hadn't made a mistake in attending. I weighed the cost of the ticket and travel and lodging against the experience of these first two nights, against my failure to mix and mingle or even hear, and I laid myself down to bed with regret.

Day 2 (Fri)

More Panels: My next day began with a 0815 panel discussing the history of horror in Italian cinema followed by an academic breakdown of Stephen King's Needful Things, both of which I found enjoyable. I ran to the next at 0900, where a group discussed the portrayal of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, with one panelist complaining frequently of having been scheduled a 0900 panel.

Pitch Panel: At 1000 I stood in the back of an overcrowded room to hear from several industry pros how to navigate pitches, and also the earlier panelist’s continued distaste for having been placed on a 0900 panel. The panelists, who included editors and agents, discussed hooks and comps (a comparison of your work to more well known titles, including movies and art or even songs alongside books), establishing target audiences, having all your details at the ready, both with story and logistics (genre, word count, etc.), and basically how to interact human-to-human.

Librarian’s Day: As more people continued to enter and stand in front of and crowd me so that I couldn't see the panelists, I decided to leave early and went to a librarian's day panel, and this is where the convention really took a turn for the better. The energy was great, both from the crowd and the panelists. There was a projector showing upcoming and recently released horror literature, with each panelist discussing their pick of books.

Everyone in attendance was then given the opportunity to select 5 books from two different tables in the room. There was a mix of previously released and pre-release books up for grabs. As we were all seated at tables with numbers assigned, the moderator called two numbers at random to ensure a fair opportunity for the attendees to get the books they were seeking. I missed out on Carrying, which I think my wife would have loved (she did pre-order it after I told her about it).

Here I tried conversing with a few people, though they were reasonably more interested in the books they just picked up, taking pictures and posting updates to their socials. I did meet the Bookstagrammer Paperback Bish, who discussed with me the most important facets of life: cats and dogs; dogs and cats.

Lunch: I ran my stack of ten books to my room and then hit the lobby for lunch. As I waited in line to be seated for burgers, I introduced myself to the author behind me. She was excited to converse and suggested we get a table together. She told me about her experiences as a Stoker nominee and with the craft and publishing in general.

I went back to the Librarian’s Day, where panelists including guests of honor Rachel Harrison and James Tynion discussed what horror meant to them. After this, I attended the spotlight on James Tynion and then went up to my room to crash for a couple hours before the mass signing.

Mass Signing: The mass author signing was open to the public and there was certainly a crowd waiting when I arrived half an hour early. I chatted with a couple of a writers while waiting. We were all trying to figure out what the plan was for organizing the crowd. A line sort of just formed where I noticed a single sheet of paper taped to a door saying something along the lines of “line starts here.”

We walked through the dealers room and approached a fork where we could either go toward the guests of honor tables (they did not have books available for purchase) or all the other authors (most with books available for purchase). I went the way of the guests of honor and got two of my wife’s James Tynion books signed to her.

I then worked my way through the crowd to Alma Katsu’s table. She was one of the kindest people I met at the event. She asked about my wife, she asked about me and my writing, she gave advice. She was simply, genuinely, an awesome person.

Next to her was Cate Peebles, from whom I bought The Haunting, a collection of horror poetry that was nominated for a Stoker. She signed it to me and I wished her luck.

Happy Hour: I ran the books up to my room and returned for the happy hour to network. This was a tough spot for me, both as an introvert and as someone with hearing impairments. Every inch of space was filled with the sounds of chatter and I could hardly distinguish a word from any one particular group. If I was to become a social barnacle, I would need to really insert myself into a stranger’s space and lean in to hear them, and that simply wasn’t me. So, I retreated to my room in defeat once more.

Film Competition: I returned to the ballrooms for the Final Frame Film Competition and watched some truly unique indie short films. My two favorites were Chair, which involved a man’s torturous attempts to put together a newly purchased, demonic recliner, and Man Eating Pussy, which was about a man-eating pussy and featured some phenomenal, gloriously uncomfortable effects for an indie film.

I attended the reception for some Korean food and asked a group of men if I could join them at their standing table. There I had my most engaging conversations of the trip thus far, and made some great connections. I met a prior student of Stephen Graham Jones and a writer who designs shirts for SGJ. I talked about my time growing up in Montana, where the Blackfeet Tribe, of which SGJ is a member, is located. The reception carried on for a while and I was feeling too tired to wait for the special screening of Mourning Meal, especially with an early start planned for the following day, so I went to bed.

Day 3 (Sat)

Here was the big day, the one ending with the awards. I tried to sort out how to dress. All black? More formal? Less formal?

I ultimately chose a black dress shirt with some embroidery around the collar and shoulders, dark blue denim jeans, and black dress shoes.

There were more readings, more panels, and some guest of honor spotlights.

Stoker Awards Cocktail Reception: The cocktail reception was held in the ballroom foyer where the mass signing was the previous day. There was an exceptional line waiting for drinks, and in this line were groups of people in varying attire.

First, the women had some truly great looks. There were fantastic outfits of fantastic designs, lots of blacks and reds and goth and eyeballs and accessories and more.

Of the men who dressed up, it was generally suit jackets over dress shirts or suit jackets over t-shirts. There were a couple of outfits that stood out, but the women really stood out in this context.

And, rest easy you scrubby types, there were plenty of people running around in band t-shirts and shorts.

Food: A special ticket was required to attend the awards banquet, which I did not purchase. I instead wandered over to the freebies table, where I encountered one of the authors who did a reading I attended on the first day. I gave her deserved praise and a copy of my book, and we chatted for a while, which eventually led to a group pizza run.

After-party: I later attended the after-party, where I, feeling emboldened by my earlier successes in socializing, asked to join a table of two. They were a writer/spouse couple. Her name was Mikayla Randolph. I sent a screenshot of her book, Not Your Final Girl, to my wife, as the premise (feminist slasher) seemed right up her alley, and I gave a copy of my book to her husband.

Day 4 (Sun)

The End: The last day featured the last readings, panels, and the closing ceremony. I attended what I felt was probably the most important panel for me and my needs as an indie author, Little Bookshop of Horrors: Working with Indie Booksellers. Here, the panelists discussed the preferred ways to communicate with bookstores, the dos and don’ts of reaching out, general expectations, and so on.

To sum up the advice as shortly as possible (for those of you looking to get your books in indie stores):

  • Put your book in Ingram.

    • Set the 55% discount.

    • Mark it “returnable.”

  • Research the bookstore’s website.

    • Ensure they’re the right fit for your book.

    • Look for any instructions they have for authors.

  • Reach out in the most appropriate way based on the website’s info.

    • Let them know who you are, what your book is, why it works for them, and give the Ingram details.

  • Don’t be bothersome (excessive contact and such).

  • Don’t have others (unless it’s a publicist) reach out on your behalf.

Notes & Tips

  • I have a Venture X card and typically use the Capital One Travel portal when booking hotels to get a better return on rewards.

  • I packed 4 PB&J sandwiches along with multiple, sealed snacks to keep in the hotel. This made it easier (and more affordable) to pick between missing out on a panel to buy lunch or eating in the 10-minute windows between panels.

  • I carried a messenger bag or backpack pretty much all the time. It made it easier to haul the books I was getting, buying, or giving away.

  • All the attendees received a badge on a lanyard. On the back, they have three sleeves: two for pens, one for business cards. I did see people running around with pins on their badges, so if you’re someone who likes to show a little personality that way, be sure to bring that flair.

  • The lobbies and individual conference rooms had water stations, though sometimes they were either depleted of water or cups or both. So, I recommend bringing a refillable water bottle. Trust me, you’ll need to be drinking water.

  • You’re up earlier than usual, you’re going to bed later than usual, or both, and from 0815 panels and readings to 2300 film screenings, you will be surrounded shoulder-to-shoulder with people from all over the US and beyond. Drink water. Bring vitamins. Use hand sanitizer. And, for the sake of your fellow human beings, wear a damn mask if you’re sick.

  • Bring copies of your book to give away, if it’s in your budget to do so. People are excited to bring home books. They brought empty suitcases to make it happen. This is your opportunity to get your book in the hands of readers.

  • Have a way to quickly show people who you are. Be it a QR code or business cards or just having your socials at the ready.

    • The badge you’re given has a QR code on it that takes people directly to your Sched bio, so be sure that bio is updated.

    • Consider having the contact info of your book team available. In a time when AI is destroying trust, it’s great to have word-of-mouth recommendations from other authors for cover design, interior design, illustration, narration, or other services.

  • Be a contributing member of the horror lit community. Authors, this is your opportunity to read and review the work of your peers. If the book isn’t for you, you can still post about it, gift the book, put it in a little free library. We’re here to help out one another.

  • The hotel is downtown and thus is exposed to the noises and lights of downtown. Bring headphones, earplugs, sleep masks, or whatever you need to ensure you get uninterrupted rest.

  • If you’re reading for pleasure, I’d suggest sticking to an e-reader or something light and small for the travel there and nothing more. You’ll need the space for everything you’ll be bringing back. You’ll get some reads for the way home, anyway! And while you may be surrounded by fellow readers, reading a book may give off the impression you’re not looking to network.

Here’s a list of some of the awesome people I met:

  • D.R. Forge, who did a fantastic reading of one of her works in the first author reading panel I attended.

  • Greg Greene, who took sincere interest in me, my work, and my background.

  • Christina Persaud, who is great, friendly company.

  • Alma Katsu, who is genuinely one of the kindest authors I’ve met, who used her signing/selling time to learn more about both my wife and me.

  • James Tynion IV, who kindly signed my wife’s books.

  • Lorin Dearing (Paperback Bish), who is all smiles, all pink, all the time.

Here’s a list of some of the awesome books I got:

Cost

  • StokerCon 2026 ticket: $209.19

  • Supercharging (travel to/from): $126.80

  • Travel food/drinks: $55.91

  • Parking: $160

  • Lodging (4 nights at the Westin): $930.24

  • Lodging (1 night at a Tru): $131.23

  • Food: $141.74

  • Books: $53.49

  • Total: $1808.60

Christopher Ruíz
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