Yorkshire to host one of best horror writing festivals on its first visit to UK

One of the world's best horror writing events is coming to the UK for the first time - and it will be based in Yorkshire
StokerCon 2020 will be held in ScarboroughStokerCon 2020 will be held in Scarborough
StokerCon 2020 will be held in Scarborough

StokerCon™ will be held at the Grand and Royal Hotels in Scarborough in April 2020.

For the first time, the Horror Writers' Association's annual gathering will be held outside of the US and will continue to incorporate such popular StokerCon programming as Horror University, the Final Frame Short Film Competition, the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference, and the presentation of the Bram Stoker Awards®.

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The writers' association president Lisa Morton said: “We are committed to celebrating horror around the world, so I’m especially pleased that our fifth annual StokerCon will be held in the UK where we have such a committed, strong chapter.”

Over four days StokerCon UK will be welcoming an array of some of the world’s best dark fiction authors, publishers and speakers for a packed weekend of panels, readings, workshops, book launches and much more.

Taking place in Scarborough, just down the coast from Whitby – the town that provided so much of the inspiration for Stoker’s iconic Dracula – this is an event not to be missed for writers and readers of horror fiction.

The Editor Guest of Honour for the weekend will be Gillian Redfearn, the Hugo Award-nominated deputy publisher of Gollancz, the world’s oldest science fiction and fantasy imprint.

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Within five months of joining the Gollancz team as editorial assistant she had commissioned the bestselling First Law trilogy from Joe Abercrombie, swiftly followed by acquiring the UK rights to Patrick Rothfuss’ novels.

When she became editorial director for the imprint in 2014 she was selected as a Bookseller Rising Star, and two years later Gollancz was shortlisted for best imprint in the Bookseller Awards.

Throughout her career Redfearn has worked across the horror, science fiction and fantasy genres, with bestselling and award winning authors including Ben Aaronovitch, Joe Abercrombie, Aliette de Bodard, Joe Hill, Charlaine Harris, Joanne Harris, Sarah Pinborough, Brandon Sanderson, Alastair Reynolds and Chris Wooding, among many others.

Stokercon 2020 runs from Thursday April 16 to Sunday April 19 and will be taking place at the Grand and Royal hotels in Scarborough.

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Memberships for StokerCon UK are £100, or £90 if you’re a member of the Horror Writers Association - these prices hold until mid-June, after which there will be a small increase.

To purchase your membership, visit https://stokercon-uk.com/join.htm