ATLRetro

Atlanta author Chesya Burke finds a mystery in 1920s Harlem in THE STRANGE CRIMES OF LITTLE AFRICA, her debut novel  from Rothco Press which has its launch party Friday Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m. at Charis Books and More in Little Five Points. The innovative and much anticipated story features as its protagonist feisty would-be detective Jaz Idewell, daughter of the first African-American officer in the New York Police Department, and as her best friend a young Zora Neale Hurston.

Chesya has been turning heads with her short fiction, unabashedly bringing an African-American  woman’s perspective to horror and spec-lit. Her first story collection, LET’S PLAY WHITE, came out from Apex Publications in 2011, and other recent publications include “In the Quad of Project 327,” in CASSILDA’S SONG, an all-women authors’ collection of stories inspired by Robert W. Chambers’ THE KING IN YELLOW which featured in HBO’s TRUE DETECTIVE.

ATLRetro was lucky enough to get a sneak peek at STRANGE CRIMES and enjoyed it so much we couldn’t help but make her Kool Kat of the Week.  We caught up with her recently to find out more about the book, the festivities at Charis and what’s next for this innovative author.

ATLRetro: What’s the “secret origin story” behind how you came to write THE STRANGE CRIMES OF LITTLE AFRICA?

Chesya Burke: STRANGE CRIMES isn’t much of a secret. A fellow writer and I thought that a black woman detective novel would be fun to write, Harlem would be a great setting and now there’s my Little Africa. Which I hope captures just a little of the real Little Africa.

How much of an impact has Zora Neale Hurston’s writing had on you personally, and did you feel at all intimidated bringing such a literary icon onto the page?

I love ZNH! Just love her. I love everything about her. Researching her, reading her biography, her own story, written by her, true and false—she was known to…subvert the truth when she saw fit—was fascinating. I’m a huge fan and I enjoy her work. I’m not sure how much influence she has on me, probably quite a bit, but less than some authors such as Octavia Butler. I think what I take most from Hurston is dialogue. She really got to the essence of rural black dialect.  I hope I can be half as good as she one day! 

I was nervous to write about Hurston. I have this idea of the woman that she was in my head, but it’s not real. I had to realize that I could never get the real Zora on the page, only a bit of the mystery of her as I could imagine.

Zora is not the only real-life character from the Harlem Renaissance. Briefly, can you tell us about a few of the others, such as the enigmatic Madam St. Clair, who also appears in your story “I Make People Do Bad Things”?

There are so many. I researched a lot for the book. Stephanie St. Clair, Bumpy Johnson, Anderson Charles and several others. Even her father, Rueben Idawell was based on the first black traffic cop in NYC.

What did you do to research the book, and what was the most challenging piece of information to find/fact-check?

I’ve been to New York a bunch, and I went to Harlem specifically to do research. I spent hours and hours in the museum, walking the streets and just trying as hard as I could to get a feel for it. But, of course, I hadn’t been to 1920s Harlem, so I looked at old articles and pictures and newspaper clippings from the time. That’s where I got the name, “Little Africa.” I hadn’t [known] it was called that until I read it in a newspaper from the time.   

Jaz, the protagonist, is the daughter of the first African-American officer in the NYPD. Are there any lessons that you hope readers will bring to the present from your depiction of race and justice/injustice in the Harlem Renaissance?

Racial injustice and police brutality have only changed in measures since the era of the novel. We don’t have to read historical novels to see this. Anyone reading STRANGE CRIMES will see parallels. And that is unfortunate.   

Your acclaimed short story collection LET’S PLAY WHITE is horror/spec-lit. Especially over the past decade more African-American horror writers have risen to prominence from Tananarive Due to Victor LaValle, and some would say that Toni Morrison’s BELOVED is one of the best horror novels of all time. Are you encouraged by more diversity in the genre community or do you still see significant challenges/barriers for writers of color?

Of course. I hope that in the future we will see even more.

You just completed a master’s thesis at Agnes Scott College about Storm of Marvel Comics’ X-MEN and started a doctoral program at the University of Florida-Gainesville. Is it challenging to be both a graduate student and an author?

Oh. My. God. Yes. It’s most difficult because it seems that I’m being pulled in so many directions and both careers are doing relatively well. But it’s the problem to have, so I’m not complaining. Love every minute of it!

You still consider Atlanta home, though. Is that why you wanted your official book launch here at Charis? Can you tell readers a little about the festivities on Friday night?

Yes. Atlanta is home. Always will be. The book launch is on Friday and I will be reading from STRANGE CRIMES. Charis is also home and is the perfect place for the release party of my first book. I’m also reading at Agnes Scott College on Wednesday evening!

What’s next in fiction for you? The end of STRANGE CRIMES seemed to hint that you might have a sequel in mind?

Yes. I’m working on the next book in the series. At least, I should be. I’m working on a few short stories and comic stuff. Most of it, I can’t talk about unfortunately. 

Any other current or “lost/forgotten” writers you’d like to recommend to ATLRetro readers?

Octavia Butler, who is not lost, but everyone should know about. Maurice Broaddus. Jennifer Brissett. Victor LaValle. Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Kiese Laymon. Shane McKenzie. Laird Barron. I know I’m missing lots of people. 

Chesya talks more about THE STRANGE CRIMES OF LITTLE AFRICA and other works in this recent interview on THE OUTER DARK podcast on Atlanta-based Project iRadio.

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Ricky Hess, local geek at heart, jack of all film-trades and series creator/director, has resurrected a living, breathing, monster of an award-winning web anthology series, HORROR HOTEL, where the only recurring character is a menacing dilapidated motor court hotel where “People check in, but they don’t always check out.”And he’s drug mom and dad along for the bloody ride! Inspired by the creepy fantastical worlds presented in THE TWILIGHT ZONE and ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, HORROR HOTEL delivers that nostalgic deep-in-the-gut suspense and spine-chilling plot twisting angst that gained incredible popularity in the ‘50s and ‘60s, and has successfully seeped into the 21st century psyche with a raging resurgence. From what we hear, there’s always a vacancy at HORROR HOTEL, so check in if you dare and catch Season 2, filled to the bloody brim with aliens, androids, ghosts, psychotic killers – all invading your homes in the very near future!

Ricky, no film-school rookie, has dabbled in producing, directing, writing, SFX – all while creating shorts, web series, commercials and music videos. While brainstorming HORROR HOTEL, he gleaned the business knowledge of mom, Debbie Hess (executive producer) and writing/carpentry skills of dad, Al Hess (writer/set builder), to create one helluva horror filmmaking family and production team! Season 1 of the web series premiered in 2013, spanning 90 minutes of content in six twisted episodes, which can be purchased as a complete series, with each episode running 12-20 minutes in homage to THE TWILIGHT ZONE’s style and format. In 2014, the series garnered much attention from the L.A. Web Series Festival (LA Webfest), and won in four categories: Outstanding Directing, Outstanding Sound Design, Outstanding Series and Outstanding Score. And now, with Season 2 in post-production, you’ll have ample opportunity to catch a ghastly glimpse at Atlanta’s homegrown throwback to the masters of suspense and mystery! You owe it to yourself to take a step off the beaten path, check in to HORROR HOTEL and try to make it out alive!

“Aliens Stole My Boyfriend”, Season 2

ATLRetro caught up with the Hess Family for a quick interview about HORROR HOTEL; the series’ homage to ‘50s and ‘60s horror television; and what it takes to create a successful web series. And while you’re daring to take a peek at our little Q&A, get a twisted taste of the making of Season 2’s “Coma Girl” and “Brain Robbers in Love.”

ATLRetro: First off, your web-series, HORROR HOTEL is a perfect fit for ATLRetro! We love all things TWILIGHT ZONE, Alfred Hitchcock, Ray Bradbury and more! Can you tell our readers how HORROR HOTEL was born?

Ricky: I was attending a convention in another city and was seeking out an inexpensive place to stay. I ran across several suggestions but some contained warnings about the neighborhood and possible “risks” staying there, etc. I thought to myself, why would anyone want to stay someplace with such a dangerous reputation. The idea occurred to me that it would be fun to make a series about such a place and the odd, creepy kind of encounters that could occur there. The idea for HORROR HOTEL was born from that.

We see that HORROR HOTEL is a home-grown family affair, with Debbie Hess (mom) as Executive Producer, Al Hess (dad) as Writer and Ricky Hess (son) as Creator/Director. What’s it like to come from such a creative family working so closely with each other? And of course we’d like to know, who’s really the boss?

Ricky: It’s great getting to work with my family on the project. It is the most rewarding thing to me about producing the series actually. My mom and dad were somewhat new to the movie making business, but they each had skills that were needed to put a movie project together. My dad and I had for years enjoyed making up creepy stories on long road trips to amuse ourselves and he’s had some previous writing experience. Not to mention he is a great carpenter and builds all our custom props and set pieces. He’s also a good lighting technician from his years of photography. My mom, Debbie, has a pretty good business head on her and had dealt for years in the marketing world working at advertising agencies, newspapers, radio and television. She is a salesperson at heart and can endure the grueling job of marketing and promotion. I had worked for several years on other people’s projects doing everything from special effects to editing. I moved over to doing most of the directing on the series and do most of the editing as well. So together we make a pretty good, complete team.

Who’s the boss? Well, all our decisions are made together and there are always compromises that have to be made on everyone’s part to settle on a direction, but being family, this is probably a little easier since we know each other so well and have respect for each other.

You’ve stated the major influences for the series are THE TWILIGHT ZONE and Alfred Hitchcock. Are there any particular episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE or any particular Hitchcock tale that inspired you more than others?

Al: My favorite TWILIGHT ZONE episode is “Invaders” with Agnes Moorehead. Tiny aliens invade an old woman’s house and hurt her. My favorite Hitchcock episode is a Ray Bradbury tale, “The Jar,” where a farmer buys a creepy pickle jar from a side-show that’s got all this weird stuff floating around in it.

“Invader”, Season 1 – Troy Halverson

Do you have any additional retro/vintage influences for this series or for other projects you are working on?

Al: I’d like to make something showing a near future world containing a utopian/dystopian conflict. Things that used to scare people during the times of Orwell and Huxley, like being controlled by machines, aren’t so scary now that it’s happened. Each new generation of communication devices and surveillance equipment gives everyone a sense of security even though it necessarily strips away individual human rights and privacy.

Since HORROR HOTEL is an anthology series, like THE TWILIGHT ZONE and ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, would you say production is more or less difficult than a straight series, with recurring characters, etc.? What would you say are your biggest challenges?

Debbie: Horror works well in the anthology format because people are ok with a short story that is complete in itself and not continuing. Production-wise however, it definitely has its challenges. For starters, to tell a complete story circuit in each episode and do it well, requires a longer length episode which is always harder to do. HORROR HOTEL episodes tend to run longer than most web series, from 10-22 minutes. The first season contains over 90 minutes of content; the equivalent of a feature length film. We have to recast for each new episode, which takes time. With a serial series and recurring characters, this is faster and easier. We also have to retool the set for each new episode, completely redecorate a new hotel room specifically for that episode (new costumes, new props, new everything).

It’s like shooting a whole bunch of short films all the time. The advantage of shooting an anthology is that people can randomly pick out episodes to watch and don’t have to follow a story arch to know what’s happening. Probably the biggest challenge is simply wrangling all the different cast and crew it takes to do a series like this. First season alone took over 100 people to produce, which is a lot for a web series. It’s always a challenge to fit people into the schedule puzzle and keep a project moving forward to completion. Once we set a production schedule, we will do whatever necessary to keep that locked in and not postpone it. Too many independent film projects start but don’t finish. That’s not an option for us.

“Brain Robbers in Love”, Season 2 (L-R) Phil Spartis and Deborah Childs

What are some of the major differences between television/film formats and the web-series format?

Debbie: For a series produced for traditional television, there are specifically timed breaks (acts) to allow for commercials. The standard TV format calls for 22-24 minutes of actual story for a 30-minute program and anywhere from 44-46 minutes for an hour-long program. With a web series, they can be any length because primarily they are streamed online with no required commercial breaks, although many times they do have commercials depending on the platform. As far as the actual production, the same applies for traditional TV or a web series. You use all the same equipment, follow all the same procedures; everything is the same. The only difference is the viewing platform they will be primarily presented on.

Everyone making a web series should strive for as high a production value as you possibly can. With the advent of so many different ways to view digital series now, from your computer to your big screen TV, you want content that looks really good, with broadcast quality, high resolution, good filming techniques, etc. It’s the only way to have a series ever be seriously considered by higher caliber platforms.

What do you think separates HORROR HOTEL from other web series and makes it one-of-a-kind in the industry?

Ricky: Well, the fact that it is a true anthology sets it apart from the majority of web series out there, but we are not one-of-a-kind necessarily. We have tried to bring back old-school storytelling where the plot and story lines matter the most and we just try to fit in special or visual effects to enhance that. Sometimes filmmakers rely more on visual effects and some kind of “wow” factor to endear an audience but that gets numbing pretty fast without a decent story.

Can you tell our readers a little bit about your nominations and wins at the 2014 LA WebFest?

“Life After Men”, Season 2 (L-R) Baby Norman, Deborah Childs and Anastasia Pekhtereva

Ricky: It was an honor to receive four nominations and wins at the 2014 LA Webfest for Outstanding Series, Outstanding Directing, Outstanding Score and Outstanding Sound Design. The decision came after a review of all episodes in the first season, but the two episodes that screened at the festival were “Tilt” and “Guillotine.”

What was your process in obtaining the talent for the series? How did you snag up Grammy Award-winning Matt Still, who scored the music on the “Guillotine” episode and actor James Edward Thomas (Al Sharko), who also acted in the ‘80s television reboot of THE TWILIGHT ZONE?

Debbie: We cast for each new episode locally from the large, talented actor pool in Atlanta. We post audition notices first on our Facebook page to give our fans a chance to submit for an audition first. After that, we post on a number of casting sites primarily focused on Atlanta talent. We continue to be amazed and pleased at the truly talented group of local Atlanta actors we have been proud to work with. James Edward Thomas showed up to audition for episode “Houdini’s Hand” and was a perfect fit for the only recurring actor thus far in the series, Al Sharko. He is not only a fine actor, but a valued family friend. He also appears in episode “Invader” as sci-fi writer Rodney Silvers.

It was actually his connection to Matt Still that facilitated Matt scoring episode “Guillotine” which James is in as well. We were so honored and excited to have Matt work on an episode. His reputation as a premiere music producer working with mega stars like Elton John, Madonna and a who’s who of rock ‘n’ roll folks was just amazing and thrilling for us. He did a most excellent job on the scoring of “Guillotine” and obviously it caught the attention of LA Webfest judges. We have been fortunate to have a number of excellent musical artists work on the series including Royal Teague, Kenneth Singleton II and Quinton “Q” Amy in the first season alone.

“Four Eyes”, Season 2 (L-R) Jeremy Michael Grey and Michael Gladden

HORROR HOTEL currently has two complete seasons. How can our readers go about getting their grubby little hands on them?

Ricky: Currently the first season is released and can be seen on Hulu, AT&T U-verse, MSN Videos, and xfinity streaming platforms. It also broadcasts on the Shorts Network channel on DirectTV and AT&T U-verse. The new second season is working through post-production, releasing in the upcoming months.

What’s next for HORROR HOTEL and the Hess family? Are there more seasons in the works and if so, can you give our readers some juicy details (without giving away too many details)? Any other projects in the works?

Debbie: We are currently concentrating on post-production work for the second season and getting that distributed, but we are also kicking around some new ideas and worlds we would like to explore. But here’s a little tickler of upcoming second season episodes: Expect cute aliens that crash land their space buggy on the motel parking lot looking for Earth boyfriends; a macabre maintenance man at a convalescence home who falls in love with a comatose patient; a narcissistic businesswoman who swaps brains with a younger business associate; a family of female clones, one of whom has committed a murder; a paraplegic hit-man hired by a disgruntled ex-husband to take out his wife; and an Orwellian tale set in the near future where males are virtually extinct and women rule.

What question do you wish somebody would ask you in an interview but they never do, and what’s the answer?

“Houdini’s Hand”, Season 1

Ricky: Q: What happens to the many props and costumes you have after each episode? A: I’m so glad you asked! We really like our custom props like the “Houdini’s Hand” ornate box, the brain swap machine from second season’s “Brain Robbers In Love,” the custom ham radio from “Invader,” the hand-carved space buggy from “Aliens Stole My Boyfriend,” and a host of other one-of-a-kind props. Not the least of which is our miniature motel model we built for miniature photography seen in episode “Invader” and “Aliens Stole My Boyfriend” to date. We like to display these for visitors to see, a sort of HORROR HOTEL mini museum if you will. Most of the costumes get saved as well, and we have even reused a couple, like the Nazi uniforms and the Rufus Bass costume because you never know when some of these characters might be resurrected!

All photos courtesy of Horror Hotel LLC and used with permission.

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Get horrified, literary-style this weekend at the 25th Annual World Horror Convention, this year presented by the Horror Writers Association (HWA), haunting Thursday-Sunday May 7-10 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis! Guests of Honor include legendary bestselling horror author and Marietta local, John Farris; author Kami Garcia (BEAUTIFUL CREATURES); author Christopher Golden; author Charlaine Harris (TRUE BLOOD); author Lisa Tuttle; and Godzilla artist extraordinaire Bob Eggleton, as well as toastmaster Jonathan Maberry and over 150 more writers, editors, filmmakers, publishers, and artists! This year’s World Horror Society’s 2015 Grand Master has been awarded to William F. Nolan, co-author of the novel LOGAN’S RUN, and it’ll be presented with awards for the year’s best in horror fiction Saturday night at the HWA’s Bram Stoker Awards Banquet!

World Horror Con is held in a different location every year, so we think it’s pretty spooktacular that the 25th anniversary con is back in the Monster Kid Capital of the USA. The 1995 and 1999 WHCs were also in Atlanta.

Here are our 10 scariest retro reasons to get downtown.

1) 25th ANNUAL WHC CREEPY COSTUME BALL! Kool Kat Shane Morton, a.k.a. ghost host with the most, Professor Morte and the Silver Scream Spook Show will have you shakin’ in your boots during the Creepy Costume Ball, Friday, May 8! Slither on down for this spooky spectacle which will have you monster mashin’ it up with DJ Extreme Gene and more at the creepiest party of the year! $100 cash prize for best costume, $50 for second place and a free Bram Stoker Awards banquet ticket for third. Party begins at 8:30pm and will rattle your bones through 12:30am!

2) MASS AUTHOR SIGNING! Come one, come all (free and open to the public) to the Mass Author Signing on Friday, which will be bookin’ it from 6:30-8pm! This is an event you won’t want to miss, because you’ll get the chance to catch more than 100 of your favorite horror/spec-lit/weird fiction (and more!) authors, including John Farris, local legendary author and all the other Guests of Honor; Grand Master William F. Nolan; Jack Ketchum, Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and author of such novels as THE GIRL NEXT DOOR; renowned SF/F/H editor Ellen Datlow; New York Times bestselling splatterpunk pioneer and bizarro author John Skipp; Weston Ochse, author of SEAL TEAM 666, which is being developed into a major motion picture starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson; Shirley Jackson Award-winning author Nathan Ballingrud, Scott Nicolay, author of ANA KAI TANGATA, Rue Morgue magazine’s Best Fiction Collection of 2014; many Bram Stoker Award-winning and nominated authors such as Yvonne Navarro, Usman T. Malik, Damien Angelica Walters and Stephen Graham-Jones; our very own wickedly weird kool kitten, ATLRetro publisher Anya Martin; and we kid you not – about 100 more! Atlanta’s Eagle Eye Books is the official bookseller of the WHC, and will be located in the Dealers Room, so stop by and pick up books by your favorite attending author to sign this weekend!

3) THE WEIRD SOUTH. Dig deep into horror’s heritage in Southern Gothic literature, with dark panels galore! On Friday, May 8, you won’t want to miss Voices of the Mountains: Manly Wade Wellman and Karl Edward Wagner at 9 pm, exploring the two pioneers of Southern Horror. The A Good Horror Isn’t Hard to Find: The Dark Side of Flannery O’Connor and Southern Gothic Lit panel gets grotesque Saturday, May 9, at noon!

4) FANGTASTIC FILM!  With the support of Atlanta’s own Buried Alive Film Festival (Nov 21-22, 2015) and the Tabloid Witch Film Festival, this year’s film program will spotlight some of the most exciting short and feature films created by Georgia and Southern filmmakers, as well as will showcase recent works by other attending professionals and exciting shorts from around the world. Freaky Friday includes Kool Kat Daniel Griffith of Ballyhoo Motion Pictures discussing his recent documentary endeavors surrounding Jeff Burr’s FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM (1987), with exclusive clips from the documentary and giveaways, during The Night(s) Indie-Horror Came to Georgia: An Hour With Daniel Griffith on Friday at 2pm! Get brutal and exploited during a screening of Kool Kat James Bickert’s throwback to ‘60s/’70s exploitation films, DEAR GOD! NO! (2011) is a bloody ruckus at 3pm, with an introduction by Prof. Morte! And stick around for the Filmmakers Lounge at 5pm, where you’ll get to witness film shop talk and learn the fun parts of making horror films! Sinister Saturday brings you a screening of Jason Brock’s THE ACKERMONSTER CHRONICLES (2013), revisiting the life and times of mega-fan Forrest J. Ackerman at 9am (includes a Q&A with filmmaker and William F. Nolan)! Spend an hour with “Fun Boy” Michael Massee (THE CROW) at 11 am! Get sinister during Skipp’s Saturday Sinema Funtime featuring screenings of John Skipp and Andrew Kasch’s AN HONEST MISSTAKE (2014), Izzy Lee’s POSTPARTUM (2015) and Gigi Saul Guerrero’s EL GIGANTE (2015), beginning at noon! At 1pm, the Buried Alive Film Festival and Kool Kat Blake Myers, present Ryan Lieske’s ABED (2011), based on the Elizabeth Massie story and produced by Atlanta’s own late Philip Nutman (WET WORK, Fangoria), followed by their screening of Kool Kat Eddie Ray’s SATANIC PANIC 2: BATTLE OF THE BANDS (2014) at 2pm. And finally, the Buried Alive Film Festival presents Its Bloody Best, a block of the best shorts screened at past Buried Alive Film Festivals, at 3pm! And stick around for the Filmmakers Lounge where talking shop never gets dull, at 5pm!

5) MULTI-CULTURAL WORLD HORROR. What’s more fitting when exposing the diversity in the dark underbelly of spec-lit and horror than doing so in the city that was the center of the Civil Rights Movement? Catch Different Visions: African-American Spec-Lit from Afro-Futurism to Beloved on Friday, at 1pm, and get a peek through the lens of the African-American experience from slavery to the Civil Rights Movement to the first black president! On Saturday, May 9, you won’t want to miss Pushing the Diaspora Darkly: Horror from Multicultural Perspectives at 1pm, which explores diversity and an emerging global view of spec-lit and horror as it moves into the 21st century with a new generation of writers from different cultural backgrounds.

6) WHC LIFETIME ACHIEVMENT AWARD RECIPIENTS.  This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipients are Tanith Lee, author of more than 90 novels across the entire spectrum of speculative literature; and Jack Ketchum, author of 32 books to date, with five of his novels making their way to the big screen [The Lost, The Girl Next Door, Red, Offspring and The Woman]. Celebrate Tanith Lee’s achievement during Dancing With Darkness: A Tribute to HWA Lifetime Achievment Award Winner Tanith Lee on Friday, at 10am! And you won’t want to miss the HWA Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Interview: Jack Ketchum at 2pm, Friday!

7) H.P. LOVECRAFT IN THE 21st CENTURY.  Learn about Lovecraft’s legacy in modern horror fiction, which has been cemented for more than half a century in his Cthulhu Mythos and his exploration of cosmic, existential horror. More recently, the tentacles of Lovecraft’s more troubling legacy—as a voice for some of the last century’s most vile expressions of racism and xenophobia—have found their way into the center of the discussion of his work, so creep on down, Friday at 3pm for the H.P. Lovecraft in the 21st Century: The Problematic Legacy of the Great Old One of Horror and the Weird panel!

8) THE STEPHEN KING HOUR. Are you Stephen King’s biggest fan? If so, you won’t want to miss The Stephen King Hour at 5pm on Friday, and catch the experts discuss the most important horror writer of this generation! (One lucky contest winner will get the chance to sit on this horrorific panel!)

9) READINGS, READINGS AND MORE READINGS! What’s better than reading the works of this century’s wickedly weird and catastrophically creepy writers, who have reaped what our horror forefathers of yore, sowed many murderous moons ago? Why, getting the chance to experience the horror spewing from their own lips! Friday, May 8, brings you readings by Charlaine Harris, William F. Nolan (co-author of Logan’s Run and more), Kami Garcia, Usman T. Malik, Joe McKinney, Nathan Ballingrud (North American Lake Monsters), Scott Nicolay (Ana Kai Tangata) and more! Saturday, May 9, brings you readings by Jack Ketchum; Christopher Golden, James A. Moore, Lisa Tuttle, Jonathan Maberry, Weston Ochse, Yvonne Navarro, Damien Angelica Walters, Molly Tanzer (A Pretty Mouth, Vermilion and more) and Jesse Bullington [The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart, The Enterprise of Death and more]!

10) HISTORIC HORROR: FACT & FICTION! The written word has a way of bringing reality to life and vice-versa! Don’t miss out on a special presentation by Dacre Stoker, Bram Stoker’s great grand-nephew at 11am during the Bram Stoker / Dracula Travel Guide New Discoveries 118 Years Later event, exploring his specialized travel guide surrounding Bram’s most famous novel, Dracula. Dacre’s one-hour PowerPoint presentation includes stunning photos of sites associated with Bram’s life in Dublin, his holidays in Whitby, Cruden Bay Scotland, Count Dracula and Vlad Dracula sites in Romania. At 2pm get monstrous during the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company’s presentation of “The Passion of Frankenstein” by Thomas E. Fuller. This classic radio theatre retelling of the classic story by Mary Shelley is sure to thrill and chill! And, what are the limits of horror’s human side? Catch the Horror’s Human Side: There Are NO Limits, Or Are There panel at 5pm, which explores Joyce Carol Oates’ take on horror fiction and realistic fiction, whether some subjects are too horrific to be horror, and what’s the line between realist literature and horror lit?

World Horror Con main hours are Thur. May 7 from 6 p.m. to midnight.; Fri. May 8 from 9 a.m. to midnight; Sat. May 9 from 9 a.m. to midnight; and Sun. May 10 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with parties going late into the night on Friday and Saturday. For more info, visit www.whc2015.org.