Experience the education, camaraderie, and opportunities provided by a live writing conference without ever having to leave your home!
Writer’s Digest University is pleased to present a one-of-a-kind online event for horror writers! On October 17, 2026, our annual Horror Writing Virtual Conference will provide expert insights from bestselling horror authors. Spend the day learning techniques for honing your craft, then optionally receive a personalized critique of your query letter from a participating literary agent.
Want a sneak peek at this virtual conference? Watch the recording of the FREE preview webinar with Tim Waggoner!
Use code HORROR20 for 20% off the WDU 5th Annual Horror Writing Conference!
Crafting a Horror Protagonist
Writing the Gothic in the Modern Age
Build a Better Monster
Befriend Your Demons: Turning the Personal Into Powerful Fiction
Meet the speakers
Daphne Fama
Daphne Fama is a Filipino American author who writes historical horror about family, feminism, love, and all the terrible things people do in their name. Born in North Carolina, she has lived in Manila, Shanghai, and Seoul before putting down roots in Michigan. Her work draws upon Filipino folklore and history, where the dead refuse to be forgotten.
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Catherine Dang
Catherine Dang is the author of the novel Nice Girls (2021). A graduate of the University of Minnesota, she currently resides in Brooklyn.
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Gwendolyn Kiste
Gwendolyn Kiste is the three-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Rust Maidens, Reluctant Immortals, Boneset & Feathers, And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe, Pretty Marys All in a Row, and The Invention of Ghosts. Her short fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Nightmare Magazine, Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, Vastarien, Tor's Nightfire, Black Static, The Dark, Daily Science Fiction, Interzone, and LampLight, among others. Originally from Ohio, she now resides on an abandoned horse farm outside of Pittsburgh with her husband, their calico cat, and not nearly enough ghosts. You can also find her online at gwendolynkiste.com, Facebook and Instagram.
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Tim Waggoner
Tim Waggoner’s first novel came out in 2001, and since then he’s published over fifty novels and seven collections of short stories. He is a three-time Bram Stoker Award winner, as well as a multiple-finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award, and others. In addition to writing, he’s also a full-time tenured professor who teaches creative writing and composition at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio.
View WebsiteLiterary agents
Eloy Bleifuss
Eloy Bleifuss is a literary agent at Neon Literary representing both fiction and nonfiction. On the fiction side, Eloy is especially interested in literary fiction along with character-driven, elevated genre fiction. His favorite novels are ones that bridge the high and the low, the real and the imaginary, the trashy and the serious. Prior to joining Neon, Eloy worked at Janklow & Nesbit Associates and Simon & Schuster. Born and raised in Chicago, he is a graduate of Vassar College and lives in Brooklyn.
