Steve Niles – Media Guest of Honor

In 2002, Steve Niles reinvigorated the realm of horror comics with his series 30 Days of Night. Since that time, Niles has been the most recognizable name in horror comics, scripting such projects as 30 Days of Night: Dark Days, Wake the Dead, City of Others, and Freaks of the Heartland. He has worked with such talents as Rob Zombie, Thomas Jane, and the legendary Sam Raimi, who produced 2007’s film adaptation of 30 Days of Night. Currently, Niles is working for the four top American comic publishers: Marvel, DC, Image, and Dark Horse. He is also working on several film projects. You can learn more about Steve at his website: www.SteveNiles.com.

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Sarah Langan – Writer Guest of Honor

Sarah Langan’s first novel The Keeper was a New York Times “Editor’s Pick”. Her second novel The Missing won the Bram Stoker Award for outstanding novel, was a Publisher’s Weekly favorite book of the year, and an IHG outstanding novel nominee. Her third novel, Audrey’s Door, about
a woman who moves into a haunted apartment building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, is due out from HarperCollins in October, 2009, and has sold to the Weinstein Company for film. She’s currently at work on her fourth novel, Empty Houses, and lives in Brooklyn with her husband, daughter, and rabbit.

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Joe Hill – Writer Guest of Honor

The author of the critically acclaimed Heart-Shaped Box and the comic book series Locke & Key, Joe Hill is a two-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award and a past recipient of the Ray Bradbury Fellowship. His stories have appeared in a variety of journals and “Year’s Best” collections. His next novel, Horns, will be published in February 2010 by William Morrow. He calls New England home.

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Joe R. Lansdale – Toastmaster

Joe R. Lansdale is the multi-award winning author of thirty novels and over two hundred short stories, articles and essays. He has written screenplays, teleplays, comic book scripts, and teaches creative writing and screenplay writing occasionally at Stephen F. Austin State University. He has received The Edgar Award, The Grinzani Prize for Literature, 7 Bram Stoker Awards, and many others. His stories “Bubba Ho-Tep” and “Incident On and Off a Mountain Road” were both filmed. He is the founder of the
martial arts system Shen Chuan, and has been in the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame four times. He lives in East Texas with his wife, Karen.

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Brian Keene – Special Guest

BRIAN KEENE is the author of over twenty books, including Darkness on the Edge of Town, A Gathering of Crows, Urban Gothic, Castaways, Ghost Walk, Dark Hollow, Dead Sea, Ghoul, Kill Whitey, Unhappy Endings and many more. He also writes comic books for many different publishers. His work has been translated into German, Spanish, Polish, French, and Taiwanese. Several of his novels and stories have been optioned for film, one of which, The Ties That Bind, premiered on DVD in 2009. The winner of two Bram Stoker awards, Keene’s work has been praised in such diverse places as The New York Times, The History Channel, The Howard Stern Show, CNN.com, Fangoria Magazine, and Rue Morgue Magazine. Keene lives in Pennsylvania with his wife, son, dog, and cat. You can communicate with him online at www.briankeene.com or on Twitter @BrianKeene.

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Vinny Chong – Artist Guest of Honor

Vincent Chong is an award-winning freelance illustrator and designer.
Currently living and working in the UK, his art and design has been published internationally and can be seen on book covers, magazines, CD packaging and websites. He has worked for clients around the world including HarperCollins and Little, Brown and has illustrated the works of authors such as Ray Bradbury and Stephen King. Vincent has received the British Fantasy Award for ‘Best Artist’ three years running in 2007, 2008 and 2009. You can learn more about Vincent at his website, www.vincentchong-art.co.uk and blog, vincentchongart.wordpress.com.

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MORE TO COME!!