Kelli Owen is an American author, editor, reviewer, podcaster, and indie film producer, who has spoken at the CIA Headquarters in Langley, VA regarding both her writing and the field in general. While her nonfiction has appeared in various places—including the Bram Stoker Award-winner It's Alive: Bringing Your Nightmares to Life—she is primarily known for her fiction.

As a member of both the Horror Writers Association and the International Thriller Writers, she has published over a dozen books, including THE HEADLESS BOY, TEETH, and WILTED LILY (a YA series). Her short fiction has appeared alongside Stephen King, Robert McCammon, F. Paul Wilson, and Josh Malerman, among others, and was in both Bram Stoker Award-nominated anthologies Arterial Bloom (2020) and Lost Highways: Dark Fictions from the Road (2018).

A book lover from a young age, Kelli spent a decade as a reviewer and editor, while running a large genre website, before returning to her roots behind the keyboard. Born and raised in Wisconsin, she now lives in the dark woods of Pennsylvania. For more information, please visit her website.

Kenneth W. Cain is an author of horror and dark fiction, and a Splatterpunk Award nominated freelance editor. He is also the publisher and editor-in-chief at Crystal Lake: Torrid Waters. Cain is an Active member of the HWA and a Full member of the SFWA. To date, he has had over one hundred short stories and thirteen novels/novellas, as well as a handful each of nonfiction pieces, books for children, and poems released by many great publishers such as Crystal Lake Publishing, JournalStone, and Cemetery Gates Media. He has also edited ten anthologies, with a new one coming in 2024. Cain suffers from chronic pain, and as such, likes to keep busy. He lives in Chester County PA with his family and two furbabies, Butterbean and Bodhi. His full publishing history is available on his website.

Joe Mynhardt stands as a paragon in the horror literary world, a Bram Stoker Award-winning South African publisher, editor, and mentor with over a decade of experience. As the founder and CEO of Crystal Lake Entertainment, Joe has transformed a humble 2012 startup into a multifaceted Intellectual Property powerhouse. Under his visionary leadership, Crystal Lake Publishing has become just one of the many thriving divisions of his company.

With a track record of working with and publishing works by luminaries such as Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, Stephen King, Charlaine Harris, Ramsey Campbell, John Connolly, Jack Ketchum, Jonathan Maberry, Christopher Golden, Graham Masterton, Damien Angelica Walters, Adam Nevill, Lisa Morton, Elizabeth Massie, Joe R. Lansdale, Edward Lee, Paul Tremblay, and Wes Craven, Joe is the quintessential mentor for aspiring horror authors. His deep industry insights and extensive network place him in a unique position to guide both new and seasoned writers in the genre.

Joe’s commitment to nurturing talent and fostering author careers is at the heart of Crystal Lake Entertainment’s ethos. His approach is not just about publishing books; it’s about building a community, sharing knowledge, and being a beacon of friendship and guidance in the often intimidating world of horror writing.

Since leaving his day job in 2016 to focus full-time on his passion, Joe has also excelled as a work-from-home dad, a role he embraced in 2018. His daughter, Cayleigh, named after his childhood influences Bruce Lee and Stan Lee, is a testament to his belief in the power of storytelling across all mediums. Joe’s love for great narratives extends beyond literature, encompassing comics, games, film, and television, with favorites ranging from Poe, Doyle, and Lovecraft to King, Connolly, and Gaiman.

Joe Mynhardt isn't just a figure in the horror industry—he's a driving force behind it, leading a successful online business that goes beyond the traditional boundaries of publishing. Discover more about Joe’s journey on Facebook or Patreon, where he continues to inspire and lead the next generation of horror storytellers.

Stephanie M. Wytovich is an American poet, novelist, and essayist. Her work has been showcased in numerous magazines and anthologies such as Weird Tales, Nightmare Magazine, Southwest Review, Year's Best Hardcore Horror: Volume 2, The Best Horror of the Year: Volume 8, as well as many others.

Wytovich is the Poetry Editor for Raw Dog Screaming Press, an adjunct at Western Connecticut State University, Southern New Hampshire University, and Point Park University, and a mentor with Crystal Lake Publishing. She is a recipient of the 2021 Ladies of Horror Fiction Writers Grant and has received the Rocky Wood Memorial Scholarship for non-fiction writing.

Wytovich is a member of the Science Fiction Poetry Association, an active member of the Horror Writers Association, and a graduate of Seton Hill University’s MFA program for Writing Popular Fiction. Her Bram Stoker Award-winning poetry collection, Brothel, earned a home with Raw Dog Screaming Press alongside Hysteria: A Collection of Madness, Mourning Jewelry, An Exorcism of Angels, Sheet Music to My Acoustic Nightmare, and most recently, The Apocalyptic Mannequin. Her debut novel, The Eighth, is published with Dark Regions Press.

Follow Wytovich at http://stephaniewytovich.blogspot.com/ and on Twitter and Instagram @SWytovich​ and @thehauntedbookshelf. You can also find her essays, nonfiction, and class offerings on LitReactor.

Armand Rosamilia is a New Jersey boy currently living in sunny Florida, where he writes when he's not sleeping. He's happily married to a woman who helps his career and is supportive, which is all he ever wanted in life...

He's written over 200 stories that are currently available, including crime thrillers, supernatural thrillers, horror, zombies, contemporary fiction, nonfiction and more. His goal is to write a good story and not worry about genre labels.

He also loves to talk in third person... because he's really that cool. Maybe.

David Owain Hughes is a word-slinger of horror and crime fiction, who grew up on trashy b-movies from the age of five which helped rapidly instil in him a vivid imagination. He’s had multiple short stories published in various online magazines and anthologies, along with articles, reviews and interviews. He’s written for This Is Horror, Blood Magazine, and Horror Geeks Magazine.

Hughes is the author of six horror novels, four short story collections and a plethora of novellas. Although he predominately writes within the bracket of horror and its multiple sub-genres, he’s recently branched out into crime fiction and is slowly carving out a superb series of crime/noir thrillers under the umbrella title of South Wales.

Ben Eads lives within the semi-tropical suburbs of Central Florida. A true horror writer by heart, he wrote his first story at the tender age of ten. The look on the teacher’s face when she read it was priceless. However, his classmates loved it!

Ben’s short fiction has appeared in magazines or anthologies by: Crystal Lake Publishing, Shroud Magazine, and Seventh Star Press. His first novella, Cracked Sky, was published in 2015 by the Bram Stoker Award® Winning press Omnium Gatherum. His latest book, Hollow Heart, is now available from Crystal Lake Publishing.

Chad has written for Famous Monsters of Filmland, Rue Morgue, Cemetery Dance, and Scream magazine. He's had dozens of short stories published, and some of his books include: OF FOSTER HOMES & FLIES, STIRRING THE SHEETS, THE PALE WHITE, SKULLFACE BOY, THE NEON OWL and OUT BEHIND THE BARN co-written with John Boden. Lutzke's work has been praised by authors Jack Ketchum, Richard Chizmar, Joe Lansdale, Stephen Graham Jones and his own mother.

He can be found lurking the internet at www.chadlutzke.com

Kevin J. Kennedy is a horror author, editor, and anthologist. He is also the owner of KJK Publishing and he runs the bestselling 'The Horror Collection' series.’ He is the author of Halloween Land, and The Clown.

He lives in the heart of Scotland with his beautiful wife, three cats, Carlito, Ariel and Luna, and a Pomchi called Orko. He can be found on Facebook if you want to chat with him.

From the day she was born, Bram Stoker Award-winner and Shirley Jackson Award-nominee Jessica Landry has always been attracted to the darker things in life. Her fondest childhood memories include getting nightmares from the Goosebumps books, watching The Hilarious House of Frightenstein, and reiterating to her family that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her mental state.

Since then, Jessica’s fiction has appeared in many anthologies, including Aliens vs Predators: Ultimate Prey, Tales of the Lost, Twice-Told: A Collection of Doubles, Monsters of Any Kind, Where Nightmares Come From, Lost Highways: Dark Fictions from the Road, and Fantastic Tales of Terror, which features her Bram Stoker Award-winning short story, "Mutter." Her debut collection, The Mother Wound, is set for release in 2023; and she's edited the anthologies, That Which Cannot Be Undone from Cracked Skull Press, and the multi-nominated, There Is No Death, There Are No Dead, co-edited with Aaron J. French, from Crystal Lake Publishing.

Find her online at jesslandry.com.

Bret Anthony McCormick is an author, artist and filmmaker living in Bedford Texas. Most active as an author since 2014, McCormick has edited or co-edited some five anthologies of short stories, written three novels and published a variety of short stories in venues as diverse as Saturday Evening Post and Road Kill: Texas Horror by Texas Writers. McCormick's artwork can be seen at bamart.studio and his film credits are listed on imdb.com. Bret welcomes communication from other writers and people who have read his books.