In this month’s edition of
Nuts & Bolts, Bitter Karella discusses topics including personal branding, dialogue as a story-telling technique, and using humor to address serious issues.
The Midnight Pals microfiction series started as a simple but inspired running gag on Twitter. Storytellers gather around a campfire a la Nickelodeon’s
Are You Afraid of the Dark?, except they’re real-life horror authors past and present — Stephen King, Clive Barker, Mary Shelley, etc.
Its author, Bitter Karella, has managed to find surprising depths in that premise, delivered almost entirely in dialogue.
Midnight Pals features complex, interweaving storylines, recurring characters, and trenchant social commentary, all while remaining consistently hilarious.
Since 2019,
Midnight Pals has picked up nearly 50,000 followers on various social media platforms, attracting fans including Brian Keene, Nick Mamatas, and Neil Gaiman. Bitter Karella has picked up two Hugo Award nominations, and successfully crowd-funded three collections of the series, which is being adapted as an audio podcast.
Tracy Cross’ work has been featured in several podcasts, including “Nighty Night with Rabia Chaudry” (advocate and author of the New York Times bestselling book Adnan’s Story). Her work can be found in several anthologies, including Other Terrors, Don’t Break the Oath, Pandemics Unleashed, and 99 Tiny Terrors. Her first book, Rootwork, a folk horror homage to her late grandmother, was published in the fall of 2022. Tracy understands what it feels like to be the 21st Century invisible woman. She creates strong female characters to debunk the stereotype that women should be seen and not heard. Her protagonists are strong, Black women, that any reader can see and support.
The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is pleased to announce the Preliminary Ballot for the 2023 Bram Stoker Awards®. The HWA is the premier writers organization in the horror and dark fiction genre, with more than 2,000 members. We have presented the 
Jenny Kiefer is a Kentucky native and an avid rock climber. Together with her mother, she is the owner and manager of Butcher Cabin Books, an all-horror bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky. This Wretched Valley is her debut novel. She has short stories published in Pseudopod, Cosmic Horror Monthly, and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
The Horror Writers Association is pleased to announce our Winter 2024 Horror University Online session!
From January 22 to April 8, 2024, Horror University will present ten live workshops and a special presentation for horror writers everywhere interested in refining their writing, learning new skills and techniques, exploring new writing formats, or better understanding the genre. Full descriptions and registration information are available in the 
Lisa Springer is a writer from Barbados currently living in New York with her family. She loves creating worlds readers can get lost in. Lisa is passionate about writing thriller and horror fiction for young people.
Ray Zacek is a retired federal officer living in Tampa, Florida, with his wife, artist Theresa Beck. A flaneur and inveterate scribbler, Ray writes horror, dark fiction, and crime/noir. His work has been published by Critical Blast, Denver Horror Collective, Tule Fog, Allegory Online, All Due Respect, Shotgun Honey, among other venues. He is a member of the Horror Writers Association.
William R.D. Wood traces his love of science fiction and horror back to a childhood filled with 
Charles Wood is a recent addition to the writing scene and writes horror, dark fantasy, and other light-hearted fabrications. Charles served in the Marine Corps 1988-1996. He also served in the Army Reserve and Air Force National Guard.
