News & Blog

This year I will be returning to the Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival at the Haverhill Public Library in Haverhill, MA! The festival runs from 10 AM until 4:30 PM on Saturday, October 21st. Joining me is a roster of incredible authors that includes:

Stephen Bissette
Dana Cameron
Craig Shaw Gardner
Christopher Golden
Joe Hill
Kat Howard
Brian Keene
John Langan
Tim Lebbon
Bracken MacLeod
James A. Moore
Thomas Sniegoski
Paul Tremblay
Fred Van Lente
Rio Youers
And so many more!

Copies of Dying Is My Business, Die and Stay Dead, Chasing the Dragon, and In the Shadow of the Axe will be available for purchase and signing at the festival. Feel free to bring any books from home you’d like me to sign as well!

In addition to the book signings, there is a programming track where you can listen to your favorite authors discuss various genre-specific topics. Here’s the schedule (you’ll find me on the 3:30 PM panel):

10:30 — The Dark Border: Fantasy, Folklore, Fairy Tales and Horror – Why it’s magic when they meet.
—–Craig Shaw Gardner, Kat Howard, Hillary Monahan, James A. Moore, Cat Scully (M), Laurie Faria Stolarz

11:30 — The New England Mystery Tradition — Spooky autumn helps horror, but how much are New England mystery authors inspired by the region and its atmosphere?
—–Dana Cameron, Christopher Irvin (M), Leigh Perry, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Sarah Smith, Thomas E. Sniegoski

12:30 – Horror in Comics — What makes the medium so well-suited for the weird and supernatural, and what do our panelists think is required reading from then and now?
—–Stephen R. Bissette, Jason Ciaramella (M), Rachel Autumn Deering, Brian Keene, Errick Nunnally, Fred Van Lente

1:30 — Joe Hill: A Season of Strange Weather – Interviewed by Christopher Golden (Ticketed event. Registration for the panel is full, but no registration is needed for Joe Hill’s book signing all day.)

2:30 – Far North Frights: Horror from above the 42nd parallel—Why do so many scary writers love northern New England, from Acadia to the Northern Kingdom?
—–Joseph A. Citro, Tom Deady, Kristin Dearborn, John M. McIlveen, Holly Newstein-Hautala, Douglas Wynne (M)

3:30 – Our Haunted World: Why Do We Need and Read Horror in Scary Times?
——-Nicholas Kaufmann, John Langan, Bracken MacLeod, Mary Sangiovanni, Paul Tremblay, Rio Youers (M)

The Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival is free and open to the public. Check out the Facebook event page. I hope to see you there!

Just a reminder, I’m reading this Saturday, August 5th, in Astoria, Queens as part of the Line Break Reading Series!

Day: Saturday, August 5th
Time: 3:00 PM
Where: Q.E.D., 27-16 23rd Avenue, Astoria, Queens

$7 at the door. More info at the Line Break website. Be there!

Hello, Kaufmanniacs! (I’m trying that one out to see how it works. The verdict so far: Not well!) Anyway, this is a heads up that I will be reading in Astoria, Queens on August 5th as part of the Line Break Reading Series. Here are the details:

Day: Saturday, August 5th
Time: 3:00 PM
Where: Q.E.D., 27-16 23rd Avenue, Astoria, Queens

If you’re not familiar with the neighborhood, Q.E.D. is easily reached from the Astoria-Ditmars Blvd. stop on the N train (the W train does not run on weekends). That’s the last stop on the N, and it’s only a short ride from Manhattan. The subways on the weekends are often a crap shoot, so be sure to check the MTA website to see if you’ll need to allow extra time, plan an alternate route, or sacrifice an animal to the subway gods.

I’ll be reading with three other great writers: David Keck, Rajan Khanna, and the amazing Olena Jennings!

Here is the Facebook event page if you feel like RSVPing.

Admission to the event is $7. You can purchase advance tickets, or buy them at the door.

Important note: This is not a family-friendly event. There will probably be bad language, and there will definitely be alcohol served, and you may not want your little ones around that.

However, I hope to see all you adult-type folks there!

Necon 37 is this weekend! This is the writers’ conference I’ve been going to the longest, ever since 2000. I’ve only missed two in the ensuing years, which makes this my sixteenth time! Here is where you can find me on programming:

Friday, July 21st

1:00 PM   Kaiju Big Battle: Why Giant Monsters Are on the Rise Again
John Goodrich, John W. Dennehy, Nicholas Kaufmann (M), Gemma Files, Craig Shaw Gardner, Darrell Schweitzer
We all grew up on Saturday afternoon movies with badly overdubbed dialogue and massive, larger-than-life monsters. Those monsters are on the rise again like … well, like Godzilla rising from the Pacific! But why? Our panelists discuss the resurgence of giant monsters and try to formulate a plan to save Tokyo.

(I’m looking forward to moderating a panel on one of my favorite subjects: giant monsters!)

8:00 PM  Meet the Authors Party

(If all goes well, I should have print copies of In the Shadow of the Axe to sell and sign at Necon! Fingers crossed they arrive in time!)

Saturday, July 22nd

9:00 PM  The Infamous Necon Roast
In the immortal words of the Human Torch, “Flame on!”

(Once again, Jeff Strand and I will be co-hosting the annual roast. Who is the lucky recipient of this dubious honor? You’ll have to be there to find out, especially because it might be YOU!)

Sunday, July 23rd

11:00 AM  Necon Town Meeting
Tell us what we did wrong, what we did right, and what you’d like to see us do next year.

(Come yell at us for putting you on a 9 AM panel Saturday or Sunday morning!)

The rest of the time, you’ll find me milling about. Necon is a small, intimate gathering, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding me if you want to say hello or ask me to sign a book for you. I’m friendly, I promise! (Except during the roast.)