2004 The Horror of Writing

Thursday, October 14th • Annapolis Barnes & Noble

Five writers came together to discuss Horror in their lives and in their writing, what it means to be an author doing dark fiction and how horror has evolved over the years.


Matthew Warner, Ronald Damien Malfi, John Edward Lawson,
Douglas Winter, Brian Keene

The event was covered by 3 local newspapers and the store was packed. There was standing room only to listen to the authors but the lively discussion kept the audience’s attention. They also had plenty of questions about writing and a writer’s life. Read the initial press release.

The panelists kept John busy as moderator but he was prepared with a lot of great questions for them.
Matt Warner had a lot of interesting things to say about the common themes of horror and their universal appeal.
Ron Malfi tried to answer the age-old question that grandmothers of horror authors continue to ask, “Why don’t you write something nice?” Ron’s Grandmother had a lot of questions for the panel!
Doug Winter reminded us there was a time before horror was a category when books with dark content were just novels, not “horror novels.” Even an ultra-violent book like his own Run can be at the core a love story.
After the panel discussion the authors were mobbed with people wanting
to talk with the authors, get their signatures and buy books.Malfi’s The Fall of Never was available for the first time and the store sold more than 40 copies of the book.
Brian Keene revealed his secret plan to bring back the mullet and his formula for hair growth (as you can see his once bald head is already covered with hair!)
Wait a minute Brian, don’t get too carried away!
Both the panelists and the audience members really enjoyed themselves.After such a resounding success we decided to take the show on the road and hope to set up similar events in the mid-atlantic area. Our next target is Richmond, VA.