Please introduce yourself.
Hi, thanks for including me in this year’s festivities!
My name’s Christina Raia. I’m a writer and director from Queens, NY. I focus on character-driven and socially conscious horror and comedy, using genre as a lens to represent, discuss and dissect social issues, otherness and real world anxieties. In my work, I tend to subvert expectations, play with genre tropes, and blend seemingly opposing tones.
Andrea Subissati is one of the premiere women championing all that is horror, horror journalism and amplifying the voices for women in horror at the iconic Rue Morgue Magazine and The Faculty of Horror.
What is it that attracts you the horror genre for your chosen field of creative work?
I don’t consider myself a film critic – my interest is in culture and how entertainment (specifically cinema) interacts with the way we live in the world. I believe horror to be the most interesting and constructive genre for that sort of inquiry because it tackles subject matter that most of pop culture isn’t willing to look at.
Please introduce yourself.
Hello. My name is Janine Pipe and I am a British horror writer. I have several short stories that have been published in many different anthologies. I am also a reviewer for Scream Magazine, Horror DNA and Night Worms. I have a podcast (Cryptids, Crypts and Coffee) that I host with my buddy Lou Yardley and a Booktube channel. I am also the press officer/publicist for Kandisha Press, an all woman indie publishing house.
Please introduce yourself.
Thank you so much for including me! I’m Denise Gossett, Actress and Festival Founder/Director of Shriekfest Film Festival! We are currently in our 21st year!
What is it that attracts you the horror genre for your chosen field of creative work?
I love horror films! I love creatures, I love to be scared, although it’s really hard to scare me now after 21 years of watching films.
Please introduce yourself a little:
Hi, I’m Hailey Piper, and thanks for having me! I write horror, with a few novellas out such as The Worm and His Kings from Off Limits Press and Benny Rose, the Cannibal King from Unnerving. I’ve had 50+ short stories published in various places such as Year’s Best Hardcore Horror, The Arcanist, Flash Fiction Online, Tales to Terrify, and elsewhere. I live with my wife in Maryland, and I’m trying not to upend reality too much.
Please introduce yourself.
My name is Jenn Cooksey, I also go by J.C. for comic and writing projects. I am a writer, visual artist, and one of the owners of Horrorgasm LLC, San Diego’s home for horror themed art and entertainment. I am a lifelong horror fanatic, who enjoys consuming and creating horror content with a side of humor.
I’m a big fan of Jay Baruchel (the actor), and as director of “Random Acts of Violence,” his adaptation of the original graphic novel by Jimmy Palmiotti wastes so much of its potential. It’s a great concept, with great commentary that amounts to a sub-par horror movie. The still relevant themes about how society tends to lionize serial killers, the unusual serial killer culture that most people tend to celebrate, and how most of their victims are virtually ignored begs for a dark horror movie of this ilk. Sadly, there is not a single substantial thing we can take away from all of this in the end.