This is where you’ll find write-ups of events the HWA UK Chapter have held; upcoming events will be listed on the News Page first.
2018
October
HWA HALLOWEEN PUB MEET
On October 27th the HWA UK Chapter held its Halloween pub meet – this time in the upstairs rooms of The Angel, St. Giles High St., London, following two very successful Halloween signings at Forbidden Planet (Stephen Jones’ Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women and Mammoth Book of Halloween Stories, and Marie O’Regan’s Phantoms) – apt, considering The Angel was Constantine’s local pub. A host of writers, editors, artists and fans of horror fiction attended for what was a massively enjoyable afternoon and evening – including Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill, M.R. Carey, Christopher Fowler, Kim Newman, Samantha Lee, Guy Adams, A.K. Benedict, George Mann, Mark A. Latham, Marie O’Regan, Paul Kane, and many more. Some pictures of the event are below.
HWA UK Chapter held a ‘Your Career in Writing’ Panel at this year’s FantasyCon, in historic Chester. The panel featured HWA members: Maura McHugh (moderating), Ramsey Campbell, Marie O’Regan, CC Adams and Phil Sloman, speaking about their experiences and the benefit of organisations such as the Horror Writers Association.
September
StokerCon™ is coming to the UK
StokerCon™ will be coming to the UK for the very first time in April 2020 (16th to 19th April), at the Royal and Grand Hotels, Scarborough, Yorkshire. Further details of programming, Guests of Honour, room rates etc. will be announced in due course, but until 31st December 2018 the prices of an individual member are: £75.00 for HWA members, and £85.00 for non-members. Further details can be found at https://stokercon-uk.com, including the link to buy memberships.
August
On August 4th, HWA UK Chapter held another pub meet, this time with Catriona Ward, author of Rawblood and Little Eve as our Guest. Catriona read from her newest novel, Little Eve, before answering questions and joining us for the rest of the afternoon.
Catriona Ward reading from her new novel, Little Eve.
May
On May 19th, the HWA UK Chapter held its first pub meet of the year, in the upstairs bar of The Red Lion, 1 Eldon Street, Moorgate, London. Mike (M.R.) Carey was Guest, and he read an extract from his forthcoming novel, Someone Like Me, before answering questions and joining us for drinks for the rest of the afternoon.
November
Between 12:30-2:00 pm on Saturday, November 11th, the Forbidden Planet London Megastore (179 Shaftesbury Ave., London WC2H 8JR) hosted a multi-signing for THE ART OF HORROR MOVIES: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY with editor Stephen Jones, writers Anne Bilson, Ramsey Campbell, Barry Forshaw, Sir Christopher Frayling, Kim Newman and Jonathan Rigby, and artists Steve Crisp, Les Edwards, Graham Humphreys and Uli Meyer. Signed copies can be pre-ordered from the store.
In conjunction with the FP event above, the Horror Writers Association UK also hosted a DAY OF HORROR from 1:00-6:00 pm on the same day in the Downstairs Bar, The Royal George Pub, 133 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0EA.
FantasyCon 2017
In September, there was an HWA UK sponsored panel on ‘How To Maintain A Career in Publishing’ at FantasyCon, in Peterborough. Taking part were: Stephen Jones, Ramsey Campbell, Peter Crowther and Paul Kane, with Marie O’Regan moderating. The panel was packed, and there was a lively discussion of how to keep a career going in the publishing world as a writer and/or editor.
Highlighting Horror: Screenwriting – August 19th at Quad, Derby
This event was something we’d wanted to do for a while as we knew from our days running FantasyCon that there’s a lot of interest in writing for TV and film, and that it would be of great benefit to our members. When we discussed it with Alex Davis of The Quad, a venue in Derby, he was keen to host the day, which would be free to HWA members, but ticketed to non-members, to cover Quad’s costs in hosting the event.
Top row, left to right: Stephen Volk, Jason Arnopp, James Moran, Jennifer Handorf, Simeon Halligan.
Bottom row, left to right: Stephen Gallagher, Joe Ahearne, Cat Davies
We were very lucky to have some of the UK’s top genre screenwriters in attendance: Stephen Volk (Ghostwatch, Gothic, The Awakening, Afterlife, Midwinter of the Spirit) gave a talk on Writing The Paranormal for TV and Film; we also had panels featuring Joe Ahearne (Ultraviolet, Apparitions, and more recently The Replacement), Stephen Gallagher (Chimera, Oktober, Eleventh Hour, Crusoe, Lifeline, Bugs), producer Jennifer Handorf (Prevenge, The Devil’s Business), James Moran (Torchwood, Dr. Who, Cockneys vs. Zombies and Severance), Jason Arnopp, currently adapting his novel The Last Days of Jack Sparks for producer/director Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment, Cat Davies (Connie, Blood Shed) and Simeon Halligan, organiser of Grimmfest and a writer/director (White Settlers, Habit) in his own right, as well as a couple of writers/directors not so well known but working in the industry – Owen Tooth, director of Devil’s Tower, and HWA UK Chapter member, Eric Steele (The Student, The Clone Hunter).
The day itself went like a rocket – talks and panels sped by, with the attentive audience frantically taking notes while enjoying the events. Once the panels were finished, we ran a showcase of short films and trailers for features by the various panellists, and after a dinner break Jennifer Handorf introduced a screening of her latest feature, Prevenge, written and directed by Alice Lowe (Sightseers).
All in all, the day was a great success, and one we’ll be repeating next year – watch out for announcements throughout the coming months.
2017 has been busy, even if most of the work for HWA has been behind the scenes. In July we were one of the sponsors for Edge-Lit 6 in Derby, and Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan took part in various panels on the day. A full report will follow soon.
On 19th August the HWA is pleased to announce an event run in conjunction with the Quad in Derby: Highlighting Horror: Scriptwriting. Full details will be added here after the event, but for the moment please see the announcement on our News page.
Various other events are in the mix at the moment; news will be added as details are finalised.
2016 has been a hectic year so far, and we’ve tried to spread the word about the HWA as widely as we can. Below, you’ll find a list of events that we’ve participated in so far, along with photographs of the event.
This year has seen the UK Chapter of the HWA make a good start in our attempt to support and promote the horror genre in the UK. In January, we were one of the sponsors for director Sean Hogan’s play, The Ghost Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore, in London – with Sean helping to advertise the HWA.
In April, we held our first – and so far only, with more to come soon – pub meet for members, with special guest author A.K. Benedict, who had recently launched her new novel, Jonathan Dark and the Evidence of Ghosts. The author gave a very well-received reading from her new novel, and we then gave a brief talk introducing ourselves and the HWA UK’s aims for the future.
In July, we were one of the sponsors of Edge Lit, a one day genre fiction event in Derby organised by Alex Davis. The Guests of Honour were: M. John Harrison, Emma Newman and Alastair Reynolds, with panellists that included: Nina Allan, A.K. Benedict, Ali Shaw, Sarah Pinborough, Paul Kane, Marie O’Regan, Johnny Mains, V.H. Leslie, Jason Arnopp, Paul Cornell, Edward Cox, and many more. The HWA sponsored the panel on ‘The Continuing Popularity of the Supernatural’, which included member Paul Kane as a panellist, and member Marie O’Regan was on the panels: ‘Horror, Thriller, Chiller… What’s the Difference, Really?’ and ‘What’s It Like To Be A Professional Writer?’
After a packed day of panels and interviews, the event finished with a raffle, hosted by Sarah Pinborough and Conrad Williams.
In August, HWA UK sponsored the Dublin Ghost Story Festival – an event held in the Grand Lodge, Molesworth Street, Dublin, and organised by author John Connolly and the head of Swan River Press, Brian J. Showers. The HWA were happy to sponsor a wine reception for the event, and take part in programming. The weekend included a whiskey reception for the limited edition James Joyce whiskey, a wine reception and raffle, and a mass signing for Swan River’s anthology, Uncertainties vols 1 and 2, as well as a full programme of panels and interviews with the two Guests of Honour. David Mitchell was interviewed by John Connolly, and Adam Nevill was interviewed by Sarah Pinborough. Panellists included A.K. Benedict, Sarah Pinborough, Angela Slatter, Adam Nevill, John Reppion, Lynda E. Rucker, Robert Lloyd-Parry – who gave fantastic dramatised readings of works by M.R. James and Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu – members Marie O’Regan, Paul Kane and Maura McHugh, and others. Outside the main event, there was a chance to see St. Michan’s crypt and its mummies, and an exhibition of artist Brian Coldrick’s work at Gallery X.
Also in August, the HWA UK ran a joint event with Jo Fletcher Books, sponsoring a signing by Australian author Angela Slatter (whose first novel, Vigil, has just been released) at Forbidden Planet in London followed by drinks and a raffle at the Crown and Anchor afterwards. The event was well attended, and gave us a chance to promote the HWA UK and its aims at the event after the signing.
There are more events planned – a party at FantasyCon in September, sponsorship of Sledge Lit in Derby in November, and a few more still in discussion. We’ll post photographs of these events on the news page as they happen and then here on the Events page so that you can see what we’re doing, and maybe think about whether you’d like to be a part of the UK HWA community, and help to promote the genre in the UK.