With the coronavirus outbreak wreaking havoc in the convention industry, given how impossible it is to enforce social distancing guidelines in a hall packed to capacity, it’s disappointing but no surprise that the Connecticut-based CT Horrorfest, which was scheduled for this September, has announced its cancellation, with a replacement date of September 18, 2021. I call that a smart move; it’s good to know the CTH folks are thinking of the health of their vendors, their guests, and the horror fan community.

However, this shutdown means my…well, I’m not sure you could call it a “convention schedule,” since my 2020 appearances consisted of CTH and Pow Con, back in January, but okay, let’s a call it “convention schedule.” Anyway, it means I won’t be showing up at any other cons this year—although, honestly, attending one in 2020 doesn’t make a lot of sense, since conventions are already notorious for spreading what’s become known as “con crud”: cold and flu germs spread by people who insist on foisting their poor health on everyone else instead of staying home when they’re sick. I’ve suffered from it on occasion; maybe you have, too. So why take the risk of picking up something even worse?

Well, you might not be able to enjoy the StarWarp Concepts Experience at CT Horrorfest this year, but you can still have the convention experience by buying yourself one (or all!) of the awesome books available from Pan’s publisher. From the dark urban fantasy adventures of The Saga of Pandora Zwieback and Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase to Illustrated Classics like Carmilla and King Kong, and from the graphic novel terrors of Lorelei: Sects and the City to the Brothers Grimm’s dark fairy tale Snow White, StarWarp Concepts has a lot to offer horror fans!

Stay safe, stay well, and I’ll hopefully see you next year!

This past Saturday, StarWarp Concepts (and me, naturally) made its first appearance at the sixth annual Connecticut Horrorfest, held at the Naugatuck Event Center. It was the perfect setting for creating horror convention nightmares, given its location: on Elm Street! (Freddy says hi, by the way, and he’ll see you in your dreams.) And considering the headliners were Doug Bradley (Pinhead of the Hellraiser movies), Tobin Bell (Jigsaw of the Saw movies), and David Naughton (star of An American Werewolf in London), it’s no surprise that horror fans came out in droves.

So how’d it go for SWC and me? Well, if you head over to the StarWarp Concepts blog, you can read my CT Horrorfest 2019 report and see for yourself!

Thanks for stopping by the StarWarp Concepts table today, and for your interest in my Goth adventuress, Pandora Zwieback. If you’re here because you spoke with me, then click on the cover you see to the right and download the Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0 digital comic that I showed you. Not only is it an introduction to Pan and her world, hosted by Pan herself, but it contains two sample chapters from her first novel, Blood Feud. Give it a read.

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback is the young adult, dark-urban-fantasy novel series that I write. It’s the story of a 16-year-old Goth girl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets a shape-shifting monster hunter named Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin, in the first critically acclaimed novel, Blood Feud, that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world. But before Pan can learn more about what she can do, she and her parents are drawn into a conflict between warring vampire clans that are searching for the key to an ultimate weapon (or so the legend goes)—a key that just so happens to have been delivered to the horror-themed museum owned by Pan’s father.

“Blood Feud is far and away one of the best young adult supernatural fantasy novels released in the last few years. Pan is exactly the kind of teen heroine that readers should be standing up and cheering for.”—Melissa Voelker, HorrorNews.net

“One of those fabulous books that manages to straddle the young adult/adult fiction divide, catering equally for teens and more, ahem, ‘mature’ readers alike with a light touch that makes it a joy to read.”—Kell Smurthwaite, BCF Book Reviews

Pan’s debut adventure continues in the second novel, Blood Reign, in which she and Annie face challenges from not just vampires but legions of monsters led by a fallen angel—who happens to be one of Annie’s ex-lovers! Blood Feud ended on such a shocking cliffhanger that Blood Reign picks up right where the previous novel left off and hits the ground running, in a story filled with danger, high-speed car chases, vampire hit squads, and a generous helping of romance—all while Pan tries to make sense of her increasingly weird life. Pan fans (I call them “Panatics”) can’t seem to get enough of StarWarp Concepts’ resident Goth girl, so feel free to join their growing ranks—we love adding new members to Zwieback Nation.

“If Blood Feud, the first volume, took some deliberate pacing steps to build Pandora’s character, Blood Reign eschews that as it thunders along at breakneck speed, barely pausing for breath at any given time (and, I must say, the volume was devoured at speed as well)… I thoroughly enjoyed this volume.”—Andrew Boylan, Taliesin Meets the Vampires

“If you thought the first book, Blood Feud, was high powered, you’ll love this book! To paraphrase movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn’s quote: Blood Reign starts with an earthquake and builds to a climax…. This was one fun read!”—Dwight Jon Zimmerman, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Lincoln’s Last Days

Pan’s first prose adventure concludes in the upcoming Blood & Iron, in which she, as well as her friends and family, will try to stop the legions of monsters from taking over the world.

Along with Blood Feud and Blood Reign, also available is the 56-page comic book The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1, which features two adventures (written by me) of Pan and her friends that are separate from (and take place after) the novels: a full-color drawn by Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0), in which Pan and her boyfriend, Javier, run into one of his ex-girlfriends…whom Pan can see is really a mythological siren that can enrapture men with her voice; and a short story that pits Pan, Annie, and Javier against a trio of Elegant Gothic Lolita vampires—in a shopping mall! An additional backup tale, “After Hours,” is provided by DC Comics writer Sholly Fisch (Scooby-Doo! Team-Up) and comic-art legend Ernie Colon (Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld).

Give the site a look-over—we’ve got plenty of free stuff you can download, and a gallery called “The 13 Days of Pan-demonium”: 13 unique drawings of Pan and Annie by a host of talented artists. And when you’re done, don’t forget to Like Pan’s Facebook page, so you can keep up-to-date with all the latest news.

A special shout-out to teen readers and Pandora Zwieback fans who are budding authors, but who may think their work isn’t all that good and worth continuing: Check out “Again, He Who Stalks”—a science-fiction story I wrote for my high school’s literary magazine when I was 16. Take a look at thatand tell me you can’t do better! 😀

And please keep in mind that Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts, is not just a YA fiction house. It also publishes illustrated classics (including J. Sheridan’s Le Fanu’s vampire romance Carmilla, Edgar Rice Burroughs’s A Princess of Mars, and the official 1932 novelization of the original King Kong); graphic novels for superhero fans and adult horror aficionados; digital and print comic books; artist sketchbooks; and writing guides for budding authors. Give them a visit and check out all they have to offer.

Monster fans from far and wide will be gathering this Saturday in the Nutmeg State, Connecticut, for the 6th annual Connecticut Horrorfest, and among the vendors you’ll find there will be the StarWarp Concepts crew—our first-ever appearance!

We’ve been hearing good things about this one-day show since it debuted in 2014, and its success has steadily grown in size each year to the point that they’ve had to move it out of its original hotel setting and into a more traditional convention location: in this case, the Naugatuck Event Center, at 6 Rubber Avenue in Naugatuck, Connecticut. Considering this is the first convention SWC has hit in about three years, we’re looking forward to it!

CT Horrorfest is being held September 14 from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. For more information, including the latest list of special guests—which includes Hellraiser’s Doug “Pinhead” Bradley, Saw’s Tobin “Jigsaw” Bell, Danielle Harris of the Halloween film franchise, and David Naughton, star of An American Werewolf in London— visit the CT Horrorfest website.

See you there!