While updating the Paracons and Horror Fests page recently, I came across an exciting new event to add: Horror Reader Weekend. It’s the brainchild of bookstagrammer Christine Harrold, an avid horror book fan who channeled her passion for the genre into creating an intimate weekend-long event that brings authors and writers together.
Last year there was only one event, but there will be two Horror Reader Weekends in 2025, one in Virginia and the other in New York. Let’s explore both.
Horror Reader Weekend Locations & Dates 2025
Horror on the Rappahannock
The first Horror Reader Weekend event will occur May 2-5 at the Inn at the Old Silk Mill in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Both the inn and the city it’s set in could not be a more perfect setting for horror lovers.
Nestled along the banks of the Rappahannock River, Fredericksburg is brimming with Revolutionary and Civil War history. It’s also rumored to have several haunted hot spots, the inn being one of them.
Horror on the Hudson
The second Horror Weekend Reader event will occur November 7-9 at the Overlook Lodge at Bear Mountain Inn in Highland Falls, NY. Like the event in Fredericksburg, this one is also set near a river, the Hudson River. There’s also a view of the Hessian Lake.
Also like Fredericksburg, the location is perfect. Some say they’ve seen the ghosts of Hessian soldiers in the forest surrounding the lake.
Horror Reader Weekend Prices
As of this post, pricing has yet to be announced for the Horror on the Hudson event, but Horror on the Rappahannock pricing is out.
The two-night event includes five meals, cocktails and wine, plus horror author signings, panels, and readings. In addition to swag and raffles, attendees can also buy and swap books.
There are three price points for the Horror on the Rappahannock event, all of which include meals and events, like a Saturday brunch and a Sunday morning ghost tour.
- $799 per person – Meals and events but no accommodation.
- $999 per person double occupancy rooms
- $1,299 per person for solo travelers
Horror Reader Weekend Authors
Authors haven’t been announced yet for the Horror on the Hudson event, but here are the authors who will be at Horror on the Rappahannock. Their latest or most upcoming books are noted next to their names.
- Erika T. Wurth – White Horse
- Lindy Ryan – Bless Your Heart
- Viggy Parr Hampton – Much Too Vulgar: A Horror Novel
- Clay McLeod Chapman – Wake Up and Open Your Eyes
- Cynthia Pelayo – Forgotten Sisters: A Novel
- L.C. Marino – Burn the Girls (The Haunting of the Whispering Book 1)
- Johnny Compton – Devils Kill Devils
- Heather Mihok – The Next Time I Blink
- Paulette Kennedy – The Witch of Tin Mountain
- Chris Panatier – The Redemption of Morgan Bright
- Hailey Piper – All the Hearts You Eat
- Brandon Perras Sanchez – Recessive Nature
- Elizabeth Broadbent – Ninety-Eight Sabers
- Sam Rebelein – The Poorly Made and Other Things: Creepy Gothic Horror with a Haunting Thematic Atmosphere
- Andrew K. Clark – Where Dark Things Grow
- Scott J. Moses – Our Own Unique Affliction
- Aimee Hardy – Pocket Full of Teeth
- Chris DiLeo – Empty Devils
- Nick Roberts – The Exorcist’s House
- D. Alexander Ward – When It All Goes Dark: Collected Stories
- Red Lagoe – In Excess of Dark
- RJ Joseph – Hell Hath No Sorrow Like a Woman Haunted
- Cassandra Rose Clark – The Beholden
- Jason Nickey – Channels: A Collection
- Matthew Mercier – Poe & I
- Errick Nunnally – Halloween Nights: Tales of Autumn Fright
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Todd Keisling – The Sundowner’s Dance
- Drew Huff – The Divine Flesh
- Felix I.D. Dimaro – In the Darkness, Eyes and Teeth
- Nathan Ballingrud – Crypt of the Moon Spider (The Lunar Gothic Trilogy Book 1)
- Alma Katsu – Red Widow
Boo-k It!
For more info about Horror Reader Weekend events, visit https://sites.google.com/view/horrorreaderweekend.
Check-In
What’s the best horror book you’ve read lately?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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The best horror read lately? I’d say The Candy Witch by Ronald McGillvray. It’s a loose retelling of Hansel and Gretel. Or Bound by Blood by Shawn Brink. It’s a YA Exorsict-type story. I don’t read much YA, so I’m surprised how much I enjoyed that one.
Oooo! I’m SO glad you responded to this question, Priscilla! I’ve added both books to my TBR list thanks to you. THANK YOU!
I know of a horror book I would NOT recommend: The Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand. It’s the Official sequel to The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, which I had reread right before I read the sequel. I left a scathing review of it on Amazon. That’s how much I disliked it.
Oh wow! First off, I didn’t realize someone had attempted to write a sequel to Shirley Jackson’s beloved classic. Second, I maybe chuckled way harder than I should’ve at your scathing comment review. I could totally relate to that impulse. I ended up only rating with a one-star but not leaving a review on a book that was a complete rip-off of FROM on MGM+. Most of the reviews raved about it, and some even mentioned FROM, but I was all, “HELLO?! Are you not seeing there’s nothing original? Even the character names are similar!!!!” And the actual writing was not good. It felt like a draft or AI or a combo of both. But in the end, I just bit my tongue. But now my FOMO is triggered and I’m tempted to go see what you wrote. lol
BTW…HAPPY NEW YEAR! Maybe you commented before and I said it then, but I have been struggling to post so I was psyched to see some comments from you so I could tell you that. lol
It’s under my name: maria aragon – and I gave it 1 star: “Bad Narrative Choices”.
Found it! For “scathing,” it was well-thought out and insightful I thought. And for sure I won’t be reading it after reading your review. I’d be very frustrated from the sounds of it.
She really was trying to be too clever about it, when the best approach was RIGHT THERE: ghost hunters.
LOL! Sometimes the obvious alludes us, doesn’t it? (Or is it just me? I will not be surprised if something about being “clueless” isn’t included in my obit or headstone! lol)