WORLD HORROR CONVENTION 2010 ANNOUNCES MC

Following our success with a Mistress of Ceremonies in Toronto in 2007, World Horror Convention 2010 is delighted to announce that our female MC in Brighton will be influential editor, writer and award-winning poet JO FLETCHER.

Jo has worked for such British publishing imprints as Headline, Mandarin and Pan, and she is currently Associate Publisher of Gollancz, the award-winning fantasy and science fiction imprint, now part of the Orion Publishing Group. Her authors include such giants of the field as Sir Terry Pratchett, the late Sir Arthur C. Clarke, Ursula K. LeGuin, Gene Wolfe and Charlaine Harris.

A regular columnist for SCIENCE FICTION CHRONICLE for many years, and a stalwart of the fantasy and horror genre for more than three decades, her work has appeared in such anthologies as THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF WEREWOLVES, THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF FRANKENSTEIN, THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF DRACULA, NOW WE ARE SICK, THE TIGER GARDEN: A BOOK OF WRITERS' DREAMS, DARK OF THE NIGHT, WHITE OF THE MOON, FREAKS GEEKS AND SIDESHOW FLOOZIES, CTHULHU AND THE COEDS, SHORT TRIPS: A CHRISTMAS TREASURY and DAUGHTER OF DANGEROUS DAMES.

Jo has also co-edited the World Fantasy Convention anthologies GASLIGHT & GHOSTS and SECRET CITY: STRANGE TALES OF LONDON, while her first poetry collection, SHADOWS OF LIGHT AND DARK, was short-listed for the British Fantasy Award. She won an International Society of Poets Award in 1996, the British Fantasy Society's inaugural Karl Edward Wagner Award in 1997, and the World Fantasy Award-Professional in 2002.

For more information about JO FLETCHER, who joins Author Guests of Honour TANITH LEE and DAVID CASE, Artist Guests of Honour LES EDWARDS and DAVE CARSON, and Editor Guest of Honour HUGH LAMB as part of our exciting line-up of Guests of Honour, please go to the convention website.

Other writers, artists, agents, editors and publishers already registered as attending World Horror Convention 2010 include: Edward W. Bryant Jr., Pat Cadigan, Ramsey Campbell, CENTIPEDE PRESS (USA), Basil Copper, Peter Crowther, Ellen Datlow, Christopher Fowler, Gary Fry, GRAY FRIAR PRESS (UK), Simon R. Green, John Jarrold, JEMMA PRESS (Greece), Stephen Jones, Allen Koszowski, Tim Lebbon, Brian Lumley, Dorothy Lumley, L.H. Maynard & M.P.N. Sims, Gary McMahon, Farah Mendlesohn, MORTBURY PRESS (UK), Mark Morris, Lisa Morton, Yvonne Navarro, Adam L.G. Nevill, NEWCON PRESS (UK), Kim Newman, Reggie Oliver, Weston Ochse, OXY PUBLISHING (Greece), Sarah Pinborough, David Pirie, John L. Probert, PS PUBLISHING (UK), REBEL E PUBLISHERS (South Africa), Tony Richards, David A. Riley, SCREAMING DREAMS (UK), Robert Shearman, Michael Marshall Smith, SNOWBOOKS (UK), Alexandra Sokoloff, David A. Sutton, TARTARUS PRESS (UK), TELOS PUBLISHING (UK), Lisa Tuttle, Stephen Volk, Conrad Williams, and F. Paul Wilson, amongst many others.

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Celebrating its 20th Anniversary, The World Horror Convention will be held over March 25-28, 2010, in the historic Regency seaside city of Brighton, on the picturesque south coast of England. This is the first time that the event will have been held off the North American continent.

The theme is "Brighton Shock!—A Celebration of the European Horror Tradition from Victorian Times to the Present Day", and the convention will host numerous panels, talks, presentations, readings, workshops and displays devoted to horror, macabre, mystery and thriller fiction and art in all its varied and fearsome forms.

The venue will be the historic Royal Albion Hotel, which dates back more than 180 years and stands directly opposite Brighton's iconic Palace Pier and a stone's throw from the beach. There are plenty of alternative hotels and Bed & Breakfasts in the immediate surroundings, catering for all budgets, and Brighton is filled with restaurants, wine bars and clubs. Antiquarian shopping precinct The Lanes, the Sea Life Centre and the world-famous Royal Pavilion are also within easy walking distance.

Brighton has direct transport links from Gatwick International Airport and the centre of London, and is easily accessible for overseas visitors, especially those from mainland Europe. And if you want to extend your stay, then Britain's annual National Science Fiction Convention, Odyssey 2010, is being organised near to Heathrow airport the following weekend. Come for World Horror and stay for Eastercon!

The World Horror Convention's prestigious Grand Master Award will also be presented at a sit-down Banquet during the weekend. Past recipients have included Stephen King, Dean R. Koontz, Anne Rice, Ray Bradbury, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, Brian Lumley and Ramsey Campbell.

All information about the convention, hotel and location is available on our website www.whc2010.org, including an easy to use PayPal Registration Form (which will automatically convert your payment at the current exchange rate). Or you can print off the form and send it with a cheque (sterling only) to: World Horror Convention, PO Box 64317, London NW6 9LL, England.

With numerous writers, artists, editors, publishers and booksellers expected to attend from all over the world, this is the one event that the dedicated horror fan, professional, collector or dealer cannot afford to miss!

Wish you were here? . . . Well, now you can be.

WORLD HORROR CONVENTION.
MARCH 25-28, 2010.
BRIGHTON, ENGLAND.
www.whc2010.org

(17 April 2009)