Special Guests
We are thrilled that these talented guests will be joining us at KingCon 2024
We invite you to click on each person’s image below to check out their websites for more information and an opportunity to see their work!Please check out our promotional material and drop us a line!
TV, Movies & More
Mick Garris
Mr. Garris is known for his work in the horror genre. He has worked with Stephen King several times, such as directing the horror film Sleepwalkers, written by King and starring Mädchen Amick and is the creator of the Showtime series Masters of Horror and the NBC series Fear Itself. Garris won a 1986 Edgar Award for an episode he wrote for the Steven Spielberg-produced television series Amazing Stories. Garris directed the FEARnet web series Post Mortem. He contributes to the web series Trailers From Hell. Garris was also the co-screenwriter and executive producer of Hocus Pocus. Garris directed the 2011 miniseries adaption of Stephen King's novel Bag of Bones and the documentary film Pure in Heart: The Life and Legacy of Lon Chaney Jr., about the life and work of Legend actor Lon Chaney Jr., which screened on the Horror-Rama 2015 in October 2015. He has a role, as Himself in the biography horror film Digging Up the Marrow, from indie director Adam Green.
Robert Kurtzman
Having worked in FX since the age of 19, one of the co-founders of KNB EFX Group and currently heading Robert Kurtzman MUFX, Robert's career has spanned four decades, working within the television and movie industry to bring our worst fears to the screen. Robert's list of credits range from working on Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, the original Scream trilogy, Wishmaster to The Haunting of Hill House and Doctor Sleep. One of his early "claims to fame" includes writing the original story From Dusk Till Dawn and discovering Quentin Tarantino who was working at a video store. He paid Quentin to write the screenplay and the rest, they say, is history. Robert is also credited as the fx supervisor and co-producer on the film! Robert is quite possibly the fx artist that has worked on the MOST Stephen King films, including Misery, The Green Mile, Netflix's Gerald's Game (yes, that hand bit!), and Doctor Sleep.... eight in total! Robert divides his time between his company in Atlanta and his hometown in Ohio with his partner and wife, Marcy King and their two cats, Buffy and Angel.
Artists
Kristen Bird
The artist, Kristen Bird was born and raised along the white beaches in the Panhandle of Florida and moved away to the Appalachian Mountains of New York upon being accepted into a Master's program. Even as a young child, Kristen liked to find creativity in all aspects of life and tried to bring art into anything and everything possible. Over the years of practicing, Kristen was drawn towards colored pencil as the preferred medium. Now, even while balancing a full-time job and being full-time in Graduate School, Kristen still tries to find time to let the art speak for itself.
Glenn Chadbourne
Glenn Chadbourne is a freelance illustrator specializing in the horror/dark fantasy genres. His work has appeared in numerous books, comics and computer games. Notable Stephen King works include the two volume editions of The Secretary Of Dreams (Cemetery Dance) The Dark Man (Cemetery Dance) The Colorado Kid (PS Publishing) Carrie (PS Publishing) and most recently the illustrated Cujo, also published by PS Publishing. Chadbourne also created the mascot/character Doug E Graves for King's radio station WKIT--the greatest rock 'n roll station in the galaxy! He lives in Newcastle, Maine with his wife Sheila and their pug dog Boo.
Francois Vaillancourt
Francois is a Montreal artist who specializes in images illustrating dark worlds and stories where horror and macabre meet.
His images are characterized by a highly textured, emotionally evocative and sensitive universe. Even through his darkest images, we can recognize a certain beauty and fragility.
Although he is trained as a classical artist, his work and creative methods have been transposed into the digital world, allowing him to rework images in a more fluid way until the desired result is achieved.
Rob Wood
Best known for five Stephen King book covers, Four Past Midnight, Needful Things, Dolores Claiborne, Gerald's Game and Nightmares and Dreamscapes, Rob has also illustrated covers for many other authors including Peter Benchley, Tom Clancy, Peter Straub, Anne Tyler, Jean Auel and Kristin Hannah. He illustrated the interior of books written by Carl Sagan, Robert Ballard, who discovered the titanic, and Neil deGrasse Tyson. He created two paintings for a screenplay of a story from Four Past Midnight entitled “The Library Policeman.” He most recently illustrated Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian for Suntup Editions; two of the paintings were included in the annual exhibition at the Society of Illustrators in New York. He has received awards for excellence from Communication Arts Magazine, the New York Art Directors Club, the American Illustration Annual, Spectrum’s Best in Contemporary Art, Best in Show and gold medals from the Illustrators Club of Washington, Maryland and Virginia. In 2001 he received an Award of Honor from East Tennessee State University in recognition for individual accomplishment as an illustrator. Rob lives on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay with his wife Kassie.
Publishers
Phantasia Press
Phantasia Press was formed by Alex Berman and the late Sidney Altus with the idea of publishing high quality, limited edition hard-cover science fiction and fantasy books. Each book is produced with extremely high quality materials.
From 1978 to 1989 Phantasia Press published 49 books. Some of its offerings were true first editions; others, the first hardcover editions of works previously published in paperback. In a few instances there had been previous hardcover editions.
In 2023, Phantasia Press returned to the publishing world, once again offering high quality hardcover science fiction and fantasy editions. We are continuing with the tradition of using archival quality, acid-free paper and smythe sewn in reinforced bindings.
In 2024 Diana Petroff joined Alex Berman as partner and co-publisher. Together we will continue to create beautiful books that our fans will be proud to own.
Suntup Editions
Suntup Editions is a publisher of carefully crafted limited edition books. We seek to continue the great tradition of fine bookmaking which was revived by William Morris and other celebrated pioneers of the fine press movement in the late 19th century.
“For us it’s about coming back to a simpler, purer time in our history when the art and craft of the book mattered.”