The ghouls are back in town! After darkness falls, accomplished local authors take the stage in BARN's Great Room to read their chilling stories as you treat yourself to yummy treats, wine, and dark 'n' stormy cocktails. You can even come in costume — if you dare.

Authors

In addition to the winner of our Dark and Stormy Night Short-Story Contest, we're excited to have these brilliant authors:  

Luciano Marano

Luciano is an award-winning writer, journalist, and photographer, author of the werewolf novella trilogy "The Ambush Moon Cycle" and numerous works of short fiction, which have appeared in anthologies such as Year’s Best Hardcore Horror and The Best New Weird Horror, as well as Nightscript, Pseudopod, and Chilling Tales for Dark Nights. A former staff reporter at both the Bainbridge Review and Port Townsend Leader, he was twice named a Feature Writer of the Year by the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association.  A U.S. Navy veteran originally from Pennsylvania, he now lives on Bainbridge Island.  

Emily Smiley

Emily Smiley is a horror and dark fantasy author who encourages her readers to discover deeper truths within themselves through the exploration of fear, grief, and trauma, with a splash of dark humor and a soupçon of spice. She’s taught and paneled at a number of conferences, and served as the Programming Coordinator for the Writers’ Studio at the Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network from 2024-2026. Emily is a co-founder of Content Hospital—a speculative fiction writing critique and marketing collective. She is also a co-founder of the Story Island Writers’ Conference. She is attending Viable Paradise in the Fall of 2026, and is a member of a variety of literary associations in the USA and the UK.

Jen Pitts

Pete Mesling

Seanan McGuire

Lynn Brunelle

Lynn (our esteemed emcee) is a four-time Emmy Award-winning writer for "Bill Nye the Science Guy," and a best-selling author of more than 60 titles, including 2025 Robert Sibert Medal winner "Life After Whale" and Washington Book Award finalist "Haiku Ew!" She has given TED Talks, spoken at the UN about STEAM education, and written for Sesame Street, National Geographic, The Discovery Channel, Disney, Scholastic, Random House, Penguin, Chronicle, Workman, ABC TV, NBC, NPR, and PBS.