Micky Neilson
Micky Neilson is a two-time New York Times best-selling author whose graphic novels, Ashbringer (#2 on the list) and Pearl of Pandaria (#3) have both been published in six languages.
As one of the first writers at Blizzard Entertainment, he has more than two decades of experience in the cutting edge of the gaming industry.
In 2016 Riverdale Avenue Press published his memoir Lost and Found: An Autobiography About Discovering Family, available wherever books are sold.
He has also self-published his first full-length horror novel, The Turning, and its prequel, Whisper Lake, both on Amazon. In 2017 Micky was tapped to write the comic book series The Howling: Revenge of the Werewolf Queen, a continuation of the beloved 1981 Joe Dante horror film The Howling.
Also in 2017 Micky completed the Call of Duty Field Manual, a companion book to the best-selling video game Call of Duty World War II.
Most recently, Micky has written his first original sci-fi novel, Ridgerunners.
James Fairley
James is a graduate of the Vancouver Film School and has worked as director, assist director, producer, production designer, and art director on shorts and feature films. He has acted in commercials, television, and feature films as well.
Currently, Mr. Fairley is a special FX makeup artist at MastersFX Studio, where he has worked on shows such as FALLING SKIES, TRU-BLOOD, ARROW/FLASH/LEGENDS OF TOMORROW, LAST OF US, ALMOST HUMAN, I-ZOMBIE, The 100, The ORIGINALS, BELKU; and many others.
Royce Buckingham
Royce Buckingham is a Bellingham, Washington novelist with an English degree from Whitman College and a Law degree from the University of Oregon. Royce wrote for 13 years before he sold his first novel, DEMONKEEPER. He has since made reading lists with his middle grade monster books, has had eleven novels published in more than ten countries, and has hit the bestseller list overseas with both DEMONKEEPER and his medieval fantasy series, MAPPER, which is published in both Germany and the U.S..
Royce has sold novels to Penguin, St. Martin’s Press, and Random House. He sold his screenplay, DEMONKEEPER to 20th Century Fox in 2006, and he attended DEMONKEEPER the stage play at Western Washington University. His Sasquatch Award winning book THE DEAD BOYS is a ghost story set in Richland, WA, where Royce grew up near the Hanford nuclear plant (which explains a few things).
His YA thriller THE TERMINALS released in October 14, 2014, his adult Thriller IMPASSE came out in 2015, and his medieval epic, THE BLADE OF THE FOREST will be out in Germany this October, 2018.
Thomas Henry Durant
Thomas has been an integral member of numerous award winning teams in television, serving as an editor on Emmy winning episodes of “The Deadliest Catch” for Discovery Channel, becoming the supervising editor and supervising producer of History Channel’s “Ice Road Truckers”, and eventually running shows both in post and in the field.
Now, Tomy serves as a development producer; cultivating new talent, building pitches, shooting and cutting sizzle reels, and meeting with network executives to sell new hit series.
Thomas is also an independent filmmaker tackling everything from a feature documentary about wolf conservation in America, to short narrative films for internet consumption.
Sammy Applegate
Sammy Applegate is an award winning filmmaker and accomplished composer originally from Lawrence, Kansas.
In 2012 she became the first woman to earn a masters of music in film composition degree from the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program at the Seattle Art institute.
She is currently in her sixth year as the assistant director to the film scoring program, working under two time Emmy winner Hummie Mann, helping train and guide new generations of aspiring composers into the film television and video game industries
Christal VanEtten
Christal VanEtten is the Founder of TheSuperghoul.com, a horror entertainment reporting site originating out of the Pacific Northwest. A former Bellingham resident, Christal majored in English at Western Washington University and afterwards began a career in digital marketing and communications. This branched into her horror niche brand The Superghoul which began as a way to nurture the existing horror communities through entertainment news, original content, and more.
When Christal is not creating content or reviewing films, she’s marathoning horror movies with her cats Vladimir the Impawler and October and a fresh pizza delivery.
She has not commented on her toppings of choice.
Roman Stadtler
Roman Stadtler is the creepy heart of Bellingham’s 33 year old comic shop, THE COMICS PLACE, and is a film/comic/story geek, with a degree in Literature and Film, a rabid passion for Alice Cooper, Hammer Horror, the Universal Monsters, and E.C. comics. A former film critic for all sorts of underground rags you’ve never heard of, he once flew to NYC for the World Premiere of the American Godzilla film (the sucky one…please, don’t hold that against him) and contributed to the historical docudrama, THE MOUNTAIN RUNNERS.
Roman was a founding board member of the Whatcom Film Association, and Film Series Programmer at the Whatcom Museum. He’s a werewolf aficionado, still finds Chucky deeply disturbing, and thinks THEM (2006) is one of the scariest movies, ever.
Lorelei Shannon
Lorelei Shannon is a writer, sculptor, movie fiend, and gearhead goth mama.
She lives in the woods outside Seattle with her beloved husband, two gorgeous and talented kids, her secretly gothy mother, and an unruly pack of hellhounds and basement cats.
Lorelei mostly writes horror fiction, such as the Southern Gothic POSSUM KINGDOM, but she’s also written two (rather demented) historical biographies with her best friend Victoria Cosner: MAD MADAME LALAURIE: NEW ORLEAN’S MOST FAMOUS MURDERESS and MISSOURI’S MAD DOCTOR McDOWELL: CONFEDERATES, CADAVERS AND MACABRE MEDICINE!
Check out the madness at http://www.cosner-and-shannon.com
Crystal Connor
Master Imaginationist and Instagram photographer Crystal Connor is the Chief Imagineer working for the Department of Sleep Prevention’s Nightmare Division.
A Washington State native she loves anything to do with monsters, bad guys (as in evil-geniuses & super-villains. Not ‘those’ kind her mother warned her about), rogue scientific experiments, jewelry, sky-high high-heeled shoes & unreasonably priced handbags.
When she’s not terrorizing her fans and racking up frequent flyers miles by gallivanting all over the country attending fan conventions, writer’s conferences, and film festivals she reviews indie horror and science fiction films for both her personal blog and HorrorAddicts.net
Eliott Glasser
A graduate of Orange Coast College’s Film & TV Production program, Eliott Glasser has been writing, directing, producing, editing, and acting in short films/music videos for over ten years.
A former video store clerk at Film is Truth: 24 Times a Second, he has spent the last five years expanding his knowledge of all types of film by watching, studying, and adding to his own personal collection of over 1000 movies.
Robert Lashley
A 2016 Jack Straw Fellow, Artist Trust Fellow, and nominee for a Stranger Genius Award, Robert Lashley has had poems published in such journals as Feminete, Seattle Review of Books, NAILED, Gramma, Drunk in a Midnight Choir, and The Cascadia Review.
His work was also featured in Many Trails to the Summit , an anthology of Northwest form and lyric poetry, and It Was Written, an anthology of poetry inspired by hip hop.
His full-length books include THE HOMEBOY SONGS (Small Doggies Press, 2014) and UP SOUTH (Small Doggies)
Benjamin Owens
Benjamin’s mother lovingly showed him Halloween and The Shining when he was five years old, which explains why he is now an unapologetic horror enthusiast and filmmaker.
Opening his company, Lies for Truth Productions, in 2010, he has since had projects feature in festivals around the world, including Oaxaca FilmFest and Canada International Film Festival, among others. His short “I’m Gonna Eat Your Brains” won Best Film at Bleedingham Film Festival in 2013.
When not making films, he collects VHS and manages his local video store. Benjamin considers himself both a surrealist and a realist, which means he does not actually exist.
Jeffery Potts and Haley JoAnna:
Filmmakers
Award winning filmmakers and creators of the hit YouTube series 52 Weeks of Horror.
Their work has been seen in Rawl of the Dead Magazine, Vampire the Masquerade, and on Twitch. Jeffery is currently working in post production in the industry. He is also writing and working on 3D-Design. Haley is owner of HallowMummyArt and currently selling her work on Redbubble. Both are currently residing in Studio City CA.
Luke Allinson
For over 10 years Luke worked in the Hollywood and Vancouver film environment as an Assistant Director and key Locations PA. To this day he enjoys participating in local and independent film. Luke currently works as a consultant for multiple sound engineers in the Music Industry.
Matthew Rush
Matthew Rush is a Producer, Director, and Actor from Seattle. He has roughly a decade of industry experience under his belt with some of his top credits including films like “Prospect” and “The Paper Tigers”.
After getting his start in the lighting department, Matt has spent the past few years transitioning into producing and directing.
His work blends his love for horror and genre with a streak of absurdism to create films reminiscent of the ones that first shaped him.
Ty Huffer
Ty Huffer is an award-winning filmmaker who resides in Seattle, Washington.
A film fanatic from a young age, he was inspired to pursue a career in film by films like
“Big Trouble in Little China” and Charlton Heston’s “Omega Man”.
Denice Arbacauskas
Dee is a horror novelist and film review columnist, specializing in horror from an LGBTQ+ perspective.
She’s been looking forward to both finally seeing a Bleedingham festival live and getting to check out all the entries for this year!”