Horror is having a moment.

For the first time since 2007, a horror novel, Daniel Kraus’ 2025 “Angel Down,” took home a 2026 Pulitzer Prize.

And last year’s horror action film “Sinners” nabbed four Oscars in March.

“That speaks to how much more seriously the genre is being taken,” said Amanda Shafer, founder of Broom Book & Candle in Denver, a virtual book club and writing group that started during the pandemic, and now does in-person writing retreats, author talks, meet-ups and more.

Slasher sleepaway camp, where teens or young adults congregate at camp or a similar setting away from home, is also a recently reinvigorated and increasingly popular sub-genre in horror fiction. So much so that Shafer decided the moment was right to launch Creepaway Camp, a horror-themed event where attendees can spend four nights with popular horror authors serving as camp counselors; watch a 40th anniversary screening of the 1986 horror film, “Trick or Treat”; shop for horror books and merchandise during the Creeptastic Book Fair Day; and more.

And it’s taking place in a perfectly forested and isolated setting at La Foret Conference & Retreat Center in Black Forest. The event runs from June 29 through July 3. Day camp options are also available.

“Horror always has a moment when the world is in some turmoil,” Shafer said. “Science tells us it rewards the pleasure center of our brain to experience these extreme feelings in a setting of relative safety. We’re able to explore those darker, worst-case scenarios and work them out for ourselves without the high stakes. Horror is a mirror for society to look at its own anxieties.”

Guest authors include Nat Cassidy, whom Esquire called one of “the writers shaping horror’s next golden age.” Stephen King, who occasionally blurbs novels, wrote a rare 1,400-word introduction to Cassidy’s debut horror collection, “I Know a Place,” released in May.

Texas-based Johnny Compton, the author of four horror novels, will be on hand, as will C.J. Leede and Rachel Harrison, two young female horror authors on the upswing. Other authors include Maxwell I. Gold, Chris Panatier, Sam Rebelein and Erika T. Wurth, a bestselling author and Colorado native.

Those authors will give talks and do book signings, but also act as pseudo camp counselors who lead different activities during the days, like archery and creepy craft making.

“We’re really leaning into this being an authentic summer camp experience, but for grown-ups with a horror slant,” Shafer said.

Comedian and actor Marc Price, who played Skippy on the 1980s sitcom “Family Ties,” and starred in “Trick or Treat,” will host a screening of the cult classic film and provide comedic commentary.

And Neil McRobert, the U.K. host of the podcast “Talking Scared,” which King visits regularly, and author of the horror novella “Good Boy,” will lead campfire storytelling sessions.

“I don’t trust people who don’t consume horror or have an aversion to horror. It makes me suspicious. What is it you’re afraid to hold a mirror up to?” Shafer said. “Horror asks you to be vulnerable and empathetic and to not sugar coat what experiences are like or what people are capable of. I love to see horror recognized as a serious art because it may be doing it through the metaphor of monsters, but it’s really exploring those universal anxieties.”

Details

Creepaway Camp, June 29-July 3, La Foret Conference & Retreat Center, 6145 Shoup Road, $1,250-$1,550, includes four nights of lodging, all activities and meals; $350 one night; $65 day camp passes June 30-July 1, $35 day camp pass July 2 for Creeptastic Book Fair; broombookcandle.com/collections/creepaway-camp-merch-1