Earlier this month, well the end of July to the beginning of this month, I had the privilege of being one of the influencers at the inaugural Haunt the Readers book event in Mount Joy, PA! Thanks to Chandra, now of Wherethehorrorsgrow, for putting in a good word for me. I had the best time helping out with the event and being able to meet so many authors and other bookstagrammers that I’ve known throughout my time in the community.
This was an event specifically for thriller, mystery, and horror authors with plenty of Q&A’s and panels. Some of which Chandra was the moderator for and I was so happy to be able to be there cheering her on. So many incredible authors were there and I got to see some familiar faces as well (shoutout to Kristopher Triana and Aron Beauregard). One author was so excited to finally meet was Robyn Harding. Her debut novel was one of the very first ARCs I ever received on Bookstagram and it was so nice to meet her in person.
I think the best part about this event was that most people had no idea who I was by looking at me, but they definitely recognized the nails. As someone who doesn’t typically post their face with their reviews, it was pretty entertaining when people realized who I was.
One of the highlights was meeting Hailey Piper and Daphne Fama. Both were in panels with Chandra and both are the sweetest people. Most horror authors are, despite what people may think based on the stories they write! We had the best time hanging out with them and I was blessed with an early copy of Hailey’s upcoming book, She Isn’t Herself Tonight, and Daphne is sending me an early copy of her upcoming novel, A Deadly Blooming. While I was there, Aron gave both Chandra and I a copy of his book, Modern Hysteria. A book about an online challenge that is making vulnerable kids take their own lives at the command of Mr. Boy, and if you know anything about me you’ll know I have an absolute fascination with anything in the Slenderman realm of internet lore and entities. I started and ALMOST finished it on my flight home (review for that to come in the onslaught of upcoming posts).
While in the area, I got to meet up with another bookstagrammer turned close friend, Amanda (of charmandareads). She and I have gotten super close that our friendship has spilled into texting and even having a 689 day snapchat streak. She even crocheted me a mothman for my birthday. We went to some antique stores, bookstores, a comic book store, and had dinner together (with her husband, Derek). It was the best time and I hope we’ll be able to get together again soon.
It was quite the journey getting there, literally. Flew into Baltimore, because connecting flights stress me out. From Baltimore, I had an hour and a half drive to the hotel. Which is the average drive to see friends and family near Minneapolis. My trip home was a long one. My flight home was at 6:20am. Which meant getting there around 4:20am, when then meant leaving the hotel around 2:30am to allow for enough time to return the rental car and take the shuttle to the airport. THEN it was the 2 hour drive home from Minneapolis. All worth it to be home early in the day versus super late at night. I would do it all again and I hope to go back for next year!
Jessicamap Reviews 
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