September 1, 2026
Festival Highlights
Across two days in Camden, Southern Gothic Festival brings together acclaimed authors, unsettling history, live storytelling, music, folklore, and the stranger corners of the South.
Featured Authors
Meet some of today’s most compelling voices in Southern literature, horror, historical fiction, and the supernatural. The 2026 festival welcomes Karen White, Jason Mott, David Joy, Julia Elliott, Clay McLeod Chapman, Lindy Ryan, Michael Wehunt, and more for conversations about place, identity, memory, fear, and the stories that continue to shape the South.
Panels & Conversations
Writers, historians, scholars, and storytellers gather for conversations that move beyond the familiar.
Explore contemporary fears in New Monsters, the supernatural South in Haunted Landscapes, race and masculinity with Jason Mott and David Joy in Southern Man, the evolution of the genre in Beyond the Grotesque, and Edgar Allan Poe’s place in Southern literary history in Poe and Place.
Podcasts & Storytelling
Hear the stories behind the stories through live podcast programs and Southern oral traditions.
Brandon Schexnayder of the Southern Gothic podcast investigates the legend of Agnes of Glasgow. Charlie Mewshaw of Arcane Carolinas explores folklore, cryptids, and paranormal history. Nancy Tolson and Craig Dominey of The Moonlit Road examine the enduring power of African American storytelling in the South.
True Crime & Local History
Go beyond the headlines and into the history that continues to haunt South Carolina.
Behind the Headlines: The Susan Smith Case brings together figures closely connected to the investigation and trial for a rare public conversation. The weekend also includes an exhibition of Victorian mourning jewelry and programs exploring the relationship between documented history, folklore, and collective memory.
Music & After Dark
As evening falls, the festival takes on a different atmosphere.
Valentine Wolfe and the Southern Gothic Opera Company bring gothic music, haunting vocals, and macabre theatricality to downtown Camden. The Mill Hands perform bluegrass steeped in longing, loss, and the shadows of the South. Visitors can also explore Historic Camden by lantern light before ending the weekend with a performance of Shock at the Black Box Theater.
