Two masters of the uncanny—mystery, fantasy, crime, and horror—discuss the art of fiction.

Born in Bangor, Joe Hill is the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of the novels The Fireman, Full Throttle, NOS4A2, Horns, and Heart-Shaped Box; Strange Weather, a collection of novellas; and the prize-winning story collection 20th Century Ghosts, as well as the Eisner Award-winning writer of a six-volume comic book series, Locke & Key.

Lincolnville’s Elizabeth Hand is the author of numerous award-winning novels and collections of short fiction, including the series of psychological thrillers featuring Cass Neary, described as “one of noir's great anti-heroes” by Katherine Dunn, author of Geek Love. Publishers Weekly called Hand’s just-published historical crime novel Curious Toys "a phantasmagoric time trip tailor-made for fans of The Devil in the White City."

Laura Miller is books and culture columnist for Slate. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, The Guardian and The New York Times Book Review, where she wrote the “Last Word.” She is the author of The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia (Little, Brown, 2008) and editor of the "The Salon.com Reader's Guide to Contemporary Authors" (Penguin, 2000).