Emily Smiley is a horror and dark fantasy author who encourages her readers to discover deeper truths within themselves through the exploration of fear, grief, and trauma, with a splash of dark humor and (sometimes) a little spice. She was a panelist at World Con 2025 and is slated to panel at NorWesCon and Stoker Con 2026. She’s the Programming Coordinator for Writers’ Studio at the Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network (BARN) on Bainbridge Island, WA, is a co-founder of Content Hospital—a speculative fiction writing, critique, and marketing collective, serves as the Operations Lead for the Story Island Writers Conference 2026, and is a member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA) and the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). Emily is represented by A.J. Van Belle at the Booker Albert Literary Agency.