Kelley M. Frank is a former English professor and currently works as a full time horror artist, photographer, and writer with her company, Morbid Smile Art.

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Kelley M. Frank was the girl in her deep south school whose classmates thought she worshipped Satan because she read spooky and true crime books. After gaining her Associates, Bachelors’. and Masters’ degrees, she worked as an Adjunct and then a Professor of English for almost ten years, she retired from education to pursue he eclectic passions. Now she’s a horror artist, writer, poet, and photographer. She’s also a Horror Writer’s Association Affiliate, frequent panelist for Georgia-based and online shows like Multiverse and Con-Tinual: The Con That Never Ends, an asexual witch, a cat lady, a bone collector, and an outspoken advocate for the strange and unusual.

After working as a film reviewer for the now-defunct Atlanta-based horror magazine Dead, Buried, and Back, she’s appeared in a number of horror anthologies as an author including Slice Girls edited by Carmilla Voiez and Southern Monsters edited by D.C. Phillips and William Sterling from Frightful Fables Press. She’s also completed interior art, lettering, covers, and/or promotional graphics for various books including Zealot by C. Vonzale Lewis, Emporium of Superstition – An Old Wives’ Tale Anthology edited by Elle Beaumont from Midnight Tide Press, and Georgia Gothic: Stories from the Dark Side of the Deep South edited by Alex Hofelich, Vicki Greer, and Peter Adam Salomon from Southern Nightmares Press.

Growing up in rural Georgia and watching the city grow up around her, Kelley witnessed plenty of creepy moments. She channels that sense of displacement in her work, drawing from her early experiences of her family’s lost middle class wealth decayed into poverty, relentless school bullying through grade school, her experiences as neurodivergent and mental illness with a midlife diagnosis, and the plight of the feminine-coded outsider.

She currently holds an Affiliate Membership with the Atlanta, Georgia chapter of the Horror Writer’s Association. She’s a regular attendee and panelist at conventions like Multiverse, CONjuration, Dragon*Con, MomoCon, and Anime Weekend Atlanta in the Atlanta area as well as the online-only CONtinual Con. Her special interests – death and burial, the occult, the Victorian era, mental illness, fan culture, horror, and gender – translate to all areas of her work. Furthermore, her perspective as someone who identifies as asexual within the LGBTQ community offers a chance for added diversity on panels.

She’s done live (in-person and virtual) readings and discussions. Additionally, she has experience holding educational sessions for audiences and small classes. at Clayton State University as part of their Continuing Education program.

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Panelist and Vendor events master list

I’m very excited to list my past and upcoming shows and festivals here for easy scheduling. Whether we’re bringing the artwork out for you to see in person or offering informative panels, this is the place to find my upcoming events or see if your event fits my schedule. Follow me on Facebook, Bluesky, or Instagram for more specifics about event days, times, and locations.

Upcoming for 2025

• Grown Up Book Fair, Milledgeville, GA: July 25, 2026
• North Georgia Regional Book Fair, Dahlonega, GA: September 12, 2026
• Decatur Book Festival, Decatur, GA: October 2-3, 2026
• Multiverse, Peachtree City, GA: October 16-18, 2026.
• CONjuration, Duluth, GA: November 6-8, 2026

Past Events

• Dragonmountcom: #reWoTch Star Wars Clone Wars 3.19 3.20 with Authors Marlena and Kelley Frank, Virtual Guest Panelist: July 6, 2026.
• CONtinual Con: Stephen King Movie Adaptations, Virtual Panel: June 20, 2026
• CONjuration, Atlanta, GA: November 2025
• Author Fest, Atlanta, GA: March 29, 2025
• ConPossible, Atlanta, GA: February 7-9, 2025
• “True Crime,” Con-Tinual Con: January 23, 2024 (virtual)
• “Fangirl Portrayal in TV and Movies from Misery to Swifties,” Con-Tinual Con: March 5, 2024 (virtual)
• “Studio Ghibli,” Con-Tinual Con: March 12, 2024 (virtual)
• “Comedy and Horror.” Con-Tinual Con: March 26, 2024
• “Writing True Crime,” Con-Tinual Con: April 2, 2024 (virtual)
• AuthorFest, Dalton, GA: April 6, 2024
• JordanCon & Art Show, Atlanta, GA: April 19-21, 2024
• “Friday the 13th,” Con-Tinual Con: April 30, 2024 (virtual)
• Strong Women, Strange Worlds quick read: May 3, 2024 (virtual)
• “Most haunted Cities” Con-Tinual Con: May 21, 2024 (virtual)
• Oconee Book Festival, Athens, GA: May 25, 2024 (virtual)
• “The Alien Franchise,” Con-Tinual Con: May 28, 2024 (virtual)
• “Jurassic Park,” Con-Tinual Con: June 11, 2024 (virtual)
• “Spotlight on the Multiverse Convention Interview”, Multiverse: September 16, 2024 (virtual)
• Multiverse, Atlanta, GA: October 18-20, 2024
• ConJuration 2024, Atlanta, GA: November 15-17, 2024
• Oconee FanFest, Oconee, GA: April 1, 2023
• JordanCon, Atlanta, GA: April 21-23, 2023
• Con Carolinas, NC: June 2-4, 2023
• Multiverse, Atlanta, GA: October 19-22, 2023
• Monsterama, Atlanta, GA: October 27-29, 2023
• “Lois Lane Discussion Panel,” Con-Tinual: November 6, 2023 (virtual)
• “The Queer Erasure of The Joker”, Con-Tinual: November 11, 2023 (virtual)
• Conjuration, Atlanta, GA: November 17-19, 2023
• CONjuration, Atlanta, GA: November 4-6, 2022
• Multiverse Con, Atlanta, GA: October 14-16, 2022
• JordanCon, Atlanta, GA: April 22-24, 2022
• CONjuration, Atlanta, GA: November 5-7, 2021
• Next Chapter Con, Atlanta, GA: October 2, 2021
• Monsterama Con, Atlanta, GA: October 8-10, 2021
• Multiverse, Atlanta, GA: October 15-17, 2021
• CONjuration, Atlanta, GA: 15-17 November 2019

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