Rochester, which lies more or less between Syracuse and Buffalo, has a very active writing community, often stemming from hook-ups at
Writers and Books. My critique group of 17 years started there--but we're genre-exclusive, and it's not horror.
However, I often see notices in this or that publication suggesting that there are many other genre-specific and all-fiction-types writing or critique groups meeting in the area.
Maryn, whose group met today