2013 Conventions (WHC vs. NecronomiCon)

[Nicole Cushing]

Okay...so I can basically only afford to do one major, out-of-town, air travel sort of convention a year.

Next year, there's WHC in New Orleans, which looks promising (g.o.h. include folks like Kiernan and R. Campbell). On the other hand, there's NecronomiCon, which seems like it'll include any number of folks from TLO (and, if I'm not mistaken, Kiernan as well).

Part of me would like to go to WHC because I've never been to a WHC before. But because -- as both a reader and an author -- I'm a cosmic horror junkie, I'm thinking NecronomiCon might be a good fit.

Did I mention that I'm also a neurotic over-analyzer anxious she'll make the wrong decision? ;)

Anyway...advice, thoughts, comments all welcome...

[DoktorH]

Advice: if you are not already a hard-drinking chain-smoking knife-toting madman, attempting to get around new england by car will make you one. I have driven betwixt boston and Cape Cod before. I contemplated killing my traveling companion, contemplated driving through pedestrians, had many panic attacks, began smoking, began chainsmoking, began drinking... it made me the man I am today (i did eventually quit smoking). So that's a vote against NecronomiCon Have you been to the gulf coast in June? I grew up there (few hours drive eat of New Orleans, in florida). In june, it is miserably hot. deep in the devil's buttcrack levels of hot and humid, with bugs almost as big. I vote WHC. I like the southern US far more than New England.

[hopfrog]

Nothing will compare to NecronomiCon Providence 2013. It will be ye greatest gathering of Lovecraftians ever. There is a magick about the city of Providence that utterly enchants the Lovecraftian. The four days I spent there, in October of 2007, were the four happiest days of my entire life. By happy chance, S. T. Joshi was in town doing work at ye John Hay Library for the volumes of Clark Ashton Smith poetry he was editing for Hippocampus Press. S. T. took us on a walking tour of Lovecraftian sites--some photos of which are in my photo album here--and I was absolutely transported as I stood with S. T. before 10 Barnes Street.

The convention will be attended by most of the major Lovecraftian scholars that dwell in America, and that alone is reason for keen excitement. Many of these scholars gathered last year at MythosCon, and their passion for Lovecraft, their knowledge concerning his Life and Works, helped to make MythosCon the most sensational convention I have ever attended. NecronomiCon will be one-thousand times more resplendent.

NecronomiCon will be attended by those modern horror writers that I find most entrancing, such as Caintlin R. Kiernan, Richard Gavin, Laird Barron, Jonathan Thomas, Peter Rawlik, and so many others. Leslie Klinger, who edited THE NEW ANNOTATED SHERLOCK HOLMES in three handsome hardcover volumes for Norton, will be in attendence; he is now working on a mammoth hardcover edition of THE ANNOTATED H. P. LOVECRAFT. Wonderful artists such as Allen Koszowski, Nick Gucker, Robert Knox, Bob Eggleton and Jason Eckhardt will be there. S. T. Joshi will be in attendence, as will the lads from the H. P. Lovecraft Historial Society, Andrew Leman and Sean Branney. Mike David, created of the Lovecraft eZine, will be there. Providence poet of Lovecraft and Poe, Breet Rutherford, will be there.

I could go on and on. Great Yuggoth, I'm so excited about this I see stars whenever I think of it. I knew that I had to do something special to celebrate this convention, and so I have spent this past summer writing a new book, BOHEMIANS OF SESQUA VALLEY, that will see its debut at the convention. The book is to be published in an initial hardcover edition by Arcane Wisdom Press, illustrated by the amazing Swiss artist, Gwabryel.

I am the convention's Poet Laureate and will be writing three new Lovecraftian sonnets for ye programme booklet.

The Stars Are Right. Be there or be non-Euclidean.

[Brendan Moody]

Providence isn't particularly bad as far as driving goes; it's certainly not Boston. And the convention hotel is close to the train station, which is itself a short, inexpensive commuter rail journey from Boston's South Station, so it should be possible to avoid driving in the area altogether if one so desires.

I've been thinking about trying to make it to NecronomiCon, simply because, having gone to school in the city, I know Providence well enough to be comfortable there.

I imagine that NecronomiCon will be a more focused and intimate experience than the World Horror Convention. Whether that's good or bad depends on what one is looking for.

[nomis]

In terms of programming, NecronomiCon will be the more scholarly. If you want interesting panels that are unmissable, it's the place to be. However, the topics are highly focused, and if you don't love Lovecraft it can be overwhelming. WHC's programming has a wider variety of topics, but many panels can be rather facile, and completely skippable.

So, in essence, if you want good programming, go to NecronomiCon. If you want to socialize, go to WHC.

[Nicole Cushing]

Leanin' pretty heavily toward NecronomiCon now.

Interestingly, a web search led me to realize that there are actually two conventions called "NecronomiCon" (which, given how catchy the name is, isn't really surprising).

This is the one, true NecronomiCon and this is the imposter. ;) (Okay, I exaggerate, but you get my drift).

The con organizers may want to really emphasize this so that people don't get confused. (When I Googled "NecronomiCon", the Florida convention was the first to come up).

[mgriffin]

My wife and I had been fully intending to go to WHC New Orleans, but the NecronomiCon news changed our minds. Always wanted to see Providence, and we've both been to New Orleans before. The Providence con guest list and programming seem much more the kind of thing that would interest us.

Can't go wrong either way, really, but for me (us), it'll be Providence next year. If we weren't already convinced, reading Wilum's post below would've done it.

And how can you possible miss out on a chance to hang out with Joe Pulver in Providence?!

[Sam]

Nicole, I faced the same dilemma. I went to my first WHC last year in Salt Lake City and had an amazing time. I enjoyed more interesting conversations in three days than I had in the last three years, easily. But... for me, NecronomiCon wins. The guests and attendees alone are enough to sway me, but I have to agree with Wilum, Providence has a palpable vibe to it that just has to be experienced.

I visited Providence once about 12 years ago, for business. California born and raised as I am, New England was, well, magickal. History hangs almost oppressively over everything, and the architecture and olde buildings were breath-taking, so different from the much more modern locations I am used to back home. My hosts were good enough to take me to Swan Point Cemetery, and I still treasure the charcoal rubbing I made from Mr. Lovecraft's headstone. That was a day I will never, ever forget.

I made hotel reservations for NecronomiCon as soon as they announced details. With a year to save for transport and frolicking, I'm confident that I will be able to do it right. My wife, who is not a big fan of horror in general or Lovecraft in particular (opposites attract!), will be coming too; she will enjoy the New England sights and attractions while I am attending the con programming, then will join me at night to drink and talk with some of the most fascinating people of whom I can think.

WHC comes around every year and is great, but NecronomiCon appears to be a very special event. A TLO meet-up in witch-haunted Providence is a must! Very much looking forward to seeing you folks there. So. Freaking. Stoked.