NecronomiCon Providence 2015

On Saturday I attended NecronomiCon Providence for the day.

I headed out from home in the morning. Traffic was light and the drive only took an hour. The core event took place across three buildings downtown. With the light traffic, it was easy to follow the signs and I reached my destination without a problem.

The Rhode Island Convention Center housed the vendors' room, attached around the corner in the Omni Hotel, a couple of ballrooms were used for panels. A very short walk down the street brings you to the Biltmore Hotel, where other panels took place.

Rhode Island Convention Center

Biltmore Hotel

View from the 17th floor of the Biltmore

View from one of the Grand BallRoom windows, 17th floor, Biltmore

The Biltmore is a grand old hotel, opened in 1922. It's very wonderful, as you can see from the photos.

My first stop was Lois Gresh's reading/launch of her anthology Innsmouth Nightmares. Great lineup in that book, and some of the contributing writers were in attendance.

Right off the bat I was able to meet Sam Gafford and Matthew Carpenter, as they were both at the reading, too! (Sam is the publisher of Ulthar Press and Matthew was the editor of A Lonely & Curious Country.)

Secondhand Mythos

Next up, I dropped in on the Secondhand Mythos panel which discussed the iterations, peaks and valleys of quiet and resurgence of Lovecraftian/Mythos fiction. The panel consisted of Ramsey Campbell, Stephen Jones, Paul Di Filippo, Robert Price & Cody Goodfellow. Yeah - very cool!

After those talks, I headed back to explore the vendors' room. Oh. Shiny, shiny books. Art, too. I spent too much money and could have spent way too much money.

Once I finally reached the Robert E. Howard Foundation table, I was done. They brought books. Why'd they have to bring books?

Of course, once I introduced myself to Mark Finn, Rusty Burke and Jeff Shanks, I was invited to have a seat and we spent time chatting, hawking REH wares, and getting folks interested in the Foundation. (If you're not a member, there is now a free membership level which will at least keep you informed of all things REH by email. Hint, hint.)

After a lunch break, I briefly stopped in on the Forbidden Knowledge discussion about the fictional tomes of the Mythos. Some interesting ideas there. Squirreling away for future story ideas.

Then I was back at the REH table socializing. Hey - getting to meet these guys in person after all this time online was grand. (I probably should have spent more time with my editor and publisher. Bad writer!) This really was the highlight of the day for me, though I certainly enjoyed the merchandise & panels and seeing other people I knew.

There was a great talk on Chambers and "The King in Yellow." I learned a lot there, too. I need to read Joe Pulver - he is one knowledgeable guy. He cited Karl Wagner's "River of Night's Dreaming" during the talk, which I was really pleased to hear.

Finally, I attended "Two-Gun Bob Rides Again!" presented by Jeff Shanks, Rusty Burke, Scott Connors, Mark Finn and darn-it-missed-his-name-and-not-listed-in-program(Rick Lai.) It was a solid panel. I think the audience enjoyed it. I suspect anyone with little knowledge of REH and his ties to Lovecraft and the Mythos learned a lot.

Two-Gun Bob Rides Again!

We were all encouraged by the turnout for the panel as well as the traffic at the table in the vendors' room.

I ended my day at the Union Station brewhouse with Jeff, Mark, Rusty, and two other guys - Rick and Scott. Food and beer were top-notch! So was the company, of course!

Then I headed home.

The loot!

I really enjoyed my day. The next NecronomiCon Providence will be held in 2017, they are on an every-other-year schedule. I will seriously consider attending for a longer spell, next time. So many people to visit with!