Horror Convention
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Horror conventions are gatherings of the community of fans of various forms of horror including horror cinema,
goth Goth or Goths may refer to: * Goths, a Germanic people Arts and entertainment * Gothic rock or goth, a style of rock music * Goth subculture, developed by fans of gothic rock * ''Goth'' (2003 film), an American horror film * ''Goth'' (2008 f ...
lifestyle, and occasionally
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
and
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
. Historically the focus has been on the cinematic form rather than literature and art, but this has broadened to include all forms in recent years. People in attendance at a horror convention are traditionally known as ''members'' of the convention; invited celebrities including
film directors A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...
and stars are commonly known as ''guests'' of the convention, though many professionals including directors will simply attend as members.


Anatomy of a typical horror convention


Getting started

The first morning of most conventions, the "Opening Ceremonies" are held, where organizers and marquee guests are introduced and speeches might be made. Some conventions such as Weekend of Horrors will play horror-themed music and video.


Program

Panel-led discussions, or ''Panels'', usually fill up the daytime hours of most conventions with typically one-hour discussions of topics related to
horror films Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...
,
horror literature Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare an audience. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defi ...
, and
fandom A fandom is a subculture composed of Fan (person), fans characterized by a feeling of camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significan ...
in general. Evening entertainment often includes a combination of official and unofficial events, including dances, formal invitational dinners, and fandom-themed room parties. A ''bid party'' is a room party held to influence the choice of the location of a future convention by advertising its advantages. A costume contest called a
masquerade Masquerade or Masquerades may refer to: Books * ''Masquerade'' (book), a 1979 children's book by Kit Williams that sparked a worldwide treasure hunt * ''Masquerades'' (novel), a 1995 Forgotten Realms novel by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb * ''Masq ...
is often held where persons go on stage and compete for nominal prizes based on their skill in assembling and presenting horror-inspired outfits. This is truly more a "talent show" rather than the "fancy dress ball" that the term suggests (although British fandom sometimes uses the term "fancy dress").


Specific rooms

A ''Dealer's'' or ''Huckster's Room'' is available, where merchants sell wares of interest to fans. These include books,
action figures An action figure is a poseable character (arts), character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game, television program, or sport; fictional or historical. These fig ...
, prop replicas and t-shirts. Smaller conventions may simply have an informal ''Dealer's Row'', a section of hotel rooms from which dealers sell goods, while larger conventions may have both an official dealer's room and an unofficial dealer's row. Many conventions have ''video rooms'', in which genre-related audiovisual presentations take place and/or films and trailers are shown.


Ending the event

Often the "Closing Ceremonies" on the convention's last day are dispensed with entirely. This omission is because such ceremonies would logically be held after scheduled events are over, and convention members are occupied with packing up and checking out of the hotel. Ceremony or not, a ''dead dog party'' is likely to be held. This is the traditional winding-down party where few of the attendees are likely to have huge amounts of energy. This party is an attempt to ease people back into the real world outside of convention and can be an effective method of warding off the depression, which is often associated with the end of a major event. Analogies can be drawn to the decompression parties following large events such as
Burning Man Burning Man is a week-long large-scale desert event focused on "community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance" held annually in the Western United States. The event's name comes from its ceremony on the penultimate night of the event: the ...
.


Notable horror conventions

* Arcana * CREEP I.E. CON *
Crypticon Crypticon is a horror-oriented media convention held annually in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Seattle, Washington, and Kansas City, Missouri. Guests have included authors, actors, directors, producers, and writers from classic and upcoming horror titles ...
*
Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors Weekend of Horrors was traditionally a tri-annual (with occasionally more) traveling convention which focuses on horror films. Formerly produced in partnership with Creation Entertainment, the Weekend of Horrors show is now owned exclusively b ...
* New York City's Horror-Fi Expo *
Fantastic Fest Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas, focused on fantasy, horror, sci-fi, action and cult films, the largest genre festival in the United States. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse. Lisa Dreyer ...
* HorrorConUK * Flashback Weekend * For the Love of Horror *
Houston Horror Film Fest Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
*
Fantasm Orlando ''Fantasm'' is a 1976 Australian softcore pornographic film, directed by Richard Franklin under a pseudonym. It was followed by a sequel, '' Fantasm Comes Again'', the following year, directed by a pseudonymous Colin Eggleston. Plot German ps ...
*
Fright Night Film Fest Fright Night Film Fest, also known as Louisville Fright Night Film Fest, is an annual horror film festival in Louisville, Kentucky. The festival was first founded in 2005 by Ken Daniels and is typically held in July at the Galt House, which is f ...
* HorrorHound Weekend * House Of Horrors Oberhausen, Germany *
Monster-Mania Con Monster-Mania Con is a semi-annual horror film and memorabilia fan convention held in the United States, operating since 2003. It is focused on guest panels, where attendees of the convention can meet actors, primarily ones who have acted in horro ...
*
Monsterpalooza Monsterpalooza is an American multigenre convention focusing on horror, creatures and makeup work. The convention takes place every spring in Los Angeles, California, most recently in the Pasadena Convention Center. A smaller offshoot convent ...
*
Rue Morgue Festival of Fear Toronto, Canada's Festival of Fear is an annual multigenre fan convention that runs as part of Fan Expo Canada. It was founded as the Canadian National Horror Expo in 2004 by '' Rue Morgue Magazine'' and Hobby Star Marketing Inc. It is traditiona ...
* ScareFest Horror & Paranormal Convention * Shocka-Con Horror/Sci-Fi Convention *
Spooky Empire Spooky Empire is an American multigenre convention focused primarily on horror and science fiction, held bi-annually in Florida. The convention, which is billed as "the dark side of Comic-Con", features vendors, a film and tattoo festival, musi ...
* SPOOKALA *
Tampa Bay Screams Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the county seat of Hillsboroug ...
*
Texas Frightmare Weekend Texas Frightmare Weekend is a horror-oriented for-profit media event held annually in the Dallas, Texas, area. The weekend is a way for fans of the horror genre to connect with fellow horror lovers, meet guests that work in the genre, discover new ...
* World Horror Convention


References


External links


Slasher App
Slasher Horror Events Calendar
HorrorCons.com
Database of past and future horror conventions
Ominous-Events.com
The Horror Fests and Cons Database

The GOBLINHAUS Horror & Haunted Attraction Convention Calendar
MONSTER FEST
MONSTER FEST - A FREE 1 day "mini-con"
MONSTER BASH
International Classic Horror Movie Conference
Horror-Fi Expo 2
{{Fandom Horror fiction