Well, it’s been over two years since I last participated in a convention or large-scale event of any kind. Attending conventions was, of course, only one of the many activities that had to be put on pause at the height of the pandemic. But now I am excited to cautiously venture out again into the world of conventions, starting with a brand new event this year: The Unconvention.
Category: Event
Steampunk Con 2019: A Rundown
Now that I’ve had a chance to recover, it’s time to go over my impressions of the very first steampunk event hosted by VampireFreaks, Steampunk Con. A few weeks ago, I wrote up a preview of what we could expect from this new convention, which took place in Piscataway, New Jersey, on June 21–23. As a first-year event, Steampunk Con was modestly attended and somewhat mellow, but its small size had the advantage of creating a feeling of intimacy and a close-knit community of attendees. This convention’s other great strength lay in the way it found a unique area of overlap between steampunk and goth. Read on for a few highlights from the weekend: Continue reading Steampunk Con 2019: A Rundown
Preview of Steampunk Con
The organizers of Dark Side of the Con are bringing us a brand-new steampunk convention! The aptly named Steampunk Con will take place this weekend, June 21–23, at the Radisson hotel in Piscataway, New Jersey. This debut convention represents a branching out for VampireFreaks, who have been bringing us the goth convention Dark Side for three successful years! Steampunk Con brings out the best of both worlds by showcasing the darker side of steampunk and highlighting the ways in which the goth and steampunk communities overlap. You can purchase tickets and find out more about the event at the Steampunk Con website.
Dark Side of the Con 2019: A Rundown
Now that I’ve had a week to recover, it’s time to share some of my thoughts on this year’s Dark Side of the Con. This three-day dark alternative convention took place at the Sheraton Hotel in Parsippany, New Jersey, from Friday, March 29, to Sunday, March 31. It was the event’s third year running, and the first year in which I was officially part of the core organizing staff! A couple weeks ago, I posted a preview of the event, highlighting all of the different panels, bands, and events I was looking forward to at the con. Did it live up to my expectations? Read on to find out. Continue reading Dark Side of the Con 2019: A Rundown
Preview of Dark Side of the Con 3
For the third year in a row, it’s time for my favorite goth event: Dark Side of the Con! This event is a 3-day dark alternative convention in New Jersey hosted by the good folks at VampireFreaks. The convention is this weekend, March 29–31, and you can still purchase tickets at the Dark Side website as well as at the door.
There have been some exciting changes since last year’s Dark Side of the Con. First, we have a new venue! The Sheraton Parsippany is a gorgeous hotel built like a medieval castle—complete with crenellated battlements and little pointed towers! It’s also significantly larger than the previous venue, meaning it can fit more attendees and has room for more programming. The other big change is that I’m on staff this year! I’ve been working as the panelist coordinator, which means I’ve been behind the scenes making sure we have plenty of amazing guests ready to lead panels and workshops on a wide variety of topics. Below, I’ve highlighted just a few of the things you can look forward to at this year’s DSotC: Continue reading Preview of Dark Side of the Con 3
Tune In to “In Goth We Trust” this Wednesday Night!
Tune in on Wednesday night to hear my voice on the radio! Chelsea Goodwin has invited me to call in as a guest on her radio show In Goth We Trust. The show runs from 10:00pm to 12:00am (Eastern Time) every Wednesday and Thursday night on WIOX Community Radio in the Catskills. She plays a wide variety of gothic music and interviews folks from throughout the wider goth community.
I’ll be calling in this Wednesday, May 2, at 10:30pm to discuss my work on this blog, the panels I gave at Dark Side of the Con, what I’ve been up to in Green-Wood Cemetery, and whatever else we feel like talking about. If you’re local to the New York City Watershed area, you can tune your radios to 91.3 FM. The show will also be streamed live online. You can listen at WIOXradio.org (scroll down a bit to find the player, you may need to download Adobe Flash) or use a radio app like TuneIn. I’m looking forward to chatting with Chelsea!
New Morbid Anatomy Exhibit at Green-Wood Cemetery
This spring, there’s a new pop-up exhibit at Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery—and I’ll be volunteering as a docent! The Morbid Anatomy collection will be installed in Green-Wood’s Fort Hamilton Gatehouse, with an exhibition called “The Power of Images: Life, Death, and Rebirth” on the lower level and a library in the building’s attic, with books on the intersection of art and medicine, death and culture. The exhibit will be open from 12:00-5:00pm on weekends, now through June, and is free and open to the public. So far, I’m scheduled to be there on 4/15, 4/21, and 5/6, and maybe there a few other weekends as well. Come visit me!
What is Morbid Anatomy, you ask? Well, if you’re from the Brooklyn area, you may remember that there used to be a quaint little museum in Gowanus that closed down last year. It housed a varied collection along the lines of a Victorian cabinet of curiosities, as well as an extensive library and an event space for authors, lecturers, and workshops. It closed its doors last year, but it didn’t go away for good! Its collections are curated by Morbid Anatomy’s founder Joanna Ebenstein and head librarian/program director Laetitia Barbier. The current exhibition contains a mix of macabre paintings, strange specimens, and funerary ephemera. I’m so excited to see my favorite death-centered museum brought back to life!
Do you have any questions about the exhibit? Have you visited already, or are you planning to? Let me know in the comments!
Dracula, Performed
Dracula was always meant to be adapted to the stage. At the time that he wrote his most famous novel, Bram Stoker was working as the business manager for the Lyceum Theatre in London, owned by his friend, the renowned actor Henry Irving. Irving’s performances were often dark and dramatic, and he was best known for playing charismatic villains. It’s even been suggested that he partially inspired the appearance and personality of the Count in Stoker’s novel. Thus, it should come as no surprise that when Stoker finished his masterpiece, he envisioned Irving playing the titular character in a stage adaptation. He even drafted a script and ran through a staged reading of Dracula, or The Undead at the Lyceum, afterwards eagerly asking Irving what he thought. Irving’s answer, however, shut down any hopes Stoker had for his stage production: he summed up his opinion in one word: “Dreadful.”
Dorian Gray: The Musical, a NYMF Production
Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray took on new life this summer in a musical adaptation as part of the New York Musical Festival. NYMF is a three-week annual festival that seeks to shine the spotlight on new works, many of which go on to perform Off-Broadway, and some even make it to the Great White Way! Dorian Gray: The Musical began as a graduate thesis project for playwright Christopher Dayett, with music arranged by Kevin Mucchetti. Last week, the beta musical appeared in three showings at the Acorn Theater. Director Christen Mandracchia invited me to attend a performance and share my opinion on the show.
Continue reading Dorian Gray: The Musical, a NYMF Production
Steampunk World’s Fair 2017: Where Goth and Steampunk Meet
Last weekend, I went to one of the largest steampunk events in the world, Jeff Mach’s Steampunk World’s Fair. For those who are unfamiliar, steampunk is an alternative fashion/music/literature scene, which can essentially be summed up as Victorian futurism—imagine a world where, on the cusp of the industrial revolution, technology advanced through steam power and gears instead of electricity and computers. The fashion blends corsets and top hats with brass and goggles, while the literature tends to feature dirigibles, automatons, and mad scientists. And the first weekend in May is when hundreds of steampunks from around the country take over two hotels in the middle of Piscataway, New Jersey. I’ve been attending Steampunk World’s Fair for many years, and two weeks ago I gave you a preview of what I was looking forward to at this year’s convention in particular. Read on to see how last weekend lived up to my expectations. Continue reading Steampunk World’s Fair 2017: Where Goth and Steampunk Meet