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.
While I’m not on staff for this particular VampireFreaks event, I am still doing a panel. You can find me at 1:30pm in Salon B giving a talk on “Victorians and the Birth of Genre Fiction.” But mine isn’t the only panel worth checking out! I’m really excited about how many literature-themed panels there are at this convention. A couple that I’m personally looking forward to are “Aether and Elder Signs: Horror in Steampunk,” which delves into the darker side of steampunk literature, and “The Ghost of Sherlock Holmes,” an interactive “dinner party” that blends historical facts with a fictional story. There are also quite a few panels about Victorian culture, including “Treatment or Torment: Stories of Life in a Victorian Sanatorium” and “Victoriana Silver Pictures—from Heliography to Photography.”
As I’ve come to expect from any VampireFreaks events, there will also be a number of amazing bands in attendance. I’m most looking forward to seeing my dear friends Sarah and Braxton of Valentine Wolfe—a gothic metal duo who often incorporate works of Gothic literature into the lyrics of their ethereal music. Of course, I’m also thrilled about the event’s headliner—Stabbing Westward is returning after having had such a great time at Dark Side of the Con back in March. There will be plenty of bands I’ve never seen live before, as well, including two of my favorites: Rasputina and Infinitus Mortus.
Apart from panels and bands, there will be quite a few other activities going on. With VamipreFreaks running the show, you can expect to see some awesome DJs at the late-night dance parties. On Friday night, there will be “Steamgoth—A Victorian DJ Dance Night,” in which the resident DJs will pit goth music against its steampunk counterparts, and I intend to come dressed in my Victorian finest. Saturday night is the Steampunk Costume Ball, which will feature a costume contest, as well as steampunk and Victorian-goth music. I’m also really looking forward to the return of the DJed pool party, like we had at the first two Dark Side of the Cons! In addition to all these dance parties, there will be a number of steampunk-specific activities such as the Maker’s Contest for the best steampunk invention, the Steampunk Facial Hair Competition, and a Cabinet of Curiosities oddities exhibit, in which collectors will display a variety of scientific anomalies, antiquarian relics, old texts, and more.
Will I be seeing you at Steampunk Con this weekend? Which activities or performances are you most looking forward to? Let me know in the comments!
I’ll be there Friday and Saturday! I’m most looking forward to seeing my dear friend Holly Brewer (of the band HUMANWINE) play a set on Friday night. Looking forward to checking out a few of the other bands as well, and all of the literature panels you mentioned sound pretty rad.