NecronomiCon Providence 2026
is coming —
August 13–16 — and Ms. B. and I will be there to plague the
existence of everyone there. The con is spread between the
Omni Providence Hotel
and the
Graduate Hotel (formerly the
Biltmore). The programming schedule has not been
finalized yet, but I will be participating on two panels and possibly
(hopefully) having a reading.
At the last NecronomiCon Providence (2024), I stayed at the Omni, which
is a fabulous hotel, but this year, Brugger and I are planning to remain a few extra days
to avail ourselves of some of the nearby locales we'd like to visit, such as
Salem, Massachusetts and, possibly, Newport, Rhode Island, again, which we
very much enjoyed on our November 2024 visit. So, to save a bit of money,
we've booked a nice AirBnB on nearby Federal Hill, which we visited on our
previous trip. As any H.P. Lovecraft reader knows, Federal Hill was featured
in his writings, most notably, "The Haunter of the Dark" (1935), which
is among my favorites of his tales.
The panels on my schedule, as of now, are the following:
PANEL: Drifting Down the River of Night’s Dreaming: Karl Edward Wagner.
Karl Edward Wagner (American, 1945–1994) was a poet, editor, and publisher
born in Knoxville, Tennessee. Wagner is known for his Sword and Sorcery
anti-hero Kane, the Mystic Swordsman, and more contemporary horror tales that
often drew on his personal demons and training as a psychiatrist. Wagner
co-founded Carcosa Press and was executor of Manley Wade Welman’s literary
estate until his death. He edited many anthologies, including fourteen years
of The Year’s Best Horror. Our panelists discuss Wagner, his influences, and
his impact on horror, fantasy, and the greater weird.
Panelists: Douglass Winter, F. Brett Cox, John Langan, Jordan Douglas
Smith, Stephen Mark Rainey (Moderator)
PANEL: In Mountains Older than Bones: Appalachian Gothic. Rightly or
wrongly, on America’s cultural map, Appalachia is the equivalent to “Here
there be monsters”--a region assumed not only to be unknown but perhaps also
unknowable–where we credulously suspend our own disbelief. Panelists discuss
what defines Appalachian Gothic, good and bad examples of the genre, and why
the region has such a hold on the popular imagination. Panelists:Jess Lewis, Mike Allen (Moderator), Shanna Germain, Stephen Mark Rainey,
Tonya Monteforte
Note that a cruel miscreant had the gall to designate me the moderator of the Karl Edward Wagner panel. I'm not fond of moderating, and I hadn't expressed any interest in it, but, well, there it is. I had a fair amount of personal experience with Karl, particularly since he wrote the column, "The View From Carcosa," for Deathrealm magazine back in the day.
So, I'll update information about the con as I get it. Hope to see a bunch of you...to plague you with my existence.
