This year was the first time I heard of the Necronomicon Convention. I'm not a big fan of horror, so I may not have even paid attention to it if I had heard of it. However, when I went to the website to check them out, I found that they bill themselves as a "Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Convention", and I am definitely into sci-fi, plus I can't miss an opportunity to check out cosplay. Although the con's namesake is a fictional grimoire created by H. P. Lovecraft, it ended up being a neat mix of authors, artists, collectors, gamers, and fans of all sorts of nerd culture, not just limited to horror.
The vendors area offered chocolate wolves and crosses, custom molded vampire fangs, toys, shirts, books, jewelry and corsets.
Philo Barnhart, who I was most excited about due to his work on one of my favorite movies, "The Little Mermaid", was incredibly warm and gracious, drawing giant, detailed sketches for only $20.00. Here he shows off a lucky customer's zombie Eric and Ariel.
Outside in Author's Alley you could pick up a new book to read or bring in a favorite to be autographed by a beloved author.
The costume contest was relatively short, with just a few dozen entries between children and adults, but the outfits were excellent. The Nagisa Kaworu Battle suit from Neon Genesis Evangelion was my favorite, but I wasn't surprised that the mobile Dalek, based on a wheelchair base, won first place.
The costume contest was wrapped up with representatives of Kids and Canines, the charity that proceeds from the con go to. According to the announcer, Necronomicon is their largest private donor, donating $7500 after last year's con.
But upstairs is where the action was happening, with numerous rooms of gaming.
I'm glad that I looked past the name and gave Necronomicon a chance, because it was well organized, their new host hotel is beautiful, the costumes were fantastic and they donate proceeds to a charity for dogs. What's not to like? Heck, we may even cosplay next year.
