FRIDAY
Each time slot generally includes time for questions and a 10-15 minute break before the next set of panels and talks.
8:00am – 9:15am
Emerging Scholarship Symposium: Forbidden Knowledge in 19th & 20th Century Modernism
“If you stare long enough into the abyss … the abyss eats you.”
Poe, Lovecraft, and “The Uncanny”: The Horror of the Self
Anthony Conrad Chieffalo, Central Connecticut State University
“A Stalking Monster”: The Influence of Radiation Poisoning on Lovecraft’s “The Colour Out of Space” | Andy Troy, Independent Researcher
“Nomad of the Dreamlands:” The Impact of Early Inter-Dimensional Theory and Lucid Dreaming on the Mythos ‘Dream Cycle’ | Kristine Beskin, Independent Researcher
Dead Lies Dreaming: H.P. Lovecraft and the Other Side of Modernity | Andrew Lenoir, Columbia University
9:00am – 10:15am
CTHULHU’S CRITICAL HIT: HISTORY OF LOVECRAFT GAMING (Thurber Ballroom, Hotel Providence)
A look back at the history of Lovecraft games, from Call of Cthulhu, through Arkham Horror, and various computer games. (Sandy Petersen, Charlie Krank, Tom Lynch, Penny Love, Scott Glancy, Mark Morrison – mod.)
INTRO TO HPL (Grand Ballroom, Biltmore)
As amazing as it may seem, many only know Lovecraft through his creations. Some do not know his life story and there are even some who have not read the fiction. This panel gives a brief introduction to HPL, his life and his place in American Literature. (S.T. Joshi, Bob Price, Robert Waugh, Cody Goodfellow, Steve Mariconda – mod.)
LOVECRAFT’S NEW ENGLAND – virtual tour, part one (Renaissance Room, L’Apogee 17, Biltmore)
Focusing on Lovecraft’s hometown of Providence, Rhode Island, the 30 points of interest shown in this presentation were central to both Lovecraft’s life and work. Think of this as a “sitting tour” for those of you that aren’t able to make it on one of the walking tours! (Donovan K. Loucks)
9:30am – 10:45am
E.S.S.: Comparative Literature: Monsters and Dystopias (Garden Room / Biltmore)
Exploring thematic shades of the Lovecraftian in the supernatural entities and dystopian worlds that grip our collective imagination, from 17th Century poetry to 21st Century Youtube videos.
Lovecraftian Milton: Ancient Entities and Demonisms in the Miltonic Cosmos |
Marc Ricciardi, St. Joseph’s College
Weird Cosmodemonology: Tapping Into the Infernal Energy of Algernon Blackwood’s “The Wendigo” | Anthony Camara, University of California, Los Angeles
The failed promises of rationality: Sam J. Lundwall on the individual lost in an uncaring and soulless world | Lars G. E. Backstrom, Kings College (United Kingdom)
Xenophobia, Atheism, and Tentacles: The Slender Man Myth as Communal Lovecraftian Tale | Christian Haunton, University of Nebraska, Omaha
10:30am – 11:45am
WRITING MYTHOS FICTION TODAY, Part One (Thurber Ballroom, Hotel Providence)
How difficult, or easy, is it to write Mythos fiction today? What does the Mythos mean to new writers and how do they approach it? (Joe Pulver, Peter Rawlik, Wilum Pugmire, Laird Barron, Alan Dean Foster, Mike Davis – mod.)
NECRONOMICON PRESS: A LOOK BACK (Grand Ballroom, Biltmore)
It is beyond dispute that Necronomicon Press has had an amazing impact both in Lovecraft scholarship and in Small Press. This legendary press brought many of Lovecraft’s forgotten works and letters to the public as well as spearheading the advance of critical analysis of Lovecraft’s life and works. We celebrate the achievements of Necronomicon Press with many of the people responsible for its success. (S.T. Joshi, Jason Eckhardt, Bob Price, Sam Gafford – mod.)
ASK LOVECRAFT (L’Apogee 17, Biltmore)
Celebrated and dead author HP Lovecraft answers all your pressing queries, and offers his advice on such diverse topics as love, finance, cooking, and personal hygiene. This time, up close and personal, and without the impersonal barrier of youtube getting in the way.
11:00 am – Noon
E.S.S.: Antiquarian Aesthetics (Garden Room / Biltmore)
Lovecraft’s aesthetic resurrections of days gone by
New England’s Curator: Colonial Revival in the works of Lovecraft | Kenneth W. Lai, University of California, Irvine
Lovecraft, Fear, and the Medieval Body Frame | Perry Niel Harrison, Baylor University
Lovecraft and the Great Altar Stones of New England | Dave Goudsward, Independent Researcher
Noon – 1:00pm: LUNCH
Grab something light in the Biltmore (drinks and snacks available outside the Grand Ballroom) or a pizza at the Hotel Providence, check out the food trucks on Kennedy Plaza, or sit down at one of several nearby restaurants.
12:30pm – 2:30pm
WORKSHOP: Let’s Make a Movie! Build it and They Will Scream! (Second Floor, 95 Empire)
Come on by and join in! Making your own movie isn’t exactly trivial, but the folks from Hellbender Media walk you through, step-by-step, in this innovative and exciting workshop. We’ll tell you some of the key things you need to know, show you a few tricks, and then we’ll all get down to business and start plotting our own movie that we’ll make here at Necronomicon this weekend! This is the second of a four-part workshop… You can attend any part if you like and have a great time, but if you attend all four, then you’ll have the best of every shadowy unspeakable world, and you’ll get the most out of the workshop.
1:00pm – 2:15pm
GAMING TERROR: HOW TO WRITE/RUN AN HPL GAME (Thurber Ballroom, Hotel Providence)
Everyone who plays a HPL game eventually wants to either write their own scenario or run their own game. But what is the best way to do that? Learn some tricks of the trade from the very people who’ve created the games you love! (Sandy Petersen, Charlie Krank, Tom Lynch, A. Scott Glancy, Oscar Rios, Mark Morrison – mod.)
HPL: A LIFE (Grand Ballroom, Biltmore)
Like all people, Lovecraft was a complex individual. In this panel we examine the life of Providence’s famous son beginning with his birth in 1890 through his troubled teen years, ill-fated marriage and eventual death. (S.T. Joshi, Ken Faig, Leslie Klinger, Peter Cannon – mod.)
LOVECRAFT’S NEW ENGLAND virtual tour, part two (L’Apogee 17, Biltmore)
A virtual walking tour of regional sites, this slideshow includes photographs of 45 New England locations beyond Providence which reveal the inspirations for Lovecraft’s fictional towns of Kingsport, Arkham, Innsmouth, and Dunwich. (Donovan K. Loucks)
1:00pm – 2:25pm
ACADEMICS TALKS (Garden Room, Biltmore)
“Cthulhu? Who knew? New Clues to his Name and “Nature” from Pre-Columbian Art and Cosmovision,” John B. Carlson, Ph.D. – Center for Archaeoastronomy and University of Maryland, College Park.
Though He had been here for fathomless eons, Great Cthulhu did not enter our waking consciousness until He and His cult were revealed in Howard Phillips Lovecraft’s remarkable account, “The Call of Cthulhu”, first appearing in print in 1927. The scholarly evidence seems convincing that HPL wrote his account in Providence in 1926 after returning home that April from his stimulating but difficult life in an alien environment of New York City. Most researchers are convinced that components of the Cthulhu apocalypse, including his unspeakable name, came to him from many sources accumulated and correlated in his mind for over a decade. Where does the name Cthulhu, with its variants, originate? What are the sources for His particular nightmarish form and un-natural “nature”? In this presentation, specific new clues and arguments are explored from several corners of Pre-Columbian Studies, including the archaeology, art, iconography, linguistics, and hieroglyphic writing of Mesoamerica in particular. Emphasis is placed on examining the sources available in Lovecraft’s libraries as well as from his real and vicarious peregrinations in worlds extending infinitely beyond Providence. The author’s extensive studies in the collections of Miskatonic University will not be mentioned.
“Lovecraft Crater and Beyond, the Weird Worlds of our Solar System,” Rachel Klima, Ph.D. – Senior Research Scientist, Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory
From our sun through the frozen worlds of the Kuiper belt, our solar system holds evidence of billions of years of strange and intriguing history. We journey through space and time as we explore what has been learned from recent planetary missions, beginning in the frigid, shadowed depths of the newly named Lovecraft Crater on Mercury and traveling through the wondrous weird worlds of the outer solar system.
“By the Cask or Smaller Quantity: Providence’s Waterfront and the World the Merchant’s Made,” C. Morgan Grefe, Ph.D. – Executive Director, Rhode Island Historical Society
As many as Lovecraft’s tales were born from his deathless mind’s eye, his stories and landscapes were imbued with a historical richness based on extensive exploration, research, and reverence. In this illustrated talk we will explore the late Colonial and New Republic Providence that shaped Lovecraft’s world and fueled his imagination. The maps and painting we will examine will be a historical guide to understanding and seeing Providence in a new, yet old, way.
2:30pm – 3:45pm
HPL ONLINE (Thurber Ballroom, Hotel Providence)
Lovecraft lives online! We examine some of the most important HPL websites as well as discuss HPL’s presence in social media. (Mike Davis, Leeman Kessler/HPL, Chad Fifer, Alex Houstoun – mod.)
HPL’S PROVIDENCE AND ARKHAM (Garden Room, Biltmore)
Few writers have as strong a sense of place as Lovecraft. His often quoted remark, “I am Providence” shows this. Many of Lovecraft’s places are based on real towns and areas. We look at the influence of Providence on Lovecraft’s work as well as the imaginary locales he created. (S.T. Joshi, Will Murray, Steve Mariconda, Faye Ringel, Caitlin Kiernan, Donovan Loucks – mod.)
THE CINEMATIC LOVECRAFT (Grand Ballroom, Biltmore)
There are many movies based on Lovecraft’s works but so few seem to get it right! We examine the history of Lovecraftian movies, the high (and low) spots and what the future may bring. (Stuart Gordon, Andrew Migliore, Mars Homeworld, Jovanka Vuckovic, Diane O’Bannon, Thomas Broadbent, Aaron Vanek – mod.)
AUTHOR READINGS: Wilum H. Pugmire, Jason V Brock (L’Apogee, Biltmore)
4:00pm – 5:15pm
SMALL PRESS TODAY (Thurber Ballroom, Hotel Providence)
Small Press played an important part in Lovecraft’s life and his literary legacy but what is the current Small Press scene like? What are the challenges and rewards to being a Small Press publisher today? (Tom Lynch, Derrick Hussey, Jerad Walters, Pierre Comtois, Kelly Young, Jason Brock – mod.)
RHODE ISLAND HORROR (Garden Room, Biltmore)
To live in Providence is to live in the shadow of Lovecraft. How does this affect writers and artists who live in Rhode Island? Does it inspire or overwhelm? (Caitlin Kiernan, Bob Eggleton, Stephen Gervais, James Anderson, Brett Rutherford, Jonathan Thomas – mod.)
HPL’S PHOBIAS—RACE, CLASS AND THE “OUTSIDER” (Grand Ballroom, Biltmore)
Possibly the most controversial aspect of Lovecraft was his views on racial heritage and identity. This panel examines this question with the purpose of analyzing Lovecraft as an individual and in the context of his social time period. (Peter Cannon, Bob Price, Scott Connors, Lois Gresh, Rory Raven – mod.)
INNSMOUTH POETS’ POOL – poetry corner (L’Apogee 17, Biltmore)
Poets Are The Deep Ones. Although they use pen quills rather than sea gills, Lovecraftian poets plumb depths of horror and the Sublime unknown to mere mortals. Jump into The Innsmouth Poets’ Pool and join The Deep Ones during the scheduled poetry hours during Necronomicon 2013. Poets wishing to share their work, or fans wishing to read their favorite dark and Lovecraftian poems and verses, can sign up for 20-minute slots. Featured readers’ names will be posted online and at the event. Open slots of time will be used for “round robin” readings (everyone taking turns reading one poem at a time), with the final segment of each session reserved for chat and book signing.
To sign on for poetry, to see a listing of available time slots, and for further info via a contact email, please follow this link: http://www.poetspress.org/necr
5:45 – 7:00pm
The Howard Phillips Lovecraft Historical Society’s Dark Adventure Radio Theatre (Garden Room, Biltmore)
The masterminds at the H.P.L.H.S. thrill us with their live rendering of…
At the Mountains of Madness!
FRIDAY NIGHT:
6:00 – 8:00pm – Private reception in L’Apogee, for all guests and Golden Key members.
You can purchase tickets by going to our “Buy Passes” page, or directly from the eventbrite page: https://necronomiconball.eventbrite.com/
