I attended my first StokerCon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania recently, and took a few photos, which I shared below. I am from Erie, Pennsylvania originally, which is only about 2 hours north of Pittsburgh, so I figured if I didn't make it to this StokerCon, I may never make it to one. You can tell I am from Erie because I just measured distance in time. Anyway, there was a Taylor Swift concert going on not far away, so I could not get a hotel room at the actual con, but found one about 10 minutes away (and I just measured distance with time again. It's an Erie thing, although I imagine a few other areas do that too.). I started out getting a late lunch next door to the con, at the Hard Rock Cafe. I love Hard Rocks, and eat at one every chance I get, especially ones I have not eaten at yet, like this one.
I met up with my friend and author of many books, both fiction and non-fiction, Pam Kinney. We chatted at length about Pittsburgh and current projects. She always has something going on.
I attended several public readings, including this one with another friend I knew online, but this was my first chance to meet him in person, Rami Ungar, seen here in the middle with the top-hat. He was reading from his upcoming short story anthology, Hannah and Other Stories. Next to Rami is Gabino Iglesias, who won this year's Superior Achievement in a Novel for The Devil Takes You Home. He read from his current work-in-progress. On the ends are Jeremiah Dylan Cook on the left and Barbara Cottrell on the right.
I also attended several presentations and panels, which I often enjoy. I won't go into details about them because it would take too much space to do them justice in a blog post such of this length, but I always find them very informative and interesting.
The panel below is from the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference portion of StokerCon, proving genre fiction, even in the horror genre, can be considered academic.
Between all the panels and presentations, I was able to stop at a Pittsburgh favorite, Primanti Brothers. I love going to local eateries wherever I go. This location of Primanti's was within walking distance of the con and coincidentally was the original location. It is local Pittsburgh legend that their sandwiches were created because the owners forgot to purchase silverware, so they put the coleslaw and French fries into the sandwich. The steel workers at the time enjoyed the sandwich so much, they kept it as their staple. That's an I.C. Light (Iron City Light), the local brew, to wash it down.
I finally got to mee my mentor, Tim Waggoner, face-to-face. I blogged about some of the things he taught me when he was my mentor in a previous post. He also walked away with a Stoker Award during the weekend event. Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to talk for long because he's kind of a BMAC at the HWA, but we did talk briefly about current projects and he agreed to pose for the selfie. Perhaps another time . . .
I also went to the Mass Author Signing where I purchased a number of books from fellow HWA members and got many of them to autograph their books for me. In the center is Classic Monsters Unleashed, edited by James Aquilone. I've had my eyes on that anthology for some time because it contains new stories about all the classic monsters such as Dracula, werewolves, the invisible man, and others. Stories that will truly interest me. I am very much looking forward to reading these other books as well.
And that was my trip to StokerCon in Pittsburgh. It was a great time, and I hope to attend another one some time.
I've blogged on several occasions about this alternate ego of mine, Classic Camp, including discussing the name's origin, and more recently about one of my favorite movies that I feel epitomizes the name. The name Classic Camp represents my favorite topics, Classic film (especially Classic horror films, but not limited to those), Classic rock music, Classic literature, and sometimes I am embarrassed to say, but it's true, Classic pro wrestling, which I am not getting into here today, but perhaps one day I will.
So I thought some people may be wondering where I acquired my interest in all things Classic. The short answer is, I really don't know. It's just kind of always been there, somewhere in my DNA.
I saw a friend on Facebook recently criticizing the latest Stephen King novel, Fairy Tale, because it included a kid of 17 who was familiar with actor Jimmy Stewart and several of his works in the novel (I have not read that Stephen King novel, by the way). He said no teenager would know old classic black & white films like that. Well, I am here to say, I was that kid. Yes, even at 17. Let me put it this way, I listen to more 80s music today than I did in the 1980s. My friends and family will verify this.
I remember in the days before I got cable TV, so I must have been 8 or 9, watching a show on PBS called Matinee at the Bijou. It was just like being back at an old-time theater. It would start with a few trailers for movies from the 1930s to the 1950s. Then it would show a few cartoons, newsreels, a short subject, and finally a chapter out of serial, like Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers. Each week they would show the next chapter of the serial. They even followed that up with a B-movie movie, like one from the Bowery Boys series, but it was usually edited for time.
My mother would often tell me about going to the movies during that era, how she had a crush on Leo Gorcey of the Bowery Boys. Both of my parents were older than most of my friends parents. They weren't even Baby Boomers, although I am a member of Generation X. Perhaps their advanced age contributed to this interest. I also grew up close to my grand parents who lived through the 1930s, so they probably had some influence as well.
Even after we got cable, some of my favorite shows were those from early television, such as The Jack Benny Program, Burns & Allen, and You Bet Your Life, as well as some of the early horror related shows such as The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. I also started watching Night Flight on USA Network because their final feature was often an old, poverty row horror film from studios like Monogram or PRC. (I was a latchkey kid from the age of 11, so I watched a lot of television growing up).
When I became a teenager and my interests shifted from film to music, I started listening to the legends of rock, like Led Zeppelin, The Who, and The Doors, more often than listing to more contemporary bands of the time.
I have gathered a bit of a following online for these interests. For instance, I run a Facebook group, Classic Camp's Classic Horror Emporium, which has amassed over 1000 members. I assume many of the members follow the group simply for the nostalgia, and I'm fine with that, but to me it is more than just nostalgia. Old film, literature, and music are time capsules to how people lived and their attitudes during those eras. It's understanding where we came from as a society and understanding where we are going now. Perhaps that sounds a little corny, but my true feelings about it are in there somewhere.
I also try to over-glorify the past. I understand many terrible things happened in our history. Things like segregation, internment camps, antisemitism were rampant then, and unfortunately still exit today. And none of those things deserve to be glorified in any way. But I enjoy gaining a better understanding of what those attitudes were then, and I feel it does help me understand the world today a little better. Perhaps it even helps me understand how to better counter those negative attitudes today.
I do still follow some modern franchises though. I don't want to be that old man yelling at the cloud, or saying "Get off my lawn!" to the younger generation. In fact, I think some of the exclusive shows on modern day apps are some of the work on television and movies in decades. But I lay just a little extra attention if they simply provide a wink and a nod to any of the old Classics, even if it's just an Easter egg-style reference.
Anyway, that's what I have today. Please enjoy the short video below of the intro to an episode of Matinee at the Bijou, one of my favorite shows when I was just 9 years old.
