Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Vampire -Con 2009


It is the middle of August,…Summer’s flame ever so slowly diminishes .It is here in the City of Angels as the sun sets over the town known for its’ tinsel, the dead and undead congregate. Angels were welcome indeed, only if they checked their wings and halos in the coat room. This is the setting for the inaugural. Vampire –Con 2009. http://www.vampire-con.com/brood/For 3 days they convened, for a blood lust that for years had been suppressed….now they have been outted…and loving it!!!
With the advent of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight,HBO’s True Blood, and Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s The Strain, the love for Vampires has resurrected.
Vampires and all that entail its’ resurgence into the popular culture had a place to flaunt its fangs.
The Convention began with a two day film festival at The New Beverly Cinema(from The Lost Boys to The Hunger) that attracted all the creatures of the night (Most notably Rose McGowan ,a Vamp in her own right).
The third and final day brought a change in venue , The Henry Fonda Theatre.
It was here that fangs (amongst other things) were flaunted.
The theatre was filled with an array of vendors to sell their wares. From Axes (custom gothic guitars),custom coffins to potions…a myriad of books and specialty items were there for purchase also .The convention also offered scheduled panels that discussed various topics all with the common theme of Vampirism. The highlight of the day was the crowning a The Vampire-Con’s Vampirella 2009.The online voting for the event’s Queen of The Damned was narrowed down to two worthy Vamps .A winner was chosen, Nela Swan (photo above)to a delight of the crowd.
As Twilight approached …the event ended with a classy ,wonderful ,and dare I say sexy Vampirella Ball .All of those who were there to partake in this Danse Macabre, partied into the wee hours to bring an unfortunate end to a fun filled weekend.
What made The Vampire-Con enjoyable was that the organizers have total respect for the genre and have the vision to see that the vampire culture needs to take its rightful place in the sun(so to speak).The convention paid homage to all forms of the vampire culture from Nosferatu ,Bela Lugosi to the aforementioned Twilight. Vampires and their need to celebrate will not take a stake to the heart anytime soon. .I for one hope that The Vampire-Con resurrects itself next year...this is one Daywalker that is looking forward to it.
A gran muchisimas gracias to the lovely Dee Dee Debartlo of Harper/Collins for the donation of The Strain novels and the equally lovely Wendi Mirabella for organizing this event!
Thank you Ladies!!!