(8.23) They’re baaaack. The second biennial NecronomiCon Providence kicks off Thursday night; organizers expect more than 2,000 Lovecraft devotees will be taking over the city this weekend. Check out the Bill Van Siclen piece in the Sunday ProJo — “Something Wicked This Way Comes” — with his amusing recap of the obvious signs and omens that have led inexorably to an invasion by this ghastly misshapen thing . . . I mean, convention.
We have already covered the Lovecraft Arts & Sciences Council, the new shop in the Arcade, and the organizers of NecromomiCon Providence. (Great photos with the ProJo article of organizers Neils Viggo Hobbs and Anthony Teth, both formerly of the Julian’s waitstaff where their patience with the Scrabble Club was otherworldly.)
And Andy Smith writes about a new comics series, “Providence,” in “Comics legend Alan Moore collaborates on H.P. Lovecraft comic book series.” That’s a pretty big deal; even I know who Alan Moore is. (Archie, this isn’t.)
Moore specifically addresses some of Lovecraft’s prejudices against gays and Jews by creating a gay, Jewish journalist named Robert Black as a key character in the series.
Moore said the idea of the outsider is central to Lovecraft’s fiction and, and his own conception of himself. Yet Lovecraft’s prejudices mirrored those of white, middle-class men in the early 20th century. In Black, Moore is trying to create a genuine outsider to interact with Lovecraft’s world.
Opening ceremony starts at 5pm, Thursday, at First Baptist Church, 75 North Main Street, with emcee Barnaby Evans, remarks from Lovecraft scholars, and an organ accompaniment. It’s free and Thursday is Lovecraft’s 125th birthday!
(Look at the beautiful downloadable maps and the College Hill Walking Tour by Donovan Loucks.)
Side note: Don’t know if he’s a fan, but Woody Allen deployed that bronze bust of Lovecraft while filming “Irrational Man” in the Athenaeum. He positioned the impossible-to-ignore, overlarge head right between the lead actors during a pivotal exchange. The goofy image did suggest irrationality of some sort.
NecronomiCon, Thursday thru Sunday, August 20 to August 23, many events, several venues, (schedule pdf)