Fans of cosmic horror will descend on Providence Rhode Island once again to celebrate these years of Necronomicon Happening, which will run from August 22nd through the 25th.
Each year lovers of all things strange, macabre and cosmic come to Providence Rhode Island to celebrate the works of writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft and the worlds he created. The event covers all of the different types of media surrounding the Cthulhu Universe, including books, movies, podcasts, role-playing, and other games, art fashion and much more.
Some of you Geek Family members may have been introduced to the Cthulian universe through the enormously successful role-playing game, The Call of Cthulhu by Chaosium INC. The game, originally designed by Sandy Peterson, was first released in 1981 and is now in its 7th edition. In Japan and other parts of the world, it is even more popular than Dungeons and Dragons for roll players.
The birth of this universe is far older than the RPG, however.
Howard Phillips Lovecraft began forming the world in the pages of Weird Tales magazine as early as 1923 but lovers of the genre can attribute it’s birth as far back as Robert W. Chambers’ The King in Yellow in 1895. The concept, simply put, is that the world was originally inhabited by creatures known as the Elder Gods. The Elder Gods are alien creatures which for the most part combine the human form with cephlopodian tentacles and eyes covering their bodies. These gods are not as interested in physical harm to humans as they are invested in creating madness. That being said the literature, films, music, and the world is steeped in monsters and psychology which is it’s an allure to millions of fans over the 100+ years of the lore.
These fans have been holding conventions around the country for years and since 2013, Providence Rhode Island the birthplace of H. P. Lovecraft and the setting for many of the stories in the Cthulhu mythos has been home to the largest of these conventions. But the event is not limited to just Lovecraft–which is good because the author himself included racist and other problematic elements in his stories– but also the many authors and artists who have contributed to the world of weird.
The Convention is four days long. Some of the major core programs include The Armitage Symposium, Sermons from the Hill of Dreams: Arthur Machen, SCRIPTURAM OBSCURAM: REMARKABLE UNSUNG AUTHORS, and much more.
There will also be plenty of table-top, role-play, and card gaming with companies such as Chaosium, Pagan Publishing, Peterson Games and more.
Vendors will be selling all sorts of fantasy, horror, and weird fare in the Grand Emporium of the Weird. There will also be many events happening around the convention itself with walks, and costume contests guided tours of Haunted Providence, including places where Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe frequented.
So if you have been a life long fan of cosmic horror or an aficionado of the weird or perhaps just wanting to introduce yourself to the massive universe of cosmic fantasy horror, you may want to take a trip to Providence, Rhode Island and do a pre-fall early Holloween season kick-off. I could not recommend Necronomicon Providence enough!
To read my previous articles including reviews of Lovecraftian Video Games click HERE
