You probably know him as "Pinhead" or the Lead Cenobite in Clive Barker's 1987 debut Hellraiser. His amazing performance thrilled genre fans around the globe and made Pinhead a horror sensation. However, Mr. Bradley is also a genuine fan of classic and gothic horror, and produces a series of audiobooks with readings of Lovecraft, Poe, Bierce, Doyle, and more. We will also be showing his short film/dramatic reading of Lovecraft's "The Outsider" with a Q&A, and he's promised to thrill us by doing a live reading of Lovecraft, in that way that only Doug Bradley can read it.

Doug Bradley joins a host of wonderful guests this year that include Kenneth Hite (author of Where the Deep Ones Are and Cthulhu 101), Sandy Petersen (creator of The Call of Cthulhu RPG and Cthulhu Wars boardgame), Michael Cisco (author of The Divinity Student), S.T. Joshi (Lovecraft scholar and author of I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H.P. Lovecraft), Robert M. Price (Lovecraftian scholar and editor of Crypt of Cthulhu), Joe S. Pulver (author of The Orphan Palace), Allen Koszowski (prolific illustrator, Weird Tales, Asimov's), and many more!

Don't miss the US premiere of Dead Shadows at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, OR, April 11-13, 2014. Directed by David Cholewa, this amazing film is filled with action, mutations, and a mysterious meteor that kicks of the mayhem! Dead Shadows has had a perilous journey for the last two years, with showings at European and UK film festivals, but it has only recently found US distribution, where it is going straight to home DVD later this year. But before that happens, come see Dead Shadows on the big 60ft screen here in Portland, and be among the only folks in the US to see this Lovecraftian spectacle on the big screen. See, we are the only Festival that understands!

Last year, we created our very first Kickstarter, and your participation made the 2013 festival one of the most memorable experiences ever, both for us and for all of you! So, we've decided to do it again!

Last year, mostly because of the Kickstarter, we were able to show you Nightbreed: The Cabal Cut, introduce you to brilliant director Richard Stanley (and his amazing stories of living on a haunted Earth), bring Sandy Petersen to Portland to talk about games and movies (did you see his pre-Kickstarter Cthulhu Wars demo?), add a new gaming dimension to the festival, and pack more films and panels into the weekend than one person could experience... well, unless you were one of the critters using brain-swapping machinery and time travel.

Besides helping us raise necessary funds to properly plan the festival, Kickstarter did two very awesome things. It motivated us to offer really unique experiences to the community, and as a result it also enhanced the festival, creating a new kind of event where audience members took part in stage productions, helped us judge award-winning films, played Call of Cthulhu with the man who created it, and even appeared on screen and in fictions published in the Daily Lurker newspaper. It really helped us to get to know our community better, encourage audience interaction, and, in general, motivated us to up our game to a new level, all of which made the festival really exciting, not just for us, not just for our backers, but for everyone who attended. It was a real learning experience, too. We think we did some stuff well, and other stuff not so well (like opening the doors on Friday night or having all the backer rewards ready at the festival), but there is no doubt, Kickstarter made the whole festival awesome.

We've been working hard for the last several months, and we have some big announcements coming up. We've already talked Kenneth Hite (author of Cthulhu 101, Tour de Lovecraft, Where the Deep Ones Are, and the Trail of Cthulhu game) into being our Guest of Honor, and we're expanding our CthulhuCon activities to include open gaming, a new art show and artist's alley, author signing events, and much more. That's just the start though, and a lot of it is still super secret. You may be asking yourself "What is that violet light?" or "What do the words, 'Carb Loading for Cthulhu' mean?" Soon... soon it will all be revealed.

Our 2014 Kickstarter launches this month, with new exclusive backer-only merchandise, VIP access, and even cooler unique experiences than last year! To make sure you get an early crack at any limited reward levels, click here to sign up for our low-volume mailing list.

Join us for some very special screenings of classic and recent independent short films from the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival (1996-2013) at Necronomicon 2013 in Providence, RI, August 21-24, 2013. We'll be featuring some great oldies, like Bryan Moore's "Cool Air," with Q&A by the director (and sculptor of the H.P. Lovecraft Bronze Bust Project), Aaron Vanek's "The Outsider," and Christian Matzke's "Nyarlathotep," as well as newer favorites like Thomas Nicol's "Heartshot" and Jihyun Park's "Music of Jo Hyeja."

Screenings are open to the public for $3. The Saturday, Aug. 24 screening is also free to Necronomicon badge holders. Click here for the schedule and location information.