Robert Bloch

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He was one of the greatest masters of horror and the fantastic in both print and film, a protege of Lovecraft himself and an influence on generations of writers. A look back at the life, works, and legacy of Robert Bloch.

Participants: Joe Pulver; Robert M. Price; Wilum Pugmire.

Weird Horror in Popular Culture

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Comics and films, video games and board games, plush toys and bumper stickers speak both from and to fans and non-fans alike. How has the legacy of Lovecraft, his contemporaries and followers pervaded our society and entertainment?

Participants: Cody Goodfellow; James R. Beach; Jason Brock; Laird Barron.

An Interview with William F. Nolan

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Nolan’s career spans half a century and he was best friends with Charles Beaumont (The Twilight Zone; Circus of Dr. Lao) for a decade of that. He is also good friends with George Clayton Johnson (Twilight Zone; Ocean’s 11; Logan’s Run co-writer with Nolan), Norman Corwin (giant of the radio age), Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson. During the interview, we will cover these things, and also his excursions into Hollywood (he co-wrote Burnt Offerings with Dan Curtis, and Trilogy of Terror with Richard Matheson in addition to over 100 other TV and film projects). Nolan has the gift of gab and a sharp wit: should be great fun.

Participants: James R. Beach; Jason Brock; William F. Nolan.

Emperor of Dreams: The Lost Worlds of Clark Ashton Smith

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Explore the life and works of Lovecraft's protege Clark Ashton Smith, "Klarkash-Ton", the writer, painter, and sculptor, and poet who was one of the most admired writers for Weird Tales, one of the greatest explorers of cosmic and fantastic realms, and a major contributor to Lovecraft's "Mythos". With Smith editors Scott Connors and Ron Hilger, writers Richard A. Lupoff, Jessica Amanda Salmonson and Maryanne Snyder, and artist David C. Verba.

Pure Lovecraftian Horror vs. the Cthulhu Mythos

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Four decades separates August Derleth's TALES OF THE CTHULHU MYTHOS (1969) from Ellen Datlow's LOVECRAFT UNBOUND (2009) and S. T. Joshi's BLACK WINGS (2010). Over these decades there has been much discussion concerning the nature of the Mythos (and who invented it) and the nature of pure Lovecraftian horror. As editors and authors of these so-called "sub-genres," do we see a new direction in the books being edited and the stories being written that are influenced by H. P. Lovecraft?

The Cosmic Horror Movement

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Cosmic horror, that literary discipline dealing with the vast, cold universe and its manifold terrors, is a cornerstone of Lovecraftian fiction and a genre lately revived and celebrated by the proliferation of independent presses. This panel will examine and discuss the cosmic horror niche from the non-Euclidian geometry of Lovecraft’s most febrile imaginings, to the seductive extra dimensional forces of darkness introduced by Clive Barker, to the latest trends of a panoply of dark stars such as Caitlin Kiernan, John Langan, and Wilum Pugmire.

Horror Comics through a Local Lens

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Dark Horse editors Scott Allie and Shawna Gore are joined by other members of Portland's thriving comics scene to discuss the history and current relationship between horror and comics, a genre and an artform that have both been pushed to new levels of creativity, while also being rediscovered by Hollywood and achieving new heights of popularity in mainstream culture. Guests: David Hahn (artist of Bite Club), Brandon Seifert (writer of Witch Doctor), Jade Dodge (publisher, Cellar Door Publishing).

Hypermodern Horror

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Where we are finding, or may soon find, new discoveries and disciplines that provide new ways of evoking good old sense of cosmic awe and horror we associate with Lovecraft's finest work? How do we find new ways of staging a horror story, without giving up the timeless goal of scaring the reader? HPL kept current with scientific discoveries, and was engaged philosophically with the intellectual traditions of his day (for better or worse), and these served as springboards for his imagination. What are some of the new areas being mined, or on the horizon?

What Horror Editors Crave

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Editors unlock some of their arcane secrets about why they started a magazine, how they assemble an anthology, and what horrors they seek. With Ellen Datlow, Scott Allie, James R. Beach, Victoria Blake, Scott Glancy, and Shawna Gore.

Whispering in the Dark: a Glimpse of Lovecraftian Filmmaking

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The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society has spent the past year in production on a feature film adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's classic weird tale, The Whisperer in Darkness. Now, as they near completion of the film, the movie's producers join the HPLFF to talk about the project. In addition to discussing the trials and tribulations of indie filmmaking, they'll also show a never-before-seen scene from the film and will premiere a new trailer.

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