Horror conventions are gatherings of the community of fans of various forms of horror including horror cinema , goth lifestyle, and occasionally science fiction and fantasy . Historically the focus has been on the cinematic form rather than literature and art, but this has broadened to include all forms in recent years. People in attendance at a horror convention are traditionally known as members of the convention; invited celebrities including film directors and stars are commonly known as guests of the convention, though many professionals including directors will simply attend as members.
7-563: The World Horror Convention was an annual professional gathering of the World Horror Society and other interested parties that ran annually for 26 years, from 1991 through 2016, before being discontinued. The annual World Horror Conventions were held mostly in the United States or Canada, frequently alternating between the east and west sides of North America. In 2010, the convention was held outside North America for
14-431: A future convention by advertising its advantages. A costume contest called a masquerade is often held where persons go on stage and compete for nominal prizes based on their skill in assembling and presenting horror-inspired outfits. This is truly more a "talent show" rather than the "fancy dress ball" that the term suggests (although British fandom sometimes uses the term "fancy dress"). A Dealer's or Huckster's Room
21-489: Is available, where merchants sell wares of interest to fans. These include books, action figures , prop replicas and t-shirts. Smaller conventions may simply have an informal Dealer's Row , a section of hotel rooms from which dealers sell goods, while larger conventions may have both an official dealer's room and an unofficial dealer's row. Many conventions have video rooms , in which genre-related audiovisual presentations take place and/or films and trailers are shown. Often
28-447: The "Closing Ceremonies" on the convention's last day are dispensed with entirely. This omission is because such ceremonies would logically be held after scheduled events are over, and convention members are occupied with packing up and checking out of the hotel. Ceremony or not, a dead dog party is likely to be held. This is the traditional winding-down party where few of the attendees are likely to have huge amounts of energy. This party
35-401: The daytime hours of most conventions with typically one-hour discussions of topics related to horror films , horror literature , and fandom in general. Evening entertainment often includes a combination of official and unofficial events, including dances, formal invitational dinners, and fandom-themed room parties. A bid party is a room party held to influence the choice of the location of
42-527: The first and only time, in Brighton , England . The bids from potential committees were presented to the members of the board of directors of the World Horror Society, who then decided where future conventions would be held. Bids were usually made two years before the specific year (e.g., bids for 2001 were considered in 1999). The Horror Writers Association 's Bram Stoker Award ceremony
49-848: Was held in conjunction with the convention for many years, but the HWA now stages the ceremony at its own event, the Bram Stoker Awards Weekend. The World Horror Convention Grand Master Award was given most years, until the World Horror Convention was discontinued in favor of the annual Bram Stoker Awards Weekend. Horror conventions The first morning of most conventions, the "Opening Ceremonies" are held, where organizers and marquee guests are introduced and speeches might be made. Some conventions such as Weekend of Horrors will play horror-themed music and video. Panel-led discussions, or Panels , usually fill up
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