NecronomiCon Providence 2026
From 08/13 - 08/18, I was in Rhode Island, first attending NecronomiCon Providence and then being a Dark Shadows tourist in Newport. During that time I was more decadent than anchorite. Here are some of my personal highlights:
The most pleasurable aspect of the convention was, of course, renewing old acquaintances and making new ones. At NecronomiCon you can always be assured of interesting, friendly conversation.
On Thursday night, the band Salem Wolves rocked the Red Door.
On Friday I attended a poetry reading which featured, among others, NecronomiCon Poet Laureate Linda Addison and prolific author and poet Katherine Kerestman. I have long been an admirer of Katherine's work, and now also have a great admiration for Linda's verse.
The panels were a mixed bag, but my favorites were those on William S. Burroughs and Philip K. Dick, both moderated by the incomparable Cody Goodfellow.
All of the academic talks that I attended were excellent, but the one that truly stood out was Speculative Fiction Onboard Polar Expeditions: H. P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness by Madeline Newbery. It is incredible to me that Ms. Newbery is still an undergraduate, she is such a knowledgeable and engaging speaker.
On the Monday after NecronomiCon, seeing the Dark Shadows sites of Collinwood and The Blue Whale in Newport was a delight. I had the benefit of having Dark Shadows expert Katherine Kerestman as a tour guide.
If you are an aficionado of Weird Fiction, and have not yet attended NecronomiCon Providence, you are missing out.
