World Horror: A quick recap
World Horror Convention 2011 was a blast! Kudos to Lee Thomas, Nate Southard, Boyd Harris, and all the other convention volunteers for putting on a great convention.
Carolyn and I arrived Thursday around 3 pm after a slight plane delay. We were fortunate, as many of our friends had numerous travel delays. We got back to Toronto around 1 am Monday morning.
As always, these conventions are a bit of a surreal blur after awhile. Some highlights include several great room parties / launches that featured kegs of beer, Margarita machines, hot dog carts, and a late-night run for 30 pizzas. I met Paul Tremblay, John Langan, Nick Mamatas, Peter Straub, Matt Cardin, and several other colleagues whom I'd only previously corresponded with. Was a pleasure seeing Scott Edelman, Nicholas Kaufmann, Gary McMahon, Chris Teague, and Stuart Young again. And it's always a pleasure to see old friends Rio Youers, Joel Alexander, Brett Savory, Sandra Kasturi, Gemma Files, Michael Rowe, Simon Strantzas, and the rest of the Toronto Posse. I was very pleased for Ian Rogers who sold his first book, a collection of short stories, to the fabulous ChiZine Publications. A personal note here to CZP honchos Brett and Sandra: I promise to try my damndest to pronounce the name correctly from here on out.
I got to help a couple of my publisher's, Dark Regions Press and EDGE, at their dealer's tables selling books. It did seem to help sell the books having the authors / editors at the tables. Thanks very kindly to everyone who purchased a book with my name on it. I do appreciate it.
Carolyn and I got into downtown Austin proper twice. We had some good meals. They serve them big in Texas. The only meal we finished was one we shared. We spent some time on 6th street Friday night, checking out the bands and listening to some music. We also got down to the Congress St "bat" bridge, but it was too early in the day to see any bats. It's definitely a very liberal, weird city. I dig it.
Spent some time in the hotel's courtyard. Ah, happy hour. $2 pints and $3 Margaritas. Had a particularly good time one afternoon with Bob Boyczuk, Brent Hayward, and Claude Lalumière. What happens in Austin, gents, stays in Austin. Remember to use your super powers wisely. And we will never forget the Ass Goblins of Auschwitz.
There were many people I met and hung out with. Thank you all for your warmth and generosity. Let's do it again.
