The armillary sphere logo for Necronomicon 2013! (Credit: Stone Hill.org)
October for us means cooler climes, Halloween, pumpkin beer, and the �busy �Con season,� by way of the Tampa Bay NecronomiCon. Now in its 32nd year, this was our 3rd �Necro� event as fans from all over Florida and beyond gathered to celebrate all things sci-fi, fantasy and horror. Thankfully, the feared government shutdown-induced zombie apocalypse never came to pass, making it that much easier to spot the cosplay zombies, or at least tell them from any would-be real ones.
This year�s guest of honor was author Christopher Paolini of Eragon fame, and the �Con thus followed suit and had a dragon-esque theme this year. Held at the Embassy Suites on the University of South Florida campus, 2013 also heralded a �return to Tampa� for the �Con from the St. Pete side of Tampa Bay, where it had been held for the past two years.
This was a great �Con this year, a chance to mingle and recharge our collective batteries and once again get excited about the art of writing. We did two each panels on What�s Up in Astronomy and Exoplanet science that went off pretty well, although the hotel wifi didn�t support our attempts at streaming the event live on Google+ (sorry �bout that!)
We also conducted star parties on both nights in front of the hotel, along with Star-Splitter Adventure�s Tanja Dietrich. We were fortunate to have a Full Hunter�s Moon that just happened to be in the midst of a penumbral lunar eclipse on Friday night, and managed to grab the star party faves of Albireo and Gamma Delphinus on night two, along with the rising waning gibbous Moon. We�ve never been rained out/clouded out during a �Con star party yet!
It seems just like yesterday that science fiction author Madge Miller was advising us to check out the 2011 event in our area, noting that it�s a �nice little �Con.� Necronomicon typically draws in 500-700 participants a year, and is one of Florida�s premiere �Cons of the genre. Put on each year by Tampa�s foremost science fiction club, the Stone Hill Science Fiction Association has worked to keep the yearly event a reflection of the tightly knit Sci-Fi community.
In fact, Stone Hill has an interesting �origin back-story� that can be traced all the way back to the very first space shuttle launch of Columbia on April 12th, 1981. �Tis a fascinating read, and fitting for a Florida Sci-Fi club� and the very next year saw the launch of NecronomiCon #1!
We had a blast at our very own �Necro 3� this past weekend; it�s yet to be seen if our 0,0,0 point in time and space will see us attending next year. Thanks to Ann and all who made this year�s 2013 NecronomiCon all best of what�s weird and wonderful in speculative fiction!
Also: be sure to check out our adventures from years past, including the 2011 (with special guest author Ben Bova!) and the 2012 NecronomiCon.
