World Horror Con - Part 3

After the Gross-Out the dinner crew ended up in our room sitting around chatting and drinking. Somewhere along the way we did lose Josh rumours of his whereabouts differed widely and included the possibility of being downstairs in the bar or up in his room recovering from the gross out. Again the intimate nature of the convention shined through. The 6 of us were able to relax and talk about pretty much every topic under the sun until the early morning out. Art show director Phy even joined in the fun of the evening. By the time people left it was nearly 3 or 4 in the morning and was a wonderful way to end the day.

Saturday had a bit of a downer feel to it, everyone knew it would kind of be the last day of the convention. A fair number of people had flights to catch early in the day on Sunday. The wife and I slipped out of the hotel to do a quick run home and check on things, and also to grab an extra change of clothes we had packed really light for the convention.

I got back to the hotel to join in briefly on a impromptu post pulse discussion and adventure being led by Tommy Castillo. It was a basic what would you do in this situation. Apparently Rhonda was insistent on heading west to Edmonton to get to her children. Scott was more then willing to travel with her. While Gavin wanted to get to the ocean and Tommy wanted to head south. I think he was heading home to his post apocalyptic jeep. I didn’t stay with the group long my own use was pretty limited to the time we spent in Winnipeg. Also the panel on Odyssey was about to start.

Tamile, my wife had taken a number of the guests on a bit of a ghost tour of the city. We have a number of haunted locations in the downtown and she knows most of them. Thankfully they made it back in time for the panel since one of her passengers was hosting it.

Sherry an Odyssey grad shared her experience at the well known writing school. Touching on how the classes where formatted, several of the different assignments she received and the work that was done as a group. As someone who already listens to the Odyssey podcast it was a really interesting discussion and I enjoyed the opportunity to hear from a grad first hand.

After the discussion was kind of a blur until supper. I had numerous little discussions with a variety of people. Now earlier in the day Sherry, Tamile and I discussed dinner plans. We didn’t want our last dinner as a crew to the disasters our first two dinner attempts had been. This time reservations were made, we were smart, or so we thought. We even made reservations for 10, counting on the fact more people would want to join. What no one counted on was the sheer number of people who wanted to come. It seemed like one of those situations where 1 person would tell someone and they would tell someone and so on and so on. So at one point it seemed like we had about 20 plus people planning on coming along. This would have been great if the restaurant could handle a group that size. Then I would hear some people were not coming and it seemed to go back and forth. In the end a group headed off to a different restaurant, and we had 14 people spread across two tables. Mental note next time reserve a bigger table and avoid all of the problems that go along with making reservations.

At dinner we learn that Nicole had popped the big question to Shad and he said yes. I was discouraged from telling the staff and getting them to sing for the happy couple. In the end dinner was the best one for our little crew of the convention. The food was good, the service was quick, and we didn’t have to wait to be seated. Score one for Winnipeg Dinning. It was at dinner that we got to meet Toni as well an interesting woman who whose clone I happen to know. We ended dinner with a trip to the Basilica a local landmark and cemetery. Nicole video taped a lot of it, but I’m not sure if the video will get posted or what will happen to it.

The happy couple

Once we got back a lot of people got together to listen to Edo read from some of his books. A card was also circulated through the Con as quickly as possible to get as many people as possible to sign it and draw something cute for Nicole and Shad. Mean while Josh and I got together in my room for a few drinks and to talk publishing, writing and the industry. It was a couple of hours well spent in my books and he gave me a lot of really good insight in to what I should be looking at and a few different directions I should be considering. There was also a lot of interesting bits of information I’d never considered before. So a big thanks to Josh for his time. While we were chatting the rest of the crew had gathered in the room Edo had used for his reading and were having there own little party.

By the time we got down there it was wrapping up, so we all headed to Regal Beagle in the lobby. Karaoke was well underway star Scott, Kelly, Rhonda, Tommy, Gavin and others. Kelly was the only one of the group I heard personally, but apparently they all have great voices. Next time you bump in to Tommy ask him to sing you Rainbow Connection, in Kermit’s voice. I didn’t last all that late but apparently the rest of the group closed it out.

Sunday was an odd cross between packing up the convention, saying bye to new friends, and having fun. Half the convention had left by 2 pm to go home. What remained continued on without them as best they could. Conversation took place wherever space could be found and much found and drink was finished in the con-suite. For myself I ended my con in the hot tub with the chair and a couple of other local friends.

It was a great weekend and I have a lot of fond memories from it. I honestly don’t know if it would have been the

World Horror Con - Part 2 - Gross out Story

Since I didn't finish reading my Gross out story I decided to post it. If you have a weak stomach then just skip this post.

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I’m an old man and I’ve lived a full life. My wife beat me to the grave a by ten years, and both of our children followed her shortly after that. Death of a loved one can have two effects; you curl-up and wait to die yourself or you fight it. Most people choose the first option. You can see it all over. Every city has them. Senior’s life style homes they are called. Tombs with windows is more accurate in my opinion, walk through one and the stink of pending death is oppressive and depressive. It was in one of these that I decided to fight back.

An unhealthy obsession my late wife had called my interest in the occult. I’d troll the used books stores in search of old books, heck I even read a lot of the new age and self-help books. You wanna know the secret, I’ll tell you. People like Deepak Chakra are lining their pockets with your cash and feeding you shit. The real knowledge was in the old books, the ones bound in real leather carved from the back of some dead animal. Other men my age were out playing golf and drinking Shantey in the clubhouse while pretending to still be men worthy of the name. I was reading and trying some of it out.

It didn’t take long to decide that what I needed was potential, life force to some. The books all hinted at the topic. Yet none went so far as to tell you how to get it or where to take it from.

It took a lot of experimentation and wasn’t cheap, the books offered ideas on harnessing energy. So I started out small, the woman down hall offered up my first source. She had a fat old gray cat that was forever escaping between her legs and slipping out to the hall way to shit. Of course it wasn’t allowed in the building and she denied even having it. I lured it in with a dish of moist food. An altar was ready in the bathroom being the only place that could easily be cleaned. Wearing an old jean jacket that had belonged to my son and my wife’s garden gloves I cradled the cat. A jerk of the wrists and its front little paws snapped like twigs in my hands. The jagged bones tore through its thin skin and ripped through a vein blood sprayed across the ugly off-white tiles. The thing let out the most pitiful mew as its blood ran down the walls. I almost felt the slightest twinge of guilt as it died in my arms.

The symbols were drawn in the tub with its own blood and the animal carved up. I ate well that night don’t ever let anyone tell you that a cat isn’t a good meal. The Vietnamese have got it right. The only problem with eating raw uncooked cat is the sinews they are such stringy things. As I leaned over the tub and slurped up the little bits of meat I tried to imagine pork chops or anything more appetizing to make it easier and keep from throwing up what had already gone down. I couldn’t hold it down and threw up all over the tub. A mixture of over easy eggs, toast and cat spewed out. Chunks floated around the half eaten corpse everything turning a odd shade of orange as it mixed. It had worked. I could feel the slightest of surges even with that first bite and I wouldn’t, I couldn’t let it get away from.

I leaned over the sink and spat out my blood stained dentures. The cup that I used to soak them was the only thing nearby, holding my nose I scooped like a ladle and drank deep. The toast soaked in gastric juices and cat blood was the hardest to swallow. In the end I had proof of concept I had the idea right but the source wrong. The next day I spent lounging in my chair and moving it with the sun. I would need something bigger, younger that had more potential left.

A week later I had found my next target. I had known the little punk since his parent had bought the house down the street from my old home. He’d even been my paperboy for a few months. Bastard kid was always late. It had been a few years since I had last seen him but he was pretty easy to pick out walking home from local middle school. Following him home by car wasn’t an issue I didn’t care if he saw me. On the second pass I pulled right along side of him, rolled down the window and waved him over.

The idiot walked right over and leaned in through the window. I gave him some story about how my wife had always had a soft spot for him in her heart. He nodded that he knew so I kept going and explained that she wanted to see him succeed. So I was going to put some money aside to pay for his college. His eyes lit up and I did my best not to roll mine as he excitedly got in the car. I’ve got to give one thing to those senior death hostels; they keep a good select of drugs on hand. The door had barely closed when I jammed the needle into his chest. He wolud never wake up.

Eating a cat is a lot easier then eating another person let me tell you. The problem has nothing to do with taste at least not at first. Little jerk really did taste like pork, it was a matter of volume. I ate as much as I could in a single sitting, but it barely put a dent in him. Perhaps if I had been fatter I might have been able to but I doubt it. Even washing it down with his blood didn’t help any. By the early evening the bathroom was starting to smell, the body was starting to bloat a little. None of this did anything to improve his taste. In the end, I made it through about half of him before I just couldn’t stomach any more. I carved off what I couldn’t finish and flushed it.

The whole thing left me feeling pretty good. I knew it wouldn’t last. Any time I moved I could feel the youthful energy fade away. I had to find a better source something small, some fully untapped life force energy. The feeling was like a drug. As you grow old you forget how it feels to be young and when you get that reminder you need more and more of it. I considered smaller kids as the days passed, might I be able to eat a four or a three year old in a single sitting. Less then a week later I realized that unconsciously I was driving past play grounds like some sick sexual predator. What was I becoming I wondered. That night I packed up and threw out all the candles, the knives, and even the books. I wanted to put it all behind me and I did for three months. That was about how long that little jerk’s boost lasted.

The next day I found myself back in the parks I had been avoiding for months. I kept my distance from the playground but watched it, watching them play filled me with hunger. Then I saw her power walking down the trail, swinging her arms, her belly bulging with unborn life. I nodded to her as she was almost coming past me. When she was right in front of me I jumped at her from the bench the last erg. from the little jerk almost gone.

My attack took her completely off guard and I knocked her to the ground bashing her head in to the pavement. It cracked open with a sicken split. I didn’t take me more than a few seconds, to drag her into the tree line. As soon as I was deep enough in the trees, I straddled her. Digging my fingers into her swallow belly I tore her open. Little stood between me and my meal… her unborn child, it true potential completely untapped. I tore free the umbilical from my prize and sucked down its life giving fluids made for the sweetest of nectars. The baby flesh was the softest and tenderest of meats, Grade triple-A Alberta Prime beef doesn’t even come close to the taste.

It was a small simple meal alone in the woods that I had that day, but it changed my life forever. I wouldn’t be the man you all see before you today if it wasn’t for that woman and her unborn child. To all of you I say, youth is wasted on young…. so let’s take it back.

World Horror Con - Part 1

Wow four days after the World Horror Convention and I am still recovering. I should be back to normal just in time for Keycon our local convention which is coming up next weekend. Thankfully after that I have the week off, but let’s talk more about World Horror.

I attended as a favor to the chair of the convention as a volunteer. Honestly I am not a big horror fan in fact slasher type movies just don’t do it for me. What I was interested about the convention is helping a friend and meeting the writers and editors who would be in attendance. As things turned out I got all of that and a whole lot more.

Out weekend start Wednesday night right after work. I headed straight to the hotel to help with some unloading. My wife joined us after work and we visited with people for a couple of hours afterwards. That was where we first met Scott http://www.sgbrowne.com/ the author behind the Zombie story Breathers. It was also the first time I heard about the gross out contest at the convention. Then it was off to the Airport collect Edo Van Belkom www.vanbelkom.com a guest flying in out of Toronto. Unknown to any of us at the time was the fact he would end up playing a much larger role in our convention experience than any of us might have guessed.

The next morning we packed up for the weekend and headed for the hotel in time to enjoy a quick bite to eat and to lend a hand with some last minute set up. Afterwards it was off to the airport to pick up the last of the guests, well known artist Tommy Castillo. If you’re not familiar with his work stop by his website http://www.tommycastillo.net/ it’s likely you will recognize something he’s done.

Then it was time for Opening Ceremonies. I had heard the con was going to be small beforehand but there were maybe 20 people in attendance. The reality that this was going to be a small con really struck home. A lot of people described it as being an intimate convention, which I think was really taking a positive look at the experience. Minutes after opening ceremonies we met Nicole and Shad, Sherry, and Josh the small group of us made dinner plans.

Sherry is a local Winnipeger, Nicole and Shad were a couple who had come up from Detroit and Joshua Gee www.JoshuaGee.com was one of the guests who had traveled up from New York City. We all agreed to meet in the lobby and find somewhere to eat, on the way out of the hotel we were met by Edo and invited him to join us. It only made sense since all of us where heading for his reading in a few hours anyways. The small crew or posse as some would come to call it headed for a nearby restaurant that I had been to many times and knew was good. What I didn’t was that the restaurant had become a teaching school. It took over an hour to get our food and when it did finally come out it came out one or two people at a time. This would be bad dining experience number 1. After least the food was alright in the end.

Edo’s reading was our last official event of the evening. He told a lot of good stories, several of which we were hearing for the second time. Over dinner we all share stories so some of Edo’s slipped out early. He didn’t hold back on his experiences as a full time writer, which some authors do. It was the start shit with Edo some good some bad all of it pretty interesting. Tamile had to take Edo and Conrad to a radio interview and the two of them did a great hour long discussion on live radio. I had planned to spend the rest of the night working on my gross out story but the reality is that I stayed up till three in the morning chatting in the con suite.

The next day was a bit of a blur. Tamile had to work in the morning and I ran some errands for the Con with John. Once we got back to the hotel I collected my laptop and set up in the main room to write my piece for the Gross out Contest. Once it was finished I left it with a friend to proof read for me while I went to the pool. Normally I’ll finish something and leave it for a few days to stew in the back of my head before editing. To edit something right after I finish writing it would just be too fresh in my mind.

As a quick aside the pool had a hot tub and waterslide both of which were a heck of a lot of fun. As a big guy I don’t normally get to ride waterslides, so I made the most of it. Again the crew headed out for dinner and this time we decided upon the Elephant and Castle. It would have been a great idea had there not been a hockey game. 30 minute wait time just to sit down. Boston Pizza had a 20 minute wait time. We ended up in a food court eating McDonalds. Winnipeg restaurants didn’t shine on this weekend.

The Gross-Out for me was one of the highlights of the convention. Anyone that entered had to step up and read something they had written before judges and a live audience. The focuses of all of the stories was horror obviously with particular attention being paid to the gross factor. The bar was set pretty high right from the start with Edo reading one of his. Toni read her story inspired by some real life events. Gavin from the Canadian Maritimes read a torture piece he wrote. Then came mine, it was basically my first time reading up in front of a group of 20 some people. I was doing alright up to the point I heard the one minute warning and knew I wouldn’t make it. Suddenly I found myself trying to edit on the fly only to end up losing my place and getting more and more lost. In the end I didn’t finish reading it to my disappointment. Tommy Castillo came after me and awed the audience about an ex-wife and his then unborn son. Nicole closed out the contest with something that was much subtle, but very good. It was some great storytelling and a lot of fun watching the audience groan and grimace. In the end Tommy’s story took the win and was award a one year old gummy haggis.

That brings part one of my World Horror Con experience to a close.