Now that I’ve had a week to recover, it’s time to share some of my thoughts on this year’s Dark Side of the Con. This three-day dark alternative convention took place at the Sheraton Hotel in Parsippany, New Jersey, from Friday, March 29, to Sunday, March 31. It was the event’s third year running, and the first year in which I was officially part of the core organizing staff! A couple weeks ago, I posted a preview of the event, highlighting all of the different panels, bands, and events I was looking forward to at the con. Did it live up to my expectations? Read on to find out.
The first thing I’ll say is that experiencing a convention as one of the organizers is so different from going as an attendee or even as a panelist. All those things I said I was looking forward to in my preview post? I hardly made it to half of them. I spent most of the convention trying to be everywhere at once, saying hi to everyone I knew, and heading off potential problems. For the most part I was too keyed up to sit down for any panels besides my own and a few of my friends’, and I was always busy with something else while the major panels I’d been looking forward to were happening. That said, I still had an amazing time!
The few panels that I did attend all went really well. One of my favorites was “Consent and Goth Culture: A Roundtable Discussion.” I’d been a little anxious beforehand about how covering such heavy topics in the midst of a hectic convention would go, but we wound up having a very constructive and insightful conversation. The “Trans and Non-Binary in Goth Culture” panel that I attended also morphed into more of an open roundtable chat. As one of the first panels on Friday, it drew a smaller crowd, but everyone actively participated as we brainstormed ways to make trans and non-binary folk feel safer and more welcome in our communities.
“Gothic History: The Original Goths and How They Shaped the World” also drew a small but enthusiastic crowd. Historian John Lestrange juggled and did handstands to entertain the audience while waiting for more people to trickle in, then led us through a condensed timeline from the first records of the Germanic tribes known as the Goths up through the development of Gothic architecture and into the gothic subculture as it exists today. On his “New Goth City” panel, William Welles pulled out a glass of wine to sip from as he discussed how he wants to help others find the same sense of community that he felt after joining the goth scene during a difficult time in his life. And of course I had my own panels—”The Female Gothic” and “The History of Horror”—both of which went really well! I didn’t make it out to Black Friday’s or Miss E’s panels, though I did get to chat with them briefly in the hallways and both were lovely people.
Panels aside, I did get to see one of the things I was most looking forward to—the live bats! I missed Joe D’Angeli’s “Live Bats” lecture, but the bats were on display in a small room set aside for that purpose throughout the day on Saturday. I got to see one of the bat handlers attempt to feed them a banana, watched them climb around the cage for a little bit, and picked up a cute pair of bat-themed earrings. Apart from the bats, I also popped in for a couple songs by Stabbing Westward, Adoration Destroyed, and The Rain Within, which were all quite good. I bounced around between the different dance parties Friday and Saturday night, and particularly enjoyed dancing in my bat kigurumi at the Cybertron vs. Stimulate Pajama Party.
One interesting thing about being at a new venue this year and having booked it a little late in the game—we wound up sharing the hotel with a couple of different wedding parties. I was a little worried that some of those there for the wedding wouldn’t appreciate being surrounded by partying goths, but at least one of the brides took it totally in stride. I came across this lovely lady in the lobby of the hotel at 2:00 in the morning after her Big Day taking a group photo with as many goths as would fit. Then right afterward, I ran into my cousin who was one of the wedding guests! The world is sometimes a very small place, filled with strange coincidences. I hope some of the folks from the wedding come and check out Dark Side of the Con next year!
Speaking of next year, dates and tickets for Dark Side of the Con 4 have not yet been announced. The organizing team is still working out details such as whether we’ll be returning to the same hotel again. But keep an eye out on the Dark Side of the Con website and social media pages, because you definitely don’t want to miss it!
Were you at Dark Side of the Con this year? What did you think? What was your favorite panel or performance? Give me your feedback in the comments!