Preview of Dark Side of the Con 3

For the third year in a row, it’s time for my favorite goth event: Dark Side of the Con! This event is a 3-day dark alternative convention in New Jersey hosted by the good folks at VampireFreaks. The convention is this weekend, March 29–31, and you can still purchase tickets at the Dark Side website as well as at the door.

There have been some exciting changes since last year’s Dark Side of the Con. First, we have a new venue! The Sheraton Parsippany is a gorgeous hotel built like a medieval castle—complete with crenellated battlements and little pointed towers! It’s also significantly larger than the previous venue, meaning it can fit more attendees and has room for more programming. The other big change is that I’m on staff this year! I’ve been working as the panelist coordinator, which means I’ve been behind the scenes making sure we have plenty of amazing guests ready to lead panels and workshops on a wide variety of topics. Below, I’ve highlighted just a few of the things you can look forward to at this year’s DSotC:

Apart from organizing the panels, I will also be on a few of them! As has become tradition, I’ll be doing a couple of panels on Gothic literature. They’ll essentially be expanded versions of the kind of content you can find on this blog. The first of these panels is called “Gothic Literature: The Female Gothic,” and will be at 7:30pm in Salon 3 on Friday night. I’ll be highlighting the role of women in the foundation and evolution of the Gothic literary genre from the 1700s up to today. My second Gothic lit panel is Saturday afternoon at 1:30pm in Salon 4, and it’s on “The History of Horror”—how the genre has evolved from its origins through to the 21st century. I’ll also be helping to moderate the roundtable discussion on “Consent and Goth Culture” at 12:15pm on Saturday, and VIP ticket-holders can let me know what they thought of this year’s panels at the VIP Feedback session on Sunday at 2:45pm.

But my panels aren’t the only ones you should check out! There are so many amazing panels happening this year that it’s hard to know where to start. One of the guests that I’m most looking forward to seeing is the gothic Youtube sensation It’s Black Friday! She’ll be doing a meet & greet on Friday night, and then giving a presentation on “How to be a Successful Youtuber” on Saturday afternoon. I’m also excited to meet another one of my favorite internet goths, Miss E, who goes by the handle Madame Absinthe on Youtube and Instagram. She’ll be doing a panel on “Gothic Fashion for ALL Shapes and Sizes” early Saturday evening. If you want more discussions of Gothic literature, Chelsea Goodwin, host of the radio show In Goth We Trust, is doing a panel on “Sensuous Subtexts of Gothic Literature” on Saturday. Lastly, we brought together members from half a dozen different bands that are playing at Dark Side to present on “Women in Goth/Industrial Music” Saturday afternoon. I could go on about how amazing each panel on the schedule is, but you can read the descriptions for yourself here.

Panels are cool and all, but what’s a goth event without music? DSotC has an absolutely mind-blowing line-up this year. Several of my old favorites are going to be there, like Ego Likeness and The Long Losts. We’ve also got some surprisingly big names like Aesthetic Perfection, Assemblage 23, and Stabbing Westward. I’m particularly looking forward the bands that are new musical projects by familiar artists, such as Amelia Arsenic (a solo project by the former singer of Angelspit) and Helix (a collaboration between Tom Shear of Assemblage 23 and Mari Kattman of Mari and the Ghost). I’ve been getting in the mood by listening to the Dark Side of the Con Spotify playlist, which you can find here.

Apart from panels and bands, there’s a lot more going on at Dark Side of the Con. Something totally new this year is the live bat exhibit! Joe D’Angeli of the New Jersey Wildlife Conservation and Education Center will be giving a lecture on bats Saturday afternoon, and you can hang out with the creepy critters in the Live Bats Exhibit Room from 2:00pm to 9:00pm on Saturday. DSotC has also upped its burlesque game this year, and attendees over the age of 18 can catch shows on both Friday and Saturday with a dozen different performers, including the debut of Dark Side’s own Chloe D’Cay. And finally, the best parts of this convention are the dance parties! I’m particularly looking forward to the QXT’s Nightclub Party on Saturday night—QXTs was the first goth club I ever attended in my baby bat days, so I’m excited to see those DJs here at Dark Side!

Will I see you at Dark Side of the Con this weekend? What are you most looking forward to? Let me know in the comments!