NecronomiCon’s Kickoff Party Will Leave You Haunted

The kickoff event of this year’s NecronomiCon promises to bring the haunting of Providence to new heights (or perhaps, murky new depths). You should be prepared for some amazing music (see previous page), as well as eldritch chanting and chimerical cultists hidden beneath robes both sinister and spectacular – on stage and in the audience.
Highlights will also include a backdrop of experimental film drawn directly from the horror centers of the subconscious by local purveyor of fear Frank Difficult. There will be a screening of the 2006 cult short Call of Cthulhu, one of the few cinematic retellings that is faithful to the original material (Lovecraft’s short story by the same name, one of his archetypal tales). The 16-minute film is black and white and silent (with music), and while it’s chock full of special effects, it uses only techniques and methods that would have been available to filmmakers in Lovecraft’s time. They use modern knowledge and experience to exploit tricks of light, perspective, mirrors and stop-motion – but no cgi or computer-enhancement. Explorers of the ancient sunken city of R’leyh, as one example, were shot with a model of the city in the foreground and actors so far in the background, they look tiny. The cinematic tricks alone make the short worth seeing.

There will also be an appearance – at full height, in the bombed-out-looking ceilingless ruins where the event takes place – of the Big NAZO intergalactic creature band. The creature band, an RI native troupe, has been mostly performing on the road lately, so this unrestrained local performance should be something to catch. At press time, it was unclear whether any Great Old Ones would be able to attend. But, biggest NAZO Erminio Pinque promises “more creatures than ever, who will engage the audience in a battle with the forces of chaos.” They will perform new work and known classics from the space-funk-creature-rock genre, and underwater and extraterrestrial themes will be prevalent. The full band, including giant worms 12 feet tall, will be on hand. Pinque also expects a variety of new Cthuloid squid heads, if arcane negotiations work out – “They’re not easy to get,” he explains. “Their riders are ridiculous. Backstage we have to provide pounds of flesh, gnostic poetry recitations – and sacrifices that have eaten only brown M&M’s for the previous three days.”