The Yattering

Tabula Rasa#2, April 1994

There are, of course, a vast number of Australians who like reading Stephen King or Anne Rice, not to mention those who went to see Silence of the Lambs, but who wouldn't consider reading or writing fanzines, socialising with other horror enthusiasts or, heaven forbid, actually attending a convention. Even horror 'fandom' is a relatively solitary affair. We don't have the focus that a television program producing regular episodes brings, and we don't have the sheer necessity of the roleplayers to attend social functions - it's a contact sport (which brings us to the Rocky Horror crowd...)

Yet many of the media and game fans enjoy the odd horrific element to varying degrees (we should perhaps mention that anyone using the map contained within as a roleplaying tool does so at their own risk), and there is a lot of overlap. Even the science fiction fans have Cyberpunk these days.

But horror itself, as a pure genre, simply does not lend itself to the same rituals -- the possible exception is the passing round copies of banned videos -- everything else is simply there, available in many different forms. This is why any and all internal organisation that has so far occurred has basically involved the swapping of fiction 'zines and writing groups. Horror doesn't so much have a fandom as a group of aspiring writers and artists, at varying levels of frustration.

We mention all this because we have heard rumours of a Con being held, perhaps this year even, dedicated to the eldritch nasties. It's a good idea, because it would start to form a wider public front (and horror fans are more involved in politics than they might like), and just for the hell of it, really. Just think, you'd have Val Lewton videos in one room, H. G. Lewis in the other and somebody selling Aliens figurines in the middle.

It may not be completely necessary, but it'd be nice. Bags attending the writing workshops...