The Gayest Thing You'll See This Week

Damn! Does every freakin' fetish group have a convention? And why did I just ask a question to which I already know the answer?

San Diego's ComicCon is coming up very soon. What started out as a small gathering of local comic book fans has become a multi-million dollar event, promoting not just comic books, but science-fiction, horror and fantasy movies, novels, toys, collectibles, celebrity appearances and weirdos-in-costumes. A "Fanboy's" wet dream, in other words.

Now, it is no secret that I love the odd, unique, dark and/or arcane side of this thing called life. Especially when it comes to movies. I grew up watching movies with Bela Lugosi; Boris Karloff; Peter Lorre; Gale Sondergaard; Lon Chaney (Sr and Jr); Simone Signoret and Fay Wray. Later, Peter Cushing; Christopher Lee and Vincent Price. Dracula, in all it's incarnations, was a staple in my house (I'm Hungarian, German and Scottish... do the math).

The vampire, both laconic (Interview with the Vampire) and viciously aggressive (the Blade trilogy), is inherently sexy. The mouth on the throat; the piercing of flesh; the sharing of bodily fluids - no wonder so many films, novels, comics and short stories equate vampirism to a virus. The act of vampirism certainly requires a physical intimacy akin to sex. And of course, virginal sex often (if not, usually) involves at least a little spilled blood. And let's not even talk about the allure of eternal youth and power. In fact, the vampire may be the oldest dark creature of legend, ever. Alternate versions of the creation myth posit that Lilith (or sometimes, Lamia) was the first woman, made of Earth, as was Adam. When Adam spurned her, Lilith/Lamia joined the Dark Side, as it were. She became a creature of the night, feeding on the blood of God's creatures and the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. God's punishment was eternal hunger for an eternal life, and so she and her progeny roam the night in search of innocents on whom to feed (funny how lately I've been focused on creation mythology, ain't it?).

My friend Janet and I once witnessed an act of vampirism at a Devo concert at City Gardens in Trenton (yes, the Jon Stewart City Gardens). This was the mid-to-late 80's. A young lady (who would be described as "Goth" today) and her companions kept bending down and putting their faces in what I thought was her palm, immediately conjuring thoughts of snortable drugs. It wasn't until one of the young men stepped back and wiped his lips that I noticed the smear of blood across his mouth. The young lady had actually opened a wound in her wrist and her friends were all taking part... Poor Janet was very upset. I have to admit, however, that I was fascinated. I've also worked with an actor and merchandiser who both claimed to be vampires. Both of them were very attractive, though clearly insane.

My sister and I once attended a Fangoria convention in New York. We met plenty of really interesting and very nice folks (Michael Berryman and Tom Savini among them). We saw a sneak preview of the then-not-released Day of the Dead. We bought some cool stuff. Mostly, we were freaked out by the costumed loonies who wandered about the hotel in which the convention was held. Horror fans can be very scary...

So , what does all of this have to do with "The Gayest Thing You'll See This Week?" Well, I'll tell ya!

The Hollywood "Vampire-Con" is coming up, and they've been advertising to some very specific demographics (via):

I suppose it's nice to know that while the state of California isn't fully inclusive, the Vampire Community is. Suck it, California!

More, anon.

Prospero