"Hero Complex For your inner fanboy
Vampire Con's anti-'Twilight' stance:
Go for the jugular..."

June 22, 2010 | 7:30 pm

Hero Complex contributor Nicky Loomis is back with a look at a local event out for new blood in its second year. For a couple of self-described “horror film geek freaks,” the idea to start a vampire convention came natural.

But as Wendi Mirabella, an event planner, and her longtime friend, Lotti Pharriss Knowles, a writer/filmmaker, set out to separate themselves from the current vamp-scape of pretty-boy fangers and TwiPhones full of Edward Cullen head shots – it left them feeling a little long in the tooth.

"It almost seems like there is a bit of vampire fatigue,” said Mirabella, the organizer behind the 2nd Annual Vampire Con, a Thursday-Saturday (June 24-26) film festival that celebrates the original gangstas of vampire lore – not the current breed who've perfected creating a good brood and, well, looking pretty.

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Calling all Vampire Fans, Well, Maybe not Twilight Fans…

June 22, 2010 in fandom, vampire culture | Tags: twilight, twilighters, anti-fandom, fan culture, vamp-con, vamp-con 2010

The 2nd annual Vampire-Con Film Festival will take place this weekend, June 24 through June 26, in Los Angeles. Described as “featuring classic vampire cinema that will make your blood curdle,” the convention will include a “Disco Dracula Costume Contest” before the airing of the 1979 vampire comedy Love at First Bite.

The official site notes that “Costumes are thoroughly encouraged each night: Vampires, Victorian, Edwardian, Steampunk, Bohemian, Tribal and Gypsy.” Do you notice any obvious category of vampire costume missing from that list? Yes, Twilight costumes!

Judging by this omission, as well as by the promotional clip for Vamp-Con, which features an Edward-looking vampire enjoying the viewing pleasure of fellow cinema goers by “sparkling,” the convention wishes to distance itself from the Twilight phenomenon. As such, it seems a bit odd they have organized their event just a few days before the Eclipse premiere…

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