A couple of weeks ago I wrote about attending Bristolcon, which I try to do every year. This week, I wanted to reflect on the second convention I went to this October, one I’ve never been to before. The World Fantasy Convention is an annual event that, as the “world” in the name suggests, takes place in different countries or cities – though rarely outside of the USA and Canada. This year it joined forces with Fantasy Con, run by the British Fantasy Society, and took place in Brighton on the weekend of Halloween.

This is not the first large international convention I’ve been to – my first was actually Worldcon in Dublin in 2019, and I went to Worldcon again last year when it came to Glasgow. I was curious, however, to see how WFC would differ, especially being a more UK-focused affair with the inclusion of Fantasy Con, and perhaps also a more fantasy-focused affair, given that Worldcon’s full name is actually ‘The World Science Fiction Convention’ and that it has a strong science-fiction focus.

I was also simply curious what it would be like to do two cons back-to-back, and wanted to join other friends who were going. So I set off to Brighton, keen to find out.

Outside of the con

The convention wasn’t due to start till Thursday night, so those of us who arrived early had time free to explore Brighton. Even during the con we occasionally left the hotel to get fresh air and do something different – never a bad idea when the panels and hotel interiors start to blur.

One of my favourite things about exploring new places with con friends – and I wonder if this says something about the kind of people who love fantasy fiction, or simply the kind of people who love books – is how enthusiastic and curious everyone is, paying attention to small details, being playful and having fun, and focusing on the wondrous aspects of things. Sometimes being a tourist can start to feel like it’s just: “go, read signs, take photos, leave”. With these friends it never feels that way.

The bookstore crawl

The first thing we did was embark on a bookstore crawl, the highlight of which for me was a shop dedicated to special editions – Goldsboro books. This was a severely tempting space to be in, packed with gorgeous hardcovers and sprayed edges. There was even a locked cabinet full of old first editions. It’s the kind of place I would spend too much money in if I lived nearby.

Dragon-spotting in palaces

We also visited the Royal Pavilion – something that felt appropriate as a con expedition, given all the dragon statues and golden scales, and the mishmash of architectural styles bundled into one big lavish European fantasy of what an Asian palace might look like. The whole thing has a very “Xanadu pleasure-dome” vibe to it.

Traversing chalk cliffs

A small group of us caught a bus to the Seven Sisters on Thursday for a walk. The ride was long, but the ocean views and white cliffs were worth it. We looked for ‘hag stones’ on the beach (I didn’t know what they were until then), wrote our initials with chalk on stones, marvelled at the cliffs close-up, and had an impromptu picnic on top in the least windy and precarious place we could find.

Lift-off in the i360

Near the con hotel there was UFO-like viewing platform rising up and down a tower called the i360, which looked far too intriguing and spacey not to catch our eye. I was worried it would be an expensive gimmick, but the views were amazing, and it struck me as the perfect place for a sci-fi book launch… if you could afford to hire it.

Inside the upside down house

Another oddity we couldn’t resist was the nearby upside down house, which looks just like it sounds. We didn’t initially realise that the point of the whole thing was taking silly photos where you look like you’re upside down, but a nice woman showed us how it worked, and then it all made more sense.

Steampunk cars

On Sunday a group of us accidentally stumbled across the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, with a parade of very steampunk vintage cars from the early 1900s. We were amazed to hear one of them had also participated in the first ever run in 1927.

The Convention

So, on to the actual con. As I mentioned, I was curious to find out how it would differ from other conventions I’ve attended. The verdict? A lot of the components are very similar. There was a dealer’s room for buying books and merch, an art show for buying artworks, a bar where people hung out and chatted, and a big schedule of panels, interviews, author meetings, book launches, signings and so on. There was also an awards ceremony – in this case two, for the British Fantasy Awards and World Fantasy Awards, whereas at Worldcon it’s the Hugos. There were, however, some differences:

Focus on fantasy and horror

As promised in the name, this convention did indeed have a strong emphasis on fantasy, but also, unexpectedly, horror, with a lot of panel topics focusing on the darker end of the speculative spectrum, and the participating authors being accordingly specialised. Science fiction wasn’t a focus at all.

Size

The size was somewhere between Bristolcon and Worldcon – large, but not colossal. Where Worldcon spreads across convention centres and encompasses multiple buildings, WFC filled one very big hotel. The venue was a warren of corridors, stairways and interconnected rooms, which made it a little hard to find things, but that is in the nature of the old hotels on the Brighton shoreline, and I really enjoyed Brighton as a location.

Nationalities

Interestingly, I noticed more participants from Australia and New Zealand than I did at Worldcon. I also noticed fewer Americans, and perhaps a similar number of Europeans (the vast majority of attendees were, unsurprisingly, from the UK). Of course, this is all my subjective perception, and I’m not sure how it compares to past WFCs or Fantasy Cons, given the locations change each time.

Mass signing

The mass signing session was new to me, and although I was just spectating, I loved it. At Worldcon the signings are scheduled throughout the convention in groups of 4–6 authors that clash with other programme items. Inevitably, one or two famous authors get epic queues and others have small or non-existent ones. This mass signing brought everyone together in one big room with lots of tables all at once… which I’ll admit, was a bit chaotic, but fun. I felt like more people milled about talking to authors they may not otherwise have approached, and the general hubbub created a nice atmosphere.

My highlights

Panels, panels, panels

I went to a lot of panels, most of which were really enjoyable and informative. A few dragged, though that could also be because I’d reached saturation point, or was low on sleep. As is often the case, you never know how a panel is going to be going in: you might pick a topic or line-up that sounds really interesting, only to find it a dull or stating-the-obvious discussion, or pick one you’re not expecting much from, then find you’re riveted and learning new things… so it’s always nice when a friend pulls you into something you didn’t have on your radar that positively surprises you.

Meet the author: Juliette Marillier

I’d never done a meet the author session before at a con – basically a ‘kaffeeklatsch’ where a small group of fans spend an hour at a table with an author chatting – but a friend told me how much fun she had meeting TJ Klune and John Gwynne, so on Sunday I signed up to meet an author I admire, Juliette Marillier. I think it was unusual to see her at a con in the UK, because she lives in Australia – she was there to receive an award – so I felt lucky to get the chance.

It was really interesting hearing about her career. If I remember correctly, she only started seriously writing around age 40, and found out about her first publishing deal on her 50^th birthday. It was also nice to hear about the places that inspire her and her love for the natural world. Her debut, Daughter of the Forest, is still one of her most popular books (indeed, many people brought their worn, much-loved copies to to the session to be signed), so I was intrigued when she talked about how she would write it differently if she were to do it again today… but I think she made a good point that for all the things she would change (e.g. historical inaccuracies – she wrote it before you could just google things!), she was going through a lot at the time, and channeled a lot of that emotion into the book, and perhaps that is what people responded to. I think it’s a good reminder to authors that you can get hung up trying to write a “perfect” book and hone your craft, but often what readers respond to, especially in debuts, is the emotion and passion you put into it.

I don’t have a physical copy of Daughter of the Forest (I listened to it in audio), but I got a lovely signed swan-themed book plate that I now intend to buy a copy to stick in. She also has a new book out, The Amber Owl, which I’m curious to read.

Serendipitous encounters

An especially fun moment at the con came when I recognised an author I knew from online Shut Up & Write meetings, so we got to chat and hang out in person for the first time, and I also got to meet her friend she was attending with. Another serendipitous meeting came when someone approached us in the bar and mentioned it was her first con and she didn’t know anyone. She ended up joining us for dinner and other things, and I think we may have convinced her to give Bristolcon a try next year!

Going the distance

In terms of the experience of back-to-back cons, I will admit, I did have moments where I found it hard to sustain the intensity of focus and energy required for a con over such a long period – i.e. being social, switched on, chatty, attentive, and staying awake for long days. I’ve done Worldcon in the past, which is 5 days, but this was 10 in total if you include the interim between cons, and I noticed the fatigue getting to me at points.

My FOMO often clashes with my need for downtime, but once or twice I had to just bow out and go nap in my hotel room. To be honest, I probably should have done this more often, because a few times I was running on empty and not really absorbing things or being fully present. Fortunately these “down” moments were interspersed with many nice “up” moments, so I still had lots of fun, but I’ll admit, by the end of it all I was glad to be going home for a break. I can’t imagine doing yet another con the following weekend, as I know some big con-goers do!

It was also unusual to have the ramp up and ramp down of one con followed by another. I feel like cons have this initial fresh buzz when everyone arrives, followed by a peak hubbub of activity, followed by a petering out as people gradually leave or nurse hangovers. It was slightly bizarre to go through that on a small scale for Bristolcon, then repeat the same pattern shortly afterward. Not bad, exactly, just odd.

All in all, though, I’m really glad I went, and I came away with many good memories and food for thought.

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Have you been to World Fantasy Con or Fantasy Con before? If so, what is it like in other years? And do you also struggle with sustaining energy at events like this, or find it easy? Drop your thoughts in the comments.