Author: JP Dean

2025 marks the 50th anniversary of Chaosium, publishers of the classic role-playing game Call of Cthulhu and subsequent spin-offs such as Cthulhu by Gaslight. As part of this 50 year celebration, Chaosium has generously donated several books and Cthulhu starter sets to the Exposition. Some of the books will be used for the Exposition’s gaming program (see below), but the rest will be donated to our charity raffle for which we have partnered with NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness).

Tabletop Gaming

The Exposition’s gaming program currently has several role playing games on offer over the course of the weekend. Each session is about 3 hours long with experienced Games Masters (or in the world of Cthulhu gaming “Keepers”) and are hosted in rooms 1322 and 1324.

Each game can have approximately 3-6 players and it is not necessary to have already played as our Games Masters will show you how to play as the game unfolds; the main thing you need is imagination to tell a collective story with everyone else around the table and roll dice to see if things went the way you planned. Our current line up of games include:

• Cthulhu by Gaslight (RPG) – “Curse of the Swamp Tentacles” (18+)
• Cthulhu by Gaslight (RPG) “Dead Light” (18+)
• Cthulhu by Gaslight (RPG) “Edge of Darkness” (18+)
• Cthulhu by Gaslight (RPG) – “Eldritch Horror!” (18+)
• Cthulhu by Gaslight (RPG) “The Haunting” (18+)
• Cthulhu by Gaslight (RPG) – “Shocking Sabotage” (18+)
• Dungeons & Dragons (RPG) – “Creeping Ruin” (18+)
• Dungeons & Dragons (RPG) – “What’s in the Swamp?” (18+)
• Mothership (RPG) “Chromatic Transference” (18+)
• Mothership (RPG) “The Haunting of Ypsilon 14” (18+)

Sign ups for games can be found at the Exposition Registration table.

NAMI Fundraiser Raffle

The Exposition is joyed to continue its charity partnership with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Established in 1979, NAMI acts to help those in need of finding mental health services, to raise awareness about mental illness, to de-stigmatize perceptions of mental illness, and provide hope to those challenged by mental illness.

During Saturday, May 31st, the NAMI table (located outside the Sage/Maize panel rooms) will be selling raffle tickets for the amazing prizes donated by Chaosium, various Exposition vendors, and some attendees. The drawing will occur at 5PM in Sage panel room.

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Presented by For the Love of Steampunk: Lori Schambureck & Belinda Evans

• $20 Session Materials Fee 
• 90 minutes

Customize your own tiny building that light-up, LEDs. Paint and/or decoupage the surface and add glued embellishments like gems, charms, ribbon, stickers and more. Plywood buildings are approximately 6” square and are already assembled. 4 designs to choose from: apothecary, haunted house, black cat cafe, crypt. All supplies included in the fee.

$20 material fee will be collected at the session by the presenters.

For the Love of Steampunk is a Facebook Page created by Lori Schambureck that provides her own creative ideas, inspiration for projects, completed costumes, and information from world wide events. Lori has a fine art degree and finds steampunk as the perfect aesthetic for her unique style that incorporates up-cycling items. For the Love of Steampunk was created to inspire others to try new ideas and embrace the creative process. Lori is enthusiastic about the fact that Steampunk has no rules or limits to how creative you can be so everyone can have fun.

Belinda Evans is a multifaceted artist with a passion for steampunk! Her art degree, combined with her diverse skills in sewing, jewelry making, and working with found objects, allows her to fully express and explore the unique aesthetic of steampunk. This blend of skills likely gives her a unique perspective and the ability to create distinctive, one-of-a-kind pieces that embody the steampunk style.

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PRESENTED BY: Leanna Renee Hieber

From the notorious Lizzie Borden to the innumerable, haunted rooms of Sarah Winchester’s mysterious mansion, explore the history behind America’s female ghosts, the stereotypes, myths, and paranormal tales that swirl around them.

Bestselling author, actress, and NYC ghost tour guide Leanna Renee Hieber discusses the premise of her new, bestselling non-fiction book about the intersection of women’s history and ghost stories, telling real histories and real ghost stories.

Leanna Renee Hieber is an actress, playwright, ghost tour guide and the award-winning, bestselling author of over fourteen Gothic, Gaslamp Fantasy, Supernatural Suspense and Non-Fiction books for adults and teens with publishers such as Tor, Sourcebooks and Kensington Books. A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America’s Ghosts, co-authored with Andrea Janes, is a 2022 Bram Stoker Award finalist for “Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction”. The book explores the intersection of women’s history and ghost stories.

Her Strangely Beautiful saga, beginning with The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, hit Barnes & Noble and Borders Bestseller lists and garnered numerous regional genre awards. Tor Books notes Strangely Beautiful as a “foundational text of Gaslamp Fantasy” and new, revised editions are now available via Tor. Darker Still hit American Bookseller’s Association’s “Indie Next List”, was a Scholastic Book Club “Highly Recommended” title and a Daphne du Maurier award finalist.

The Spectral City was a # 1 bestseller across several genres and digital platforms. A 4-time Prism Award winner for excellence in the genre of Fantasy Romance, Leanna’s short stories have been featured in notable anthologies and her books have been selected for national book club editions as well as translated into many languages. She lectures on Gothic fiction and ghostly themes for prominent institutions such as New York University, Miami University and at conventions, libraries and conferences around the country.

A proud member of Actors Equity and SAG-AFTRA, Mystery Writers of America, SFWA, Historical Novel Society, International Thriller Writers and The Dramatists Guild, she lives in New York where she is a licensed NYC tour guide working with Boroughs of the Dead and has been featured on television in Mysteries at the Museum and Beyond the Unknown, discussing Victorian Spiritualism. She tours a one-woman show as 19th century designer Clara Driscoll and is represented by Sara Megibow and Chelsea Hensley of the KT Literary Agency.

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Presented by Kelsey Josephson

Alternate history stories can be found in books, movies, television, comics, games, and more. These reimaginings can range from realistic to fantastical, from serious to humorous, from dystopian to utopian.

In this panel, we’ll discuss some of the most popular and influential works of alternate history in media, such as Watchmen, Anno Dracula, and Loki. We will also explore the themes, challenges, and implications of creating and consuming alternate history stories.

Kelsey Josephson is a sci-fi fantasy author and member of SFWA and ALLi from the Midwest. She has a deep love for Universal Monster movies, all things related to Nikola Tesla, and iced coffee.

Her work includes Strange Happenings, a gaslamp fantasy series set in an alternate timeline, and Forsaken Beauty and the Etherbeast, a steampunk fairy tale retelling. You can find more about her work by visiting www.kelseyjosephson.com

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Presented by Kelsey Josephson

Come listen to an exclusive sneak peek of The Clockwork Coffin, a gothic steampunk fairy tale! The Clockwork Coffin officially releases on July 1st, 2025.

Sabeline Vale is a woman who has been dealing with her curse for thirteen long years after her parents broke a deal with a fae. Every day, she has a narrow window of time in which she’s awake and appears to be human. Sabeline uses these stolen moments to attempt to break the spell using alchemy and science before she must return to her coffin. Every midnight, she rises as a monster.

Her aging parents are desperate to cure their only daughter by any means necessary. Unbeknownst to Sabeline, the Vales hire Oliver Abberton, a talented but struggling pianist, to be her tutor. The Vales insist that the musician’s presence is meant to bring comfort to their isolated, music-loving daughter, but Sabeline suspects her parents have ulterior motives…

The Clockwork Coffin is a dark fairy tale retelling of The Princess in a Coffin and will be part of a shared series with other authors. If you love tales with wit, courage, and a bit of spooky charm, this one’s for you!

Kelsey Josephson is a sci-fi fantasy author and member of SFWA and ALLi from the Midwest. She has a deep love for Universal Monster movies, all things related to Nikola Tesla, and iced coffee.

Her work includes Strange Happenings, a gaslamp fantasy series set in an alternate timeline, and Forsaken Beauty and the Etherbeast, a steampunk fairy tale retelling. You can find more about her work by visiting www.kelseyjosephson.com

See the Current 2025 Program

Buy Your Discount Exposition Tickets