Author: JP Dean

PRESENTED BY: Leanna Renee Hieber

Why does this particular work by Bram Stoker have such lasting appeal? Gothic novelist and a seasoned stage actress (having played both Mina and Lucy in professional productions), Leanna Renee Hieber leads a spirited discussion of everyone’s favorite versions of this classic tale and why its popularity remains unmatched.

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.

See the Current Program

Buy Your Discount Exposition Tickets

PRESENTED BY: Leanna Renee Hieber

Come on, you know you want to run away from the haunted house, in the rain, in your nightgown. Let’s talk about it. Since 1764, the Gothic Novel has been a genre critics love to hate, despite its consistent popularity through the centuries. Award-winning Gothic, Gaslamp Fantasy novelist Leanna Renee Hieber (Tor Books, Sourcebooks, Kensington Books) leads an irreverent, entertaining brief history of the Gothic Novel and discusses its social, psychological and artistic impact and importance into the modern age.

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.

See the Current Program

Buy Your Discount Exposition Tickets

PRESENTED BY: Jade Rogers

What if there were no barriers to social, political or educational pursuits for Black people in the 1880’s United States?

This presentation will look at the intersections of Afrofuturism and Steampunk, how it manifests today and explore the world of possibilities.

Jade Rogers is a Historian, an adjunct professor at Metropolitan Community College and the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of The House of Afros, Capes, & Curls. After receiving a B.A. in Black Studies and Elementary Education, she obtained a Master’s in African American World Studies from the University of Iowa. She has also completed all course work towards her PhD in History at Morgan State University and has training as an Archivist and Oral Historian.

Jade has taught on the elementary level in the District of Columbia Public Schools, and the University of Iowa as well. She has worked with numerous non-profit youth serving organizations including Boys & Girls Clubs of Omaha and Greater Washington in Maryland, Girls Inc., The Center for Holistic Development and most recently served as the Youth Engagement Manager at The Union for Contemporary Arts. Building community and service are a part of Jade’s strong belief system. A Class XIX graduate from Heartland Blueprint, a United Way of the Midlands program to help increase minority racial/ethnic volunteer leadership, and she has served on many education and non-profit executive boards.

With over 20 years of teaching and community engagement experience, she strives to raise the visibility of the tremendous contributions and accomplishments of African Americans in the Midwest. For The Great Plains Black History Museum, she has served as its Archivist, facilitates public programs on a variety of historical topics and also conducts Oral History and Genealogy workshops. And…she’s a blerd at heart. Science fiction, fantasy, World of Warcraft, The Sims and Octavia Butler. Star Wars + Star Trek + the X-Men hold equal space in her heart.

See the Current Program

Buy Your Discount Exposition Tickets

Presented by Michael Parodi 

Are you ready to take your steampunk to the next level?

Do your goals and aspirations not match you pocket book?

This panel will help you with tips and ideas to wow and bedazzle your fellow con goers with your phantasmagorical embellishments. Break the mold without breaking the bank.

Michael Parodi retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the Army after 30 years of Active and Reserve duty in the U.S. Army. He is a true to life airship commander. He currently manages a fleet of eight aerostats supporting national and border security for the United States.

Countless hours of Michael’s youth were spent watching classic movies like “Journey to the Center of the Earth”, “First Men in the Moon”, “The Lost World”, and “The Time Machine.” When not engrossed with the small black and white screen, he was enthralled with the novels and short stories of HG Wells, Jules Verne, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, Robert A. Heinlein and Frank Herbert. These great works fostered Michael with a vivid imagination, and he discovered at an early age that he also had a talent for costuming. It was an easy step to make the characters in his imagination come alive. Now, after over 50 years of passion and dedication, he has become an aficionado of fantasy and science fiction.

Michael spends time on a variety of projects using several mediums. Michael’s interests and techniques fluctuate depending on the project and the whims of his muse. He is especially drawn to Steampunk because the Victorian aesthetic feeds well into the movies and books he loved the most in his youth. Drawing on his experiences traveling around the world, and immersing himself into various cultures – he brings an extraordinary level of inventive detail to his creations.

He is the proprietor and master artist of Master Creations, Enterprises located in Hayes, Virginia. He and his team have received multiple accolades and awards for his costumes, props and vehicles across the United States. He is also a member of the Hatton Cross Steampunk family. He is currently working on two novels and is continuing to create wondrous contraptions.

See the Current 2024 Program

Buy Your Discount Exposition Tickets

Presented by Michael Parodi 

• Do you want to add lights and other types of electronics to your costumes and accoutrements?
• Do you want to let your inner 5-year-old out to play?
• Do you want to have people say “Oooh” and “Ahhh” when they see your costume and your gadgets?
• Are you a person who wouldn’t know Ohm’s law from an Oompa Loompa or thinks resistors are something the Borg says is futile?
• Then THIS may be the panel for you!

First and foremost, I am a program manager in my day job NOT an engineer.  When it comes to electronics, my motto is “Keep it Simple and SAFE!”. Sit with me. We’ll talk and demonstrate some simple ways to add lights and other electronics to your costumes. Come learn from my mistakes and hopefully, I can save you from making the same ones I have and save you some time and maybe money.

Michael Parodi retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the Army after 30 years of Active and Reserve duty in the U.S. Army. He is a true to life airship commander. He currently manages a fleet of eight aerostats supporting national and border security for the United States.

Countless hours of Michael’s youth were spent watching classic movies like “Journey to the Center of the Earth”, “First Men in the Moon”, “The Lost World”, and “The Time Machine.” When not engrossed with the small black and white screen, he was enthralled with the novels and short stories of HG Wells, Jules Verne, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, Robert A. Heinlein and Frank Herbert. These great works fostered Michael with a vivid imagination, and he discovered at an early age that he also had a talent for costuming. It was an easy step to make the characters in his imagination come alive. Now, after over 50 years of passion and dedication, he has become an aficionado of fantasy and science fiction.

Michael spends time on a variety of projects using several mediums. Michael’s interests and techniques fluctuate depending on the project and the whims of his muse. He is especially drawn to Steampunk because the Victorian aesthetic feeds well into the movies and books he loved the most in his youth. Drawing on his experiences traveling around the world, and immersing himself into various cultures – he brings an extraordinary level of inventive detail to his creations.

He is the proprietor and master artist of Master Creations, Enterprises located in Hayes, Virginia. He and his team have received multiple accolades and awards for his costumes, props and vehicles across the United States. He is also a member of the Hatton Cross Steampunk family. He is currently working on two novels and is continuing to create wondrous contraptions.

See the Current Program

Buy Your Discount Exposition Tickets

Presented by Steampunk Santa 

Santa’s Toy Box will be open in Room 1322 at Chicago Steampunk Exposition 2024!

• Friday – 4PM to 10PM
• Saturday – 10AM to 10PM
• Sunday – 10AM to 4PM

Steampunk Santa will have a collection of games from his library in the Gaming Hall this year!  Various board and card games will be available for you to play and learn.  Spend a few minutes, or a few hours if you wish.  Thematic games, including Worlds Fair 1893 and Tesla vs. Edison: War of Currents, will be available, as well as other appropriate Steampunk fun!  Santa will be on hand to teach as well.

CLICK HERE to see Steampunk Santa’s full range of games available.

Santa’s Toy Box is a game library based in Toledo, Ohio, hosted by Santa Claus! Santa will bring selected titles to your event or convention for your guests to try out various games. Usually, games can be taught, although for larger events, teaching will be limited based on the number of simultaneous games. Santa can also bring appropriate games to your business for team building events!

Most titles in the collection are Euro-style games, although there are several classic American games available as well. The games are recommended for families to play together, especially with older children (12+). There are titles that the youngest (5+) can play, either on their own, or with supervision. Younger children (14 and under) should be supervised by an older family member.

See the Current Program

Buy Your Discount Exposition Tickets