Category: Program

Presented by Kelsey Josephson

Come listen to a steampunk fairy tale retelling from Forsaken Beauty and the Etherbeast: an unconventional beauty, a tormented beast, and the ether that binds their fate.

After her own father sells her to the Ringmaster, strongwoman Belle thinks she’ll spend the rest of her days performing stunts until she succumbs to her ether-poisoning, a deadly condition that has disfigured her appearance and given her unnatural strength. A chance encounter with a beast by her solitary campfire changes everything.

With fractured memories of the horrific experiments done to his transformed body, Beast’s only desire is to flee his creator. When he stumbles across Belle, he longs to find his humanity as his attraction to the strange but kind woman grows.

When Beast’s nighttime visits lead to his capture, Belle hatches a daring escape plan to free them both, but freedom is fragile. With both the Ringmaster and Beast’s creator pursuing them, will Belle and Beast ever have a chance of a new life?

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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, which was an Ongoing Serial Finalist in the Laterpress 2022 Genre Fiction Contest.

Click on the banner below to learn more . . . 

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Fire performer, presenter, and causer of shenanigans, Steampunk Xena joins the Exposition’s entertainment lineup for a special performance for our early comers on Thursday, April 11th, 2024.

 

Steampunk Xena will host and entertain with fire eating, fire breathing, fire fans, fire sword, and more during our pre-show reception in, and outside of, the Cyan Parlor.

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Learn more about Steampunk Xena by clicking on the banner below . . . 

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Presented by Professor Sèitheach MacGregor

Vampires, goblins, witches and wizards, and other things that go bump in the night are more popular than ever. Many of these, however, have backgrounds steeped in racism and antisemitism, and often those features are brought into their modern iterations. Looking especially at vampires, goblins, and witches, we will look at the dark history of these figures and how to avoid pitfalls in portraying them today.

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Chevalier Sèitheach Macgregor, PhD, GSRA, DTh, etc, etc, etc; itinerant steampunk sorcerer, tea drinker, and occasional lecturer on demonology at Miskatonic University. Prior of the Ordo Rubeus Crux Ansata.

~ Demons Conjured ~ Forbidden Books Translated ~ Auguries ~ Necromancy ~ Goetia ~ Exorcisms ~ Unreasonable Rates for Unreasonable Activities

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Presented by M. Leigh Hood

Bad with words? Big on symbolism? Looking for some silliness with practical applications to amuse friends, relatives, and paramours? Discover how to insult your boss with a charming bouquet and express clandestine emotions (or physical directions) from across a crowded ballroom – or convention floor. BYOF – Bring Your Own Fan!

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M. Leigh Hood is a rare beast of the Cincinnati wilds, most often found walking her monstrous hound, Shuck, or working hard to exacerbate her carpal tunnel syndrome at the computer. Her work appears in Fairy Tales Punk’d Volume II, Cincinnati Magazine, and the in-development MonThology project.

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Presented by David D. Levine

Nikola Tesla was a genius, a visionary, a financial failure, and a very difficult man. His near-superhuman capacities for imagination and visualization enabled him to create technologies never before imagined, ushered him into New York’s most exclusive circles, and also led to his descent into destitution and crackpottery. Come hear the amazing true story of one of the steampunk world’s most fascinating and controversial real-life figures.

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David D. Levine is the author of Nebula Award winning steampunk novel Arabella of Mars, sequels Arabella and the Battle of Venus and Arabella the Traitor of Mars, and over fifty SF and fantasy stories. His story “Tk’Tk’Tk” won the Hugo, and he has been shortlisted for awards including the Hugo, Nebula, Campbell, and Sturgeon. Stories have appeared in Asimov’s, Analog, Clarkesworld, F&SF, Tor.com, numerous Year’s Best anthologies, and his award-winning collection Space Magic. His most recent published novel is The Kuiper Belt Job, and he is currently working on a novel which he describes as “Vaudeville with Aliens and Nikola Tesla.”

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Presented by Professor Lena Foltz-Pendarvis

The Bloodlust Butterfly, an exquisite broach by Tiffany & Co., disappeared from the 1893 World’s Fair while on display. History wrote it off as being the prize of an opportunistic thief in the right place at the right time during the Great Vampire Invasion, now lost to the annals of time.

Professor Lena Foltz-Pendarvis always thought otherwise. Now that she’s been flung into the past, she sets out to prove it wasn’t just a lucky score for some two-bit thief but actually a planned heist that used the Invasion as a brilliant cover. Where did it go? Who stole it? And why? That last answer might just be the most intriguing of all . . . 

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Professor Lena Foltz-Pendarvis is an independent lecturer on a variety of history topics – ancient, recent, and shockingly, events that have yet to happen. Equally at home on a dig site, in a lecture hall or on the deck of an airship, Foltz-Pendarvis travels the world in search of new discoveries and knowledge. She delves into her extensive trove of interesting facts to enlighten and entertain audiences from London to Sydney and from Tokyo to New York. Just don’t ask her to examine any statuary…..she has a strange aversion to them.

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Presented by Professor Sèitheach MacGregor

Necromancy is not negotiation, and a corpse is not consent. But that doesn’t mean we can’t raise something up to ask it a few questions, does it? Learn about the history and practice of the art of necromancy. Raise the dead for fun and prophecy!

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Chevalier Sèitheach Macgregor, PhD, GSRA, DTh, etc, etc, etc; itinerant steampunk sorcerer, tea drinker, and occasional lecturer on demonology at Miskatonic University. Prior of the Ordo Rubeus Crux Ansata.

~ Demons Conjured ~ Forbidden Books Translated ~ Auguries ~ Necromancy ~ Goetia ~ Exorcisms ~ Unreasonable Rates for Unreasonable Activities

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Presented by Kalpar

• 3 – 5 Players
• 3 Hours

Fiasco is an award-winning, GM-less game for 3 – 5 players, designed to be played in a few hours with no preparation. During a game you engineer and play out stupid, disastrous situations, usually at the intersection of greed, fear, and lust. It’s like making your own Coen brothers movie, in about the same amount of time it’d take to watch one.

This is a scheduled tabletop gaming event – please visit our onsite Gaming Library in Room 1322 for more information and to sign up.

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Kalpar – Polymath, historian, ferroequinologist, numismatist, these and other fancy words could be applied to Kalpar with varying degrees of accuracy. Kalpar has a fascination with the technology of the nineteenth century and how it affects our world today.

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Presented by M. Leigh Hood

While solo murderers like H.H. Holmes hog the spotlight, some made it a family affair.

Discover the horrible tales of the Kelly, Bender, and Harpe families. One has the distinction of being America’s first known serial killers. Listen to yarns of highway robbery, trap doors, and a possible connection to Little House on the Prairie.

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M. Leigh Hood is a rare beast of the Cincinnati wilds, most often found walking her monstrous hound, Shuck, or working hard to exacerbate her carpal tunnel syndrome at the computer. Her work appears in Fairy Tales Punk’d Volume II, Cincinnati Magazine, and the in-development MonThology project.

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Presented by Kalpar

Vampire hunting is a dangerous occupation and not recommended for amateurs. You may, however, find yourself in a situation where you’ll have no choice but fight a vampire.

Learn the basic weaknesses of vampires and how you can defend yourself in a fight against the undead.

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Kalpar – Polymath, historian, ferroequinologist, numismatist, these and other fancy words could be applied to Kalpar with varying degrees of accuracy. Kalpar has a fascination with the technology of the nineteenth century and how it affects our world today.

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See the Current 2024 Program

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Buy Your Discount Exposition Tickets

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