Concept art created by Pat Rawlings, a guest speaker at ApolloCon 2009: NASA
Read our Q&A with Kim Kofmel, ApolloCon chair
If the thought of riding a dragon, flying a spaceship, or getting your guts ripped out by a werewolf makes you feel all gooey inside, then you probably need to bite the nerd bullet, self-actualize, and admit that you’re dying to go to ApolloCon, Houston’s science fiction, fantasy, and horror conference. It’s this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the DoubleTree Hotel. $20 will get you a day pass, or $40 will get you registered for the whole weekend.
Astronaut Stanley G. Love will be an ApolloCon 2009 guest on Saturday: NASA
What goes on at a sci-fi, fantasy, and horror conference you ask? It’s not all dressing up in dark elf costumes (although there’s a costume competition and plenty of Live Action Role Playing to satisfy local warrior-mages). You can also attend one of the free coffee, tea, chocolate (!), and scotch (!!!) tastings offered throughout the weekend. You can rehash that time-honored debate — Star Trek! No Star Wars! — in the “Con Lounge” or dance with a guy dressed as a Cylon Sentinel to the beats of DJ Hawz at the ApolloDance on Saturday night.

The bulk of the conference, however, is made up of lectures and workshops. Over thirty novelists, artists, physicists, engineers, and astronauts will be giving talks throughout the weekend on a wide range of topics. You can learn about everything from history (Galileo: 400 Years of the Telescope) to space exploration — both real and imaginary (Q&A:Working in the Space Industry), current literary trends (Modern Horror: The Changing Face of Fear) and, of course, attend in-depth discussions of fantasy and science fiction media (Sometimes a Vampire is just a Vampire, Get Your War On: Militarism Vs Pacifism in Genre Fiction and a talk on The Coolest Rides in the Universe) to name a few.

There will also be a panel of experts to debate the future of the Star Trek universe, a Q & A on recent developments in rocket science, readings by best-selling novelists, live music, art demonstrations, and a fantasy art auction by local artists that benefits Youth Advocates, Inc.

Not bad for twenty bucks.

See the full schedule at http://www.apollocon.org/pgm_grid.html