A major Con this weekend; the World Fantasy Convention celebrates Edgar Alan Poe’s 200th birthday, and runs from the 29th of October to November 1st. Held on Halloween weekend in San Jose, California, it will as always include the World Fantasy Awards, nominees this year including Kage Baker, Neil Gaiman, Peter S. Beagle, Ellen Datlow, Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, and many more (but the ones mentioned being multiple nomination recipients). As announced in August, the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award winners for 2009 are Jane Yolen and Ellen Asher (see the previous award winners listings here).
Oni-Con takes place in Huston, TX this weekend, and will probably be the single most impressive Anime con this time around. In the same town as the former ADV, the guest list at this one has to be seen to be believed. There appears to be three separate tacks of Cosplay events alone.
Saboten-Con in Phoenix, AZ, also looks to be a great place to spend Halloween weekend. Musical guests include Ketsune Robot and Toybox at this Anime con, and the rest of the guest list is just as intense. Many events, screenings, concerts, panels, and so forth. The competitions include the usual (cosplay, artistic, etc.), and a few not-so-usual, including a +18 AMV contest (yes, that means explicit) separate from the all-ages contest, and a Karaoke contest.
In Vermont, BakuretsuCon runs from October 29th to November 1st. This predominantly Anime con includes an AMV contest and the steampunk-inspired Penny Dreadfuls, as well as everything a good con should have.
In Cincinnati, SugoiCon is an Anime con that covers aspects most cons miss; I would go for the concerts alone, the guest list is amazing from both Japan and the US, and the cosplay fans have multiple events! There is a lot more going on, it should be wild.
To round out the weekend of the Anime-Con is Youmacon in Dearborn, MI. This is the 5th year for this Detroit area event, with all the usual guests and activities.
For movies this week, Gentlemen Broncos comes out Friday, fresh from the Film Festival circuit. It is more a film about a science fiction author than an SF film itself. However, if you are in Washington, DC, you might want to consider the screening of Katsuhiro Otomo’s Mushi-shi on Friday evening, a one-time event brought to you by the DC Anime Club and the Japan Information and Culture Center.