Dementors, Sith lords spotted in Collinsville

Edwardsville resident Maxine Camero portrays King George III during Archon’s Masquerade. She sings about the monarch’s desire to bring the colonies back to the United Kingdom. She worked on her costume for about one year. less Edwardsville resident Maxine Camero portrays King George III during Archon’s Masquerade. She sings about the monarch’s desire to bring the colonies back to the United Kingdom. She worked on her costume for ... more Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Dementors, Sith lords spotted in Collinsville 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

COLLINSVILLE — Otherworldly creatures roamed the Gateway Convention Center this weekend celebrating Archon 40 with mere mortal science fiction/fantasy fans.

A dementor mingled with Sith lords, monsters and other dark beings this year at Archon, the St. Louis region’s premier convention. Dementors normally are associated with the wizarding island prison of Azkaban in the “Harry Potter” books, but this one came from Des Moines, Iowa.

Dementor Susan Eisenhour has attended Archon regularly for about 30 years, now in its 40th year. Eisenhour’s granddaughter, Freya Elmar, shepherded her, dressed as Luna Lovegood, another character from the series.

Eisenhour said she comes to the “con” because of costuming, one of many activities for which Archon is known. For more than two decades, the annual Archon conventions have been held at Collinsville’s Gateway Convention Center, which has been a boon for the city’s economy. Archon attracts more than 3,000 visitors annually.

Archon started as a literary convention, but has become a general con with programming ranging from costuming and cosplay to social issues, as well as literature. A wide variety of panel discussion topics run the gamut from comic books to hard science.

“Since we’ve been around 40 years, we have a lot of fan loyalty,” Archon co-chair Steve Norris said. “We try to provide something for people to come and let their hair down and just be themselves. Everybody’s comfortable with being what they are or who they want to be. It’s a nice place to get away, a lot of people are drawn to fantasy and science fiction.”

Writer Sela Carsen, of Glen Carbon, is a member of Literary Underworld, a regional authors’ cooperative specializing in small press books, primarily science fiction, horror, fantasy, paranormal romance, steampunk and similar genres.

“It’s fun because I get to see people who have done amazing things with costuming, and I am impressed by the ingenuity that is displayed,” Carsen said Saturday afternoon at the writers’ group’s stand.

She said there also are several panels and discussions that are helpful to her as a writer.

“There’s a pretty good writers’ track going on this year, so there are a lot of panels about writing fiction,” she noted. “And, it’s all different genres or it can be applied to all different genres.”

The strong emphasis in literature is by design.

“We try to keep our roots and maintain a pretty strong track of literary programming,” Norris said. “But, at the same time, we try to evolve, change with the times and provide programming that appeals today.”

In addition to fandom and writing, technology also is a common theme for panel discussions.

“There are a couple (panels) that are really science-based,” Carsen said. “I missed the one on astronomy, I’m a little bummed. I think there’s one on nanotechnology that I want to go to.”

But it’s the costuming that really catches visitors’ eyes.

Attendees came dressed in everything from simple hats with animal ears to creations like Eisenhour’s. While elaborate, it was relatively easy to make, she noted.

“Mostly a cardboard box, a Styrofoam head and a lot of cheesecloth,” said Eisenhour, listing the material it took to make the eye-catching ensemble. “And, we got the cheap robe at Goodwill and added some length to it.”

It also was easy to wear.

“I friend of mine was in an accident, so I’ve got a body brace on to support it,” she reveled. “His bad luck was my good luck.”

Des Moines might seem like a long way to come for a costume contest, but her granddaughter came all the way from Yorkshire, England.

“I’m staying in America for a semester,” she said, describing Archon as “really different.”

The pair later performed in different costumes as part of the convention’s Masquerade, an intricate costume contest that featured novice, journeyman and master class costumers. Costume wearers performed as an non-judged exhibition, because their work won an award at Worldcon, a convention held in Kansas City, Missouri, in August.

Walking through the halls Saturday afternoon, other attendees often stopped Eisenhour and her granddaughter, wanting to take pictures or ask questions. It’s a common occurrence and a well-done or unusual costume can completely stop traffic in the convention hallways.

Archon also featured a number of charity events and a dealers’ room, where people could buy everything from T-shirts to medieval weapons. An event included a jail-and-bail by the 501st Legion, a “Star Wars”-based costume club.

The St. Louis-based Zombie Squad made a presentation about zombie hunting. The group described the equipment zombie hunters need to survive, which turns out to be the same equipment needed to survive a disaster, such as an earthquake.

Art also drew visitors to Archon. An art room included an exhibit of different works, several auctions and a chance to see artists in action. Evan Lamb, of Godfrey-based Grimstone Studios, sculpted character details Saturday.

“We’re working on the start of our new mythological series’ creatures,” he said while creating a creature’s nose. “This is going to be a life-sized Minotaur.”

A Minotaur is a creature from Greek mythology that is half bull and half man.

“I love coming to this convention. Being able to bring this stuff here and work in front of people is wonderful,” Lamb said. “Usually we’re doing this at our studios and nobody ever sees us doing this work. It’s fun to come out and be around people, and have people walk up and see it and be interested in the process of it.”

The Masquerade capped this year’s convention. Contestants came from around the country to compete, but there also was a large regional presence.

Edwardsville resident Maxine Camero competed in the master class, dressed as King George III, and “sang” about his desire to return to Great Britain’s colonies.

Camero took about one year to make her costume, which she wore throughout this weekend’s convention.

“I am obsessed with flamboyant characters and I am very egotistical on the occasion, so what’s better than doing a monarch,” she said. “I really enjoy just creating concepts, putting them into construction and making things. It’s a very satisfying thing when you get to see your final product. It’s a wonderful experience.”

Reach reporter Scott Cousins at 618-208-6447.