I spent this past weekend in East Texas at the second annual Texas UFOCon. Hosted in Jefferson, Texas, this eleven-hour conference promised expert speakers, vendors and a chance to dig deep into the mysteries of the universe. It delivered … not quite all of that.
To put it all out there, I do believe in extraterrestrial life. I think it’s a pretty egotistical view to assume humans are the only intelligent life in the universe, let alone on the planet. Aliens exist, of that I have no doubt. The real question is whether or not aliens are joyriding through Earth’s atmosphere and messing with rednecks. Like Fox Mulder before me, I want to believe. I think the world’s a lot more exciting if there are still mysteries we might potentially uncover in our lifetime. The idea that one day life, as we know it, might change because some dude in Tennessee shot down a UFO with his shotgun and sold the craft’s extraterrestrial pilots to Inside Edition? That’s the world I want to live in.
It was with this attitude that I attended the Texas UFOCon this past weekend with two buddies. Was I going in with an open mind and a willingness to listen to the evidence? Yes. Was I also going for the lolz? Of course.
In reality, the convention was a tad more rinky-dink than I was hoping for. The vendor room consisted of less than a dozen tables - most of them featuring self-published books about the authors’ own personal experiences with alien lifeforms. There was also a table selling sasquatch-themed snacks. The presentations were mostly droning accounts of circumstantial evidence - with occasional references to QAnon. One presenter went off on a twenty-minute tangent about how there is a paradigm shift happening in the UFO community right now. I thought this was referencing the recent congressional hearings but, in actuality, he was talking about how UFOs don’t look like the flying saucers they resembled when he was a kid and now look like floating orbs. Make outer space great again.
There was one moment where I got a little starstruck when I realized Nick Redfern was one of the speakers. When I was nineteen, I read Redfern’s book THREE MEN SEEKING MONSTERS: SIX WEEKS IN PURSUIT OF WEREWOLVES, LAKE MONSTERS, GIANT CATS, GHOSTLY DEVIL DOGS AND APE MEN. It was a pretty formative read in my journey into cryptozoology, books with super long titles. Redfern was nice and I bought a book and blu-ray from him - both about werewolves. His presentation was about the Men in Black and, while he definitely took some leaps in logic, I enjoyed this theorizing into whether or not aliens might be tulpas or some other interdimensional creatures. That is the kind of shit I feed off of.
For most of the conference, though, I played a game - bullshit or crazy pants. As person after person stood up and talked to us about their encounters with extraterrestrial life, I realized there were only a few possibilities: These folks were legit survivors of alien pranks, they were mentally ill or they were working some kind of con. Here’s the thing - any one of those answers was fascinating to me. I obviously don’t want to think of somebody battling mental illness but I also realize that schizophrenia was a very real possibility behind some of the convention attendee’s belief in their close encounters. But equally likely was the idea that they’re just pathological liars. One presenter definitely had the energy of that kid in school who has to keep one-upping everybody else. Somebody would mention they thought Bigfoot was a spiritual creature and not a physical creature and the dude would drop the fact that he had seen Bigfoot in person and has a working understanding of his anatomy. Another person would mention that their brother was abducted by aliens and my guy would talk about the implant in his chest.
Of course, there is one other less appealing theory - some of these folks could be working through repressed sexual trauma. More than a few folks talked about encounters that had hints of homosexual dalliances or assault of some kind. This is the theorizing I didn’t want to spend too much time creating inner fan fiction about, for obvious reasons.
While I may have been bored by some of the presentations’ repetitiveness, I was awash with a fascination with the inner workings of my fellow convention attendees. Besides my friends, it was obvious that nobody else was attending the convention in jest. The people there were - if not believers - well on their way to becoming believers. And maybe I am too. I’m certainly open-minded about stuff like interdimensional travelers and parapsychological forces. Why not crop circles and Hoot Owl Trees that mark the burial site of ancient aliens? But as fascinating as tulpas might be, I will always be a little more fascinated by the question of what’s going on inside the head of a guy willing to stand up in front of a room full of other people and wax poetic about the time he was visited in his bed at night by something out of XTRO.
That guy will always be somebody I want to learn a little more about.
Changing the subject over so slightly, I read two books this past week that I more than recommend.
WHALEFALL by Daniel Kraus is a profound and deeply humanistic survival horror story about a young diver who is accidentally swallowed by a sperm whale. Jay has had a tumultuous relationship with his father most of his life - eventually culminating in the high school student running away from home. When his dad grows ill, Jay sticks to his guns and refuses to patch things up with the man, despite pleas from his mother and sisters. The option to heal is yanked away when Jay’s father takes his own life - weighing himself down and drowning in the ocean. Jay - in an attempt to find closure - dives to retrieve his father’s body only to be interrupted in his mission by a whale looking for food.
Kraus’ novel is a real butt-clencher, with vivid details extended to the harrowing experience that would come with being ingested alive by a colossal creature. The real heart of the story, though, is the life Kraus provides to Jay’s relationship with his father. Whether or not Jay will forgive himself and his father for their strained relationship becomes just as essential a journey as Jay’s escape from the whale’s stomach.
WHALEFALL will definitely be one of the best books I read this year and I can’t recommend it enough. There’s a lot happening within the pages regarding catharsis through projection - including the hope that it might be possible to form an understanding with the dead even after they’re gone. Coincidently, this is also a theme explored by Preston Fassell in LANDIS: THE STORY OF A REAL MAN ON 42ND STREET.
I’ve had Fassell’s biography of Bill Landis on my To Read shelf for too long but I’m glad I finally cracked open the book. It’s a breezy and highly informative look at a man who shared so much writing with the world - some of it deeply personal - yet left so many unknowable questions about his life and work behind. Landis was the publisher of Sleazoid Express, a definitive ‘zine that explored the exploitation and grindhouse scene of ‘8os New York City. Landis, who left his job in corporate finance to become a film critic and then a porn star, is a fascinating subject for a biography. Much of his writing - both fiction and non-fiction - had autobiographical elements and Fassell uses Landis’ own words in addition to interviews Fassell conducted with friends and colleagues to try and present as complete a portrait of the writer as possible.
The result is a book that’s surprising but, most importantly, deeply sympathetic.
Speaking of trying to understand the unknowable, I watched the excellent documentary SAM NOW recently. Directed by Reed Harkness and utilizing footage shot over thirty years, SAM NOW sees Reed attempt to help his step-brother Sam find out what drove Sam’s mother to leave their family when they were children. Even when they find the answer, Reed and Sam discover that it’s next to impossible to truly understand what motivates another person to do the things they do. The film explores the ripple effects that our actions can cause on the people around us and how those ripples can continue outwards for decades into the future.
SAM NOW is both a deeply personal film and also a fascinating exploration of documentary filmmaking as voyeurism. Is Reed helping his brother? Exploiting his trauma? Trying to find his own answers about life and how it works through Sam’s personal mystery? A combination of all the above? The documentary is a vibrant experiment in narrative storytelling through home video and is a highly recommended watch.
This weekend I’ll be set up at the Author Indie Book Fair in Houston. It’s a free event at Spring Street Studios in the Sawyer Heights area. I’ll be tabling from 10 AM to 6 PM alongside a wealth of other local authors. Come out and pick up a book. At the very least, ask if I’m drinking enough water because the answer will probably be “no.”
Coming up, this September I’ll be hosting a Book Fair at Fantastic Fest alongside Max Booth III. Fantastic Fest is one of my favorite weeks out of the year and the programming line-up for next month is absolutely stacked! We’ve assembled a great crew of Texas-based writers and publishers who will be set up in the Highball at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar during the festival, selling books, comics and zines. Reading books between films is one of my favorite things to do at a film festival so I’m excited to help provide this year’s Fantastic Fest attendees something to dig into while they’re waiting in line.
In October, I’ll be appearing at the Bedrock City Comic Con in Stafford, Texas. Jeff Smith, the creator of BONE, unfortunately had to cancel due to a health issue but there’s still a great list of creators - both national and local - scheduled to attend. Plus, you know, me.
Debora Lancianese has been continuing to work on art for the next installment of WHERE WOLF. She actually just drew a character for the first time that is going to be a big part of the story going forward. Making comics is a slow process, though, so it may be a while until you realize how big of a role she’s going to play.
Want to speed up the process of getting more chapters of WHERE WOLF out into the world? Buy a copy from Amazon or the publisher if you have not already or leave a review at Amazon or Goodreads. Every dime I make on WHERE WOLF goes into making THE CURSE OF THE WHERE WOLF.
In the meantime, beware the moon!