Jennifer
Director of Guest Relations & Sponsorships

This man has been in hundreds of films and television shows. He’s played many epic characters from Leonardo Davinci, to Sallah in Indiana Jones, to an ass kicking dwarf in Lord of the Rings, as well as Professor Maximillian Arturo in the sci-fi time travelling classic, Sliders… Hal-Con is pleased to welcome, our first confirmed special guest star for Hal-Con 2012, the magnificent, incomparable, JOHN RHYS DAVIES.

As well, Hal-Con is thrilled to announce a special guest who voiced the Doctor’s greatest enemy in Doctor Who, the Daleks: NICHOLAS BRIGGS. Briggs is deeply entrenched in the Doctor Who universe, providing voices, directing Big Finish Productions audio plays, and guest starring in the Doctor Who spin-off series, Torchwood.

Also, we’re honoured to have the Emmy nominated RENE AUBERJONOIS joining us this year. Auberjonois has many acting credits to his name but is best known for his portrayal of Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space 9.

Last but certainly not least is American musical comedy duo and creators of the popular meme WookieeLeaks, PAUL AND STORM.
We hope to see you all at Hal-Con, October 26-28 at the World Trade and Convention Centre. Keep watching our website for more exciting guest and ticket information www.hal-con.com.

For anyone who just wants a quick link:

http://hal-con.com/Get-Involved/volunteering-rules-and-guidelines/

After fans and organizers alike complained about crowded hallways and lack of sustenance on-site something had to be done.

“It’s nice to have a consensus”, says Hal-Con Facilities Director, Amanda Schreiber. “The consensus about Hal-Con 2011 was that we didn’t have enough space and the people who didn’t want to venture out for food had nowhere to pick up a bite. Lucky for everyone it has been an easy problem to fix.”

The fix comes in the form of adding a third floor for Hal-Con 2012.

Thanks to our friends at the World Trade and Convention Centre the third floor will open up a whole other world of space for fans.

“It’s mostly going to be gaming space.” Says Hal-Con’s Gaming guru Shawn Kehoe. “2011 was amazing for us gamers, but, there were crowd issues and noise issues being that close to the main convention area. We’ve fixed that for 2012. The third floor is away from the hustle and bustle of the main area. The extra space provided by the third floor will let us respond to our fans’ requests for more games without sacrificing any of the great events that made the 2011 games room such a great success.”

According to Schreiber moving the huge gaming area upstairs means more room for exhibitors, venders and presentations and just more room to get your geek on.

It’s hard to get that geek on with no fuel in the tank. Also new to the con this year is food, glorious food! The extra space we’ve acquired this year means we have the room to host a food vendor which means guests do not have to brave the cool October winds of Nova Scotia, sacrificing precious con-time in the search for sustenance. We’re still working on the menu with the folks from the WTCC, but, it looks like sandwiches and soft drinks, including that most precious universal commodity, pure H₂O, will be available at a reasonable cost.

Here’s the short version of the story. In 1795, some boys goofing around on Oak Island, a small (140 acres) island just off the Nova Scotian coast, discovered an apparently artificial hole where none should be. Over the ensuing centuries, many people have tried to get (literally) to the bottom of the hole, only to be thwarted by what seems to be a series of booby traps designed to protect something incredibly valuable that waits at the bottom. It’s still there, still undiscovered and unexplained.

I’ve read about this since the mid-80s, starting with Darcy O’Connor’s paperback, and it’s lost none of its fascination, even after a pretty reasonable debunking by Joe Nickell at the Skeptical Inquirer (LINK: http://www.csicop.org/si/show/secrets_of_oak_island/ ). I’d always intended to write something that explained it, even though Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child beat me with Riptide, which at least includes a clever explanation for the pit’s design in an otherwise goofy adventure story.

When I began my latest Eddie LaCrosse novel, Wake of the Bloody Angel, I had a few broad inspirations: pirates, the song “Brandy” by Looking Glass, and Oak Island. Originally my version of the Money Pit was to be a central part of the story, but as I wrote it became less and less important, until finally it’s barely an image only a fellow Oak Island-ophile like me might recognize. That’s how the process works sometimes: the thing that inspires a story gradually gets winnowed out of it.

But Hal-Con will be the closest I’m ever likely to get to Oak Island, even if it is now privately owned and I can only see it from the shore. So I’m hoping at some point I can slip away from the con and glimpse the home of one of my favorite mysteries and inspirations. If you see me at Hal-Con with a ridiculously big grin, it means I’ve just gotten back.

BIO:

Alex Bledsoe grew up an hour north of Memphis (home of Elvis) and twenty minutes from Nutbush (birthplace of Tina Turner). He now lives in a Wisconsin town famous for trolls.

Hal-con costume contest 2011

If your number is listed above, please contact us at info@hal-con.com

Aperture Studios has posted the photographs taken yesterday to their website. Please go to the gallery link and select the guest you posed with to see your photo.