Doxacon

I went to Doxacon, a Christian science fiction and fantasy convention. It was on Saturday, Feb. 8th, in Woodinville, a suburb of Seattle. Its name comes from the fact it was founded by an Eastern Orthodox priest.

Scenery outside

The attendance was somewhat over fifty, compared to a normal six thousand for Norwescon or thousands more for Worldcon.

One of the volunteers running things was Megan.

The day started with a worship service, the Daily Morning Prayer service of the Anglican/Episcopal Church.

Then, while people were getting coffee or tea or finding their seats, a tall woman with long dark hair simply stood at her table. She wore a black sheath with a couple of gold chains at her waist. She didn’t seem to be looking for anyone, so that was puzzling.

She turned out to be SK Ehra, an author and the first speaker. So she had been standing like that to get a feel for the audience. She gave a lengthy, detailed lecture on science fiction, fantasy, and horror. She granted that these can be forms of escapism. But they are a way of going beyond the material universe to grasp truths that we know exist. She used illustrations from a number of books to show such fiction can ask us hard questions about ourselves.

She gave a defense of horror I had never heard before. When horror is done right, it reflects different mental states. If I remember correctly, a person haunted by a ghost may be having guilt for past sins. (Or it could be bad memories. I apologize if I got that wrong.)

Afterwards, I went up to her and said that was the best lecture I had ever heard on the subject, and I had been to many Norwescons and Worldcons. Her lecture was so good because she emphasized the fallen nature of the world.

The Writers Panel was composed of Reece Friesen, Tasha Kennedy, Suzanne Hayek, Aaron Ryan, Rosamund Hodge, and Kevin King. Sorry, I didn’t think to get a group picture. You might look up their books and see what you think.

There were a number of other sessions, some similar to a regular con, some very different. I’m glad I went and experienced something different.