PRODUCER NIK VS BIZARROCON 2026

Producer Nik went to the weirdest writing conference of all writing conferences, and took some pictures while he was there.

Day One:

It was Thursday afternoon when BizarroCon 2026 kicked off, and despite the warm and welcoming atmosphere already present amid the gathering crowd, I couldn’t hang with the cool kids for most of the introductory festivities. After working from 2 AM to 10 and spending a little over an hour at the gym immediately after that, I might have been able to pull it off if I didn’t also have to work at 2 AM again on Friday morning (the sixth day in a row that I worked that week), but that was not the card I’d been dealt—and I had no one but myself to blame, as I’d been the blindfolded dealer in this particular game.

I was almost immediately impressed with the convention space available on the second floor of Jupiter Next (the newer addition to the Jupiter Hotel, located across the street from the original). There was something about the aesthetic that pleased me. I found myself perusing the artwork on display and was especially fascinated by the strangely fancy restroom, complete with mood lighting, an unusually dark aesthetic, and hand driers that could have been manufactured for Boeing by Jet Propulsion Laboratories. That may sound like an exaggeration, but I suspect one of the units could have blown out a candle’s flame at the opposite end of the restroom when in use. I’m almost surprised there weren’t candles located there, complete with a bathroom attendant softly reading aloud from a book of poetry by Edgar Allen Poe whenever someone entered. That was the men’s room, of course. It might have been Sylvia Plath in the women’s.

Several of us made our way down the street for pizza at Fast Times (a former Sizzle Pie location that I hadn’t visited since 2014). John Skipp, Michael Allen Rose, Luciana Centeno, and I were part of the first group to arrive, followed not long after by Garrett Cook and others. By all accounts, we all enjoyed the pizza. The establishment itself was comfortable and visually pleasing, with giant murals on the walls (my favorite being of Prince).

Unfortunately, I returned home shortly after we had our early dinner, missing out on both the Opening Ceremonies and the “Inaugural Ultimate Bizarro Spelling Bee Ripoff Extravaganza” hosted by Michael Allen Rose, with Danger Slater serving as his enchanting assistant. I did manage to daydream my own version of these missed events, since I couldn’t be in attendance. I suspect my version of events is perhaps less entertaining than it was in reality, but that’s mostly because I wanted to shelter myself from the devastating blow that accompanied knowing I was missing out.

Day Two:

On Friday morning, I missed breakfast and the subsequent, simultaneously-scheduled workshops led by Jeff Burk and Wendy Wagner, “High Concept” and “Weirding Your World” respectively.

I returned to Jupiter Next as soon as I could get away from work, and arrived with plenty of time to spare, since I had to be ready for the “Bizarro Master Plotting Workshop” conducted by John Skipp. Simultaneously, Garrett Cook was running a workshop on “Perceving the Grotesque In Plain Sight,” which I unfortunately had to miss out on.

In the workshop, Skipp had us paired up with someone else for an exercise in which we were encouraged to rattle off the major plot points for a story we’d like to write, while the other individual took notes and placed the notes where they belong in a proper Three-Act Structure. We did this for an hour, and then we traded places with our respective partners. I have to admit that it was the most organized approach I’ve ever made to something I wanted to write, and the tips & tricks Skipp shared are things I will have to consider utilizing in the future, especially when I’m struggling to determine how everything falls into place within the overall narrative.

Following that, Matthew J. Gleason, Charles Austin Muir, Jason Rizos, Phoebe Hadas, and Roland Blackburn delighted the assembled audience with readings.

I took a break from being surrounded by people during the Annual Bizarro Writer’s Association Meeting since I sincerely didn’t think there was anything I could conceivably contribute to the brain trust already collected in the room (that sounds sarcastic, but isn’t). Also, because it led up to the dinner break, the window of time provided me with a much-needed a chance to decompress for a bit after going straight from my job and into a different kind of work.

I returned in time to enjoy the “New Bizarro Author Debut Party,” during which Bitter Karella, Jonathan Gensler, P.J. Bresnahan, and Amy Hofmockel teased us with tantalizing tastes of new titles coming later this year from RoShamBo Publishing. The readings were as much performance art as public reading, and they all blew me away with how fantastic they were. Michael Allen Rose has assembled some fucking amazing talent there. I fully intend to purchase each of the titles when they’re released, and I can’t urge you enough to do the same thing when it comes time. I’ll certainly never look at LEGO building blocks quite the same way again, thanks to the heartbreakingly strange excerpt from Jonathan Gensler that started everything off.

Finally, after the readings, it was time for The Slow Poisoner to take the stage, accompanied by John Skipp on bongos. By the time they launched into “Hot Rod Worm,” half the audience was on their feet and dancing, and I believe that included some of the hotel staff who were cleaning the convention space as the day’s BizarroCon events concluded.

Festivities followed, but I didn’t stick around to enjoy them. I’m a real wet blanket in that sense. I’d had an exceptionally long day, and I was altogether too tired to stick around and then risk driving home in an even more exhausted state.

Day Three:

Bridget D. Brave supplied doughnuts for breakfast on Saturday morning, and there were plenty still available when I finally arrived after slowly putting myself together in order to rejoin the world outside. I’d misremembered the schedule, and returned to the hotel part of the way through a panel on Eco Horror, moderated by Laura Lee Bahr and featuring Joshua Millican, Bitter Karella, J.W. Donley, and Wendy Wagner.

More readings followed the panel, and I had to be reminded that I was one of the authors included in the batch of readers that included Katy Michelle Quinn, Zuriel Runyan, S.A. Bradley, and Garrett Cook. For my selection, I shared an except from my story “The Journey” from May Cause Unexplained Ocular Bleeding. Though I may not be a bizarro author, I have been known to write things here and there that fall into that expanse of territory, and I felt like this was a suitable offering. Naturally, I was sweating like a steroid-riddled race horse while standing in front of what was—thankfully—a relatively small audience. Years into this whole writing thing, and I’ve still never managed to get over the nervousness and discomfort whenever I’m in front of people.

After that, Susan Snyder moderated a panel on “Insiders Among the Outsiders: Bizarro Welcoming the Othered.” Panelists Matthew J. Gleason, Lucifer (Luciana Centeno), Riley Odell, Michelle Quinn, and Jacy Morris discussed how proud they are of the present level of diversity within the Bizarro Literature community regarding LGBTQ+ representation as well as the conspicuous absence of certain voices from other marginalized groups they would like to see more representation from…notably Black and Indigenous people. It was suggested that old white fucks like myself should be doing a better job of introducing non-white people to these subversive (and relatively unknown) genres we love so much, and they’re fucking right about that. It’s probably for the best that other people serve in that capacity, though. There are several reasons for this, the first being that I’m not particularly good with people, but coming in close second, I’m probably not the best choice to be approaching strangers as an ambassador of any kind. I’d make a terrible Mormon or Jehovah’s Witness, not solely because I don’t believe in the things they do, but because no one would open the door after seeing me on the doorstep. For some reason, I’m reminded of the H.P. Lovecraft story, “The Outsider,” but I can’t quite put my finger on why that might be.

After a break for lunch, I returned to enjoy readings from Lucifer, Caleb Wilson, Riley Odell, Eric Henrixson, and Laura Lee Bahr.

The subsequent panel was on “Keeping Art Real: AI in Creative Space,” moderated by Jason Rizos, and including Liv Rainy-Smith, Andrew Goldfarb, Matt Blairstone, Phoebe Hadas, and Caleb Wilson. There were diverse professional backgrounds represented on the panel, including publishers, writers, and musicians, and each of them had their own perspectives and insights into the growing cancer that is Generative AI. This, more than any panel I watched, got the audience engaged. There was a lot of discussion, and it was all worth hearing. I suspect the conversation on AI could have gone on far longer than the time allotted by the schedule, but I also suspect that we’d be no closer to understanding how to address the topic or what the future holds for creative pursuits and artistry.

J.W. Donley, Jacy Morris, Bridget D. Brave, Eve Harms, and John Skipp entertained us with readings, once the AI discussion finally came to an end, and I was certainly happy to return to less depressing fare. I say that, but there might have been a couple of (more than) slightly depressing stories included in the readings. Entertaining, mind you, but still depressing.

After another break, dinner was served. I wasn’t hungry at first, but finally did develop an appetite after everyone else had already eaten. Thankfully, there was a whole hell of a lot of food to go around. So much so that Constance was begging people to take some of it with them when they left for the night.

As dinner came to an end, Susan Snyder and Christine Morgan delighted all of us with a performance from their 2025 Wonderland Award-winning novel, Nympho Shark Fuck Frenzy, setting the stage for the Wonderland Book Awards that followed.

Rose O’Keefe shared a heartfelt introduction to the award ceremony, talking about the time she spent keeping BizarroCon coming back year after year and expressing how proud she was to see the torch passed to a new generation of organizers who love the genre as much as she does. I saw that she shared the prepared speech on social media, so it would be best to check it out for yourself, because I would only butcher it in the act of paraphrasing what she had to say.

There were no losers among the finalists for the Wonderland Book Awards, but there still had to be winners. That said, Mo Moshaty’s Clairviolence: Tales of Tarot and Torment was the winner for Collection of the Year, and Black Brane by Michael Cisco was the choice for Novel of the Year.

The Ultimate Bizarro Showdown followed, featuring a dozen performances that included dancing, singing, puppets, and even a guided meditation. It was fucking amazing. I had tears in my eyes as Bridget D. Brave led the assembled audience through what (I sincerely hope) is the most awkward and unsettling guided meditation ever witnessed. I was clearly not the only one impressed with the absurdity of her performance, because she got second place. Bridget was sandwiched between Caleb Wilson in first place and Riley Odell in third. I’m not sure whether it was a punishment or a reward that Luciana and Phoebe received a travel-size bottle of Jeppson’s Malort, but it was certainly rewarding to see someone walking away with that god awful substance.

There was also a dramatic showdown of a different sort, as Garrett Cook and Danger Slater went head-to-head, promising attendees a battle between the two titans for BizarroCon 2027, so I guess that means Constance needs to get to work planning another event after she’s taken a well-earned and much-deserved rest.

Skipp and I didn’t stick around long after the Showdown, because it had been a long day.

Day Four:

We were a much smaller crowd when we gathered at the old Jupiter Hotel on Sunday morning, due in no small part to the fact that several people were hungover from Saturday night’s festivities after the official BizarroCon events concluded for the day.

It was a casual and relaxed atmosphere as we congregated before the sole panel of the day, “What’s So Funny?!: Melding Horror and Humor in Cinema.” S.A. Bradley moderated the panel with John Skipp, Bridget D. Brave, Matthew J. Gleason, Danger Slater, and Garrett Cook. It was as entertaining as it was insightful, and it was a perfect setup for the Bizarro Film Block that followed.

After some technical issues (I’ll take the blame, since I was the one designated to handle the AV component) Skipp and Andrew Goldfarb kicked that off with an episode of The Slow Poisoner Show, which was splendidly surreal.

And then there was Fuck My Son, written and directed by Todd Rohar. If you haven’t heard of it, you’re not alone. It was a rare privilege that Skipp was able to get not only the okay to present the movie, but to receive a copy of it for that purpose. I fully intend to review Fuck My Son in a separate post, so you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled for that. I will say that it was every bit as depraved and fucked up as Skipp had led us to believe…and then some.

Unfortunately, as with all things, BizarroCon 2026 had to come to an end, but it ended on a high note.

Additional Thoughts:

As anyone who knows me is aware, I carried my cameras with me everywhere I went, taking photos and shooting video throughout the convention. Some of those photos are shared here. And if you follow me on social media, you’ll see a great many additional photos and some videos from the event.

Constance Ann Fitzgerald outdid herself with her first time organizing a convention. She absolutely fucking killed it. I’d never attended BizarroCon previously, so I can’t compare it to previous years, but I can compare it to other conventions I’ve attended, and I can’t imagine anyone thinking it wasn’t in excellent hands by the time all was said and done. She deserves all the love the community can give, and I’m sure she has it.

The Jupiter Hotel was a fucking great convention space. I can’t think of any complaints about the staff or the surroundings.

One of the highlights (to me) of the weekend was the time spent in interstitial moments. Think of these as snapshots of free association. Watching Danger Slater and Michael Allen Rose playing Battleship, gradually accumulating a bit of an audience in the process brought a smile to my face. Seeing Christine Morgan, Susan Snyder, and a revolving assortment of other attendees doing craft projects was fantastic (and one cannot forget the supply of baked goods that Christine brought with her from California. I certainly ate more than a few—perhaps a few dozen). Drifting as I do, at these events, I got to catch bits and pieces of conversation and collaboration, and I loved every second of it. I’m saddened that I’d skipped the two BizarroCon events that took place prior to this one after I moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2022, because I had no idea what I was missing out on. I don’t intend to miss out again.

That is all.

I’m glad we had this conversation.

Nikolas P. Robinson is an avid consumer of books, movies, and television, especially where horror, science fiction, and fantasy are concerned. When he isn’t consuming media, he’s creating it as an author, photographer, videographer, and news producer in Portland, Oregon.

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing. Thank you for understanding.