World Fantasy Convention 2025

The World Fantasy Convention returns to British shores for the first time in over a decade, running from the 30th of October to the 2nd of November at Brighton's Metropole Hotel.

Tainted Wives

This year's event merges with Fantasycon - both the World Fantasy Awards and British Fantasy Awards will be presented over the weekend, and it’s 50 years since the British Fantasy Society held their first Fantasycon in 1975.

Big Swords

The World Fantasy Awards novels shortlist reads like someone's looked at my christmas list:

"The Tainted Cup" by Robert Jackson Bennett (Mysterious, Murdery, Hugo-Award-Winny)

"The Bog Wife" by Kay Chronister (Southern Gothic Horror)

"The Bright Sword" by Lev Grossman (Arthurian legends sans Arthur)

"The Fox Wife" by Yangsze Choo (Folk tales, Family and Foxes)

“The Wings Upon Her Back” by Samantha Mills (Steampunk Fantasy)

Over in the novella category, "Crypt of the Moon Spider" by Nathan Ballingrud is presumably doing whatever moon spiders do in crypts... check out the full list here.

Deep Fried Twinks

The British Fantasy Awards have a slew of titles across a range of categories with some eye catching titles in the anthology shortlist - Chuck Tingle's "Bury Your Gays - An Anthology of Tragic Queer Horror" in both the horror Novel and Anthology nominations and - "I Want That Twink Obliterated!" - queer pulp, science fiction and fantasy. Check out the entire awards here.

Crypt Spider

Guests of honour include Suniti Namjoshi, Vincent Chong, Nick Landau, Vivian Cheung, Joanne Harris and Ramsey Campbell, with programming spanning the convention's dual themes of Lyrical Fantasy and 50 Years of British Fantasy and Horror. Expect the usual delights: kaffeeklatsch-style author meetings, mass autographing, late-night horror readings, and karaoke!

Infinite Fish

Online memberships include streamed content and both award ceremonies for those unable to attend in person, though you'll miss the opportunity to witness Brighton's Gothic seafront at its October finest, which is to say: windy, dramatic, and perfect for contemplating how thin the barrier between speculative science fiction and reality has become; how long before cyberpunk is just commentary? Or you could just eat some chips and look at the sea.

Full details and registration at worldfantasy2025.co.uk

Images and text courtesy of World Fantasy Convention 2025.