PAWS!

My favorite healing moment: Moon Rise

No Fooling: Dark Force Fest Saturday, April 1st, 2023 Review

(Hi, few days later Morticia here! I'm transferring the original Blogger post to Tumblr, and am fleshing out more of the content with links and anything new I've learned in the days following the event.)

I know I have other posts I really should have written and posted long before this one, but it is what it is. I'm just a girl with a cellphone and a passion to talk about this festival Right NOW.

Why am I only writing about Saturday? Because it was the only day I could go.  I had an Amazing time and wouldn't trade a single second of it for anything.  

Dark Force Fest is a 3-Day Alternative Music and Lifestyle Festival in New Jersey. Formerly a convention known as "Dark Side of the Con", Dark Force Fest has an amazingly Passionate and Prolific Organizer, Jet, and is presented through his company, former Social Media site now Gothic Retail store, VampireFreaks. VampireFreaks is a topic for another post and maybe a full video deep dive.  There's so much to cover, there was so much to do! I chose to check out the Swap Meet, the Live Bat Exhibit, The Super Smash Bros Tournament (I lost), and the Goth Dad Q&A. While  I could have walked into any number of bands, I specifically saw Carnivore A.D.'s Tribute to Type O Negative. For all my fan-girling about Vision Video with my friends, I couldn't stay for their show.  A quick note: While there was the banner on the outside of the Sheraton, there wasn't anything telling you where registration was. The few people milling around outside were talking in groups that seemed to be attendees. There was one Security guard inside of the Main hotel entrance to tell us to "go out and around". Signs, Please! Let's start this wordy tour of DFF2023 with the first thing we encounter after registration: the Vendors. Gathering the creative, dark minded Artisans that build our community via Clothes, Jewelry, Housewares, Cosmetics, and Consumables, Dark Force Fest gives a physical location to many vendors that would otherwise not have as targeted an audience at their local Farmer's Markets on Sunday mornings. It also gives prospective buyers, and online followers, the opportunity to meet the artists, and make the decisions they need in order to ensure they make a great purchase they'll brag about for years to come. There is nothing more satisfying than saying "This was handmade by_____ !" and knowing you're helping directly keep our community thriving. In some cases, you're literally saving lives.  A few of the Artists that I interacted with mentioned how they traveled a few Hours to vend at the festival, but felt it was worth it to be more immersed in their culture. A few lucky vendors would share the concert rooms with the shows, getting themselves some pretty comfortable seats to a plethora of bands. One such vendor was the effervescent Shirley, The Tragic Doll. She creates deeply personal works of art about living with Scleroderma, an autoimmune disease that she describes as feeling trapped in her own skin. Incorporating Skeletal imagery and the color Red, representing Blood, to symbolize the effects of her condition, Shirley hand makes every piece of her Horror Art with passion, and anatomically correct hearts, because her motto is "Live My Heart Out".  Thanks to the map and a few kind Vendors, I was able to find the Swap Meet in the Skyland room. This was my first Swap Meet and I was surprised to find a few items in my size, or near enough I can modify them in future content. Everyone there was so helpful and wonderful, suggesting items they think would fit me or suit my style, and I'm so thrilled to say they were absolutely correct! (Thank you Rainbow Fairy; you took my hat in return for your snake skull dress.) The kindness and sense of community in that one room was so awesome, it really made me love being a part of this culture. Swap Meets are a great way to clear some unused clothes/boots/accessories from your closet and pick up something you might love forever. The Swap Meet at Dark Force Fest was Free with registration. While looking for the Batcave and taking some photos of the overall hallways, I passed Dusty Gannon of Vision Video without noticing. So, behold this glorious shot of Goth Dad being a Goth Rock Daddy.

The Star Wars cosplay group, the 501st stormtroopers, were raising money for charity.  There was an interesting skeletal capital(ism) M mouse sculpture by Jasin Cadic in the main lobby of the hotel. "The Batcave" was an ongoing  Live Bats Exhibit w/ Joseph D’Angeli (NJ Batman). Joseph D’Angeli’s “Bat-Cave” is the only facility specializing in bat conservation in the NY/NJ area. These cuties were pretty shy, but so was I.

 Feeling a little worn out, we wandered out to the food trucks and picked up poutine to snack on while determining if we had the energy for a band. I believe it was the hotel that provided extensive options for more food inside of the event, in front of the Main Ballroom. I'm really glad there was free Water stations and clean Restrooms tucked around the venue. There was a water station in the Batcave, and a private bathroom in the Gaming rooms that I knowingly used, there was most likely more. 

Deciding we needed to rest from the sensory overload, we found the Super Smash Bros Tournament, and we're incredibly thankful for this respite. There were a handful of other people so we all took turns warming up. As I had planned around seeing Carnivore A.D. and Goth Dad, I did leave immediately after I lost my bracket.

Carnivore A.D. is the closest to Type O Negative live as you can possibly get in 2023. No joke, they're Peter Steele's former Carnivore bandmates! I wanted to see this show because 1. I like TON. 2. My bestie loves TON and I miss her a lot. 3. They pair well with The 69 Eyes. I definitely fucked up by headbanging,  but it's irresistible! 

We had a little time left and found Goth Dad's Q&A still going back in the Skyland room. People had some great questions, and it was powerful to hear him speak on the horrors of active combat. Dusty Gannon, the internet's "Goth Dad", has made a huge impact on how Goths and Goth Culture is seen and accepted online through Tiktok and Instagram. The Goth Dad persona is a Gentle, Kind, and Accepting person that you want to have call you sport and pat you on the head. Embracing the gender breaking styles of Post Punk influences, Dusty creates intense and stunning eye makeup looks and can be caught performing in torn tights, skirts, Fishnets and Lace tops, alongside his bandmate, Emily, as Vision Video.

We had to leave to make a dinner reservation with some friends from the area. My paper wristband didn't hold up, it frayed from being too tight and handwashing, and popped right off in the car while on our way to dinner. I didn't want to push my luck trying to get in later with a broken band.

Needless to say, I'm super excited for the next Dark Force Fest, and will be doing a whole lot more planning and managing to get to enjoy even more of it to share with you all. 

Somethings I wish I had checked out (limiting to Saturday Only events: this list would get too long for the whole weekend):

-Custom fit Fangs -The Costume Contest hosted by Electronic Saviors: Industrial Music to Cure Cancer -Write a Song with Bella Morte -Nightmare Before Christmas Shadowcast -V is for Villains -Leathers - Vision Video  -Actors

Thanks for Reading all this!  Reach out to me on my socials: Linktree

Jet, if you read this, DM me on Instagram, please. I'd love to talk. 

We held on til May. Now what

Totally obsessed with these 1920's Austrian Neo-Gothic/Art Nouveau Bronze Bat Lamps.

Sus-fucking-spicious that my Facebook gets buggy and keeps loging me out immediately after I posted about poisoning AI generators.

Sus-fucking-spicious, bitches.

Nosferatu by Joseph Vargo

I would really like to create the way Lauren Montgomery creates Nadja's dresses.

Arches National Park, Utah photo: Elliot McGucken

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