Sci-fi, fantasy, comics, games and all that stuff

OH!CON 2024

OH!CON 2024 was held in An Lanntair and Stornoway Town Hall on Saturday 12 October 2024.

What went on

OH!CON 2024 kicked off with some events on Friday.

During the day, An Lanntair ran creative workshops for children and young people. In the evening, The Big OH!CON Quiz was full to capacity as teams pitted their nerdy knowledge aginst each other. An Lanntair screened Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

On Saturday, doors opened at 10am.

As well as drop-in activities including fantasy mapmaking, building a starship, archery, light sabre duels and face-painting, there was also a full day of gaming sessions – everything from boardgames to the latest virtual reality games – masterminded by local gaming group, Gateway Nerds.

And, as if that wasn’t enough, there were talks and workshops too.

Artist, Eira Richards, on her second visit as an OH!CON guest, ran a manga workshop and promoted her new graphic novel, Between Storms, a sweeping adventure telling the story of Iola, a young girl in 8th century Hebrides.

Tanya Roberts, also on her second visit to OH!CON, ran an illustration workshop for adults, and award-winning author, Alistair Chisholm, ran a writing workshop for children. Sci-fi authors, Grace Curtis and Tereza 'Tess' Kovanicová, provided writing workshops for adults.

Games designer and publisher, Bryan Tyrell, gave a fascinating and insightful talk about the opportunities and challenges of using historical settings in games. His talk will be available to watch online soon.

Edinburgh artist, Stref, talked about his long career working for titles such as The Beano, Oor Wullie and Viz, and about his latest graphic novel, The Silence of Unicorns, a Hergé inspired adventure featuring plucky Scottish heroine Tara Togs.

The children and families cosplay masquerade saw a record number of entries, with several participants overcoming last-minute nerves and signing up during the event itself.

Nearly 80 pieces of artwork were submitted for the art competition. As in previous years, the standard was very high and after much deliberation, the judges announced the winners: Seonaidh Mackay (winner, junior category), Cadhla Halbert and Shianne Robertson (joint winners, 12-17 category), Ray (winner, adult category).

Comedian, Des O’Gorman, hosted the day, compered the cosplay masquerades, and closed the day with his critically acclaimed one-man Ghostbusters tribute show, ‘Still Ready to Believe You”.

Publications

Guests

Alistair Chisholm

Alastair is an Edinburgh-based author who writes picture books, chapter books about dragons, and science fiction for older kids.

Alistair's website

Bryan Tyrell

Brian is a neuroqueer games writer, graphic designer and illustrator. He runs Stout Stoat, a multi-award winning games publishing imprint. He is also the co-organiser of TAGS Fest and ECAF.

Des O'Gorman

Des is a nerdy comedian, stage host and cosplayer. He has performed his one man Ghostbusters tribute show, Still Ready to Believe You, all over the UK.

Des's website

Eira Richards

Eira is a comics and manga artist and illustrator. Eira’s most recent manga, Between Storms, is set in the 8th century Hebrides, and draws inspiration from Scottish mythology and history.

Eira's website

Grace Curtis

Grace is a writer from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, and works for Future Friends, an indie game publisher. She is the author of two sci-fi novels and her video game writing has appeared in Eurogamer and Edge Magazine.

Stref

Stevie is an Edinburgh-based comic book artist and writer, who works under the penname Stref. His past credits include the Dandy, the Beano, Oor Wullie, the Broons, Commando and Viz. as well as five independent graphic novels.

Tanya Roberts

Tanya Roberts is a comic artist who has worked with Disney, Dreamworks, Netflix and others.

Tereza 'Tess' Kovanicová

Tess is an architect, a tour guide and an amateur author from the Czech Republic who has worked with young and aspiring writers for more than 20 years.

Wren James

Wren James is the Carnegie-longlisted British author of many young adult novels as ‘Lauren James’, including Last Seen Online, Green Rising, The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker and The Quiet at the End of the World and is also the story consultant on Netflix’s Heartstopper series.

Charities

OH!CON 2024 raised money for:

Supported by

OH!CON 2024 was made possible with funding and support from:

and with donations and support from: