Metro Roundup: 2020 Sci/Fi Fantasy Fest at Hoover library goes virtual

The sixth annual Sci/Fi Fantasy Fest will indeed be held at the Hoover Public Library this summer, but it will be a virtual festival instead of people coming in person.

Organizers decided to press on with the event, which will be held on its original dates of July 24-25, said Krysten Griffin, the chairwoman — or overlord — of the festival.

People will be able to attend a host of panel discussions and talks online through the Google Meet video-communication service, which is free and requires no account, login or username, Griffin said.

“We’ll just post a link, and you can click on it and come hang out,” she said.

The festival is “a celebration of all things science fiction, fantasy and geeky,” Griffin said.

Special guests this year include:

► Horror novelist Grady Hendrix, whose recent New York Times bestseller “The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires" is slated for TV development by Amazon. The book is described by Penguin Random House as “Steel Magnolias meets Dracula” and tells the tale of a women’s true crime book club in Charleston in the 1990s that does battle with a mysterious and handsome newcomer. Griffin said Hendrix’s writing always has a humor element. Hendrix also is supposed to talk about what it was like working in the library for the American Society for Psychical Research.

► The Dungeon cast hosts Will and Brian, who have a Dungeons and Dragons podcast and YouTube vlog. They are scheduled to talk about all things Dungeons and Dragons, including the history of the game, how to run campaigns and running a podcast, Griffin said.

► John Anderson, an actor and comedian from Birmingham who played a ravager in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” and has had appearances in “Black Panther,” “Sleepy Hollow” and “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” Anderson has been at Hoover’s Sci/Fi Fantasy Fest every year but the first year and will lead a talk about Star Trek, Griffin said. “He’s a huge Trekkie, and that’s a topic that is safe for him to discuss,” she said. He is involved in other projects he can’t talk about right now, she said.

► Comic artist Matthew Atchley, whose current claim to fame is that he is the artist for actor Sean Astin’s political cartoon series.

In addition to talks by the special guests, there will be numerous other panel discussions, including talks about Star Trek, Star Wars and how to get science fiction and fantasy books published.

One of the more popular parts of the Sci/Fi Fantasy Fest, the costume contest, will be conducted differently this year as well. People are invited to submit photos of themselves in costumes to festival organizers through July 15. The photos will be shared on the festival website and on social media starting July 19, and the public will be allowed to vote for their favorite costume in the week leading up to the festival. The winner will be announced during the festival.

The event normally includes a gaming room, where people are invited to play board games and role playing games, so this year there will be online games through the Zoom and Board Game Arena platforms.

There will be some type of online activity for kids on Saturday morning, and the festival’s website will include a vendor page where vendors that normally sell goods at the event will have links to their digital shops and websites. Items typically include everything from science fiction and fantasy books to pop culture art, T-shirts, decals and jewelry.

A new feature this year will be a 1950s radio show contest, where people submit scripts for a 15-minute to 20-minute 1950s-style radio show. Festival organizers will choose a winner, and library staff will give an audio performance.

Griffin said they also hope to have an online Netflix viewing party for an anime movie on Friday night.

Leading up to the festival, on July 19, the library will live stream a prop-building contest, where four staff members are given boxes of odds and ends and a few basic supplies to build fantasy and science fiction props. The public will vote to determine the best.

Plans for this year’s festival are still in development, but more details will be released at hplscifi.com.