1975: The 1st World Fantasy ConventionSM
Site: Holiday Inn, Providence, Rhode Island
Theme: “The Lovecraft Circle”
Guest of Honor: Robert Bloch
Toastmaster: Gahan Wilson
Chair: Kirby McCauley
1976: The 2nd World Fantasy Convention
Site: The Statler Hotel, New York, New York
Theme: Unknown Worlds
Guests of Honor: C. L. Moore, Michael Moorcock
Toastmaster: Gahan Wilson
Magister: Thom Anderson
1977: World Fantasy Convention III
Site: Los Angeles Biltmore, Los Angeles, California
Theme: Clark Ashton Smith
Guest of Honor: Richard Matheson
Toastmaster: Gahan Wilson
Chairman: Dennis Rickard
1978: The 4th World Fantasy Convention
Site: Sheraton Fort Worth Hotel, Fort Worth, Texas
Theme: Robert E. Howard
Guest of Honor: Fritz Leiber
Guest Artist: Alicia Austin
Toastmaster (Scheduled): Gahan Wilson
Toastmaster (Actual): Andy Offutt
Chairman: Michael Templin
1979: The 5th World Fantasy Convention
Site: Biltmore Hotel, Providence, Rhode Island
Theme: Reunion
Guests of Honor: Stephen King, Frank Belknap Long
Guest Artist: Michael Whelan
Toastmaster: Charles L. Grant
Chairman: Bob Booth
1980: The 6th World Fantasy Convention
Site: Marriott Hunt Valley Inn, Baltimore, Maryland
Theme: Edgar Allen Poe
Guest of Honor: Jack Vance
Guest Artist: Boris Vallejo
Toastmaster: Robert Bloch
Chairman: Chuck Miller, Tim Underwood
1981: The 7th World Fantasy Convention
Site: The Claremont Hotel, Berkeley, California
Theme: Mark Twain, Jack London, Ambrose Bierce, Clark Ashton Smith
Guests of Honor: Alan Garner (did not appear for personal reason), Peter S. Beagle
Guest Artist: Brian Froud
Toastmaster: Karl Edward Wagner
Chairmen: Jack Rems, Jeff Frane
1982: World Fantasy Convention ’82
Site: Park Plaza Hotel, New Haven, Connecticut
Theme: Mark Twain
Guests of Honor: Peter Straub, Joseph Payne Brennan
Guest Artist: Don Maitz
Toastmaster: Charles L. Grant
Chairmen: Norman L. Hood, Harold Kinney
1983: World Fantasy Convention 1983
Site: Chicago, Illinois
Theme: Sixty Years of Weird Tales
Guests of Honor: Gene Wolfe, Manly Wade Wellman
Guest Artist: Rowena Morrill
Toastmaster: Robert Bloch
Chairman: Robert Weinberg
1984: World Fantasy Convention 1984
Site: Westin Hotel, Ottawa, Canada
Theme: Fantasy, An International Genre
Guests of Honor: Tanith Lee, Jane Yolen
Guest Artist: Jeffrey Jones
Toastmaster: Spider Robinson
Chairmen: John Bell, Rodger Turner
1985: The 1985 World Fantasy Convention
Site: Doubletree Hotel, Tucson, Arizona
Theme: Fantasy Writers of the Southwest
Guest of Honor: Stephen R. Donaldson
Special Guest: Evangeline Walton
Guest Artist: Victoria Poyser
Toastperson: Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Chairman: Randal Rau
1986: The 12th World Fantasy Convention
Site: Biltmore Hotel, Providence, Rhode Island
Theme: From “New Writers” to “Old Masters”
Guests of Honor: Ramsey Campbell, Charles L. Grant
Guest Artist: J. K. Potter
Toastmaster: Douglas E. Winter
Chairman: Robert Plante
1987: The 13th World Fantasy Convention
Site: Hyatt Regency Nashville, Nashville, Tennessee
Theme: A Southern Fantasy
Guest of Honor: Piers Anthony
Guest Artist: Frank Kelly Freas
Special Guest: Andre Norton, Karl Edward Wagner, Ron & Val Lakey Lindahn
Toastmaster: Charles L. Grant
Chairman: Maurine Dorris
1988: The 14th World Fantasy Convention (incorporating Fantasycon XIII)
Site: Ramada Inn, London, England
Theme: Gaslight & Ghosts
Guest of Honor: James Herbert
Special Guest: Diana Wynne Jones
Artist Guest: Michael Foreman
Master of Ceremonies: Clive Barker
Chairpersons: Stephen Jones & Jo Fletcher
1989: The 15th World Fantasy Convention
Site: Seattle Sheraton, Seattle, Washington
Theme: Roots of Fantasy: Myth, Folklore & Archetype
Honored Guests: Ursula K. LeGuin, Avram Davidson, S. P. Somtow, Robert R. McCammon, Yoshitaka Amano
Toastmaster: Ginjer Buchanan
Chairman: Robert J. Doyle
1990: The 16th World Fantasy Convention
Site: Hyatt Regency Hotel, Schaumburg, Illinois
Theme: An H. P. Lovecraft Centenary Celebration
Guests of Honor: F. Paul Wilson, L. Sprague de Camp, Susan Allison
Guest Artist: David B. Mattingly
Special Guests: Robert Bloch, Julius Schwartz
Toastmaster: Raymond E. Feist
Chairman: Robert Weinberg
1991: The 17th World Fantasy Convention
Site: The Doubletree Hotel, Tucson, Arizona
Theme: The Fantasy Heritage of the Spanish and Indian Cultures
Special Guests: Susan and Harlan Ellison
Artist Guest: Arlin Robins
Toastmaster: Stephen R. Donaldson
Chairman: Bruce Farr and Randal Rau
1992: The 1992 World Fantasy Convention
Site: Callaway Gardens Resort, Pine Mountain, Georgia
Theme: Grails: Quests, Visitations, and Other Occurences
Guests of Honor: Michael Bishop, John Farris, Martin H. Greenberg, Anne McCaffrey, Robert Gould
Chairmen: Richard Gilliam and Edward Kramer
1993: 1993 World Fantasy Convention
Site: Radisson South Hotel, Bloomington, Minnesota
Theme: The Vocabulary of the Fantastic
Guests of Honor: Poul Anderson, John Crowley, Roger Zelazny
Guest Artist: Tom Canty (did not appear)
Special Guest: Basil Copper
Other Guests: Megan Lindholm, Don Maitz, Patricia McKillip, Tim Powers, Terri Windling, Jane Yolen
Toastmaster: Neil Gaiman
Chairman: Greg Ketter
1994: 1994 World Fantasy Convention
Site: Clarion Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana
Theme: Obsessions in Fantasy and Gothic Horror
Honored Guests: Damon Knight, George Alec Effinger, George R. R. Martin, Tim Powers, Kate Wilhelm
Artist Guest of Honor: Jill Bauman
Chairman: Tom Hanlon
1995: 1995 World Fantasy Convention
Site: Inner Harbor Marriott, Baltimore, Maryland
Theme: Celebrating the Craft of Short Fiction in Fantasy and Horror
Writer Guests of Honor: Terry Bisson, Lucius Shepard, Howard Waldrop
Artist Guest of Honor: Rick Berry
Publisher Guest of Honor: Lloyd Arthur Eshbach
Toastmaster: Edward W. Bryant, Jr.
Chairman: Michael J. Walsh
1996: World Fantasy Convention 1996
Dates: October 31-November 3, 1996
Site: Woodfield Hyatt Regency Hotel, Schaumburg, Illinois
Theme: The Many Faces of Fantasy
Guests of Honor: Katherine Kurtz, Joe R. Lansdale, Ellen Asher
Artist Guest of Honor: Ron Walotsky
Toastmaster: Brian Lumley
Chairmen: Nancy Ford, Tina L. Jens, Phyllis Weinberg
1997: The 1997 World Fantasy Convention
Dates: October 30-November 2, 1997
Site: The International Hotel, London, England
Theme: The Centenary of Dracula/The Hidden Realms of London
Guest of Honour: Joan Aiken, Iain Sinclair
Artist Guest of Honour: Bob Eggleton
Special Guests: Hugh B. Cave, R. Chetwynd-Hayes
Special Media Guest: Doug Bradley
Master of Ceremonies: Robert Holdstock
Chairman: Jo Fletcher
1998: World Fantasy Convention 1998
(website)
Dates: October 29-November 1, 1998
Site: Doubletree & Marriott Hotels, Monterey, California
Theme: Golden Ages
Guest of Honor: Gahan Wilson
Special Guests: Cecelia Holland, Richard Laymon, Frank M. Robinson
Toastmaster: Richard A. Lupoff
Chairman: Bryan Barrett, Linda McAllister
1999: The 25th World Fantasy Convention
(website)
Dates: November 4-7, 1999
Site: RICC, Westin and Biltmore Hotels, Providence, Rhode Island
Theme: Voyages
Guests of Honor: Charles de Lint, Patricia A. McKillip, Robert Silverberg
Artist Guests of Honor: Leo & Diane Dillon
Special Guest: Samuel R. Delany
Toastmaster: John M. Ford
Co-Chairs: Chip Hitchcock & Davey Snyder
2000: World Fantasy Convention 2000
(website)
Dates: October 26-29, 2000
Site: Omni Bayfront Hotel, Corpus Christi, Texas
Theme: El Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead)
Guests of Honor: K.W. Jeter, John Crowley
Artist Guest of Honor: Charles Vess
Toastmaster: Joe R. Lansdale
Chairman: Fred Duarte
2001: World Fantasy Convention 2001
(website)
Dates: November 1-4, 2001
Site: Delta Centre-Ville Hotel, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Theme: Je me souviens/I remember
Guests of Honor: Fred Saberhagen, Joel Champetier, Donato Giancola
Toastmaster: Charles de Lint
Chairpersons: Bruce & Lea Farr
2002: 2002 World Fantasy Convention
Dates: October 31-November 3, 2002
Site: Minneapolis Hilton & Towers, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Theme: Of Gods and Monsters
Guests of Honor: Dennis Etchison, Jonathan Carroll, Kathe Koja, Dave McKean, Stephen Jones
Chairman: Greg Ketter
2003: World Fantasy Convention 2003
(website)
Dates: October 30-November 2, 2003
Site: Hyatt Regency Washington, Washington, DC
Theme: Dark Fantasy: Honorable Traditions
Guests of Honor: Brian Lumley, Jack Williamson (appeared via video interview)
Artist Guest of Honor: Allen Koszowski
Publisher Guest of Honor: W. Paul Ganley
Master of Ceremonies: Douglas E. Winter
Chairman: Michael J. Walsh
2004: World Fantasy Convention 2004
(website)
Dates: October 28-31, 2004
Site: Tempe Mission Palms Hotel, Tempe, Arizona
Theme: Women in Fantasy and Horror
Guests of Honor: Gwyneth Jones, Janny Wurts, Ellen Datlow
Publisher Guest of Honor: Betty Ballantine
Toastmistress: Jennifer Roberson
Chairman: Mike Willmoth
2005: World Fantasy Convention 2005
(website)
Dates: November 3-6, 2005
Site: The Madison Concourse Hotel & Governor’s Club, Madison, Wisconsin
Theme: The Architecture of Fantasy & Horror
Guests of Honor: Graham Joyce, Robert Weinberg, Terri Windling
Artist Guest of Honor: Kinuko Y. Craft
Toastmaster: Peter Straub
Special Recognition: Arkham House
Chairman: Meg Turville-Heitz
2006: World Fantasy Convention 2006
(website)
Dates: November 2-5, 2006
Site: Renaissance Hotel, Austin, Texas
Theme: Robert E. Howard Centennial
Guests of Honor: Glen Cook, Dave Duncan and Robin Hobb
Artist Guest of Honor: John Jude Palencar
Editor Guest: Glenn Lord
Robert E. Howard Artist Guest: Gary Gianni
Toastmaster: Bradley Denton
Chairman: Renee Babcock and Fred Duarte
2007: World Fantasy Convention 2007
(website)
Dates: November 1-4, 2007
Site: The Saratoga Hotel and Conference Center, Saratoga Springs, New York
Theme: Ghosts and Revenants: Memory, History and Folklore
Guests of Honor: Carol Emshwiller, Kim Newman, Lisa Tuttle
Artist Guest of Honor: Jean Giraud (Moebius)
Special Guests: Joseph Bruchac, Barbara and Christopher Roden, George Scithers
Master of Ceremonies: Guy Gavriel Kay
Chairman: Joe Berlant
2008: World Fantasy Convention 2008
Dates: October 30-November 2, 2008
Site: Hyatt Regency, Calgary, Alberta
Theme: Mystery in Fantasy & Horror
Guests of Honor: David Morrell, Barbara Hambly, Tom Doherty
Artist Guest of Honor: Todd Lockwood
Toastmaster: Tad Williams
Chairman: Randy McCharles
2009: World Fantasy Convention 2009
(website)
Dates: October 29-November 1, 2009
Site: The Fairmont Hotel, San Jose, California
Theme: Celebrating Edgar Allan Poe’s 200th Birthday
Guests of Honor: Garth Nix, Michael Swanwick, Ann & Jeff VanderMeer
Artist Guest of Honor: Lisa Snellings
Toastmaster: Jay Lake
Special Guests: Zoran Zivkovic, Donald Sidney-Fryer, Richard A. Lupoff
Chairman: David Gallagher
2010: World Fantasy Convention 2010
Dates: October 28-31, 2010
Site: Hyatt Regency Hotel, Columbus, Ohio
Theme: Whimsical Side of Fantasy
Guests of Honor: Dennis McKiernan, Esther Friesner, David Hartwell, Darrell K. Sweet
Chairman: Larry Smith and Sally Kobee
2011: World Fantasy Convention 2011
Dates: October 27-30, 2011
Site: Town & Country Resort and Conference Center, San Diego, CA
Theme: Sailing the Seas of Imagination
Guests of Honor: Jo Fletcher, Neil Gaiman, Parke Godwin, Shawna McCarthy, Ruth Sanderson
Toastmater: Connie Willis
Chair: Val Ontell
2012: World Fantasy Convention 2012
(website)
Dates: November 1-4, 2012
Site: Sheraton Parkway Toronto North Hotel, Suites & Conference Centre
Theme: Northern Gothic and Urban Fantasy
Guests of Honor: Elizabeth Hand, John Clute, Richard A. Kirk, Gary K. Wolfe, Charles De Lint, Tanya Huff, Patricia Briggs, Mercedes lackey, Larry Dixon
Chair: Peter Halasz
2013: World Fantasy Convention 2013
(website)
Dates: October 31-November 3, 2013
Site: Metropole Hotel, Brighton, England
Theme: World Fantasy Convention: The Next Generation, Arthur Machen @ 150
Guests of Honour: Richard Matheson, Richard Christian Matheson, Alan Lee, Brian Aldiss, Tessa Farmer
Toastmaster: China Miéville
Chair: Amanda Foubister, Stephen Jones, Michael Marshall Smith
2014 World Fantasy Convention
(website)
Dates: November 6-9, 2014
Site: Hyatt Regency, Crystal City, VA
Theme: Three Centennials
Guests of Honor: Guy Gavriel Kay, Les Edwards, Stuart David Schiff, Lail Finlay, Mary Robinette Kowal
Chair: Peggy Rae Sapienza, Michael Walsh
2015 World Fantasy Convention
(website)
Dates: November 5-8, 2015
Site: Saratoga City Center and Saratoga Hilton, Saratoga Springs, NY
Guests of Honor: Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Steven Erikson Special Guests: Glen Cook, David Drake, Lloyd Currey, Rick Lieder, Kathe Koja
Toastmaster: Paul DiFillippo
2016 World Fantasy Convention
(website)
Dates: October 27 – 30, 2016
Site: Hyatt Regency, Columbus, OH
Guests of Honor: Mercedes Lackey, Larry Dixon, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., Randal Spangler
2017 World Fantasy Convention
(website)
Dates: November 2 – 5, 2015
Site: Wyndham Riverwalk, San Antonio, TX
Guests of Honor: Karen Joy Fowler, Gregory Manchess, David Mitchell, Gordon Van Gelder
Toastmaster: Martha Wells
2018 World Fantasy Convention
(website)
Dates: November 1 – 4, 2018
Site: Baltimore Renaissance Harborplace Hotel, Baltimore, MD
Theme:
Guests of Honor: Scott Edelman, Kaaron Warren, Tom Kidd, Michael J. Walsh
Special Guest: Aliette de Bodard
Toastmaster: Linda D. Addison
2019 World Fantasy Convention
(website)
Dates: October 31 – November 3, 2019
Site: Marriott Los Angeles Airport, Los Angeles, CA
Theme: Fantasy Noir
Guests of Honor: Margo Lanagan, Beth Meacham, Reiko Murakami, Sheree Renée Thomas, Tad Williams
Toastmaster: Robert Silverberg
2020 World Fantasy Convention
(website)
Dates: October 29 – November 1, 2020
Site: Virtual (due to COVID-19)
Theme: Fairyland was nothing like this
Guests of Honor: David Cherry, Editor: Anne Groell Artist: Stephen Gallagher
Author Special Guests: C.J. Cherryh, Cindy Pon, Brandon Sanderson, Stephen Graham Jones
Toastmasters: Tracy and Laura Hickman
2021 World Fantasy Convention
(website)
Dates: November 4 – 7, 2021
Site: Hotel Bonaventure, Montreal, Québec, Canada
Theme: Fantasy, Imagination, and the Dreams of Youth
Guests of Honor: Author: Nisi Shawl, Artist: John Picacio, Editor: André-François Ruaud
Author Special Guests: Owl Goingback, Yves Meynard
Toastmaster: Christine Taylor-Butler
2022 World Fantasy Convention
(website)
Dates: November 3 – 6, 2022
Site: Hyatt Regency New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, USA
Theme: Old Souls and New Rhythms
Guests of Honor: Author: Victor LaValle, Jo Walton, Artist: Iris Compiet, Editor: Ginjer Buchanan
Author Special Guests: Caitlín R. Kiernan, Andrei Codrescu
Toastmaster: Ursula Vernon
2023 World Fantasy Convention
(website)
Dates: October 26 – 29, 2023
Site: Sheraton Crown Center, Kansas City, MO, USA
Theme:
Guests of Honor: Author: Kij Johnson, Author: Adam-Troy Castro Artist: Elizabeth Leggett, Artist: Vincent Villafranca, Editor: Jonathan Strahan
Special Guest: Pat Cadigan
Toastmaster: Steve Barnes Toastmaster: Tananarive Due