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Welcome to The Genre Traveler! Please sign up using the form to the right so that you'll get all the latest updates to the site. You also might want to sign up for the RSS feed, which you can do via email or your favorite RSS Reader. Inside the October 2007 issue -- the 2-Year Anniversary issue -- you'll find:

• An interview with the Goth rock band The Last Dance
• The fashions of Kristi Smart
• The comics of Jon Hastings
• A special visit to The Vaults in Scotland
• And so much more

The issue is available in both PDF and HTML formats, but for all the photos you'll need to download the PDF. You can add your comments to the HTML version and share your thoughts with the rest of The Genre Traveler community. Check it out at thegenretraveler.com/tgt-archives/october-2007-vol-iii-no-3

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This issue is sponsored by The Genre Traveler Cafe Press store, where you can find a variety of T-shirts, stationary and more with past covers and The Genre Traveler logo.

I recently learned about this interesting article on MiceAge through ThemeParkInsider. It discusses how Walt Disney World could loose business as the price of oil rises, because there will be less long-distance travel. However, Robert Niles from ThemeParkInsider.com, pointed out that some theme-parks could actually get improved business as locals stay closer to home when on holiday. Although these stories talk mainly about Disney theme parks, I think this could be true of all theme parks and attractions. As travel becomes more and more expensive, people will probably just go to local attractions to relax. What I would like to know is, have the rising travel costs affected your travel plans? Do you think this could effect convention attendance? I mean, many people travel long distances to go to the bigger SF/F/H conventions. Will this trend start to fade?

Fantastic Fest 3 is playing now through Sept. 27 at the Alamo South in Austin, Texas. This film festival features about 60 science fiction, fantasy and horror movies, along with 50 filmmaker guests. "If you talk to most filmmakers and hardcore film geeks, the movies that made them love movies were the genre films they saw as a kid," Fantastic Fest co-founder Harry Knowles told The Austin American-Statesman. "So this is an opportunity to see what a freaky, weird ghost story from Thailand looks like. We have a Pakistani horror film this year. Like, what the hell's that going to be? That's the excitement of it." Guests at this year's festival include:

• George Romero presenting Diary of the Dead

• Adam Green presenting Spiral with star Joel David Moore

• Joe Lynch presenting Wrong Turn 2

• Uwe Boll and star Zack Ward presenting Postal

• Maurice Devereaux presenting End of the Line

And more. For more information, visit www.fantasticfest.com.

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. So in honor of that occasion I made a special recording for you:

For more information about International Talk Like a Pirate Day, visit the official website at www.talklikeapirate.com.

Disneyworld's Epcot Center celebrates its 25th Anniversary Oct. 1. Although Disney itself won't be promoting this special occasion, The Intrepid Traveler will. They've sent out media advisory to travel writers, encouraging them to turn to some of the Disney World experts they have in their roster of authors, including. Charles Ridgway Ridgway, who was a Disney publicist and press agent for more than forty years, has his own window on Main Street U.S.A. and even worked with Walt Disney himself. In his memoir, Spinning Disney's World: Memories of a Magic Kingdom Press Agent, Ridgway describes how the opening ceremonies for Epcot were touch and go until the very last minute. He also tells the fascinating story of how that event ushered in the brave new world of electronic news gathering and satellite transmission that we take for granted today. Steven M. Barrett Did you know that the whole phenomenon of "hidden Mickeys" started at Epcot? To distinguish his new park from the Magic Kingdom, Walt himself decreed that cartoon characters would have no place at the futuristic Epcot. But the "Imagineers" who built and designed the place were not willing to abandon their beloved Mickey Mouse. And so they tucked cleverly camouflaged images of the "main mouse" into the pavilions and public places of the new park. They went unnoticed and unheralded for years by all but a handful of insiders. Eventually, however, word leaked out and today "hidden Mickey mania" is in full flower at Disney parks around the globe. Dr. Steven M. Barrett's book, Hidden Mickeys: A Field Guide To Walt Disney World's Best Kept Secrets helps visitors to Disneyworld have hours of fun tracking down these elusive images. Louis A. Mongello Mongello has been visiting Walt Disney World since he was three. In the process, he transformed himself into one of the world's leading experts on WDW history and lore. His books, The Walt Disney World Trivia Book volumes 1 and 2, have made him a celebrity with Disney fans who flock to his public appearances and who have made his award-winning "The WDW Radio Show" a roaring success. The show was named the "Best Travel Podcast of 2007," marking the second year that Mongello has won the award.