<a href="http://www.lifesciencecentre.org.uk/monsters/" target="_blank" title="13_monsterbanner.jpg"><img src="http://strangeattractor.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/13_monsterbanner.jpg" title="13_monsterbanner.jpg" alt="13_monsterbanner.jpg" align="top" border="0" /></a>

The first <a href="http://www.lifesciencecentre.org.uk/monsters/" target="_blank">Monster Weekend</a> is to be held on 1-2 September at the Life Science Centre in Newcastle.

Mark Pilkington &amp; John Lundberg will be talking about <em>Mirage Men</em>, the film and book documenting their experiences with UFOs and disinformation in the American intelligence underworld.

Also on the bill are cryptozoologists Loren Coleman and Richard Freeman, historians Jan Bondeson and Gail-Nina Anderson and fortean Gordon Rutter.

The convention is free to attend and runs from 10am Saturday to 5pm on Sunday. There's a host of monstrous activities planned throughout the weekend and it promises to be a fine alternative to <em>Fortean Times</em>' Unconventions, which are on hold for the time being.