Fans of wolves, werewolves have own event to bite into

o What: Howl Con, horror fantasy convention for werewolf lovers, with pre-party tonight at Kiggins Theatre.

o Where: Red Lion at the Quay, 100 Columbia St., Vancouver.

o When: Feb. 6, werewolf creature feature of “Teen Wolf” and “WolfCop,” plus an assortment of werewolf-related short films at Kiggins; Feb. 7-8 Howl Con at the Red Lion Hotel Vancouver at the Quay.

o Cost: Howl Con: $45 for the weekend, $28 Saturday only, $22 Sunday only. Films: $6 for “Teen Wolf” matinee, $7 for evening screenings for “Teen Wolf” and “WolfCop.” Short films at 8:30 p.m. are free. $1 discount for Howl Con ticket holders.

o Information: www.howlcon.com/ and http://kigginstheatre.net

The full moon may have passed on Tuesday night, but don’t be surprised if you still hear a bit of werewolf howling in Vancouver this weekend.

Howl Con, a fantasy/horror fan convention dedicated to those with a passion for wolves and werewolves, will hold its first Vancouver event Saturday and Sunday — with a special launch party beginning tonight at Kiggins Theatre.

“Werewolves are awesome — they’re the best monster,” said Stephen Couchman, organizer of the convention. “There’s a lot to explore, a lot of history. Even before Lon Chaney, there were werewolf stories, including medieval hero werewolf tales in ninth century Ireland.”

Howl Con is mostly a new convention. Couchman held a similar event in Oregon in 2012, but this is the first reboot since then.

“It’s fun,” Couchman said. “We want to keep doing it annually after this.”

Howl Con will include special guests, a collectors market, cosplay, gaming opportunities and a variety of speakers.

Part of the proceeds will go to Wolf Haven International, a Washington-based wolf sanctuary, which will give presentations throughout the convention.

Other guests include horror and science fiction author Carrie Vaughn, who writes the urban fantasy Kitty Norville werewolf series; George Willis, a props maker and special effects expert who’s worked on several films, including “Iron Man 2,” “Resident Evil,” “Starship Troopers” and “Titanic”; and the “Pure American werewolf metal” band Grim Wolf will perform.

“They’re 1990s-style power metal with all werewolf lyrics,” Couchman said of the band.

Two authors associated with the 1990s role-playing game “Werewolf: The Apocalypse” will also give presentations, and there will be a Sunday tournament of the spin-off card game “Rage,” Couchman said.

“That game was very influential in the way people explore the werewolf as an antihero,” Couchman said. “And there’s a lot of excitement with the 20th anniversary of that game and ‘Rage,’ which we’ll explore.”

Dan Wyatt, owner of Kiggins, was asked by Couchman to kick off the event with a launch party tonight, which, like the convention, is open to the public. The theater will show the 2014 film “WolfCop,” which comes out on DVD this March. The low-budget Canadian film is about an alcoholic cop who blacks out and wakes up in strange surroundings, amidst crime scenes that seem oddly familiar.

” ‘WolfCop,’ it’s for mature audiences,” Wyatt said. “That’s our night showing. It’s graphic, but there’s an element of humor with it.”

The film has a few references to “Teen Wolf,” the ’80s film starring Michael J. Fox about a teenager who turns into a werewolf — and with the growing popularity of ’80s film nights, Wyatt decided to make “Teen Wolf” the earlier half of the double feature.

He will also show four film shorts for werewolf fans between the evening screenings, he said.

“We’re going to see how this works out,” Wyatt said. “We’ll have Mighty Bowl out there with some beer and bowl specials, and we’re going to roll a basketball hoop into the theater for some ‘Teen Wolf’ rebounds.”

Back in 2012, the first Howl Con had about 200 attendees. This year, Couchman is hoping to get close to 400.

“Come on down,” Couchman said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun. I think people will be surprised at how much there is to learn about werewolves.”