A group of science fiction and history enthusiasts hope to turn a Bremerton parking lot into a world reminiscent of a Jules Verne novel Saturday, with Victorian-era costumes, steam-powered weapons and hand-made futuristic gadgets in tow.

“We’re looking for something that doesn’t exist in our world right now,” said Doug Odell, proprietor at Ye Olde Dragon’s Horde Games and Collectables in Silverdale.

Odell is one of a growing group of fans of steampunk, a fantasy genre that, much like medieval or Dungeons and Dragons role playing, involves elaborate costumes and storylines, but features futuristic steam-powered props in an Old West era.

Kitsap County’s first steampunk event, the SteamWrights Convention, will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Pacific Northwest Costume on Riddell Road. Tracyton web designer Scott Gregson wanted to host such an event to bring attention to the steampunk costumes that Pacific Northwest Costume stocks.

But for people like Odell, it’s a place for self-described history buffs to travel back to a “more civilized age” and imagine what life might be like in a more technologically-advanced Victorian era.

“It’s a giant game of ‘what if,’” Odell said, describing the repurposed wood-and-brass-finished weapons, cell phones and computers people design in steampunk fashion. “It’s the fantastical in the ordinary.”

Odell’s friend Stephani Miller of Bremerton, who has been interested in steampunk for two or three years, found out about the genre through her involvement with medieval role playing.

“I’ve always loved Jules Verne, I’ve always loved that genre of stories,” said Miller, a 57-year-old grandmother of four. “It was just a natural thing for me to just jump in.”

She said there is a void of events in Kitsap where she and her sister Joanne Engman, a fellow gamer, can go to meet with like-minded people and explore their interests in steampunk.

“For gamers and costumers, there’s nothing really in Kitsap over here on the peninsula that will help us,” Miller said. “We just never had a place to go over here, or there was nobody who was willing to start something up.”

That’s partly why Annetta Knight, manager of Pacific Northwest Costume, wanted to ensure steampunkers had a place to fit in. She said one customer drove up to Bremerton from Portland because she was the only costume shop owner who knew what steampunk was.

As someone who helps dress people for Seattle-area steampunk conventions, she hopes the Bremerton event will grow in future years.

“I think it was time we had some fun here, too,” she said.

For those who attend regional steampunk gatherings, it’s an escape from reality, where people can share their interest in exploring an alternate history.

“It’s a way to get outside of yourself for a while and put the real world behind you,” Miller said. “For those few hours, you’re not yourself, you’re somebody else. It’s a thing that needs to happen every once in a while.”

Role playing genres such as steampunk also provide a sense of community among participants. Before they were involved in steampunk, a mutual interest in vampire role playing brought them together.

Now, they meet with fellow steampunkers and exchange ideas about handmade gadgets and costumes.

“The exchange of information is fantastic,” Miller said. “We’re all willing to help each other.”

It’s also the costumes and gadgets – such as gas masks, goggles, steam-powered machines and weapons – that give steampunk its flair.

“Style is everything,” said Odell, showing a picture of a diving suit with extra head room for a top hat. “You have to look good doing it.”

Miller and Engman are repurposing water guns into futuristic firearms and Engman is doing the costuming for her and her sister, with hats, veils and lace-up boots.

Odell, 41, said the beauty of genres such as steampunk is that imaginative stories and costumes are not limited to 5-year-olds.

“A lot of us are kids at heart,” Odell said.

Actually, Miller said, maybe the grown-ups are better.

“It’s not just for the young girls,” she said. “They look really great, but so can we.”