For the second year in a row I took the trip to Indianapolis to join my fellow horror fans at another great horror convention. Days of the Dead held its final show in the Wyndham Indianapolis West this year and they went out in style.
We arrived on Saturday to a over packed parking lot with a swarm of horror fans hanging outside the venue. Immediately I was full of excitement, especially after my memories of last year’s Days of the Dead convention. I had no doubt this one would be just as good and just as busy. Then we got in to the convention hall, and the nightmare of making our way to check in was the same as the year before. There was a damn Freak Show doing their performance in the hallway, which lead to a cluster fuck traffic jam, exactly the same way it did in 2017. That is the worst part of the convention, worst place to put those people. I just wanted to check in, not get stuck in a cluster fuck for 15 minutes. That is one of the things I hope the new venue will produce, a better place for the Freak Show, sorry that isn’t my thing.
We only had one day to do everything we wanted and for me it meant autographs and posters. Posters, I am in to buying the 11 x 17 poster prints and I have a long list. If any of you have seen my horror room, you’d know I have been looking to finish buying the Friday the 13th posters and the Elm Street posters. Mission accomplished, along with many other missing from my collection, now the task is to find a place for these prints and buy frames. Shortly after that, we looked around the con, found the Palbearer Press booth and grabbed three T-shirts, Halloween III Season of the Witch T-shirt and Zombi 3, which I could not leave without.
When we finally made our way to Heather Langenkamp, she was off to lunch then a Dream Warriors panel. That actually worked, as we got to go see the Indie film maker panel, with our friend P.J. Starks, producer of the Volumes of Blood films. I also ran in to Troy Escamilla from Party Night and Stirring. The panels was great, hard to hear, but very cool. Afterwords, I got the chance to talk to Troy, P.J. and Eric Huckisson. We had a blast, P.J. and Eric are awesome guys, they signed copies of VOB and posters for me and posed for pictures. P.J. and I discussed the possibility of nabbing Nicholas Cage for VOB 3 and we had a good laugh. I am so glad to finally get the chance to talk to PJ in person, the same goes for Troy Escamilla, who kept popping up.
As far as meeting celebs…Well, Days of the Dead never disappoints with their list of celebs. I was able to meet a bunch I wanted too and if money wasn’t an issue, I would have gotten to meet all of the Dream Warriors, with the exception of Patricia Arquette. I finally got the chance to meet Heather Langenkamp and damn near shed a tear at the moment. Something I have wanted to do since i was 5 or 6 years old. I gave her a giant hug and told her I loved her and how much she meant to me as Nancy. My 10 year old niece Emma also met Heather and Jennifer Rubin, who played Tarin from Dream Warriors. It is so great to see these younger kids, my son who is 9, has met 4 different actors to play Jason and so many others and now my niece is meeting some of her favorites. That really makes me a proud father and uncle to see these kids getting in to horror and meeting some of their heroes.
P.J. Soles was an amazing person to meet, what a sweetheart, she was so nice and damn it if she doesn’t still look amazing. I may be one of the few who actually enjoy the Paranormal activity movies, so I jumped at the chance to meet Katie Featherstone and I shared a story about my dearly departed wife with Katie. At the end of the first movie, Katie stomps towards the camera really fast. A couple of times, my wife did that as I was on the verge of sleep, scaring the shit out of me. She called it the “Katie”. Katie really loved hearing the story.
Ken Sagoes was wonderful, Kincaid is my favorite of all the Dream Warriors. He signed the autograph with “Krueger! Pussy!” I loved it, I express my disappointment in Dream Master that he was killed off so easily, he said the same. I didn’t tell him I prefer Dream Master to Dream Warriors. Later, Bill Moseley was finally at his booth, I missed him the year before. The guy in line before me was trying to get 5 items signed by Bill. Bill Moseley was concenred at the price, it would have run the man $200. He didn’t want the fan to leave the convention regretting spending so much money on autographs. Bill was worried they guy needed to eat, so he cut him a deal and charged $150 for the 5 autographs. That is an awesome guy to do that for a fan. He was wonderful to me also and wrote down my favorite line from Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, “Lick my plate you dog dick” He even did the Choptop voice, it was awesome. Sid Haig made me sad, he looks rough and had trouble signing his own name. But he had no issue writing “Fuck yo momma!” I was glad to meet him.
Last, but not least, Warrington Gillette. He played Jason in Friday the 13th part II, well he at least plays Jason when he pops through the window at the end of the film…spoiler. I don’t know who played Jason when, between Warrington and Steve Dash. Last year, in nearly the same location Steve Dash signed my book, “the Real Jason part 2”. Warrington signed below Steven Dash and very large. So, I would say there is a little beef there between the two.
Overall, Days of the Dead was wonderful! Great vendors, great guests and it was the perfect way to end its run at the Wyndham. The next venue has big shoes to fill. If you have not been to a Days of the Dead, I would suggest going. Wrestlers aside, it has a little of everything from the world of horror. So many great vendor tables and all the great horror fans. I cannot wait for the next show which is in Chicago!
For me, HorrorHound Weekend Indy is next and I am stoked! Robert Englund, Lisa Wilcox, Bruce Campbell and more coming to Indy, it is gonna get wild!
Check out the live feed I did on the Horror Syndicate Facebook page right after I arrived home from Days of the Dead. Don’t forget to check out Pallbearer Press and buy some shirts, our friend Corey and Vile Consumption as well!
