Thursday, May 9, 2013

My Experience at TEXAS FRIGHTMARE WEEKEND 2013: Day Three


Boo, last day! I don't want it to end! 

First on the agenda was the Dee Wallace panel. I have so much more love for this woman now! Even before the panel, she was cool. The guy gets on stage to introduce her and first says, "As you can probably tell, I am not Dee Wallace...", and Dee comes out from behind the curtain and yells at him, "Then get the fuck off the stage!" Dee was a good talker, hilarious, and seemed to be having a fantastic time. Love, love, love her. I really need to see Lords of Salem now!










I was terrified that I might have missed my opportunity with Mary Lambert, but thank goodness she was still there on Sunday! I waited until it seemed like I could have some time with her and we ended up chatting for a good five minutes or so, while I geekily complimented her on the awesomeness that is Pet Sematary and asked questions. I believe this was Mary's first convention appearance ever, and she made the comment to me that she was enjoying hearing all the fan's insights (like mine!) to the movie. No doubt this was probably the best encounter I had all weekend, as I have always admired this woman and what she did with Pet Sematary. So happy she took the time to talk with me and gave me a wonderful memory!



More random pictures of the goings on...



Marilyn Burns!


Though extremely cool, these Lament Configuration puzzle boxes,
with glass dome and turntable, were just too rich for my blood!
Still freaking awesome.

My last big event of the weekend was a panel with a true legend - Tom Savini. I got there early to guarantee an awesome seat (second row aisle!) and couldn't wait to hear this man speak. When he was introduced, he just strolled up to the table and said, "What do you wanna know?" People asked great questions that got Savini talking about his influences and inspirations, his experiences on different movies, and just his overall work as a teacher, director, effects master, and actor (Hey, Sex Machine!). One thing that I thought was funny, considering my slightly uncomfortable meeting with him on Friday night, was a story he told he told about another encounter with a fan. He said if you Google his name that one of the first things to pop up is "Tom Savini is a dick" and that that came from a misunderstanding during a fan meeting. He also talked about Lost Boys: The Tribe a little bit, and when he asked the audience if any of us had seen it and several of us said yes (including me), he got this surprised look on his face and said "You have?!" Haha, too funny. This whole panel was just another great memory from the weekend! So glad I was there!






His daughter called him during the panel and we all yelled "Hi" at her.



I had been wandering around these rooms for two days and it wasn't until Sunday that I noticed the Cryptkeeper at the FearNet table. I saw him and said something dorky like, "Oh my god, the Cryptkeeper!" A lady there asked me if I wanted a picture with him. "Hell yes, I do!"


Okay, so one of the coolest things to happen this weekend was these two awesome chicks that I met. A few weeks before the convention, I was looking online for tips and stuff from people who have been to conventions before and I found a video on YouTube from two girls who had just been to 2012's Texas Frightmare Weekend. Say hello to my new friends, Heather and Acacia!


I ran into them a few times throughout the weekend, probably freaking them out at first when I was all "I watched your YouTube video!" Nah, they thought it was cool. Their video gave me some great little tips that I used when I went to TFW and it was awesome that I actually saw them there! Things were winding down kinda early on Sunday, which is when I ran into them again and we hung out for a while, and I went with them while they visited Sean Patrick Flanery's and Jon Bernthal's tables again. 



This was also when I scored a great gift for my friend back home who is also a Walking Dead and Shane fan. I gave Jon my little notebook (that I was using to take notes of every cool thing that happened this weekend) and asked him if he would write "Hi Ashley" for her, which he did and also signed! My friend was beyond happy with her gift and I was happy to do it for her! 



And that's pretty much it! Needless to say, this was THE BEST weekend of my entire life. I have to give a shout out to Loyd Cryer, the creator of Texas Frightmare Weekend, for giving me an absolutely amazing first horror convention experience! Big thanks also go to all the TFW staff, the guests, the vendors, and the attendees! Everybody was nice, courteous, helpful, and fun, and gave me so many great memories. I've already told my bosses at work that I'm taking off the same weekend next year for 2014's Frightmare! Again... BEST. WEEKEND. EVER!!!


Read my DAY ONE experience here!
And here's DAY TWO!

Will I see YOU at Frightmare next year??

7 comments:

  1. The longest 51 weeks of your life! I'm counting down to my 2014 con too! You know they have some good ones in Indianapolis and Chicago too - if you want to try a second in the year, or drive to one. Great series on your weekend! Cheers!

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    1. Thank you, Craig! This will surely be the longest year ever... I might consider going to a different one this year, but most likely I'll hold out for next years's TFW.

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  2. That's so fun! I've always wanted to go to a horror convention but never had the chance to. It was so exciting seeing all your pictures at the convention.

    It's obvious you had a great time. :) It's on my bucket list of things to do before I die so I WILL go to a convention. Sooner or later. ;)

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    1. Just do it, Jenny! I don't know why it took me so long to go to a con, and now that I have, I think I'm addicted. I know Frightmare is the only one I've been to, but I would definitely recommend it for your first. It's big enough to have some amazing guests and small enough so that you can experience almost everything that they have to offer there.

      Start saving up now and meet me at Texas Frightmare Weekend in 2014! (I only spent about $1,000 overall, for tickets, airplane, hotel, and everything I bought at the con. If you only do it once a year, that's really not bad at all!)

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  3. aaah, so jealous!! Looks like you had a real blast - and holy hell, you look gorgeous and I love your boondock shirt :-)

    Hihi, Savini looks a bit like Tom Jones on the pics and Bernthal somehow reminds me of Jason Statham :)
    Mary Lambert is an interesting choice for a convention. I have many questions for her, especially in hindsight of her career that went completely downhill since PS.

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    1. Hehe, thank you, buddy! The Boondock shirt is a new favorite - picked it up just for the con and Flanery! Also glad about the 50 pounds I dropped last year so I could look good in these pictures. :)

      Mary Lambert was an AWESOME choice for a con, at least for me. I couldn't believe more people weren't clamoring to meet her when I was all "It's freaking Mary Lambert... She is my hero!!" Maybe Pet Sematary is her only real claim to fame but to me it's a pretty big claim - one of my absolute favorites.

      And Jon Bernthal looks about 100 times better than Jason Statham. And he's probably a better hugger.

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    2. 50 pounds? Wow, that's a lot. Well, it was worth it - you look just great :)

      Pet Sematary was really, really awesome, but after that she never managed to get back to a decent quality level - which is sad. Pet Sematary is one of the best Stephen King adaptations ever.

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