Texas Frightmare Weekend 2015: Day Two

 

This is the big day, guys, let's get into it. On the Thursday night before the con, the Alamo Drafthouse hosted a special 35mm screening of Scream, with a Q&A afterward with Neve Campbell. But of course I didn't plan ahead well enough and didn't make it to that event. While I was groggy and trying to get ready for the day on Saturday morning, I'm flipping through the channels on TV and they were actually showing footage from the Q&A on the hotel's channel. This just gets me so pumped up for the day and I'm ready to get back at it!

 

The first thing I did really quick was check out the Dark Arts Show, which was a horror art gallery. Some pretty cool stuff here, but the main attraction was the original "Grandma" prop from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Very, very cool.



 

My first celebrity meeting of the day was with someone I was incredibly stoked about - Kim Coates from Sons of Anarchy! I could just tell that he was going to be an awesome guy to meet, and I was not disappointed. We posed for our picture first and I had no problem asking him for a hug right away. Then the guy taking our picture didn't do it right, so we had to get all close and snuggly again, which I of course didn't mind one bit. I was SHAMELESS this weekend, guys. Absolutely shameless. I told Kim that my dad and I sort of bonded over watching Sons of Anarchy together, and he thought that was great and talked about how so many different kinds of people love the show. I mentioned that I was the one who got my dad into watching it, and that got me a high-five. Love this guy!

 

 

 

As most of you may have figured out, I am just a little bit obsessed with Child's Play. So you can imagine how much I freaked the fuck out when they announced Alex Vincent and Brad Dourif as guests this year. I still wasn't quite ready to meet Dourif, so I went to Alex first. Again, great guy. Great at keeping up a conversation with me and answering my dorky questions. He said I was very sweet, so go me. Ah, you have no idea how big of a deal this was for me. Andy Barclay, people! Amazing!

 

 

 

By the way, I carried my Chucky doll around with me all weekend. People really liked him and kept asking me where I got him, even though there were obviously a lot of Chucky dolls there, some way bigger and better than mine. I still love my little guy, though, and I'm not sorry at all to say that I scared a bunch of children with it this weekend.

 

Now the one guy that I was the most excited about meeting wasn't at his table at this time because he was doing a podcast, so I went up to my room to get the poster that I brought to be signed by the one and only Malcolm McDowell. Where do you even start with how awesome this man is? I'm glad I brought my own item for him to sign because he had a ton of pictures from all different movies to choose from at his table, and I would have never been able to make a decision. I had him sign a picture for one of my friends back home, and then I finally put good use to this Japanese poster for A Clockwork Orange that I bought about ten years ago. I didn't really rehearse what I was going to say to Malcolm beforehand, so I probably sounded like a nerd but who the fuck cares. I met Malcolm McDowell!

 

 

 

 

I came back down from my room and my most anticipated guest was finally back at his table. AJ Bowen has been my favorite actor ever since I saw A Horrible Way to Die years ago, and I have loved him in everything I've seen. And yes, he's adorable so I've also got a bit of a crush. He was no doubt my favorite part about the whole weekend, because he was so easy to talk to and didn't mind my fangirling one bit. He seemed to like it when I mentioned A Horrible Way to Die because like he said, nobody ever talks about that movie (when they totally should). I complimented him on his natural acting ability, which is the reason I love him so much, and we just had a really great conversation. The people behind me in line were listening in, and he had us all laughing and loving him even more. All I could find at the show for him to sign was a mini poster for You're Next, and I wish I had been more prepared and brought something from AHWTD or The Sacrament. But again who the fuck cares - I met AJ Bowen. I sat down next to him for our picture and had to give him a hug first. Did I mention how shameless I was? Then I got a great picture with him and another hug goodbye and this meeting became my absolute best memory from the convention. Thank you for being awesome, AJ!

 

 

 

 

Also, he was wearing a Camp Crystal Lake shirt so that gets him extra cool points.

 

Across from AJ was Elvira. She was only dressed in costume for that one day and wasn't allowing pictures with her at her table. But they were allowing you to take a quick picture of her, so of course I did! I did meet her as herself, Cassandra Peterson, the next day so look for that. I love the expressions I got on her face!

 



 

The next thing on my agenda was my first of only two panels. I went into the room a little bit early and actually caught the last few minutes of Udo Kier's Q&A. I immediately wished I had been there for the whole thing, because he was so adorably funny. I heard the story of how he kissed Elizabeth Taylor and it was awesome.

 

 

Anyway, the thing I came into the room to see was actually a very cool and unique event. Victoria Price, daughter of the incomparable and amazing Vincent Price, gave a presentation in honor of her father and his legacy. She began the presentation by playing an audio clip of the voiceover that he did for "Thriller." I've always loved Vincent Price and the joy and glee that he seemed to have about his work, so hearing that actually almost made cry a little bit of happy tears. It was cool because that's what Victoria's presentation ended up being about - the memories of what her father was like off-screen and all the joy that he took out of his work, the people he met, and life in general. She had hilarious pictures and stories about him, and now I just want to go and watch all of his movies. Lovely lady.

 

 

Panels are always a good time to sit down for a bit and get your momentum back because the day was definitely not over. I did some more wandering, and actually went over to where to Victoria Price had a table, so I could talk to her more but she wasn't there. However, her table was near where Neve Campbell's room was and she had literally no line, so I had to take the opportunity to get her autograph. Like I said before, she wasn't allowing pictures with her at her table, and for some reason my mind went all blank on what I wanted to say! It was still very cool to meet her, because Scream was another big movie for me in terms of developing my love of horror. Neve needs to do more cons! I know she'll love it!

 

 

I ran into my TFW friends, Heather and Acacia, again several times over the weekend and we hung out together around this time while they got some of the autographs they wanted. Acacia and I spent some time at the table of Joseph Gatt (from Star Trek and Game of Thrones) and then Heather got in line for Angus Scrimm. I'm pretty sure Angus was staying in a room down the hall from mine, by the way.

 

 

Anyway, we all decided to get Brad Dourif together so I could have a photographer to take pictures for me, so my moment has finally arrived! Brad Dourif is freaking AMAZING, you guys, and I have been dreaming about meeting him for years. He was obviously very popular with everyone else, too, because whenever he was at his table, he always had a line. I just told him what an honor it was to meet him and how big Child's Play has been in my life. I also had to give him praise for the phenomenal One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which is still one of my favorite films of all time, and he was a very nice, cool guy with a great smile for everyone. So going back two years when I met Chris Sarandon, and now Vincent and Dourif, I have actually met three of the major stars from the horror film that has probably been the most influential one in my life. I never thought that would happen.

 

 

 

 

I am now the happiest horror fan on the planet.

 

The show was almost over for the night, so Heather, Acacia, and I parted ways so we could have a dinner break before meeting back up again in an hour for another movie. We saw the vampire horror-comedy Bloodsucking Bastards, and it was really good! It's a very simple, straightforward story about a lowly office worker whose colleagues start turning into vampires, but the comedy is non-stop and perfect, and the minimal locations is something that I always like in movies. It stars Fran Kranz from The Cabin in the Woods and Joey Kern from Cabin Fever. Hey, they both got out of the cabin! Haha! Um, yeah... definitely see Bloodsucking Bastards if you get the chance!

 

 

After the movie, the three of us took our yearly picture together in front of the Texas Frightmare Weekend backdrop. Man, we're adorable.

 

 

This is also when a guy dressed as Ghostface came by and tried to scare Heather. He was literally the only Ghostface we had seen so far all weekend, which is weird because I expected there to be a ton of them there. Anyway, I grabbed him for a picture.

 

After this, I had to say goodbye to my friends so I could attend the cocktail party that was just for VIP passholders and celebrities. Again, I missed the beginning of the party so maybe there were more celebs there earlier, but I did see Don Coscarelli, Alex Vincent, and Jennifer Lynch hanging out and talking to people. Lynch was chilling with Sherilyn Fenn, who I really wanted to get a picture with, but they were both grabbing food and seemed to want to be left alone. When Sid Haig showed up, people yelled and cheered and he was cool about stopping to talk to people and take pictures with them. Camille Keaton asked me what I was drinking and got the same thing. Later I asked her how it was and we chatted for a bit. Probably the coolest thing about the party was that it was after midnight and Angus Scrimm was still there! I was so dead tired and he looked awesome. I talked to two other guys for a while, then headed over to the hotel bar to see what was going on. I was just hanging back checking my phone at one point when I catch eyes with Kim Coates as he's walking in front of me and he says, "Hey, sweetheart." I melted. Then I went outside to talk to more people, and one girl pointed out Loyd Cryer, the founder of Texas Frightmare Weekend, to me and I had to go over to him. I thanked him for the show and the great memories that he's helped to give me over the years, and he was a really cool and sincerely appreciative guy. Are you ready for ten more years, Loyd? Because I know I am!

 

Oh, Frightmare, why does my time with you have to go by so fast?? There's only one day left!

 

 

Read my Day One recap right... about.... HERE!

And read all about Day Three here!