Why I Love the Rock and Shock Horror Con
Another very special edition of the Why I Love Comics column comes to comicrelated.com! This edition has us talking about the local Worcester, Massachusetts show, not in it's 5th year (found that out via Darian Caine). Friday night, as I reported via the blog, it was just me walking around finding a few friends to talk horror movies with.
I've found that I am a very rare breed of nerd. I'm the kind of "all inclusive nerd" who loves science fiction, horror, comics, fantasy and action. It's interesting to hear all the conversations that were going on around me all weekend.
We start with people I met at booths including Sean Kelley:
Sean attracted my attention by having Army of Darkness playing on the little tv that they had up next to the booth. We started talking about lots of different horror movies and, soon enough, I had an issue of the horror magazine he edits, Shallow Graves, in my hands. I look forward to reading it in the future as it feels a little like Comic Foundry did, just for horror fans this time.
Another booth I stopped by (they had some laffy taffy, which I kind of love) were these guys:
They were recording live from the show floor and the only podcasters I ran into. They do a podcast called Outside the Cinema and I soon found myself discussing my favorite cult movies with the guys as Bill (pictured right) revealed that he is an avid Walking dead reader. Chris was the actual comic reader but we didn't get into specifics.
I remember talking Hack/Slash with a few people and here's hoping I got Tim Seeley some new readers. :)
Another booth I enjoyed stopping by was this one:
Chris Orlando is a very talented man and I now wear a piece of jewelry made by him around my neck. His website is zantijewelry.net is one which I highly recommend to anyone looking for cool and unique pieces.
I ran into Jess and Evan who I know through my friend Joe. Evan, of course, works for a big comic shop in Worcester called That's Entertainment (which I hear nothing but good things about). I carried on a few conversations with them both days. Along the way I found a rare Mike Allred Dark Horse horror book for 3 bucks because it's a con and bargains are, of cource, awesome!
This talented gentleman is Jason Casey of www.jwcasey.com. He's a friend of Ron Fortier who told him apparently all about comicrelated.com. I was witness to him giving Doug Jones a very beautiful sketch from Pan's Labyrinth which I wish I had photographed. Mind you I do have a picture of Doug and I:
In all seriousness, he is just one of the sweetest men you could find yourself talking to. He gives all his fans the biggest hugs in the world and will carry full fledged conversations with you if at all possible. I really to this day do not understand why they didn't use his voice for Silver Surfer because, quite honestly, Norrin Radd should be voiced by someone like Doug. Laurence Fishbourne just doesn't sound right as the Surfer. Doug did his Surfer voice for me and it was pretty on point.
Bill Mosely from Repo the Genetic Opera was a blast to talk to as he's a favorite of mine. He was in a few other films that I've watched but the scum bag spoiled brat that he plays in Repo is a blast, almost as much as his other two siblings he played off of. As he and I talked, he told me that they are actually scheduling sing alongs in select areas. I would love to be a part of one of those.
John Kassir was one of the few voice actors that had a lot to do with some of my earliest memories. I can remember me and my buddy staying up late to watch each episode of Tales from the Crypt and I know I wasn't the only one who watched the classic Stephen Speilbergs Tiny Toons which, thanks to Buster and the others, showed a new generation the classics. John can do the voice at the drop of the dime and was a blast to chat with. He's also Deadpool in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 and enjoyed playing our Merc with a Mouth. In fact, he just recorded some new stuff for the update.
This is Darian Caine who had an actual vendors table. She does parody movies via Seduction Cinema featuring films like Spiderbabe, Playmate of the Apes and Batbabe. These movies actually have great comedic timing and use some jokes you wish mainstream movies would take a lesson from. Sure, there is plenty of adult moments in the movies but they are still fun to watch and I definitely will not try and pretend that I haven't watched them. Darian is a sweetheart, she's from the area and you can tell she loves going to these things. She also has some very cool tattoos.
The actual floor of the event was very small. It's something you could easily take 10 minutes to walk through the whole area, but it is filled with many cool things to look at. There were some indie horror folks there which I always love to see and plenty of artists who were showcasing beautiful artwork. The horror field goes hand in hand with the comic field and I feel they've always been pretty close with each other over the years.
The event is running till the 18th and ends with a rock concert at the palladium with mostly bands I have not heard of. (except for the Misfits of course.)
Hope you enjoyed this con write up and I hope you check out the links I've mentioned. I will see you guys back here for the Thursday edition of the column focused on my new favorite horror musical. (It's a theme month!)
Eric Ratcliffe is a young writer/pop culture journalist/interviewer currently working on pitching a project named the Hunter chronicles. When not reading his weekly stack Eric can be found watching dvd's, playing on his 360 (gamertag: Zack Hunter) or just surfing online trying to find a scoop or two. Brand new to the Comic Related family, Eric is a fun new voice. Eric shops at TJ's Collectibles. Visit them on the web at www.tjcollect.com!
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