As a member of weiny hut jr. this is admittedly not something I would normally attend. However, my sister needed someone to go with and I accompanied her as the amazing sibling that I am. This is a 3-day convention full of celebrity meet and greets, vendors, and horror films.
The event took place at a Mariott hotel and parking was a breeze. Check in was quick and with our wristbands tightened, we headed into the expo. There were tons of vendors selling everything from posters, figurines, comics, knick knacks, everything that can be sold really. What really stood out to me were the people getting tattoos at a random booth. They had a gumball machine you’d get to spin twice for $100. It spit out different designs and then you choose one to put on your body for the rest of your life.
The crowd was also fun. A good amount of people dressed up and my non-horror self recognized a few characters such as Chucky and a Five Nights at Freddie’s animatronic. Everyone was friendly and willing to take a pic with my sister when she asked. You also got some classic expo body odor, but overall the dankness was controlled.
Another cool part of the event was the “celebs” who sat at different booths throughout the floor. Characters from Terrorizer, Goosebumps, and other movies were there this year. I felt bad for some of them at first when I saw no one visiting them. Then I noticed prices! People charging $40-$60 for a selfie. To me it seems a little ridiculous to charge that much for a picture or autograph. Sorry, you’re not that cool (I say as a noob).
The last thing we did was watch a short film titled Blue Eyes: Going Dark. This took place in a mini ballroom that was pitch black when we first entered. Finding seats was a challenge and it was funny how many seats we noticed were open after our eyes adjusted. The premise of the film was about a man going to the dentist. He acts all weird about a different dentist working on him that day as if he’s a regular, but then he says he’s new to town when asked why he doesn’t have an emergency contact? The new dentist and her assistant duct tape the man to his chair and aggressively pull out his tooth. Then they say he has to return the favor and proceed to cut off both his hands, cut him open and rip out his intestines, and even take out his eyeballs to hang on their car mirror like dice. To be honest it wasn’t very good and it seemed like the actors weren’t trying hard.
After watching the movie everyone clapped and I thought it was done. However, the creator of the film came up after and took some questions. We learned that it was shot in 5 days last year and won an award in effects. They were pretty solid for how amateurish the vibe was. It was neat getting to hear from him and get that background even if I wasn’t a fan of the project overall.
Ultimately, the event wasn’t tailored for me. You pay to go look at more things to spend money on. If I was a horror fan I probably wouldn’t mind, but to me it was meh. My sister loved it though and it was pretty well run which I respect for an event of this size.
Rating: 552/1000
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