Texas Frightmare Weekend
Written by: teeshirtjoe
My perspective on this and any other show I review might be a bit different than those of others as I attend as a vendor and don’t get much time away from my table. With that in mind, let me share with you my TFW experience.
Thursday: While there was a screening of 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams I would like to have attended, the screening was held some distance away from the hotel and as I’m not very familiar with Dallas, opted to visit the hotel bar instead. I know from past TFWs that because of the hotel being situated in an area surrounded by nothing but other hotels, most attendees and guests rarely venture very far away. Sure enough, the first person I saw sitting in the bar was Sid Haig. He was shortly joined by Julian Sands. Derek Mears, a guy that loves to party with his fans, was also in attendance. There was much drinking on my part.
Friday: The show begins. While moving boxes of shirts from the vehicle to the table, I noticed that lines were forming early to secure admission bracelets. Later reports would reveal that some attendees had about an hour to an hour and a half wait just to get in. One of the coolest things about being in the convention area before anyone else was seeing them role Christine into the building. I kept hoping that it would suddenly start up and begin running people down, but no such luck. The doors opened at 10 and the convention area was crowded within minutes. For me, the greatest part of attending these conventions is getting to meet other horror fans, and it’s always a treat when someone comes to my table and starts talking about the movies that are featured on my shirts. By mid-afternoon the show became even more crowded and I knew that Saturday was going to be a madhouse. The vendor area closed it’s doors at 5 and I continued my drinking binge at the bar once again. For all you drinkers out there, it’s best to take your own booze as the hotel bar prices will send you into the poor house if you’re not careful.
Saturday: As expected, the crowd was huge which made for difficult navigation through the convention area. Both George Romero and Elvira had a continuous line at their table throughout the day. John Carpenter was sequestered in his own room where groups of ticket holders were called at certain times to line up for autographs/photographs. While I saw him, I did not have the opportunity to meet him. All reports indicate that he was extremely friendly to the fans and that he felt truly humbled by the response to his presence. I broke away from my table to watch Rodrigo Gudino’s short films. All three are very different and very, very good. The last film in particular, The Eyes of Edward James, is one of the most impressive shorts I’ve seen in quite a while, and will be buying the DVD compilation from his website as it is a film that demands repeated viewings. Met Margo Kidder in the elevator. During the course of the day, a prop auction was held which proved really annoying. The speaker system for the auction was very loud and often overpowered the sound in the screening room. The auction itself, was a great idea, and there were some awesome items available (such as Chrome Skull’s mask from Laid to Rest), but it should have been held in a different location rather than in the main lobby of the hotel. Later that evening I attended a screening of the restored version of Dark Night of the Scarecrow and can verify that the transfer on this look beautiful. The DVD cover art was also revealed and, unlike recent reissues such as Night of the Creeps, it looks great. After the screening, it was time for more drinking.
Sunday: Traditionally the ‘slow day’ for most conventions, the crowd started out strong and sales were brisk. After about 2 o’clock the crowd started to thin out and while passing by George Romero’s table, I noticed that there were only five people in line. Not wanting to pass up the opportunity, I grabbed my Scottra Romero print and secured an autograph and photo. Walking back to my table I noticed Doug Bradley had no one at his table, so I stopped to buy his collection of audio books. As I’m constantly in the car traveling from show to show, I listen to a lot of these and having listened to Bradley’s reading of Mister B. Gone can assure you that he is one of the best readers out there. A line began to form behind me, but Bradley seemed to take no notice as he slowly opened each disk collection to sign them and spoke with me about the writings of Lovecraft and Poe and other collections of readings that’ll be coming out soon. It was really cool of him to take all that time to talk to me, but I could tell the rapidly growing line behind me was getting annoyed. As the show began to wind down, I began trading with other vendors. Derek Mears stopped by the table to talk a bit. As I mentioned before, I’m always impressed by how friendly and down to earth this guy is.
In conclusion, I remain firm in my opinion that Texas Frightmare Weekend is the best of the shows I attend. There was always plenty of staff on hand to answer questions, and all of the events seemed to run smoothly. They have, however, outgrown this particular venue and should consider finding a bigger space for next year, especially if they continue to book such amazing guests.
My perspective on this and any other show I review might be a bit different than those of others as I attend as a vendor and don’t get much time away from my table. With that in mind, let me share with you my TFW experience.
Thursday: While there was a screening of 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams I would like to have attended, the screening was held some distance away from the hotel and as I’m not very familiar with Dallas, opted to visit the hotel bar instead. I know from past TFWs that because of the hotel being situated in an area surrounded by nothing but other hotels, most attendees and guests rarely venture very far away. Sure enough, the first person I saw sitting in the bar was Sid Haig. He was shortly joined by Julian Sands. Derek Mears, a guy that loves to party with his fans, was also in attendance. There was much drinking on my part.
Friday: The show begins. While moving boxes of shirts from the vehicle to the table, I noticed that lines were forming early to secure admission bracelets. Later reports would reveal that some attendees had about an hour to an hour and a half wait just to get in. One of the coolest things about being in the convention area before anyone else was seeing them role Christine into the building. I kept hoping that it would suddenly start up and begin running people down, but no such luck. The doors opened at 10 and the convention area was crowded within minutes. For me, the greatest part of attending these conventions is getting to meet other horror fans, and it’s always a treat when someone comes to my table and starts talking about the movies that are featured on my shirts. By mid-afternoon the show became even more crowded and I knew that Saturday was going to be a madhouse. The vendor area closed it’s doors at 5 and I continued my drinking binge at the bar once again. For all you drinkers out there, it’s best to take your own booze as the hotel bar prices will send you into the poor house if you’re not careful.
Saturday: As expected, the crowd was huge which made for difficult navigation through the convention area. Both George Romero and Elvira had a continuous line at their table throughout the day. John Carpenter was sequestered in his own room where groups of ticket holders were called at certain times to line up for autographs/photographs. While I saw him, I did not have the opportunity to meet him. All reports indicate that he was extremely friendly to the fans and that he felt truly humbled by the response to his presence. I broke away from my table to watch Rodrigo Gudino’s short films. All three are very different and very, very good. The last film in particular, The Eyes of Edward James, is one of the most impressive shorts I’ve seen in quite a while, and will be buying the DVD compilation from his website as it is a film that demands repeated viewings. Met Margo Kidder in the elevator. During the course of the day, a prop auction was held which proved really annoying. The speaker system for the auction was very loud and often overpowered the sound in the screening room. The auction itself, was a great idea, and there were some awesome items available (such as Chrome Skull’s mask from Laid to Rest), but it should have been held in a different location rather than in the main lobby of the hotel. Later that evening I attended a screening of the restored version of Dark Night of the Scarecrow and can verify that the transfer on this look beautiful. The DVD cover art was also revealed and, unlike recent reissues such as Night of the Creeps, it looks great. After the screening, it was time for more drinking.
Sunday: Traditionally the ‘slow day’ for most conventions, the crowd started out strong and sales were brisk. After about 2 o’clock the crowd started to thin out and while passing by George Romero’s table, I noticed that there were only five people in line. Not wanting to pass up the opportunity, I grabbed my Scottra Romero print and secured an autograph and photo. Walking back to my table I noticed Doug Bradley had no one at his table, so I stopped to buy his collection of audio books. As I’m constantly in the car traveling from show to show, I listen to a lot of these and having listened to Bradley’s reading of Mister B. Gone can assure you that he is one of the best readers out there. A line began to form behind me, but Bradley seemed to take no notice as he slowly opened each disk collection to sign them and spoke with me about the writings of Lovecraft and Poe and other collections of readings that’ll be coming out soon. It was really cool of him to take all that time to talk to me, but I could tell the rapidly growing line behind me was getting annoyed. As the show began to wind down, I began trading with other vendors. Derek Mears stopped by the table to talk a bit. As I mentioned before, I’m always impressed by how friendly and down to earth this guy is.
In conclusion, I remain firm in my opinion that Texas Frightmare Weekend is the best of the shows I attend. There was always plenty of staff on hand to answer questions, and all of the events seemed to run smoothly. They have, however, outgrown this particular venue and should consider finding a bigger space for next year, especially if they continue to book such amazing guests.
Texas Frightmare Weekend
http://www.texasfrightmareweekend.com
April 30th-May 2nd, 2010
Sheraton Grand Hotel
4400 W. John Carpenter Fwy
Irving, TX 75063
http://www.texasfrightmareweekend.com
April 30th-May 2nd, 2010
Sheraton Grand Hotel
4400 W. John Carpenter Fwy
Irving, TX 75063
