Coverage by Sam Hawken

Everybody knows the big names in horror conventions, like Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors, but chances are better than good that there’s a convention local to you that won’t break your bank account. No, the guest lists won’t be as huge and the names will likewise not be as stellar. No, you won’t find acres of vendors selling just the obscure bit of horror miscellany you’ve been seeking. And, no, that doesn’t mean these cons are a waste of time.

Earlier in the year I went to one of the bigger East Coast cons, the Chiller Theatre Expo. If you’re familiar with Chiller you know that it boasts one of the widest (and weirdest) guest lists you’re likely to find. The upcoming Chiller — the Expo is held twice a year, natch — has guests as diverse as Vernon Wells from THE ROAD WARRIOR, Davy Jones of the Monkees and… Mickey Rooney. The con is big, the vendor room packed cheek by jowl, and some folks swear by it.

But give me a smaller con with different priorities. I like to have programming at my cons, not just opportunities to hand over a fistful of cash in exchange for an autograph. I want to be able to breathe when going through the celebrity and dealer rooms. I want to be able to retreat to my room, take a rest, and then go out refreshed with all new things to see and do. It’s possible to blow through all a con like Chiller has to offer in the course of 24 hours. Is that what you want to save your pennies all year for?

This past weekend I went to HorrorFind Weekend, an annual event that’s been going on north of Baltimore, Maryland for some years now. Held at the Hunt Valley Inn, HorrorFind Weekend is one of those little, local gems that many people overlook. It’s run on a not-for-profit basis with all proceeds going to some nearby charity. This year HorrorFind Weekend’s charity of choice was the hospital for children with special needs like autism. The hospital also runs a school that my son, who is autistic, attends. So those attending HorrorFind this past weekend was helping out with something that hits close to home.

If you want a mile-long guest list, HorrorFind is not going to be your thing. This year’s convention offered twenty-six guests of varying levels of fame. Kane Hodder and Danny Trejo were at adjoining tables. Blaxploitation legend Fred “Hammer” Williamson was there to show everyone who asked just what a Super Bowl ring looks like. Tom Savini decided to change things up a bit and put his table in the vendor room so those shopping for this or that would suddenly find themselves face-to-face with a make-up effects legend.

Probably the best thing about little conventions like HorrorFind is that there’s space and time. Without a massed horde of memorabilia-seekers pushing in thick and fast around every celebrity’s table there’s less pressure for those celebrities to sign, smile for a picture and then move on to the next paying customer. Derek Mears — Jason in the new Friday the 13th, of course — would talk at length with everyone who came along and even with folks he met outside the celebrity room. That sort of thing just doesn’t happen at the bigger cons.

For those who visit horror conventions for sneak peeks at new or obscure horror films, HorrorFind provides short- and long-form entertainment. The short films Just Beyond the Bridge and Date Night got screenings on the first night. Longer fare was also on offer, including the premiere showing of Savage, starring celeb guests Martin Kove, Lisa Wilcox and Tony Becker. Sure, chances are good you’ll never get a chance to see something like Los Locos and the Fang Gang outside of a con environment, but that’s also why people go to these things: to see stuff and meet people they wouldn’t otherwise. Plus it’s just cool to watch movies outside on a big inflatable screen.

Seminars were aplenty, particularly for those interested in doing makeup effects and working in the “haunted house” industry. I wouldn’t have thought there were so many people invested in creating their own hauntings, but each and every one of these seminars had a healthy number of attendees. I sat in on one, hosted by the ghost-hunting group Research: Paranormal, as they discussed the other kind of haunting (the ostensibly real kind) and the presentation spilled over the allotted hour and continued for an additional 90 minutes!

Rounding things out were the art show and “haunted house” walkthrough set up in one of the meeting rooms of the large and well-appointed hotel. Unlike some venues, where it’s possible to get lost just going from one’s room to the events and vice versa, everything was pulled together into an organic whole, so getting off the elevators presented attendees with immediate options and directions to the rest.

Of course there were opportunities to buy things as there are at any convention of size, but given everything else that was going on even in this modest-sized convention it was possible to avoid the shopping bug for most of the day as one event after another queued up, with the big draw being the celebrity-judged costume contest on Saturday evening.

Before I close out this recap, I would be remiss if I didn’t share a personal story about what made HorrorFind a great event for me. My son, as I mentioned, is autistic and so the usual hassles of navigating crowds and schedules are amplified. We had been to Chiller and were almost overwhelmed by the scope, though there were some nice moments such as when Kane Hodder and my son seemed to bond over my son’s glow-in-the-dark Jason mask.

Kane Hodder was in attendance at HorrorFind and, surprisingly enough, remembered my son. Because things were so laid back at the con my son was able to hang out around Kane’s table and talk to him without the crush of fans becoming an issue. They also ran into each other at the gym, and I got a chance to talk with the best Jason Voorhees in the biz about not just fan things, but the kinds of things two grown men talk about: kids, schools, getting older.

When the con was over, Kane asked us to come by his table before we left. We did and Kane presented my son with a handmade replica of Jason’s mask, personalized to him with the inscription, “See you soon, buddy!”

I’d like to see any big con match the story that came out of this little one. Check out HorrorFind Weekend next fall. You won’t regret it.