Texas Fear Fest 2 Wrap-Up

Another convention down. Another different experience.

Today was slower than yesterday, but still pretty packed.

The day went by pretty fast. Here are some of the highlights:

We had two more people solve the log puzzle. One of them solved it with a baby in one hand! Add them to the Hall of Fame:

Gabriel and I decided to suck it up and talk to the horror icons. It started when Kane "Jason Vorhees" Hodder came over to sign the "Bubba's Chili Parlor" guys' banner. (I'm telling you they had everyone stopping by.) As he was leaving he noticed one of the puzzles on our table. Apparently, Kane Hodder is into puzzles. He ended up talking to Gabe about "Green Eyed Monster" for a bit and would borrow a puzzle, bring it back when he solved it, and pick up another. So, we figured he'd be safe to ask for a photo later.

From there we went and talked to Miko Hughes. Gabe got his photo taken with him. He was a really nice guy.

I got Heather Langenkamp's autograph and a photo (she played 'Nancy' in NOES 1, 3, and 7). She even asked if Gabe wanted a photo. He wondered if he looked that sad. Yes. Yes, he did. She was cool too. I did freeze up a bit though. I just kinda got tongue tied. But it went well.

Of course as soon as we leave the table, everyone swarms it. So we had to go back every now and then to talk to people.

We kept trying to meet the Avellan twins (The Crazy Babysitter Twins from "Grindhouse: Planet Terror," but we kept missing them.

I decided to jump into the Robert Englund line a bit before 3 PM. It was a little more organized today. By the table, leading out the door, was a short line of VIPs. Then there was a break in the line for a few feet where a new line formed. They were the General Admission folk. So I got in line and ended up chatting with a couple of girls behind me. I told them about the day before and we talked about conventions in general. After about 30 to 40 minutes, a staff member walked by and told us that all the VIPs had gone through and we'd be next as soon as Robert Englund stepped out to receive an award. A few more minutes went by. Another staff member walked by and asked if anyone had a red ticket. I did. He told me to follow him. There were about 7 of us. Since we had pre-paid, we were moved to the head of the line and were the new VIPs. We waited another 10 minutes or so, but after that the line moved quickly. We actually ended up being the last people to get autographs. He wasn't taking pictures anymore, which is what I had originally ordered, but I had decided that I'd rather get an autograph anyway. They had advertised a professionally taken photo, which I guess technically it was, but it was just printed 4X6 on a regular photo printer. So I picked out my 8X10 and he signed it for me. He was very nice, but you could tell he was exhausted. And at that point, since there had been so many fans, you couldn't take a personal picture or really say much to him as they were trying to wrap things up. It's the risk you take going towards the end of the day. I wish I had gotten up there earlier, but what can you do. It was still great to meet him.

So after that, I had the confidence to meet more people. We thought that since it was the end of the last day, we might be able to get a few quick photos. The first person I went up to was one of the cast members from "Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors." Here's how that sad story played out:



Yeah. And where was Gabriel during this? Well, he just so happened to wander away. But that's okay. He had his own NOES awkward moment while he was away.

After that I just went back to the table. I felt that bad. Gabe wanted to see if the Avellan twins were back, but I just couldn't go and risk it. I should have gone! Guy came back with a sexy autographed photo and a personal picture. Maybe I'll get my chance at Fangoria.

By then a lot of the special guests had taken off. Everyone was breaking down around 4 PM instead of 5 PM. Maybe they weren't on the DST train yet.

Luckily for us, Kane Hodder was still around and we got to take pictures with him. Now, all weekend we saw fan after fan REQUEST a photo with Kane choking them. At first Kane wanted to take a "friendly" pic with Gabe. Which he did. But then Gabe brought up the choking pose and Kane told us that if he wanted to, he'd do it, but that he doesn't fake it. He really puts pressure on you to get a genuine reaction. We were like, okay, lets give it a go. Gabe went first:

Dude looks like he's going to pass out!

Then Kane turns to me and says he wants me to feel it too. So he puts his hands around my neck and squeezes... HARD. Boy doesn't not fuck around as they say. So there I am, choking, and Gabe can't figure out the damn camera! See this picture?:

That's me seriously pleading for him to get on with it. I swear I can still feel it.

If that wasn't a great enough ending to the day and event, we sold like 5 copies of the movie as we were PACKING. I figured either some people like to buy stuff like that at the end of the day, or they have a little extra money and get a few extra things. Either way, it was good for us.

Tomorrow we leave the comfort of Texas and head into a possible snow storm as we trek north. Wish us luck.