ScareFest 2015: Day One

Written by: Brent R. Oliver

The biggest horror and paranormal convention in the US kicked off today in Lexington, KY and I was there. It wasn’t my first ScareFest but it was my first one with a laminated badge around my neck that said “Press.”

That’s right. I’m technically a horror journalist. Despite all my vulgarity and snark, I’m considered a professional and today I reveled in everything that entails at ScareFest.

Firstly, I was invited to the “Black Carpet” event to kick things off. I was in a small, velvet-roped-off area with a bunch of other torqued-up horror nerds and a few depressed reporters from the mainstream media. We all milled around trying not to spill shit onto each others’ vintage Halloween t-shirts and swapping other convention stories.

Eventually, the MC introduced the first VIPs to strut down the Black Carpet: an older couple dressed sort of like Native Americans and sort of like cowboys. I honestly don’t know who they were but I was sure they’d never been in a horror movie. They were probably involved with the paranormal side of the ScareFest, which doesn’t interest me at all.

Next up was the still-lovely Kathy Lester, the Lady in Lavender from Phantasm, one of my all-time favorites. She knew how to work the Black Carpet.

 

The list of cool personalities that drifted down that carpet is too long to recount. A few highlights were Naomi Grossman and Jyoti Amge from American Horror Story: Freakshow; A. Michael Baldwin and the inimitable Reggie Bannister from Phantasm; Robert Mukes and Sid motherfucking Haig from House of 1000 Corpses; William Ragsdale, Amanda Bearse, and Stephen Geoffreys celebrating the 30th anniversary of Fright Night; and Ari Lehman, the first actor to portray Jason Voorhees, as the little boy in lake at the end of the original Friday the 13th.

It was fantastic to see these people mugging for the cameras and answering shouted questions from all of us frothing weirdos. They know they’re appreciated; they do this stuff all the time and they’re perfectly aware of how dedicated and loyal their fan base is. I was proud to be there.

George Romero was conspicuously absent from the opening festivities. Considering he’s probably the biggest name at ScareFest, there was definitely a little grumbling from the crowd. But we get over shit quickly. As soon as our hosts cracked open the metal gate at the entrance, we all flooded crazily in and spread out across the convention floor hunting our intended targets.

The VIPs were pretty much situated at their tables, ready to meet and greet, sign and take photos, and generally chat up all the excited hoi polloi. This is just a recap of my first day at the conference, so I won’t go into detail, but I had three wonderful encounters. I spoke with Stephen Geoffreys, William Ragsdale, and Reggie Bannister and they were absolutely delightful. I thoroughly enjoyed the short conversations I had with each of them, Reggie in particular. He’s been doing this a long time and he still loves it. He was excited to talk about what he’s doing now as well as recount some stories from yesteryear. Needless to say, I was all ears.

After that, I just went back to being a plain old fanboy. I wandered around and drank it all in and had a great fucking time. The place was stuffed with memorabilia, DVDs, a huge assortment of genuine freaks, and a ton of t-shirts I’m buying three at a time. Oh, and Christine was there. The 1958 Plymouth Fury had her own spot on the floor where you could pay to have your picture taken. Not with her. Under her, like she was running you over. I will do that tomorrow.