You can read Part I here.
I had accomplished what I wanted to accomplish during my first day at ScareFest. I bought a couple t-shirts (a Stab shirt for me, a Monster Squad shirt for the munchkin), Elizabeth Fields’ new book, and a couple other random items. My goal for Day 2 was clear: take pictures, strike up random conversations and look for stories. This was always my favorite part of going to conventions, but this was the first convention I would be able to devote a whole day to it.
So off I went in search of adventure, beauty and immaculately dressed people performing everyday tasks. Onward and upward!
What follows is, more or less, a photo journal of my time as I walked the floor, accompanied by entirely too many words by me. I’m the worst.
I encountered this gentleman (gentlemonster?) before I even arrived on the floor. I knew then that it would be a very good day.
This guy spent the entire time in his booth, painting and talking to anyone who came up to him. He was gracious and kind and had a true passion and I loved him.
I can’t decide which I love more: the dead, sad eyes or the Crocs.
Okay I can. It’s the Crocs. It’s always the Crocs.
Is it because they match his gloves? Is it because those Crocs seem like terrible shoes to wear in a butcher shop? I don’t really know, I just know that I love them.
Let’s get a better look at that bad boy, taken slightly later in the day:
From the time I took the first picture to the time I took this one, he had changed his mask and his weapon. I really want to know how that conversation went with the TSA.
“Oh…that? That’s my second pig head. Yes, that’s correct sir.”
Oh, hey there little guy. You looking for your mom?
GET AWAY! GET AWAY!
“Excuse me. Do you have directions…TO HELL? MUWHAHAHAHAHA!
Or, like, Pizza Hut or whatever?”
I have no idea what this was, but I’m pretty sure it has my soul now.
This girl is with a group called Circus Envy and The Deadly Sins. They’re always set up in the same place. I love the look of their “booth.” Here it is without anyone present:
It’s a great look, and everyone involved is extremely friendly. You can often find them milling around the floor interacting with people. I love them.
Speaking of milling around interacting with people, here are a couple of the girls stopping in for a photo op with Ash and Ace Ventura (twin brothers whom I have seen at multiple conventions). The table they’re sitting at is from the dream sequence in Rob Zombie’s Halloween II.
To break this down: we have Ash Williams, Ace Ventura and two vampire girls hanging out with a prop from a Rob Zombie movie.
When people ask me why I love conventions, I point to moments like this.
Join me as I gaze upon the head of Pamela Voorhees.
It’s like someone took Pinhead’s face and created a poorly constructed mask from the loose skin.
I’ve seen these guys at a number of conventions and they always make me laugh. The mask must be impossible to see out of, because Bloody Lab Coat Man has to lead around Leopard Head by the arm the entire time.
I noticed something this time I hadn’t noticed before: Leopard Head is wearing a name tag.
His name is Purrcival Stroppington. How perfect is that?! I love him completely.
Also, his mouth moves when he talks or growls or whatever a man/cat hybrid does.
I have never seen the movie Hocus Pocus – leave me alone – but I know these outfits were spot-on.
Wolf Run – a great wildlife refuge in Kentucky – was there. For $25 you could get your picture taken with a real wolf. Here is the wolf, hanging out with his best friend: Freya, the frightened fox.
YOU GUYS! They’re best friends and they’re snuggling and this may have been the best thing at the convention.
Valak was there, attempting to eat the souls of babies. Like demons do. Let’s get a closer look…
I’m glad Lorraine Warren carved your name in her Bible. And brush your teeth.
Theirs is a beautiful friendship. They will also kill you if you come within 5 feet of them.
This guy was there the entire time I was. Armed with a couple different horns, he walked the floor with one goal: to scare unsuspecting victims. He scared a great many people while he was there.
However, the horns were loud and the floor was open, so you could always tell where he was. If you paid attention, you could avoid ever jumping in the air with fright. He still got a lot of people, but, by the end of the second day, people were getting wise to his antics.
Sorry buddy. You’re not scaring this girl.
This is one of my favorite pictures from the weekend.
This blurry Bigfoot looking clown is named Calypso. When he wasn’t walking around on stilts with an air cannon, he was walking around with huge box strapped to him. When he opened it up, a severed head on a spring would come shooting out of it.
I ended up talking to him for about 15 minutes about why he does what he does. He talked about the need to read people. “If I start walking up and notice someone looking a little uncomfortable, I’ll just get someone else.” During non-convention times, he dresses up as a non-murdery clown and does a lot of kids birthday parties. It was an extremely enlightening conversation.
I don’t think he really was a “Camp Clownseler,” but I wasn’t going to ask him.
I took this picture, then watched as the both of them became a cloud of mist and slowly drifted away.
DEMON SELFIE!
I have a feeling his demonic brethren would frown upon such actions, but it’s a new age. Perhaps these actions are now celebrated in the pits of Hell. Who am I to judge?
I didn’t actually ask him if he went by “Preddy Krueger,” but I assume he does.
This made me laugh entirely too hard.
Hey. Since we’re on the topic of Matthew Lillard…
Here he is sharing a laugh with one of the members of GWAR.
You can’t really see it here, but his shirt says “Clive Barker Rules,” in the same style as the iconic “Stephen King Rules” shirt from The Monster Squad.
As it so happens, I was wearing my “Stephen King Rules” shirt that day. When I passed Matthew Lillard on the floor later that day, we made eye contact, gave a little nod then fist-bumped. I’m not an expert, but I’m pretty sure that means we’re best friends now.
The point of this story is that Matthew Lillard is awesome and I love him.
One of my favorite things on this day was spotting the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man towering over the masses in random areas.
And now witness the time Stay Puft terrorized Camp Crystal Lake.
No matter who wins, we lose.
I was particularly proud of this shot. Got down on the ground to take it and everything, like a real photographer.
Then I remembered that a ton of people walked through that area, a lot of them likely with terrible, unspeakable things on the bottom of their shoes. I burned my clothes as soon as I got home.
Sometimes you’re in GWAR, but you also get a little lonely and thirsty.
What’s that? Just Courtney Gains taking a selfie with Ash Williams.
This is where I remind you that The Burbs is one of my all-time favorite movies, so I absolutely love Courtney Gains. This picture makes me happy.
This picture of Amy Steel and Harry Manfredini walking around like old friends made me smile like an idiot. I think that’s why Amy is giving me that look: I’m pretty sure I was giggling when I took this.
This guy had one of my favorite costumes of the weekend. I don’t know what it was about it, but his entire look was terrific. I must have passed these people a thousand times and I liked his costume a little more every time I saw them.
Oh ScareFest. Never change.
After going to conventions over the past few years, I can honestly say that, while this isn’t the best Blade I’ve seen, it is still a very good Blade.
I love that I can have absolute opinions on these things.
I’m pretty sure these kinds had weapons on them. They weren’t messing around.
This is the last known image of Sexy Stay Puft and Son of Ernest. I hope you find peace in the next life.