Creepshow - One of my favorite horror movies. Scripted by Stephen King and directed by George A. Romero, Creepshow (1982) is a short-story compilation inspired by the old EC comics of the ‘50s (Tales From the Crypt, The Vault of Horror).

Not only is Creepshow one of my all-time favorite horror movies, I also consider myself to be somewhat of an expert on the film. So, when I heard that a horror convention in Texas was going to commemorate the 25th anniversary of this classic horror film, I knew I just had to be there.

The 2007 Texas Frightmare Weekend took place June 22-24 at the Omni Hotel in Dallas, Texas. In just two short years, convention organizer, Loyd Cryer, can confidently promote his convention as being “The Southwest’s Premier Horror Convention”.

The convention started Friday night, with an early VIP pre-party that ran from 7:00 to 10:00 pm. Tickets for this party were limited to 200, and sold out months in advance. For the other convention attendees not fortunate enough to acquire a ticket for the VIP party, Anchor Bay presented a showing of the Masters of Horror Episode, The Black Cat, followed by a screening of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon.

Due to cancelled and delayed flights, I didn’t arrive at the hotel until around 10:00 pm. It was a long and arduous trip, and it seemed to take forever to get to there. But when I finally arrived, I was nicely surprised by the impressive Omni Hotel. The lobby was decorated with polished marble floors and tall ceiling-high columns. In the corner, a pianist played classical music on a baby grand. And for a moment, I had thought the cab driver took me to the wrong hotel. That is until I saw a few people walking around, dressed in their favorite horror movie t-shirt and the latest Hot Topic fashion.

Despite being swarmed by us horror convention misfits, the hotel employees were exceptionally friendly and helpful. The normal check-out time is 12:00 pm. However, because the convention ran all day Sunday, I was able to arrange for an extended check-out time until 3:00 pm (a courtesy that many hotels do not offer).

When I got to my room, I was awestruck by the amazing accommodations. The room came with two queen-sized beds, a small mini bar, and a wide flat-screen digital tv. The bathroom was very well-kept, bordering on immaculate, and I had an incredible view from my window. All this for only $95 dollars a night!

After I got settled in, I went downstairs to the hotel lounge. By that time, the VIP party was over and people started migrating toward the bar. I met some great people from Oklahoma, and another person from Iowa. I also got to meet Doug Bradley (“Pinhead” from Hellraiser), who was there enjoying a late-night libation.

I went to bed at a reasonable time in order to be fresh for the following day. I woke shortly after 9:00 am, and after I got ready, I headed straight to the convention area. By the time I got down there, a line had already formed outside. I had thought that buying my ticket in advance would save me some time in the registration line, but in fact, it was quite the opposite. Apparently, everyone else had the same idea, because the registration line for people who bought their tickets online was much longer than the day-of-show registrants. Fortunately, the line moved quickly and I only waited 20 minutes or so to register and get in.

The convention had a great turn-out, and by noon that day, the hotel was crawling with rabid horror fanatics like myself. And despite the large crowd, the convention area was spacious enough that I never felt overwhelmed, or that I had to push and shove to get where I wanted to go.

Almost instantly, a large line formed to meet legendary horror movie director, George Romero (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Creepshow). In fact, the line eventually got so long that it extended into the hotel lobby and out the front door! I didn’t wait in line to meet Romero, as I had already met him a few times in the past. But from what I was told from other guests, some people waited over two hours in line to meet him.

I perused the vendor tables for awhile, and admired the vast collection of toys, comics, movies, and other horror-related memorabilia. I eventually got to meet some of the other attending celebrity guests including, Cerina Vincent (Cabin Fever), Barbara Nedeljakova (Hostel), Angela Bettis (Carrie, May), Adrienne Barbeau (Swamp Thing, Creepshow) and Tom Atkins (The Fog, Creepshow). I also met (for the umpteenth time) the King of Splatter, Tom Savini. Like always, the guests were gracious with the fans, and showed appreciation for our love of the horror movie genre.

I sat in on two panel discussions that day. The first was called “Fright Femmes”, hosted by Caroline Williams (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2). The panel consisted of Linnea Quigley (Return of the Living Dead), Cerina Vincent, Barbara Nedeljakova, Eileen Dietz (The Exorcist), and Angela Bettis.

The second panel was the “25th Anniversary Salute to Creepshow”, featuring George Romero and “friends”. Present with George Romero were Adrienne Barbeau and Tom Atkins, but curiously absent were Gaylen Ross (who played a small roll as “Becky Vickers”) and Tom Savini (who did the special makeup fx, and had a bit part as "Garbage Man #2"). All the seats in the main auditorium were taken, and additional seats had to be brought in to accommodate all of the Creepshow fanatics. Even then, some attendees were turned away and denied entry to the event.

The vendor rooms closed at 6:00 pm, but there were movie previews and screenings in the main auditorium all evening long. There was also a touching tribute to the late director, Bob Clark 1939-2007 (Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things, Deathdream, Black Christmas).

As expected, the convention turn-out on Sunday was not quite as strong as it was on Saturday, but it was a pretty good crowd all the same. I met a couple other celebrity guests like Danielle Harris (Halloween 4, 5 and the Rob Zombie remake), and Jeffrey Combs (The Re-Animator).

The highlight of the day was the Lifetime Achievement Award to actor, director, and special makeup effects maestro, Tom Savini. The award was preceded by a 20 minute montage of the works of Savini, followed by a Q & A session where he told his infamous "duck story".

I had a fantastic time at the convention, and I believe it turned out to be a great success. I don’t have any criticisms of the convention itself, but I have two criticisms of the hotel and its location. First, the hotel doesn’t allow any outside alcoholic beverages, and while that didn’t pose a problem for me, many attendees may have had a difficult time with this policy. In fact, when I went up to my room that first night, a guest was arguing with a hotel staff member (and a police officer) about a six pack of beer he wanted to take up to his room.

My second criticism is the remote location of the hotel itself. There are no nearby drug-stores or convenience marts within walking distance for the weary traveler (such as myself) who happened to forget to pack certain sundries. There also weren’t any nearby restaurants for those people on a budget (such as myself) who didn’t want to pay the high cost of hotel food all weekend long. Fortunately, the convention had a pretty good concession stand during the day that had reasonable prices.

These minor criticisms aside, Loyd Cryer and his crew organized a great convention.

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2007 Texas Frightmare Weekend.

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