The Killing Floor: What Happened At Rue Morgue Festival Of Fear 2011

You can almost hear the “Paul Grogan Groan”!

As a short, petite gal, it’s almost impossible to find cool horror-themed T-shirts in my size. However, Twisted T’s has an array of T-shirts and hoodies in “regular” sizes that are always fun to drool over, like Zombi, Ilsa She-Wolf of the SS, Hell Night, and Slaughter High (a movie which I had completely forgotten about until I saw the T-shirt). Sadly, their website seems to be non-existent, but you can email them here.

If you like posters and other horror, sci-fi, and cult ephemera, there is Fantastic Films, which is where I scored a real bargain on a black and white lobby card photo of Bradford Dillman from the original Piranha. So maybe that doesn’t sound thrilling to you, but if you read my recent article about the movie, you’ll understand why I was so excited.

For the more discerning horror collector, there was The Devil’s Latex, creator of some remarkably creepy and realistic latex masks and hoods. Not only do they have Jason and Freddy Krueger masks, they have multiple versions of Jason and Freddy masks from different movies. They have a Michael Myers mask, too, and they told me something about it which I did not know: the original Michael Myers mask was based on a “life cast” of William Shatner called “Kirk ’75.” Think about that for a while. . .

Another booth that was an unexpected treat was #1620, The Night Of The Living Dead booth with cast members from the original 1968 film: George Kosana (Sherriff McClelland), co-screenwriter John Russo (who also played a zombie), and Russ Steiner, who played Bobby (“They’re coming to get you, Barbara!”). They were approachable, friendly, and had some great photos and other memorabilia for sale as well, including copies of the NOTLD novelization!

From left to right:
Russ Steiner, John Russo, George Kosana

Although fan conventions are scheduled events, there are always a few neat surprises. Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, in town filming Pacific Rim, stopped by the convention and Rue Morgue convinced him to stop by their booth for an hour and sign autographs for fans (for free). When megastars like Tom Felton from the Harry Potter films charge $40 (or more . . . cough William Shatner EIGHTY DOLLARS cough cough) for autographs, one definitely appreciates such niceties. While waiting in line, Tom Savini, whose booth was around the corner, came over to meet del Toro, and that was another neat thing to witness. “I’m a huge fan!” said del Toro to Savini, with a huge smile.

In addition, though I only managed to catch one movie in the various “Screaming Rooms” at the convention (John Carpenter’s The Ward), there were many to choose from, like Bereavement and The Divide (with Michael Biehn) from Anchor Bay. And in a clever move to promote the recent remake of Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark, Alliance Films handed out free swag bags with T-shirts, posters, and disposable cameras imprinted with the movie’s artwork. Plus there are always hardcore fans dressed up in the most incredible costumes, like Michael Myers, Predator, and a walking, “talking” Dalek.

I cannot end this convention review without giving enormous thanks to Rue Morgue itself. Not only are they responsible for the Festival of Fear and all its guests and events, they also host many panels and events on and offsite and sell back issues of their wonderful magazine at their booth, where they are always willing to chat about horror movies (for which I am grateful). And their website is wonderful, so please check it out.

Even a convention as fun as Festival of Fear has to come to an end. A body can only endure so many consecutive days of no sleep, walking and standing around for hours, and eating trail mix and granola bars.

It was terrific as usual, Rue Morgue. I’ll see you next year!

The next FanExpo Canada takes place from August 23 – 26, 2012. Stay tuned to their website for updates.

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