For the sixth time in as many years, I once again made my way to the Hyatt Regency at the DFW International Airport for the Texas Frightmare Weekend. This time was a little different, though, since I finally dragged Brandon with me to the convention for the first time, with the promise of Mondo posters. Limited screenprints are the only real way to get him to do anything, really, especially because he doesn’t really watch horror movies (and if he does, it’s slumped in a chair with his hands over his face).
Texas Frightmare Weekend is in its thirteenth year as the Southwest’s largest horror convention. Attracting horror fans from all over the country, the organizers grabbed some huge guests this year, including Brad Dourif, the voice of Chucky, and Doug Bradley, the original Pinhead (Editor’s Note: AND BILLY ZANE). For me, though, the real draw was the rare appearance of all six actors who had played Jason Voorhees over the past forty years. I have been a fan of these low budget slashers since I was a (way too young) kid, so the opportunity to meet all six of the hockey-mask-wearing serial killers was something I couldn’t pass up.
On Friday, to kick things off (and to fulfill my promise to Brandon), I checked in and got in line to hit up the Mondo booth. After waiting about an hour, both Brandon and I were able to purchase some really great prints for movies like Big Trouble in Little China, Child’s Play 2, Nightmare on Elm Street 4 and an incredible (rainbow) Texas Chainsaw Massacre poster that many considered to be the best one of the convention. And if the promise of new Mondo posters wasn’t enough, friend of Super Kaiju, Jason Edmiston, was also there with a bunch of great new prints from his Eyes Without a Face series. Sadly, by the time we got to his booth, his latest Michael Myers print had already sold out (within just the first three hours of the convention being open!) Luckily, we were able to get the rest of the new ones, plus some extras (including a soon-to-be-framed painting of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre house). By the end of Saturday evening, though, all of his prints were sold out.
If spending a couple hours buying more horror art wasn’t enough, I then dragged Brandon (who has never seen any of the Friday the 13th movies) to a panel featuring the six Jason Voorhees actors. We took our places in the second row of a packed auditorium, not knowing what to expect. To our surprise, all of the actors were happy to be there, appreciative of the fans and with some very fun stories. Steve Dash, “The Original Jason”, was constantly interrupting everyone else with very funny jabs. I left that panel very happy and looking forward to meeting them individually the next day. (Brandon didn’t even hate it!)
The majority of my Saturday was spent going from table to table, getting an autograph and picture with each of the Jason actors. They were all super friendly (and loved my print), with five of the six have unusually short wait times. However, the sixth, Kane Hodder, was a three hour wait … but totally worth it. It was very surreal meeting each of these actors, seeing firsthand how the physicality of Jason Voorhees changed as the movies progressed.
By the end of the day, with my 100% Soft print full of signatures, I was a very happy horror nerd.
The rest of the weekend was was just spent checking out all the booths and vendors, as well as checking out a few films at night. As I wandered around the convention taking pictures of horror cosplay, I loved talking to people at their booths (or just other random attendees). It is always great to be able to start talking about which Halloween sequel was best and then easily transitioning to a discussion about Nine Inch Nails concerts. These people are my people.
That’s what separates Texas Frightmare Weekend from the rest: it is a completely different scene than the some over-saturated markets of comic conventions. Whether it’s the independent horror movie screenings, panels or (my personal favorite) the annual Shock Waves live podcast, Frightmare is unique and a lot of fun. At times (especially on Saturday) it can get very cramped, but with minimal planning I was able to do everything I wanted to.
I will, of course, be back next year … and I already can’t wait to see what Frightmare, Mondo and the rest bring to Dallas in 2019. Until then I’m going to do a marathon watch of all the Friday the 13th films. Even Jason X.
