Our Scare-A-Con 2015
If you're reading this when it's fresh, you've probably already seen posts and photos about our weekend, but here's the full rundown. Paul McGinnis, Arick Szymecki, Tamar, Kaelin and I drove out to the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY for Scare-A-Con and the accompanying film festival's world premiere screening of our new feature KILLER RACK. Paul drove, and I decided I like when someone else drives. Except for Arick, we stayed at the Quality Inn in Rome, because the casino hotel rooms were ridiculously expensive. The con was held at the casino's event center, which is a fantastic location - I'm so over horror cons held in dingy hotels with crowded banquet halls and and dark corridors. The Turning Stone is spacious and well lit, and everyone we met was friendly - I'd go again in a heartbeat.
We were joined by a small army of KILLER RACK cast and crew: Timothy O'Hearn, Mick Thomas, Michael O'Hear, Alexander S. McBryde, Steve Boliek, Bob Bozek, Sherr Fairchild, Frank Nicosia, Leanne Downey, Sam Qualiana, Drew Bialy and Chris Rados - I hope I'm not forgetting anyone, there were so many of us.
Friday was a bit of a comedy of errors: our Fri 5 pm screening was cancelled due to technical issues, and I forgot to bring my DVDs to sell, and Paul volunteered to drive all the way back (3 hrs) to get them and bring them back the next day. The irony is that we only got a hotel for Fri in addition to sat so Paul wouldn't have to make that drive to go get us!
Our official premiere Saturday went off without a hitch. We had a packed room and people stood for the whole film. Every joke got at least one laugh, and the audience loved the film. This is what we came for - our first public screening - and we would have gone home happy even without the rest of the weekend. Business at my table was brisk - I actually sold more books than DVDs, which is strange, and met several of my readers for the first time (I sat on an authors panel in the morning as well). As usual, Kaelin made friends with many vendors, and Monstermatt Patterson was right across from us. To make up for the earlier cancelled screening, the festival gave us a second screening at 9 pm. It wasn't nearly as full with the big party starting, but that meant we got to sit down. A successful screening. The party in the lobby was HUGE, but we only stayed long enough for Paul to get his car, which gave Kaelin time to dance with new friends. That night, Paul snored. According to Tamar, so did I. But I didn't scream "JESUS!" if anyone tried to stop me...
Sunday we checked out of our luxury palace and enjoyed a mellow afternoon at the con. Again, I sold a number of books. With lunch and a three hour drive ahead of us, we weren't disappointed that the con ended at 3, or that the film festival awards presentation started then. KILLER RACK won Best Feature, which was a nice bonus to fun weekend - it meant a lot to me, but I'm happier for everyone else who worked so hard on our project. Thanks to Ron Bonk from SRS Cinema for selecting the film for the festival, and making me a guest.
We saw so many old friends at this show- too many to name them all - but I will say I was happy so many people said positive things to Lloyd Kaufman about his role in the film, and in addition to the award I went home with three gifted items: a print of Monstermatt's painting of Phantom of the Opera (my favorite of his pieces), a"key finder" given to my Tim O'Hearn, and a jar of honey from author/beekeeper Pat Freivald!
On the way home, a group of us stopped for a celebratory lunch at a steakhouse with a giant ow statue outside - we could not pass that up! Thanks to everyone who made our weekend so memorable.
