ON A GRAY MAY MORNING IN IRVING, TEXAS, A GROUP OF ZOMBIES CASUALLY CONGREGATES IN THE SHARED PARKING LOT OF A FAST FOOD RESTAURANT AND A GAS STATION.
Some zombies arrive in full regalia, with fake flesh realistically rotted and torn clothing thoroughly streaked with gravesite mud. Others show up in torn T-shirts and tattered jeans, later receiving appliqué grotesqueries and on-the-spot blood splatter from professional zombie makeover stylists.
There are hillbilly zombies, World War I zombies, preteen zombies and pregnant zombies. There are high school-aged zombies, college zombies, state trooper zombies and gothic punk zombies.
They are a veritable coalition of the undead, more than 100 strong, and soon they will lurch and limp the mile-long parade route along West John Carpenter Freeway to the Sheraton Grand Hotel DFW Airport, host of this year’s Texas Frightmare Weekend.
WRISTBANDS, LANYARDS AND BROOMSTICKS
Otherwise startling curiosities seem altogether commonplace when corralled into an exhibition area and pinned within the confines of a vendor booth. Even the most bizarre compilation, the most ghastly congregation of sights, is warmly at home when bathed in soft fluorescence and displayed atop a collapsible playing card table draped with polyester fabric most likely purchased in enormous quantities off of a giant warehouse roll.
Perhaps a custom vinyl banner will set the licensed distributors of truly heart-stopping terror apart from the mediocre merchandisers of meager macabre. That is sure to work! Unless everyone decides to go with the same “red letters on black background” theme and use either the Gothic font or the typeset that looks like oozing blood. (Spoiler alert: Everyone decides to do exactly that.)
Such devilish decor is all for naught, of course, as any manner of morbid pageantry will be immediately rendered mediocre, as every booth wildly and invariably could clash with the ballroom’s carpeting.
This is a horror con’s silent struggle. How do you organize a convention for something so inherently unconventional?
A NIGHTMARE COME TRUE
Every year since 2005, Loyd Cryer has channeled his near-lifelong love of horror films into the production of Texas Frightmare Weekend, an event that evolved out of its own absence.
“No one was doing this type of event in Texas,” Cryer said.
It is a bit strange that such a scene had not established itself in or around Cryer’s Dallas home base. Consider that every other month local science fiction aficionados and comic book buffs have ample opportunity to fill up convention halls and civic centers to meet their heroes and blow tons of cash on the paraphernalia of obsessive fandom. Then, consider that every October you can’t throw a rock in Big D without hitting some kind of haunted hayride, monster manor or terror town. Dallasites love to convene over shared obsessions, and they love to voluntarily scare themselves into heart arrhythmia. Cryer fused these things together, Dr. Frankenstein-style.
Luckily, he doesn’t shoulder Texas Frightmare Weekend’s monstrous production on his own.
“It’s primarily run by my wife and kids and a lot of friends,” Cryer said.
On the surface, this may seem like a cheap and easy way to get things done, and it may well be. But beyond that, this friends-and-family method is a rather natural extension of the genre itself.
Horror fans are more than a target market; they’re a viable community that connects over a common, oft-misunderstood passion. Most independent horror films, especially those of the self-financed variety, wouldn’t pass script stage if not for casts and crews made up of the filmmakers’ neighbors and loved ones. It only makes sense that Texas Frightmare Weekend would apply the same familial vibe. And it pays off.
“Our goal is to treat everyone, guests and attendees, as guests in our own home,” Cryer said. “I think that translates into a lot of happy attendees.”
Happy and growing. Texas Frightmare Weekend started rather small, with approximately 2,000 in attendance at the first show. Since then, bigger sponsors and more elaborate offsite events have helped it evolve into a three-day, monster-mash freak fest of hideously mutated proportions. Attendance has tripled.
TURN ON THE STAR POWER
While crowds have steadily developed from year to year, certain aspects of the festival’s success have been in place from the get-go. Since its inception, Texas Frightmare Weekend’s featured guests have been of a consistently high caliber.
The event’s inaugural year played host to a reunion of cast members from Texas Chainsaw Massacre II. While a sellout crowd would have resulted in attendees being turned away, the first Texas Frightmare Weekend was so front-loaded with featured horror celebs, Cryer ended up having to turn down other guests who asked to appear.
“We’ve really been fortunate to have a guest list of some of the nicest people in the industry,” Cryer said.
Past Texas Frightmare weekends have played host to a gaggle of ghoulish greats including Cassandra Peterson (a.k.a. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark), groundbreaking makeup effects wizard Tom Savini and legendary writer/director George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead).
Anchor Bay Entertainment presented this year’s Texas Frightmare Weekend. The home video and DVD entertainment company boasts an extensive library of licensed content, including Romero’s Living Dead series and the cult classic Evil Dead trilogy.
“It certainly helps,” said Cryer of the partnership. “They are a great company with a lot of good people on staff. It’s great to have a company like that in your corner. They’ve helped us get some great guests, and their titles have certainly been a great addition to our screenings.”
The assemblage of actors at this year’s Texas Frightmare Weekend was wonderfully mottled. At any other event, you would be hard pressed to find model/actress Charlotte Kemp (Playboy’s Miss December 1982 and star of such films as Posed for Murder and Frankenhooker) sitting a few rows from James Hampton, the affable character actor who played Michael J. Fox’s dad in Teen Wolf.
The Exorcist’s Linda Blair stood behind a table, looking like a woman half her age and promoting the Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation, her nonprofit organization dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating abused, neglected and abandoned animals from the streets of Los Angeles. Blair, an all-natural eater, exchanged small talk with fans and passersby and vocalized her concerns that commercial pesticides may in some way be responsible for the recent H1N1 pandemic.
Just up the hall, a hoarse-yet-lucid Jason Mewes (of Clerks, Chasing Amy and the titular “Jay” of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) held court at a Q&A session, explaining the origins of his popular catchphrase (“snoochie boochies”) and pulling up Hulu.com on his laptop so he could watch A-Team reruns if the fan chat died down.
At that same moment, in the nearby guest and vendor hall, famous Hollywood actor Corbin Bernsen signed autographs. And when famous Hollywood actor Corbin Bernsen signs autographs, well…He. Signs. Autographs.
Having appeared in more than 150 film and television projects (including such seminal B-movie horror classics as Tales from the Hood and both The Dentist and The Dentist 2: Brace Yourself), Corbin Bernsen arrived at Texas Frightmare Weekend with a wealth of wares: 20 different styles of 8x10 glossy photos, an assortment of DVDs and a collection of posters that included an enlargement of Bernsen and his L.A. Law cast mates lampooned on the October 1987 cover of Mad Magazine. All of these items could and would be happily autographed for a fee.
Bernsen sat next to a bucket full of baseballs, which he would also happily autograph for a fee, a souvenir that nods to his performance as Roger Dorn in Major League and Major League II.
KNOW YOUR DEMO
Horror aficionados of varied degrees, from recreational observers to obsessive super fans, line the aisles, crowd the lobby and fill the panel and screening rooms. Despite differing levels of interest, most of these attendees share a common outward appearance. The majority are men, between 15 and 30 years old, not in peak physical condition. They are all either bearded, ponytailed or, in most cases, bearded and ponytailed. And most attendees, regardless of gender, wear black T-shirts or hoodie sweatshirts with jeans or cargo shorts.
Had you failed to dress so appropriately, you would have had every opportunity to procure proper attire at the event. Independent clothing companies sell T-shirts emblazoned with their horror-fied versions of pop culture icons and corporate logos, gently nudging the limits of commercial fair use.
One such proprietor claimed that Frightmare guest and shock-rock godfather Alice Cooper, now an accomplished restaurateur and golf enthusiast, was so impressed with a particular Alice Cooper/Nightmare Before Christmas knock-off mash-up that he asked the company to produce the shirts for his upcoming tour. Having flown in from California to set up shop at the event, the proprietor remarked, “That made the whole trip worth it.”
Savvy T-shirt vendors aren’t the only merchants marketing so directly. Jewelers sell crystal pendants and earrings, while clothiers offer a wide selection of black bowling shirts festooned with flames, skulls and skulls engulfed in flames.
An artist who specializes in lifelike portraits of winged dragons and wood nymphs sat across from enthusiastically pierced representatives of a small indie movie studio, their massive collection of straight-to-DVD gore-a-thons fanned out in front of them like a peacock tail made out of mangled monsters and screaming topless women. A few feet away, scantily clad representatives from the local roller derby league enlisted new members, lovingly referred to as “fresh meat.”
“Texas Frightmare Weekend is a great opportunity to share our love for roller derby with our target audience,” said Assassination City Roller Derby’s Dara Pirkle Keele Taylor (a.k.a. Pyro Maim Ya). “Every convention we attend broadens our fan base and yields new recruits for our league.”
THE FREAKS COME OUT
Tying in offsite events—such as a special screening of a vintage 35-mm print of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre at Studio Movie Grill in nearby Lewisville or the aforementioned zombie parade—helps distinguish Texas Frightmare Weekend as something other than just another traffic jam of slasher movie merchandise. It’s a cross-town horror fan holiday.
On the event’s second day, Dallas Trocars Funeral Car Club played host to the Hearse and Shock Rod Show in the Sheraton’s parking lot, forcing typically nocturnal horror devotees into the afternoon out-of-doors to browse a sweet collection of vintage and restored hot rods and hearses.
These types of excursions create a level of participation beyond the simple sit-and-stroll. Texas Frightmare Weekend’s continuing success isn’t solely based on what’s bought and sold. It’s making sure that attendees’ time is well spent, ensuring they’ll return year after year to spend time (and money) again.
DEFYING CONVENTIONAL WISDOM
It’s widely believed that the entertainment industry is recession proof. If Texas Frightmare Weekend is to be cited, the same could be said of entertainment merchandising. Despite current economic restraints, horror fans were more than willing to fork over their hard-earned leisure dollars at the event.
“This year was the most successful one yet, financially and in every other aspect,” Cryer said.
There’s no rest for the wicked. Plans for next year’s Texas Frightmare Weekend, set for the weekend of April 30, are already developing.
“Our main goal in 2010 is to celebrate our fifth anniversary,” Cryer said. “So, we plan to bring back some of our favorite guests from past events.”
As long as they continue to wrangle great guests, host like-minded merchants and engage attendees with creative offsite events, there’s nothing stopping Texas Frightmare Weekend from resurrecting on a regular basis. One+
GEOFF JOHNSTON, a Dallas-based freelance writer, has also written for Quick, the Dallas Observer and Texas Music.
Transportation Tip
• The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) system’s light-rail service is in the midst of an expansion that some area commuters would say is long overdue. Over the next few years, DART’s new Green and Orange lines will offer fuller, easier access to Big D, its areas of interest and surrounding locales, a godsend to out-of-town visitors and rush hour-weary locals alike. The first span of DART’s US$1.8 billion, 20-station Green Line will open this fall to shuttle riders through the Deep Ellum arts and entertainment district and transport revelers to the State Fair of Texas in Fair Park. Currently, the Green Line project is the longest light-rail project under construction in North America. The finished Green Line, which will also service Love Field Airport and the Dallas Market Center exhibitor facility, is scheduled to open in late 2010. Also under construction, DART’s Orange Line will extend direct service to an additional seven stations, including the Irving and Los Colinas business hubs (2011) and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (2013).
What’s New in Dallas
• The downtown Dallas Arts District is in the process of adding residential and commercial spaces, a performing arts center and an opera house to an area that already includes the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, the Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center. Last year, the US$125 million One Arts Plaza multiuse structure opened, the first of three such plazas that will include restaurants, retail and living spaces, business facilities, outdoor parks, fountains and Wi-Fi ready cafes.
• Dallas voters elected in early May to go forward with a publicly owned Dallas Convention Center hotel. The $500 million project will start once the economic climate is more favorable for the purchase of revenue bonds used to fund hotel construction.
Fun Facts
• Dallas’ gentrified south side is drawing droves of hip, young urban professionals and their tightly monitored recreation budgets with eats and art. Just a quick cab ride from downtown’s hotel and event facilities, Oak Cliff’s Bishop Arts District houses art and antique galleries, shops and salons, and a variety of appealing dining experiences from tapas bars and sushi to vegan burritos and fashion-forward Texas roadhouse steaks. Tell your cab driver to swing by the Texas Theatre (231 West Jefferson Blvd.), where Dallas police apprehended Lee Harvey Oswald on Nov. 22, 1963. Oswald is believed by many to be former U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s assassin.