By Jason Harris
The 11th Annual Rock & Shock has come to an end. It was another great year with celebrities, authors, books, and fans.
The 11th Annual Rock & Shock has come to an end. It was another great year with celebrities, authors, books, and fans.
Books & Boos will be sharing space with Fenham Publishing this weekend at Rock & Shock, which runs from Oct. 17 through 19. Publisher Jim Dyer will be representing Fenham Publishing and author Stacey Longo will be on-hand to sign her books (Secret Things, Insanity Tales) at the Books & Boos table. Longo is also a movie reviewer and writer for Jason Harris Promotions. She will be on the Writing panel with Joe Knetter at 12 p.m. on Saturday.
The 11th Rock & Shock is less than two weeks away and the organizers have brought horror fans another great line-up this year. Some names fans will recognize celebrities such as Tom Savini, Brad Dourif, Roddy Piper, Derek Mears, and Sid Haig. There are also new ones to the convention such as Sharknado and American Pie star Tara Reid and Jeffrey Combs (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Enterprise)
Celebrities who had to cancel their appearances last year are back on the guest list for this year and they are Andrew Divoff (Wishmaster) and John Ratzenberger ( Cheers and the Toy Story movies).
Check out the guest list here.
Once again, there will be authors, publishers, and bookstores at the convention. Authors include Bram Stoker award-winner L.L Soares, Joe Knetter, Stacey Longo, Tim J. Finn, and Bracken MacLeod. Knetter and Longo will be participating on a writer’s panel at 12 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18, with a few other authors. Publishers and bookstores include Fenham Publishing and Books & Boos respectively.
Rock & Shock takes place at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA. from Oct. 17th through the 19th.
Once more, I got to travel to another world or a lot of them, by attending Granite State ComiCon, organized by Double Midnight Comics. I was one of two authors at the Books & Boos table. The other author at the table being Stacey Longo. We were signing books for fans, new and old.
It was an amazing time at a well-run con, with thousands of fun people enjoying themselves and sharing their special likes of comics, TV shows, books, films, graphic novels, games, and cultural icons of all sorts.
You get to see people like The New England Brethren of Pirates.
The Ghostbusters of New Hampshire 
The New England garrison of the 501st Legion.
All three groups make appearances to help raise money for charities. These people put a lot of time and effort into their outfits and shows, and they deserve a big hand for what they do.
You get to see celebrities, like Sam Jones (of Flash Gordon and Ted fame) and tough-guy actor William Forsythe, both of whom were
extremely gracious and kind to the fans. You also see the people behind the voices of your favorite animated characters such as Richard Horvitz, who voices Zim in Invader Zim, .
You get to meet writers such as Gordon Bean, Rob Watts, Katherine Silva, and Scott Goudsward, who are all members of the New England Horror Writers.
Author Matthew Bartlett, another NEHW member, was also signing books at the organization’s table.
Besides the NEHW and Longo, Chris Philbrook, another author, had his own table at the convention.

Author Chris Philbrook.
During my time at the convention, I also met author John Murphy, who was recently heard on the Sci-fi Saturday Night podcast. I can’t wait to hear their interviews with the cast members of Game of Thrones.
Speaking of which, lots of folks were Game of Thrones cosplaying to honor the cast members who were there.

Arya of Game of Thrones.

Arya of Game of Thrones.
Miltos Yeramelou (Syrio on GoT) hosted a Water Dancing class to teach beginning fencers. I watched some of it, and thought it superb– and I’ve been a fencer for over 35 years.
You get to see about every superhero and supervillain you can think of.
And many other costumes. A guy who plays Mr T. emceed the huge costume contest. I sure wouldn’t want to judge that one, because there are so many
cool costumes, it would be too hard to choose a winner!
Two days of fun, and we just saw a small part of it. It’s a total experience, with panels, parties, and participation.
Haunted Acres is New England’s most exciting haunted attraction, with Maniac’s Midway, live bands, a beer garden, and lots of food and ride vendors.

Mr. T with author Stacey Longo, holding her book Secret Things.

Me with author Rob Watts.

Disney Princesses.

Performers from Fright Kingdom.

Ryan Emerson and Brandon Upson of Vinegar Syndrome.

Authors Stacey Longo and G. Elmer Munson at the Books & Boos table.
Books & Boos, which closed its physical location at the end of May, is continuing to do events like it was doing when the bookstore was still open. This weekend will give people two opportunities to visit the traveling bookstore.
The first opportunity to visit the bookstore will be Saturday at the Connecticut Horrorfest. Along with used books, people will be able to meet authors Stacey Longo and G. Elmer Munson and get them to sign one of their books. The horrorfest takes place at the Courtyard Waterbury Marriott located at 63 Grand Street in Waterbury, CT. It runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The second opportunity happens on Sunday when Books & Boos takes part in the Open Air Market and Festival at the Wadsworth Mansion in Middletown, Connecticut. This will be the bookstore’s second appearance at this event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Wadsworth Mansion is located at 421 Wadsworth St. in Middletown, CT. Longo will also be signing her books at this event as well. She is joined by authors Dan Foley, Dale T. Phillips, and Joseph Ross.

Actors Mark Dodson (Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Gremlins) and Orli Shoshan (Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith)
For more information on the Southcoast Toy and Comic Show, click here.
The New England Authors Expo will be attended by authors, artists, booksellers, publishers, and many more guests, companies and organizations, which makes it the perfect time for readers to meet and talk to authors and others in the publishing world about books and the written word. For an entire list of who will be there, click here.
Some of the authors and artists in attendance are Stacey Longo, Rob Watts, Dale T. Phillips, Vlad V., Michele McPhee, Nicholas Conley, Eric Dimbleby, Guntis Goncarovs, Edith Maxwell, Ursula Wong, A.J. Kane, and S.L. Johnson.
The bookseller, Books & Boos, will also be in attendance selling used and new books. There will be a few authors at its table. The authors are Longo, Michael Evans, and Kurt Newton.
The Expo operates from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. and takes place in the Harborview Ballroom at the Danversport Yacht Club. The yacht club is located at 161 Elliott Street (Rt. 62) in Danvers, MA. There will be a free gift bag to the first 100 visitors. This event is FREE.
You can follow the Expo on its Facebook page here or on Twitter (@neauthorexpo).
Rock & Shock is getting ready to turn it up to 11! In anticipation of the 11th anniversary of the horror and music convention that brings 3 days of monsters, music and mayhem to downtown Worcester, MA, Rock & Shock is giving the public an extra early sneak peak at this year’s attendees. While there are still plenty of big name acts yet to be divulged, Rock & Shock is pleased to announce that among this year’s guests will be Brad Dourif, John Ratzenberger, Jeffrey Combs, Nivek Ogre and Fiona Dourif. Meanwhile, King Diamond, Machine Head and Twiztid are among some of the convention’s scheduled performers.
Brad Dourif, the voice of everyone’s favorite flame-haired doll turned serial killer Chucky will be making a rare convention appearance at Rock & Shock 2014. Dourif is a legendary character actor who is best known for his appearances in Rob Zombie’s Halloween 1 & 2, The Exorcist III, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers & The Return of the King, Dune, TV’s Deadwood and his breakthrough role as Billy Bibbit in Milos Forman’s 1975 classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. To make the event a true family affair, Dourif will be joined by his real life daughter and True Blood star Fiona Dourif. Fiona’s other screen credits include Curse of Chucky, Deadwood and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Academy Award nominated film The Master.
He has danced with the stars, voiced some of your favorite cartoon characters and even fought for the Rebel Alliance and this October, Cheers‘ very own John Ratzenberger will be returning to the place where everybody knows his name. In addition to portraying Cliff Clavin, postal worker extraordinaire on the seminal Boston-based TV series Cheers, Ratzenberger has appeared in films such as Motel Hell and House 2: The Second Story, competed on Dancing With the Stars and has become the voice of Pixar. Ratzenberger is, in fact, the only actor to voice for a character in every Pixar film; most notably Hamm the Piggy Bank in the Toy Story series, The Abominable Snowman in Monsters, Inc. and Mack the Truck in the Cars.
A legend in both the horror and sci-fi communities, Jeffery Combs will be making his triumphant return to Rock & Shock this year. Combs first made his name as Herbert West, the main character in Re-Animator and it’s two subsequent sequels. He followed that up with appearances in several classic horror films including The Frighteners, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, House on Haunted Hill, FeardotCom and most recently, Would You Rather. However, science-fiction fans will best know Combs for his portrayals of several characters within the Star Trek universe, most notably the Vorta clone Weyoun on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Rounding out the early announcements is Skinny Puppy and ohGr frontman Nivek Ogre. Since forming Skinny Puppy in 1982, Ogre has wowed audiences as both a musician and an actor, appearing in films such as Repo! The Genetic Opera, 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams and The Devil’s Carnival.
Speaking of world renowned musicians, this year’s performers are set to include: King Diamond, who will kick-off the event’s pre-party on Thursday, October 16, Machine Head, Children of Bodom, Epica and Battlecross, who will be rocking the Palladium stage on Friday, October 17 and Twiztid, back by popular demand with their Fright Fest festivities and scheduled to close out the event on Sunday, October 18. A very special guest headliner for Saturday is set to be announced in August, so let the speculation begin!
Tickets for Rock & Shock 2014 go on sale this Friday, June 27th at 10am and may be purchased at ticketfly.com, FYE stores or at the Palladium box office. There are still plenty of celebrity guests, musical acts and events yet to be announced so make sure to follow Rock & Shock on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram and visitrockandshock.com.
WWE superstar Kane was on hand at TerrorCon at the Rhode Island Convention Center on Sunday, June 8 to meet fans and participate in a Q & A session with a packed crowd in attendance. Glenn Jacobs, who is the man behind Kane’s mask, was friendly, personable, and humble as he answered questions from the audience.
The first question from the moderator was about a failed character from Jacobs’s past, the ill-fated Isaac Yankem, DDS. Notorious for not liking to discuss this past gimmick, Jacobs did admit that he felt the personality’s failure was “mostly my fault. I didn’t like [the character], and it showed.” Jacobs was next asked who his favorite opponents have been over the years. His response listed some of the most well-known faces in wrestling from the past two decades, including The Undertaker, Mick Foley, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Shawn Michaels.
One fan in the audience asked Jacobs about his reputation in the wrestling locker room as one of the “safest” opponents to face. Jacobs shrugged and explained “it’s mostly just about being a professional. You want to stay safe and keep your opponent safe.”
Jacobs was asked to reflect on his character’s evolution over the past 17 years. “Most guys go out to the ring doing the same thing night after night,” he said with a smile. “Kane’s different. He’s been able to evolve and develop as a character. I think it keeps him interesting.” He recalled different phases of Kane’s career, including a time when Kane had to use a voice box to communicate and when the Big Red Machine’s mask first came off. “It was hot under that mask,” he admitted. When asked who made the decision to unmask Kane, Jacobs said “two people: me and Vince [McMahon, WWE CEO].”
Jacobs fielded the questions from fans with good humor and grace. When one audience member asked him to comment on a current storyline about the Shield and Evolution, a storyline Kane is not involved in, he responded kindly: “I think it was a surprise, and that’s what you want, right?” Another fan asked about Kane’s experience getting Pete Rose in a Tombstone pile driver at WrestleMania 14 in 1998. “Pete Rose is like us,” Jacobs laughed. “He doesn’t take himself too seriously. I was just surprised when the crowd started cheering me.”
After the Q & A session, fans lingered to shake Jacobs’s hand and thank him for the opportunity to talk to him. “The best part about this business is you guys, the fans,” Jacobs said humbly, which is yet more evidence showing why Kane continues to be a fan favorite among wrestling patrons of all ages.