By Jason Harris
The Cast of The Monster Squad.
There will be a second post with pictures from Rock & Shock 2015 coming in a few days.
There will be a second post with pictures from Rock & Shock 2015 coming in a few days.
Rock & Shock begins this coming Friday. I have always enjoyed going to and taking pictures at conventions. This year I’m looking forward to seeing authors Jack Ketchum, Joe Knetter, and Stacey Longo again. They have all attended the convention in the past.
The celebrity, who hasn’t been to Rock & Shock in the past and the one I’m looking forward, is Samantha Mathis. I have been a fan since her first movie, Pump Up the Volume. 
Lately, Mathis can be seen on the television series The Strain or the now canceled Under the Dome. You can find out about the other celebrities and events happening at Rock & Shock here.

I was happy to see that three actors from the 1987 movie, The Monster Squad, will be at this year’s Rock & Shock, which takes place Oct. 16 – 18. These actors are Stephen Macht, Duncan Regehr, and Michael Reid Mackay. Macht and Mackay play Del and The Mummy respectively. In the last few years, Macht has been in the television series, Suits and The Mentalist while Mackay has been in Insidious Chapter 3. 
The one I’m looking forward to meeting though is Regehr who portrayed Dracula in the movie. I have always loved The Monster Squad. Yes, it has its flaws, but to me they are easily overlooked because of my love of the movie. If you haven’t seen it or don’t own a copy, it is streaming on Netflix at the moment. I own a copy, but once it became available on the streaming service this past September, I watched it there as well.
Besides The Monster Squad, Regehr has been in a few favorite television shows of mine such as V: The Series and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I recently rewatched “The Begotten,” an episode of DS9, and it dawned on me that the same actor who portrayed Shakaar was also Dracula in The Monster Squad. I’m not sure if I’ve made that connection before. Before I started writing this post, I thought Regehr was on more than just three episodes of DS9.
So if you are a Star Trek or V fan, make sure to come to Rock & Shock to meet Regehr. Don’t me surprised if you see some V cosplay when you are attending Rock & Shock.
Vermont Comic Con held it’s second annual convention this past weekend. It was bigger and better than it’s first convention in 2014.
The 13th Annual Granite State Comic Con took place in Manchester, New Hampshire this past weekend. They had guest stars from the movies and television along with artists, authors, and cosplayers. It was a great weekend. Here is the first entry of pictures from the convention.

Artist Paul Ryan (The Phantom).
The 8th Connecticut ComiConn took place in the Mohegan Sun Convention Center this weekend. It was my first time attending this convention even though it has been going on in different locations in Connecticut over the last seven years. Read more on the Bleeding Cool website here. I have attended many conventions over the years and I have also been a vendor too. I can say I will be attending this one again next year, which happens Aug. 19 – 21, 2016 at Mohegan Sun under the name, TerrifiCon.

Author Stacey Longo with members of Kiss tribute band, Kiss Forever.
The 2nd Annual CT Horrorfest took place at The Matrix Conference Center in Danbury, CT. on July 18.

Authors Stacey Longo and Kristi Petersen Schoonover at the Books and Boos‘ table.
The Northeast Comic Con is happening this weekend at the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, MA. It ends on Sunday, June 21.

Author Matt ‘Matman’ Herring.

Author M.W. Schwartz.
If you missed this weekend’s convention, the next one takes place on December 5 and 6.