By Jason Harris



















Michael and Diego Mongue, the creators of Awesome Robot.
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.
Vermont Comic Con, the first ever comic con in Vermont, took place at the Sheraton Hotel in Burlington over the weekend. The two-day convention was a huge success and will happen again next year, but on Labor Day weekend.
Comic book writer Brandon Barrows.
Writer Jeremy Holt.
Authors T.T. Zuma and Stacey Longo.
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.
Massachusetts prepares for the 10th anniversary of the Rock and Shock Horror and Music convention series this weekend (October 18th – 20th) with a lineup of sinister guests, musical acts and events that cannot be missed!
This year’s celebrity guests include Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger of Nightmare on Elm Street), Robert Patrick (Terminator 2, The X-Files), Gunnar Hansen (Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Michael Rooker, Scott Wilson, Lew Temple and IronE Singleton (of The Walking Dead), cast and crew from Sharknado, the cast of Holliston and many more!
Rock and Shock’s show floor offers so much more than awesome celebrity guests and isle after isle of incredible vendors.
Tickets are available now at http://rockandshock.com/tickets/ with options from VIP to show attendee.
Rock & Shock may be a dream come true for horror and music lovers alike but this year, the nightmare returns. We are pleased to officially announce that Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund, will be slashing his way back to Worcester, Massachusetts as part of Rock & Shock’s 10th annual event.
Englund is bestknown for the groundbreaking horror role of Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street series; having brought the role to life nine times on the big screen as well as in countless TV, video game and even musical performances. In addition to his iconic role, he has most notably appeared in the films Eaten Alive (1977), Strangeland (1998), Urban Legend (1998), Hatchet (2006), Behind the Mask: the Rise and Fall of Leslie Vernon (2006), Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer (2007) and Inkubus (2011), which held it’s premiere at Rock & Shock two years ago. His latest work,Sanitarium, recently won the Audience Award at the San Antonio Film Festival.
Englund will be joining previously announced Rock & Shock guests Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The X-Files), Michael Rooker (The Walking Dead, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer), Jordan Ladd (Cabin Fever, Death Proof), Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps, American Mary), Lew Temple (The Devil’s Rejects, The Walking Dead) and IronE Singleton (The Walking Dead) . For a complete list of attendees or for more information about this event, visit http://www.rockandshock.com.
Rock and Shock will be taking place October 18-20, 2013at the DCU Center (http://www.dcucenter.com) and The Worcester Palladium (http://thepalladium.net) in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Actor Tony Moran portrayed the 23-year-old Michael Myers in the original Halloween (1978).
He had a great time on the movie and compares John Carpenter to a computer because of the way he had every shot planned out.
“We never shot more than three shots for every scene,” Moran said. “He was pretty amazing.”
He considers Jamie Lee Curtis, his Halloween co-star, “really cool and really good.”
“[She] was a down to Earth chick.”
When asked if there were any scenes filmed that didn’t make it into the movie, Moran didn’t know of any.
Moran was asked to be in the sequel, but turned it down.
“I didn’t want to wear a mask,” Moran said about his reason for turning down the sequel.
The mask was uncomfortable and “really hot,” he said.
“You couldn’t breathe through it. The only holes through it were for the eyes.”
When asked how long he was in the mask on a typical day, he replied. “It seemed like forever.”
Moran received credit in the sequel since footage from the original was used in it, he said.
He doesn’t plan on seeing Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake.
“It’s a remake of me so I won’t watch it.”
Moran is proud to have portrayed the character of Michael Myers
and wouldn’t want to be known for Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees, two other horror icons from Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th fame, respectively. He states “Halloween started it all …”
Moran has added producer to his resume when he took on that job when a guy messaged him on Myspace and sent him a script for Beg, a short film. It’s now a full-length movie starring his friend Tony Todd, P.J. Soles, and Michael Berryman, who he got to be in the movie. Debbie Rochon is also in Beg.
He would love to work with director Martin Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro.
“They are brilliant.”
Moran will be appearing at The Nightmare Factory, located at 2 Museum Place Mall in Salem, MA. from Friday through Sunday.
Rock and Shock is getting better and better. I was happy to be there on Saturday and Sunday. The NEHW organization fits in well at this convention. It was fitting that Robert Englund, the original and best portrayer of Freddy Krueger, was at this year’s convention. He was always my favorite horror movie actor.
It was great seeing the people of different ages walking the convention. There were young and old people walking between the booths in the dealer’s room. There were people wearing different movie t-shirts, but some even went further and dressed up in costumes.
These costumed attendees gravitated to the NEHW booth to hang out with the authors.
A horror fan brought two different conventions together within his costume when he created a zombie Stormtrooper.
When groups of horror fans weren’t meeting horror icons, they were walking through the dealer’s room looking for a copy of Evil Dead: The Musical or that cool looking movie related t-shirt like Children of the Corn or the original Piranha.
One dealer, Joe, has taken his love of movies and started a glass business, Glass by Joe. He has been working with stained glass for three years. He creates glass works of films like Ghostbusters and Jaws. He has also put the image of Freddy Krueger on stained glass.
Joe has even been commissioned by Kane Hodder, who has portrayed Jason Voorhees in a number of Friday the 13th movies, to create two pieces. Joe’s website is www.glassbyJoeo.com. Along with movie images, he also does landscapes, movie posters, and portraits to name a few.