World’s Worst Photos from Festival of Fear

This past weekend I visited Toronto’s Rue Morgue Festival of Fear. The event drew a huge number of vendors and fans — definitely the biggest comic-con type event I’ve attended. I spent a lot of money and witnessed a lot of fan adulation. It was a pretty good time, though I think in the future I should shift my focus to film festivals rather than fan conventions like this one. I’m interested in promoting my film projects and meeting other indie artists, not getting autographs from Malcolm McDowell and Jonathan Frakes.

Looking through my photos is kind of depressing. I didn’t take a lot, but the ones I did take are mostly blurry and too dim. Someday I’ll have to get a proper camera.

Here’s a few (barely) presentable snaps. I’ll have a proper report of all the folks I met in a future blog.

Security was tight, and the door police didn’t always speak english.

Want to wait in line for an autograph? No, neither did I. Actually, I’m not an autograph hound anyway. Let everyone else waste time in line — I’ve got panels to attend!

Some vendors stacked their inventory high. The main room was like a big, dimly lit warehouse. There were plenty of places to buy t-shirts and videos, but mostly things you can also buy online.

Italian director Dario Argento almost made sense. When he ran out of english, he grunted a lot. The audience seemed to understand. Moderator Chris Alexander managed to break in and ask a new question every ten minutes or so.

Dario loves everybody.

Charisma Carpenter (Buffy, Angel, Veronica Mars) was a bit stunned when she first took the stage.

When the moderator said “Everyone c’mon up and take your pictures now,” the response was downright frightening.

Friday night’s screening of Demons 2 was at The Royal, which looked suitably old school.

I guess it’s undergoing renovation. There were several holes like this with dangling wires. I felt right at home. Once inside, I was impressed with the lush seats and curtains. Sorry, no picture, as it was just too darn dark.

One of my first stops was at the sideshow of Fiendish Curiosities. Does that skull have three eye sockets?

Cyclops kitty.

The head of a yeti.

The remains of a winged baphomet. Past owners supposedly include Aleister Crowley and H.P. Lovecraft!

The Fan Expo was for fans of sci-fi, anime, video games, and comics, not just horor. The 501st is a group of Star Wars fans who love to show off their costumes.

Someday I’ll have to finish my own Tusken Raider outfit.

A blurry clone trooper becomes a piece of abstract art.

Who knew that there’d be so many Reboot fans dressed up? Check out the Fong!