Horrorhound Weekend March 2010

Horrorhound Weekend March 26-28 in Indianapolis Indiana. I had the extreme pleasure of attending the March 2010 Horrorhound Weekend. Like always Horrorhound Weekend was a blast and it's probably my favorite convention to attend. This is one of the biggest and best horror conventions you could attend. It says it's the biggest horror event to invade the Mid-West and they're right, hell this might be the biggest horror convention in the US period.

This isn't just a normal meet and greet horror convention where after a couple hours of getting signatures on the first day you're bored, it's the exact opposite. There's so much stuff going on that at times you have to give up one thing to go to another. All weekend long there were film screenings, Q & A panels with everyone imaginable, a mask fest, a horror host tribute, after parties, concerts, costume contests, etc.

As for the guests there were some of the biggest and best names in horror, Clive Barker, George Romero, Doug Bradley, Tom Savini, Greg Nicotero, just to name a few. The list of guests this year was incredible. All the guests were super nice and most seemed more excited to meet the fans than the fans were to meet them. One of the best things, to me, is passing or meeting up with the guests in the hotel unexpectedly. It's later at night and you're back in your hotel going to get ice or something and you run into one of the guests and stop and talk for a minute or two. That just shows how cool these people really are. In addition to all the big name guests there was also a horror host tribute to Vampira with around 100 horror hosts to celebrate the legend that is Maila Nurmi. Dark Carnival Film Festival is even coming out with a DVD that covers the event because it was so huge. They were all spread out through the event all weekend to take photos and sign autographs as well.

Most conventions usually go on about their after hours activities which usually include film screenings, an outdoor drive-in experience, or maybe even a late night Q & A and film showing, but Horrorhound always seems to try and top themselves with their after hours activities. This year on Saturday the after hours event featured a live concert from the world's greatest horror rock band Calabrese. They always put on one hell of a good show. They were also walking around the event all weekend signing stuff for people and they even had a merch table in the dealer room. The after hours activities are included for all weekend and gold pass members at no additional cost like some other conventions.

Aside from the convention itself there was also the HMA Maskfest in another ballroom. If you're into horror then odds are you're into Halloween and costumes, special effects make up, etc. The HMA Mask Fest celebrates all of these things. As you walk around the room it was full of artists showing off their newest mask or model they recently sculpted, give aways, artist and celebrity signings, screen used props, vintage Halloween decoration and costume displays, etc. This is an event in itself.

The vendor room at Horrorhound Weekend is always packed with quality vendors too, not just table after table of the guy selling bootleg horror films. There's quality artists and film makers mixed in along with some great companies selling everything from DVDs to horror soap (Yes I just said soap), to lamps made out of skulls, toys, shirts, you name it. If you collect anything, and even if you don't, there would definitely be something in the dealer room that you would spend money on. I also like the fact that they mix the celebrities in with everyone in the dealer room, it feels like a more complete convention going experience rather than having guests in one room and vendors in another.

All in all Horrorhound Weekend was great and I can't wait for their next event. My only problem was the event seemed too big for the place they had it, which technically isn't a bad thing. It means that Horrorhound Weekend is growing and getting better each event. If you haven't had the chance to attend Horrorhound Weekend then you're missing out.

For more information on Horrorhound Weekend and upcoming eventss visit their official website HERE, and their official Myspace page HERE.