One of the largest horror conventions in the USA is Texas Frightmare Weekend, which I’ve been going to every year for quite a few years. It’s a massive convention, so it was refreshing when I first heard about the Houston Horror Film Fest that would be happening near me and hoped that it would be a much smaller and more intimate experience. I’ve visited a few of their pop up markets over the years, and then went to the full fledged event last year once everything started opening up again after the lockdowns.
The Houston Horror Film Fest takes place at the Marriott in Westchase, so I booked a room for Friday through Sunday at their discounted event rate. On a side note, when I first checked into my room around 2pm, I looked out the window and noticed that Tom Atkins was in the lobby beneath my room. I was still getting some work done, so I didn’t go down there and bother him, but he was definitely on my list of celebrities to meet that weekend.
Friday in the evening wasn’t too crowded, and I met all of the celebrities that were on my “must see” list. This was Tom Atkins and Robert Brian Wilson (Billy from Silent Night Deadly Night). Both of these guys were really friendly. I had met both of them at Texas Frightmare Weekend over the years, but had new things that I wanted them to sign. This included the Silent Night Deadly Night comic book line for Robert, and then the Creepshow comic for Tom Atkins. One of my favorite lines that Tom Atkins has from Creepshow, is when he tells his son “I told you to stop buying this crap!” Naturally, I had Tom write it on the comic book, which you can see in the photo above.
Although I don’t buy a lot of horror merchandise, since I hate to store a lot of things at my house, I did buy a limited edition poster for The House By the Cemetery, which is one of my favorite films. There were so many vendors there offering a lot of cool stuff, but there were not very many panels at the convention, since the actor’s and writer’s strikes are still in progress. I sat through a few of the feature films and short films, with my favorite being The Barn Part 2 (definitely worth a watch). I’ll definitely be back for Houston Horror Film Fest 2024 and look forward to it.
