Texas Frightmare Weekend 2016

THE ULTIMATE HORROR FAN EXPERIENCE

This weekend, Morbidly Beautiful is headed to Dallas, Texas, for the 11^th Annual Texas Frightmare Weekend, “The Southwest’s Premier Horror Convention”. This will be my first year to attend TFW (as it’s known by attendees), an event that has arguably become the largest horror convention in the nation.

The incredible folks at TFW were kind enough to provide us a couple of press passes to cover all the genre goodness this weekend. Looking at the jam-packed three-day schedule — including panels, screenings, special events, workshops, celebrity guests and horror memorabilia vendors — the biggest challenge will be attempting to see and do a fraction of all the event offers.

This year’s line-up of over 50 celebrity guests at TFW is impressive, to say the least. With so many horror legends and icons in attendance, fans will be hard-pressed to narrow down their list of essential autographs, photographs, and star encounters.

Topping my list is George A. Romero, making a rare convention appearance. The amount of respect and admiration I have for this maestro of horror is hard to articulate, and the opportunity to meet him is truly remarkable. The filmmaking legend will be joined by Howard Sherman, who will appear in full “Bub” makeup for an exclusive photo op with Romero. Special effects wizard Tom Savini will also be there, and he’ll join Romero and Sherman for the not-to-be-missed Day of the Dead Retrospective panel.

In addition to the unbelievable Day of the Dead reunion, horror fans can look forward to meeting and taking pics with several cast members from one of my favorite films, Halloween 2 (including the great Dick “The Shape” Warlock), as well as Return of the Living Dead.

I’ll be attending with my 13-year-old son, an aspiring filmmaker and Morbidly Beautiful staff writer. At the top of his ‘must meet’ list is one of his idols, the industry pioneer and cult movie icon Charles Band (founder of Wizard Video and Full Moon Entertainment, CEO of Full Moon Features).

There are too many other amazing guests to name them all, but some of the highlights include Kane Hodder, Robert Englund, Tony Todd, Danielle Harris, Rose McGowan, Heather Langenkamp, Matthew Lillard, Traci Lords and Peter Kriss.

More than just a star-studded affair, TFW boasts a killer schedule of panels. Out of the 13 entertaining panels taking place over the course of the event, there isn’t one I’m not extremely interested in. One of the definite highlights for me includes the Remembering Wes Craven panel with Robert Englund, Matthew Lillard, David Arquette, Skeet Ulrich, Heather Langenkamp, Amanda Wyss, Mitch Pillegi and Miko Hughes. There’s also an amazing Fatal Femmes panel with some of the genre’s most iconic actresses and scream queens.

Texas Frightmare weekend is presented in association with FANGORIA Magazine. And the awesome team at Fangoria will also be presenting several incredibly interesting panels on a variety of topics, including Horror Stunts with Kane Hodder and Dick Warlock. My son and I are especially excited for the Rags, Records and Blu-Rays discussion, featuring guests from Severin Films, Alamo Drafthouse and Vinegar Syndrome discussing the importance of physical media in a digital world.

As if all that wasn’t enough, there are also the amazing screenings. In addition to a couple of older classics, the following new indie films will be screening at the convention: Getting Schooled, Mortal Remains, Trophy Heads, Bite, Last Girl Standing, American Guinea Pig: Bloodshock, Dead Body, and Daylight’s End, as well as a special sneak preview of Hairmetal Shotgun Zombie Massacre: The Movie and a surprise secret screening.

We plan to see as many of these as we can, so stay tuned to the site for reviews coming soon.

As both an obsessive horror fan AND a Texas girl, I’m thrilled to have a genre convention of this size and stature in my home state… and equally elated by the event’s reputation for featuring the rising talents of many Texas “Frightmakers” in screenings, panel discussions and Q & As.

Stay tuned to our social media channels for regular convention updates during the event, and be sure to keep an eye out for more detailed updates on our site immediately following the event. We can’t wait, y’all!