Halloween in May? Halfway to Halloween!

You bet. Halloween in all its varied forms and sub genre’s is second only to Christmas in the American imagination, and pocketbook. So much goes into the 2-month season, that for many people it is a year round activity. For the Halloween hobbyist or amateur Haunter, this still means months of preparation on evenings and weekends devoted to making sure their latest projects are special. So early spring is when it all starts happening.

The NHC brings together professional haunters, Amateur home haunters, Halloween decorators, antique collectors, Horror film fans, and history buffs all under the one umbrella of the holiday.

While everyone knows about different conventions for different hobbies, no other convention offers this unique combination sure to appeal to a huge audience.

Convention activities will include a dealer’s room, masquerade ball, competitions, and trips to some of the best haunted attractions in the country. But what makes this event stand out for the public is the education section. Lecturers from around the country will be Professors for the weekend, so attendees can learn everything they need to get the most out of Halloween.

Classes in costumes, makeup, special effects, prop building, scenic design, and even scareology, will be taught by a staff that totals up hundreds of years of experience in their fields. These Halloween professors have experience in TV, Film, Stage, Music Videos, Ren Faires, Historical Re-enactments, and of course Haunted Houses and Attractions.

For more information - www.nationalhalloweenconvention.com

OPEN CALL FOR ENTRIES

SCREENPLAYS
SCREENPLAY SUBMISSIONS MUST BE A MINIMUM OF 75 PAGES.

TRAILERS
RUN TIME 10 SEC-3 MIN

SHORT FILM
Run time of between 1 and 59 minutes

FEATURE FILM
Run time of 60 minutes or longer

DOCUMENTARY - Run time of 60 minutes or longer

MUSIC VIDEO - Run time of between 1 and 59 minutes

MISSION & OBJECTIVE - We are looking for the next best thing in Horror.

“Paranoia” will soon be recognized as the world’s largest Horror Convention & Film Festival held aboard the World Famous Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. As a recognizable force in the genre of Horror, Paranoia’s goal is to find the next great thing in horror each and every year. We will be accepting submissions for full-length features, shorts films, screenplays, and trailers.

The Queen Mary Ship, one of the great Atlantic Liners, made her first voyage in 1936. Since that time she has completed 1,001 trips across the Atlantic, acted as a troop ship in World War II, and has been host to hundreds of thousands of passengers. Having experienced such a rich history, it seems only natural that the ship would be haunted.

Having experience and been related hundreds of deaths both on and off board while at sea in her active years, The Queen has become a hotbed of Paranormal activity becoming what experts say is now one of the top five most haunted places in the world! As a result, the location has become a destination place for more than 3 million people per year as they wander the ship in awe.

Throughout the vast ship (which is larger than the Titanic), passengers and visitors alike have seen and experienced strange things that they simply cannot explain. So rich in history and unexplained experiences, we ask where better for Paranoia to host its Horror festival than this unique, yet beautiful facility?

ORGANIZERS
James LaVitola (OTHER) ; Lisa Palley ; Matthew Gavin ; Shane Russeck

For more information - www.paranoiafest.com

The International Classic Monster Movie Conference and Film Festival - Celebrating the films of the silent era through the 1950s.

Presented by Scary Monsters Magazine and Creepy Classics Video & DVD!

What is the Monster Bash?

For more information - www.monsterbashnews.com

Designed by Haunters, for Haunters of every age and level of experience, HAuNTcon brings people together who love Haunted Houses and Halloween for a fun filled three days and nights of Haunter Education, Tours of Local Haunted Houses, a packed Tradeshow Floor, Hearse Show and an incredible Costume Ball!

A key component of HAuNTcon is education! Over 40 hours of seminars, workshops and demonstrations are included in the price of admission. Haunter education to help attendees learn new techniques on prop and set building, advertising amd marketing, and tips and tricks to make their lives easier and their attractions more successful.

The Tradeshow floor is filled with the latest in fright services and equipment for the professional Haunted House owner and Halloween enthusiast alike. From horror makeup and highly detailed masks to static props and large animatronic creatures, everything a Haunter needs will be for sale and many at wholesale prices.

“HAuNTcon is an opportunity for Haunters to network, share tips and stories, get fresh ideas, learn new ways of doing things and check out the latest in Haunting props,” explains Leonard Pickel, Editor of Haunted Attraction Magazine and HAuNTcon event coordinator. “It is the best money you can spend on your Haunted Event.”

Attendee and Exhibitor Registrations are available at www.hauntcon.com, as is a schedule of events for the weekend.

If you own a Haunted House or would like to find out how to get started in the Haunt business, then HAuNTcon is a “not to be missed” convention! Even if you just like Haunted Houses and Halloween, then you are in for a rare inside look at how major Haunted Attractions across the country scare millions of people each October. Go to www.hauntcon.com for more details.

Hauntcon 2009 - Friday Tradeshow Opening

Cinema Wasteland is kicking off their tenth year of celebrating everything the Drive-In and Grindhouse had to offer next April 9-11, 2010 with a ZOMBIE (aka Zombi 2) reunion and all around zombie themed show.

They already have Al Cliver, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson and Ottaviano Dell’acqua (the worm-eyed zombie himself) from the Lucio Fulci cult classic ready to go for the next show and plan on adding a few more cast and crew members as they confirm. There are also have a few returning “zombie” guests like Bill Hinzman and Kyra Schon from NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD; Sharon Ceccatti-Hill and Jim Krut from DAWN OF THE DEAD, as well as actor/effects master Tom Savini ready to go for next April’s show.

The event and film schedules will be available soon.

Cinema Wasteland 2009 Video Tour

For more information - www.cinemawasteland.com

Burbank Airport Marriott
2500 Hollywood Way
Burbank, California

“The Art of Monsters” convention. MONSTERPALOOZA will feature seminars and presentations related to the world of monsters & special f/x direct from the artists behind the field of magic.

Video tour through the Monsterpalooza convention that was held at the Burbank Marriott Convention Center on May 29-31st.

For more information - www.rubberroom101.com/monsterpalooza2010

According to the synopsis, Lois asks Clark to help her land a job as an on-air television host, but the two are shocked when the station wants to hire them as a team. Executive Producer Brian Peterson made time to address the Clois dynamics with Daemon’s TV explaining that Lois is still very much in love with the Red-Blue Blur although she is starting to see Clark in a different way.

He said, “…Lois’s Achilles heel is that she’s always had a hero complex and she always falls for the bad boy hero or the hero, but she always falls for the hero. But here in front of her is probably the best guy that she’s ever going to meet in her life. So over the course of the season she’s falling even harder for Clark while still having that kind of pang of interest and mystery in this guy called The Blur.”

Clois aside, “Crossfire” will also focus on the arrival of Speedy. The character who is apt in archery will be played by Elise Gatien. Oliver tries to help her while she’s still identified as the street girl named Mia to get out of her dangerous life by offering to train her. However, Mia double crosses him.

Guests:

Bill Moseley
Fan favorite Bill Moseley returns to Crypticon. Bill has many great horror films on his resume starting with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Night of the Living Dead (1990), Army of Darkness, House of the 1000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects, Halloween (2007) and Repo! The Genetic Opera.

Margot Kidder
Famous for her portrayal of Lois Lane in the Superman movie series starring Christopher Reeves, she also has a horror movie past. First it was Black Christmas (1974) and then The Amityville Horror (1979). Margot also is in the upcoming Halloween 2 directed by Rob Zombie. SATURDAY and SUNDAY ONLY.

Ricou Browning
Ricou Browning, better known as “The Creature from the Black Lagoon,” appeared as the Creature in all 3 films doing all of the underwater scenes.  Later Ricou joined Ivan Tors Films as Second Unit Director and President of the Underwater Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, for such projects as “Aquanauts” and “Sea Hunt.” He also directed episodes of the television series Gentle Ben and directed the underwater segments that helped THUNDERBALL win the Academy Award for Special Visual Effects. Later he also directed the underwater segments for NEVER SAY NEVER AGIAN.

Joe Knetter
Horror author and Actor Joe has been busy with many movies in post-production, including “Thirsty” which we previewed at last years show. Other notable films coming are Terror Overload, and Monsterpiece Theatre Volume 1 & 2. 

Troy Holbrook
FX Artist, Horror Photographer and Cryptic Magazine writer returns to Crypticon.
Get a professional corpse makeover from the creator of Body Bag Trading Cards and don’t miss his FX Demo.
Watch for his FX work in the upcoming film “Cyrus”.

STEVE DASH
Before the hockey mask there was Steve Dash as Jason Voorhees, he was the 1st to play him as an adult in Friday the 13th part 2. He has also starred in the cult classic Ms. 45 and Night Hawks with Sylvester Stallone!

TONY MORAN
Tony played the unmasked Michael Myers in one of the greatest films of all time Halloween!!! Also played Michael Myers at age 21 in Halloween II
 
Scarlet Salem
Independent actress and model Scarlet Salem is one the busiest scream queens out there.
Her films include Terror Overload, Killer Biker Chicks, Pajama Party Massacre and the upcoming films Strip Club Slasher, Night Terrors and Hallow Pointe.
 
Charles Band
The Chairman and Founder of Full Moon Pictures has either produced, directed or executive produced over 250 films.
Such horror favorites as Re-Animator, From Beyond, Ghoulies, The Puppet Master series and the Subspecies series.
Don’t miss his Full Moon Road Show on saturday at 6pm.

Linnea Quigley
This Scream queen has been in lot’s of horror flicks but got her current nickname “Queen of the Bs” after playing Trash in the cult classic “Return of the Living Dead”. Other films she has worked on are - “Silent Night, Deadly Night”, “Night of the Demons”, “Creepozoids” and “Corpses Are Forever” to name a few.
 
Miguel A. Núñez Jr.
Miguel has been in a lot of films and is well know as Spider in “Return of the Living Dead”. Other films are “Friday the 13th: A New Beginning”, “Action Jackson”, “Scooby-Doo” and many more.
Don Calfa
Don’s career spans over 40 years in both film and TV but horror fans know him best for his portrayal of the Ernie in “Return of the Living Dead”.  Don has starred alongside some of cinema’s greats including, Warren Beatty in “Bugsy”, Michael Douglas in “The Star Chamber”, Jack Nicholson in “The Postman always rings twice” and was Paulie in “Weekend at Bernie’s” to name a few.

Ernie Hudson
Hudson is well know for his roles in “Ghostbusters” and “Ghostbusters 2”, as well as “The Crow” and “Congo”, but few know that he has a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. Also Hudson accepted the starring role of Jack Jefferson in the Minneapolis Theatre In The Round’s production of “The Great White Hope” in 1977, which led to guest roles on such television shows as “Fantasy Island”, “The Incredible Hulk”, “Little House on the Prairie”, “Diff’rent Strokes”, “Taxi”, “One Day at a Time”, “Gimme a Break!”, “The A-Team” and “Webster”.
 
ODB
From Total Nonstop Wrestling’s she is TNA Women’s Knockout Champion and MN gal ODB (One Dirty Bitch)!
She is on TV every Thursday night on spike TV.
 
Nick Mennell
Nick Mennll has the rare distinction of having shared the screen with Hollywood’s most iconic slashers: Michael Myers in Halloween (2007) and Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th (2009).

For more information - http://www.crypticonminneapolis.com

Flashback Weekend Chicago Horror Convention
October 23-25, 2009
WYNDHAM O’HARE
6810 N. Mannheim Road
Rosemont, Illinois

lashback Weekend is Chicago’s longest-running Horror Convention, as featured on both The E! True Hollywood Story and Anchor Bay’s THE EVIL DEAD Ultimate DVD Set!

That’s right - October! When better to celebrate All Things Horrific?

The annual Flashback Weekend Costume Contest and the Zombie Pinups Beauty Pageant sponsored by Sinister Visions inc. will be back as well as a huge Horror dealers room, awesome Horror celebrity guests, Halloween parties, the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE MUSICAL from Chad Wise and the NMTC, special events, great prize giveaways from HauntedHouseChicago.com and their presenting sponsor Anchor Bay Entertainment, special tours of Dream Reapers Haunted House and much more!

For the full schedule of events:

http://www.flashbackweekend.com/schedule.html

Celebrity Guests:

Robert Englund
The Original Freddy Krueger!
Author Of “Hollywood Monster: A Walk Down Elm Street With The Man Of Your Dreams”

Lance Henriksen
Near Dark, Aliens, Pumpkinhead, Millennium, Damien: Omen Ii

Jenette Goldstein
Near Dark, Aliens, Terminator 2

Tim Thomerson
Near Dark, Trancers 1-5, Dollman, Fade To Black

Tony Todd
Hatchet, Final Destination 1-3, Candyman, Dark Reel,
Night Of The Living Dead (1990), The Crow

Katharine Isabelle
Ginger Snaps 1-3, Freddy Vs. Jason

Emily Perkins
Ginger Snaps 1-3, Stephen King’s It

Mercedes Mcnab
Hatchet, Angel, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Thirst, Dark Reel, The Addams Family, Addams Family Values

Christa Campbell
2001 Maniacs, 2001 Maniacs: Beverly Hellbillys, Lies And Illusions (2009), Day Of The Dead (2008)

Kathryn Le
2001 Maniacs: Beverly Hellbillys

Charles Band
Full Moon Pictures Founder, The Puppet Master Series, The Subspecies Series

Tim Quill
Army Of Darkness, My Names Is Bruce, Spiderman 1-3

David Crawford
Dawn Of The Dead (1979)

Jason Paul Collum
October Moon, November Sun

For more information - www.flashbackweekend.com