I have been going to horror conventions and other "fan" conventions for about 16 years now.  When I first started going, they were not really a "thing" yet, and most people who attended were hardcore fans of whatever genre the convention was based around.  Horror fans at horror conventions, Star Trek & Star Wars fans at sci-fi conventions, etc.

Back then, very few guests charged for autographs, and they never charged to take table photos with them.  Over the years, things started to change, especially with the Internet and the advent of sites like Ebay.  Dealers figured out they could make money, and would show up at cons with stacks of 8x10s and other memorabilia for the guests to sign.  Eventually, the guests caught on, and figure that if someone was going to make money on their likeness and signature, it might as well be them.

Well, lo and behold, suddenly "agents" and "managers" came along, and they learned that they could make a cut on this (mostly) cash business, and the dawn of the "convention as big business" era was upon us.

Now, mind you, there had been "big" shows, like Fangoria Weekend of Horrors and the Creation Entertainment shows that were out there for a while, but these were not the norm.  These were the bigger shows that had the bigger stars, and everyone knew that these conventions would be pricier, and we had no problem with that.  There were enough other conventions out there to keep those of us who did not want to shell out big ticket prices happy.

This brings us to where we are today.  Fan conventions truly are big business, with guests charging ever higher prices for autographs and photo ops at their tables, and the latest travesty to hit over the last few years, the "professional photo op" where, for a significant price of course, you can have your photo taken with your favorite star, by a professional photographer!  Yay!  They will even print out the photo for you the same day, and sometimes even within minutes!  You line up ahead of time with hundreds of other people, get ushered into the photo room, stand next to your favorite guest for about 2.7 seconds, just enough time for the flash to go off, and they you're ushered out the opposite door.  Sometimes they'll even throw in a cool background or something like that.  ALL of this, for (from what I have seen) an average price of about $80, sometimes a lot more if it's a group or cast photo.

Finally, we get to my favorite.....the VIP ticket!  Convention promoters figured out that there are a lot of fans that are willing to pay top dollar for preferential treatment.  They are willing to pay hundreds of dollars for the right to get to the front of an autograph line, or front row seats at a panel.  Oh, they do get some cool goodies like a t-shirt and, the best of all, a special lanyard to go around their next, advertising their VIP status for all to see!

Now, I do not have a problem with this.  I really don't.  People can spend their hard earned money any way they see fit.  Here'my my thing though.  We are now at a point where a certain convention promotion has top VIP package prices of $700 and $1,400!  WHAT IN THE HOLY HELL IS THAT ALL ABOUT????  For $1,400, I don't just want to meet a cast member from Doctor Who, I want a role on an upcoming episode!  Are people really paying this??

Here's what I hate about this.  People don't seem to realize they are being bamboozled.  There are a lot of convention "newbies" out there, who think that high ticket prices, and high autograph/photo op prices are the norm.  These are people who had never been to a fan convention before, who are watching popular shows like "The Walking Dead", "Sons of Anarchy" and "Doctor Who" and want to meet their favorite stars from these shows, and they are willing to shell out a lot of money.  However, in my opinion, they are being fleeced.

The convention promoters know how popular these shows and these characters are.  They will see you a "regular" ticket, and tell you that, if you get there early, and are willing to wait in long lines, you "might" be able to meet your favorite star, but there's no guarantee.  However, if you are willing to shell out top money for a VIP ticket, we will guarantee you a spot in the front of the line!  Well, isn't that nice of them?  All of this for the price of either $700, or for extra special PLATINUM status, you can pay $1,400.

Now, to be fair, the $1,400 price gets you some other perks, like a 'personal guide' and line jumps to the front of all the guest lines (once per guest), but it's FOURTEEN HUNDRED FREAKING DOLLARS!

Where does this madness end?  I get that the top stars have high guarantees, and the convention promoters need to make money, but this is getting ridiculous, yet the fans keep paying.  They seem to be willing to shell out just about any amount of money to meet the stars of their favorite shows.  At what point are the fans going to just walk away?  Personally, I don't see it happening any time soon.  There are too many people showing up to these cons and willing to shell out this kind of money.  I personally have no problem telling a guest, or their handler, "Sorry, but that's too much," and just walking away.  The sun will rise just fine the next day without that autograph.  Like anything, it's supply and demand, and when the fans stop paying, maybe these prices will come down to earth.  I remain hopeful....

​The Horror Nerd

As I write this, the "mid-season premiere of season 6 of "The Walking Dead" has just aired on February 14th.  What a fitting show to rev back up on Valentine's Day, what with all the red stuff flowing so freely!


So, what did I think of the episode?  As I was watching it, my first thought was "Wow!"  Each scene was so well done.  There we so many  moments of tension and then action, and then little character driven moments.  The entire episode was excellent.  I have only one "fear" if you will, which I will discuss as soon as I say....

THERE MIGHT BE SPOILERS AHEAD.  IF, AS YOU READ THIS, YOU HAVE NO SEEN THE EPISODE, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER.  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

There, now that I got THAT out of the way.....  My biggest worry about this episode is that AMC may have given us so much action, and so many character deaths and changes, that if, heaven forbid, the next few episodes are involve more exposition and character development than action, the notoriously fickle Walking Dead fans will, as they always do, complain that the show is "boring".  Die hard fans of the show, especially those who read the comics, understand that the show is NOT a "zombie show".  It's a human drama that happens to take place during a zombie apocalypse, and they just don't hold back on any of the gore an violence.  There are many issues of the comics where not much really happens, and the writers spends a lot of time developing the characters so that later, when shit goes down, we can understand their actions and motivations a little better.  Whenever this happens on the show, the next day, social media explodes with people whining about how boring the episode is.   I guess this is just typical of the short attention span audiences seem to have today.

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The episode itself WAS filled with many great, action-filled moments.  I won't give anything away unnecessarily, but suffice to say that there was a lot of zombie munching going on, along with a heavy dose of human-on-human violence, which further reinforces the show's overreaching theme of "Fight the dead, fear the living."  The walkers simply do what they do.  There are no calculations on their part.  The humans inhabiting this new world though are what everyone should really be worried about.  This is further proved when we finally encounter some of Negan's gang.  Personally, I loved the leader of this group.  He was threatening in a mild way, and he was very funny.  As far as I am concerned, he had the best line of the series so far when he said, "If you have to eat shit, it's best not to nibble.  Bite, chew, swallow, repeat."  I LOVED it!!  I cannot wait for Negan to see how they are going to handle the first meeting, and I am looking forward to see how closely the show runners will stick to the source material. 

Speaking of which, I thought this mid-season finale did a great job as far as using the source material correctly.  There were some scenes and shots that were lifted almost directly from the comics, and there were some departures that made perfect sense.  One particular scene involving Carl was, I thought, handled extremely well, and I am looking forward to seeing how that plays out going forward.
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As much as I love the show, there are always things that I can critique about it.  There are no perfect shows, and "The Walking Dead" is no exception.  One of the biggest things that is driving me crazy is what I feel to be the writers overuse of the "Let's put a character or characters in mortal danger, where all hope seems to be lost, only to have some last second, Dues Ex Machina event happen to save them."  They use it all the time, and they did it at least twice in the mid-season premiere. 
For me, this "will they die or won't they" ploy is getting a little tiresome.  I understand trying to build tension, and part of the show's formula is that you never know who is going to die and who isn't.  I just think that this particular technique is getting overused.

Overall, I still think that "The Walking Dead" is one of the best shows on television.  Yes, it's open to criticism, as ANY form of entertainment is.  I just want fans to realize that having a show like this, with it's massive audience, is good for genres like this, as studios realize that they are money makers.  When I see people complaining about horror becoming mainstream, I just want to scratch my head.  Isn't that what we horror fans have been fighting for?  For horror to become a respected genre?  

In closing, I will repeat something that I have said many times.  I do not grasp the incredible level of "hate watching" this show seems to inspire.  Every Sunday night/Monday morning, my social media feeds are filled with posts where people complain about how much the show sucks.   Why in the world would you continue to watch something you claim to hate?  WAIT!  I know!  It's so you can seem edgy and cool, I forgot.

Anyway, that's all for now.  Thanks, as always, for reading!!

-The Horror Nerd

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