So....The Horror Nerd had the pleasure of attending the latest edition of NJ Horror Con & Film Festival, which was held from March 29th-31st at the Showboat Hotel in Atlantic City, NJ.
I am not going to lie, when this convention first started in March of 2017, I was a little bit apprehensive. I asked myself, "Do we really need a third, major convention here in New Jersey? Is this going to work?" Well, I am happy to announce that, not only did it work, but I have watched it grow over the last few years to become an excellent show, and a very positive convention experience. This is speaking both as a fan, as as someone who frequently attends various conventions and film festivals as a member of the press. NJ Horror Con continues to grow into a major show.
Once again, the convention was held at the Showboat hotel in Atlantic City, NJ. When the show moved from a hotel in Iselin, NJ down to AC, a lot of people were concerned in that it was moving so far south. Apparently, this is no longer an issue. According to event creator/promoter Ryan Scott Weber, attendance at this show was at an all-time high, with more than 3,000 attendees coming through the gates on Saturday alone.
I am not going to lie, when this convention first started in March of 2017, I was a little bit apprehensive. I asked myself, "Do we really need a third, major convention here in New Jersey? Is this going to work?" Well, I am happy to announce that, not only did it work, but I have watched it grow over the last few years to become an excellent show, and a very positive convention experience. This is speaking both as a fan, as as someone who frequently attends various conventions and film festivals as a member of the press. NJ Horror Con continues to grow into a major show.
Once again, the convention was held at the Showboat hotel in Atlantic City, NJ. When the show moved from a hotel in Iselin, NJ down to AC, a lot of people were concerned in that it was moving so far south. Apparently, this is no longer an issue. According to event creator/promoter Ryan Scott Weber, attendance at this show was at an all-time high, with more than 3,000 attendees coming through the gates on Saturday alone.
One thing that I was most happy to see this time around was a change to the layout of the show floor. This time, all of the attendees entered the show through the vendors area. This meant that everyone had to walk through the vendor tables to get to the celebrity area. This reason that this is so important to note is that a common complaint about convention merchandise vendors these days is that people show up at the con, and spend all or most of their money on autographs and photo ops before they even make it to the vendor rooms. At NJ Horror Con, everyone coming into the show was exposed to all of the amazing merchandise vendors, filmmakers and artists before they made it to the celebrity guest area. I thought this was a great move by Ryan and the NJ Horror Con staff, and, in speaking to many of the vendors, I found that they were pleased by this as well. Filmmaker Thomas Ryan stated that he did very well selling films at his filmmaker table (Theatre of Terror) and he noted that the sheer foot traffic moving past the table was a key factor.
Another great thing about the convention being in such a large space is that there was almost never any crowding. It was easy to spend time at each table looking at merchandise and chatting with vendors without having to worry about blocking the flow of traffic. For those of you that are not aware, the Showboat is currently just a hotel and expo center, and not a casino, which means that the show is laid out over approximately 100,000 square feet. This also makes it easy to stop for photo ops with many of the amazing cosplayers that were in attendance.
One final note about the sheer size of the show floor is that it also allows NJ Horror Con to host an astounding array of different vendors, filmmakers and artists. Any type of merchandise you could imagine was available. Collectibles, paintings, posters, DVDs.....you name it, it was there.
Another great thing about the convention being in such a large space is that there was almost never any crowding. It was easy to spend time at each table looking at merchandise and chatting with vendors without having to worry about blocking the flow of traffic. For those of you that are not aware, the Showboat is currently just a hotel and expo center, and not a casino, which means that the show is laid out over approximately 100,000 square feet. This also makes it easy to stop for photo ops with many of the amazing cosplayers that were in attendance.
One final note about the sheer size of the show floor is that it also allows NJ Horror Con to host an astounding array of different vendors, filmmakers and artists. Any type of merchandise you could imagine was available. Collectibles, paintings, posters, DVDs.....you name it, it was there.
The celebrity guest list this time around was interesting and varied. The "headliners" at this show were Lea Thompson and Tom Wilson of "Back to the Future" fame, and according to the fans I spoke to, they were both very kind and gracious to everyone. If the lines for each of them were any indication, they were a big hit. Two other big names at the show were professional wrestler Chris Jericho and legendary filmmaker Mick Garris. Chris was extremely popular with the fans, and he was friendly and witty. Mick actually managed to make me have a few fanboy moments over the weekend. He gave two talks about his career, both hosted by Chris Stiles, which were fascinating and informative. After each Q&A, he signed autographs for the eager fans and he pretty much made everyone's day. I've met a lot of celebrities in my travels to various conventions, and I have to honestly say that Mick was one of the best. He was so great with the fans that people were talking about it all weekend. A few other "big" names at the show were legendary actress Adrienne Barbeau ("Creepshow", "The Fog"), Zach Gallian ("Gremlins") and Richard Grieco ("21 Jump Street").
One thing I have to point out about NJ Horror Con is that Ryan Scott Weber and his staff always manage to have a great mix of guests, and there are always quite a few that I have not really seen at a lot of conventions. I can only speak for myself, but there are times when I do get a little tired of seeing the same guests and conventions over and over again. A few notables in the categories were Linden Porco ("Leprechaun Returns", "Cult of Chucky") in his first ever convention appearance, Harvey Spencer Stephens (Damien in "The Omen"), Vinny Appice and CJ Ramone. There was also a very cool "Pet Sematary" reunion featuring Denise Crosby, Dale Midkiff, Miko Hughes and Brad Greenquist.
One thing I have to point out about NJ Horror Con is that Ryan Scott Weber and his staff always manage to have a great mix of guests, and there are always quite a few that I have not really seen at a lot of conventions. I can only speak for myself, but there are times when I do get a little tired of seeing the same guests and conventions over and over again. A few notables in the categories were Linden Porco ("Leprechaun Returns", "Cult of Chucky") in his first ever convention appearance, Harvey Spencer Stephens (Damien in "The Omen"), Vinny Appice and CJ Ramone. There was also a very cool "Pet Sematary" reunion featuring Denise Crosby, Dale Midkiff, Miko Hughes and Brad Greenquist.
One of the best things about NJ Horrror Con seems to be what happens outside of the standard convention hours. The Saturday night "Scaryoke" party is always a big hit. This time around it was hosted by the Crypt Keeper himself, John Kassir, and it was a blast! Let me tell you something, you haven't lived until you've seen Richard Grieco sing karaoke!
Speaking of Richard Grieco, he spent a lot of time hanging out with fans and was extremely nice. In fact, he treated everyone to pizza on Sunday night! I never thought I would be telling people a story about the time Richard Grieco treated me to pizza! These are the things that make a great convention even better!
One thing I DO NOT want to leave out is the Film Festival portion of the convention. Let's not forget that the name of the con is "New Jersey Horror Con AND Film Festival"! Tony Goggles does a great job curating and running the festival, and there was the usual mix of great indie films this time around, and it's always fun to meet and greet the filmmakers and talk about their work. As always, the awards ceremony, hosted by Tiffany Shepis and Ming Chen, was a total blast, with several guest presenters, including Richard Grieco and Felissa Rose.
Speaking of Richard Grieco, he spent a lot of time hanging out with fans and was extremely nice. In fact, he treated everyone to pizza on Sunday night! I never thought I would be telling people a story about the time Richard Grieco treated me to pizza! These are the things that make a great convention even better!
One thing I DO NOT want to leave out is the Film Festival portion of the convention. Let's not forget that the name of the con is "New Jersey Horror Con AND Film Festival"! Tony Goggles does a great job curating and running the festival, and there was the usual mix of great indie films this time around, and it's always fun to meet and greet the filmmakers and talk about their work. As always, the awards ceremony, hosted by Tiffany Shepis and Ming Chen, was a total blast, with several guest presenters, including Richard Grieco and Felissa Rose.
Of course, nothing is perfect, and the Showboat continues to have a few issues that are beyond the control of the convention itself. They seem to have problems with food service in the hotel bars, particularly outside of the convention hours, and it can be a challenge sometimes if you need the attention of the hotel staff for something.
However, there were several food options available during the show itself. There was a food service offering usual convention fare such as pizza, hot dogs, etc. and there was a bar on the convention floor service beer, soda and water, which I thought was very cool. Again, the convention staff went out of their way to minimize any issues that were a function of the hotel itself.
In closing, I just want to give credit again to Ryan Scott Weber, Robert Bruce, Kristen Accardi and the rest of the NJ Horror Con corps of staff and volunteers who have grown this how into a major force on the convention scene here in the Northeast. I am already looking forward to the next one, which will be held in October of 2019, once again at the Showboat hotel in Atlantic City, NJ.
See you there!
-The Horror Nerd
However, there were several food options available during the show itself. There was a food service offering usual convention fare such as pizza, hot dogs, etc. and there was a bar on the convention floor service beer, soda and water, which I thought was very cool. Again, the convention staff went out of their way to minimize any issues that were a function of the hotel itself.
In closing, I just want to give credit again to Ryan Scott Weber, Robert Bruce, Kristen Accardi and the rest of the NJ Horror Con corps of staff and volunteers who have grown this how into a major force on the convention scene here in the Northeast. I am already looking forward to the next one, which will be held in October of 2019, once again at the Showboat hotel in Atlantic City, NJ.
See you there!
-The Horror Nerd
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