Scare-A-Con made its long-awaited return to Syracuse this September 5 – 7th. The event unleashed a thrilling three-day celebration of horror and cinema. This event brought together iconic celebrities, a diverse array of vendors, and a film festival showcasing hours of terrifying tales. From panelists discussing behind-the-scenes stories to creative fan-made crafts and a rocking after-party, the energy was electric as everyone shared their passion for the horror genre. If you’re ready to hear about our fantastic and fun-filled experience, keep reading for a complete recap of the sights and standout moments that proved Scare-A-Con is about a lot more than just a good scare.
Marriott Syracuse Downtown
This year’s Scare-A-Con was located at the Marriott Syracuse Downtown, a century-old hotel that has seen many U.S. presidents, celebrities, and its own fair share of ghost stories. The building is a mix of a historical time capsule that keeps some of the majestic 20s aesthetics with modern amenities. We don’t think conventions would do well with the industrial era power grid. However, it would’ve been cool if we had seen a movie projected by an 8mm or 16mm film projector. Perhaps not on the 11th floor, as it may lure out the lady in the blue dress who haunts that floor.
Film Festival
One of the big draws of Scare-a-Con is its weekend-long film festival and movie screenings. Indie Horror Junkie hosted the short film festival, which consisted of blocks of different shorts each day. We checked out the entire block on Friday night, and the films were an interesting mix, with some being solid takes on established horror tropes and plotting. At the same time, some were overly complicated and trying a bit too hard to be artful, with bizarre final act reveals that seemed to come out of nowhere. A few of the shorts that stood out to us were Are You There by Jaclyn Fleming, Ember by Garrett Spake, and Just Stay In by Noah J. Welter. You never knew what the tone and style of the following short would be, so it’s compelling to sit and marathon the entire block to catch anything really cool or hilariously bad. It’s also great to watch with fellow horror nerds and get a crowd reaction, whether it’s cheering a creative kill or laughing at a bizarre plot or acting choice. There were also several feature-length movies shown during the film festival, including On Gallows Hill and Mutilator 2. On Friday and Saturday nights, marquee screenings featured movies like Screamboat and Hell House LLC: Lineage, which included several celebrity guests and Q&A sessions afterward, allowing attendees to learn more about the movie’s production and experience.
Between movies, we noticed the bar had a few horror-themed cocktails. Always up for a good time and a creative cocktail, we tried a few drinks to help keep us going in our movie marathon binge-watching. Of course, we are suckers for anything Etco cooler-related, and this version was made with white wine and apple juice. It was sweet and refreshing, and just enough to get a buzz going for more drinks later.
Vendor Spaces
Between panels and movies, we browsed the numerous merchants of the strange and unusual at Scare-A-Con vendor areas. We walked down the aisles of the vendor market and hallway locations to see booths showcasing everything from vintage collectibles and stunning local artwork to movie projects, books, and comics dedicated to the macabre and silly side of society. These vendors offered great items to decorate with, showcase a fandom, or explore new avenues of entertainment.
Done by Donielle
We checked out the Done by Donielle booth to see a lineup of handmade crochet dolls of iconic horror characters. These soft and detailed dolls looked great and were suitable for both adults and children. The design patterns are sold online by Donielle, and you can visit her website to learn more about her shop and view a gallery of her inventory.
Jack Pendleton – Professor Spectre
We met Jack Pendleton, an author and creator of the Professor Spectre series of novels. Professor Spectre follows Dalton Peck, a central New York ghost hunter catching supernatural sights for views online, until the creatures of the night start hunting him. Pendleton had his novels for sale, along with a coloring book that allowed people to create festive symbols or a logo for a Norwegian death metal band. You can find more about Professor Spectre and Pendleton’s works at www.professorspectre.com
Fiendweavers
We checked out the Fiendweavers booth, which featured the pipe cleaner creations of Chenille Macabre. These figures are made entirely out of pipe cleaners, but they have a tremendous amount of detail and feature some limited articulation, making them more like action figures than toys. There were figures from properties like Terrifier, The Babadook, Doom, Dungeons & Dragons, Mortal Kombat and more and there was definitely at least one figure that comes from your favorite movie or gaming franchise.
Basement Media
We noticed a few shirts that grabbed our attention from a distance and had to see who was selling them. We haven’t seen a Hereditary theme LEGO shirt before, and we certainly won’t see an official set of it anytime soon. We laughed at the bright pink 2022’s Barbarian and Barbie mash-up (Which one of us totally purchased). These items were sold at the Basement Media table, with Nathanial C. Roberts and Stephen Anthony chatting up attendees. We got a look through Robert’s published novels and comics from DarkClawStudios, owned by Anthony. Similar to our interest, Basement Media has a podcast and reviews movies, and posts about fun adventures.
The Country Witch
The Country Witch hails from Saratoga County and features wooden art that combines a classic folk art style with horror properties. There were some incredibly cool signs, wooden figures, light switch covers, do-not-disturb signs, and shadow boxes using VHS tapes. The detail in everything was fantastic, and it’s something incredibly unique and different from the usual decorative items you usually see at these types of conventions. They have an online shop if you want to get something to spruce up your home, and they’ll be at several other cons throughout the fall.
Sam Miserendino – The Addictive Animal Series
While seemingly innocent at first glance, the Addicted Animals series by author Sam Miserendino puts an adult spin on children’s books. Each book is a spin on the classic “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,” but with a twist: instead of a cookie, there’s alcohol and drugs, along with all the debauchery that follows. Despite the humorous nature of the books, they still feature great, colorful art that helps play up the mix of sweet and sassy. One of the books, If You Give a Lab a Lab, is a parody of Breaking Bad, and Miserendino has gotten several Breaking Bad cast members to pose with it at other cons.
Goblin Market Studio
From pointy headwear to eye-catching pasties, Goblin Market Studio had the neat and ghastly accessories for any fun occasion. We met David, the owner of the studio, who designs and prints the parts himself. These items are polished and ready to be painted, allowing anyone to easily customize them to match an outfit or a geeky costume. For the more bold, there is a lineup of special jiggly pasties that bounce and stabilize, which took David a few prototypes to perfect. These aren’t your average store-bought cover-ups; there is real engineering to finely tune the springs and weight to construct a great 3D pasty. You can find items for sale over at Goblin Market Studio‘s Etsy store today.
Mad Angel Films
Based in Utica, NY, Mad Angel Films is an independent film company that has produced a high volume of movies on a low budget. Founded by Matthew Peters, Mad Angel Films has been making short and feature-length films since 2007. We met Peters along with Ryan Santiago and Jason Covey, and got a quick rundown of the variety of genres and stories released. They were promoting two of their latest projects, Graveyard Shark, a creature feature flick, and Blood Red Beach, a slasher movie with cursed pirates. You can browse and purchase physical movies from Mad Angel Films, or rent and stream select movies on Vimeo, Prime Video, and Tubi.
Miscellaneous finds
There was so much else to dig through and find throughout the convention floor, from horror icon action figures, classic monster magazines, laserdiscs (including a sealed copy of Blade), VHS, Funko Pops, the currently extremely hot Labubu dolls, and more. There was a great mix of the great “junk” that we love to see and check out, along with homemade items and unique finds. The vendor area was quite large, and you could easily spend hours walking around and searching for the holy grail you’ve been trying to find, or something you didn’t even know existed but now need to have.
Guest
Several celebrity guests attended meet-and-greets, panels, and screenings at Scare-A-Con, including a few cast reunions from movies like the original Fright Night and the Hell House series. Tyler Posey from Teen Wolf and Scream the Series, the legendary Kane Hodder, Costas Mandylor from the Saw series, Daniel Roebuck from The Munsters and Terrifier 3, and Felissa Rose from Sleepaway Camp were just a few of the celebrities who joined the convention.
Panels
Panels at Scare-A-Con provided a unique and immersive experience, offering attendees the chance to hear from professionals and creative minds about the details behind fun horror movies. We have spent countless hours watching actors scream and squirm on screen, then experience a touch of surrealism when they speak in a shared space. The panels gave us a break from watching movies and got us involved in the community, allowing us to listen to creators and stars share hilarious and heartfelt behind-the-scenes stories and adventures.
Fright Night Reunion
It’s been 40 years since Fright Night made a generation of horror fans question their neighbors, and a few of the stars came to reminisce about the movie and what it meant for them. Hosted by Marcus Slabine, Amanda Bearse, William Ragsdale, and Stephen Geoffreys spoke to fans and answered questions from a packed room.
Villains of Horror
Producers Jason and Michael Leavy hosted Costas Mandylor for a discussion about horror villains. For Mandylor, his time playing Detective Hoffman in the Saw series was an interesting time as a pivotal character, who ultimately went down a different path than Jigsaw. The Leavy brothers have helped establish Art the Clown as a villainous figure who has become a hugely recognized icon. Together, they discussed what it’s like in the industry and working on projects that have led them to see the passion from fans worldwide.
The Making of Terrifier
With a grindhouse-style, no-holds-barred gory effects, the Terrifier series has quickly become a modern classic since 2016. With each entry, the characters and effects get amped up, and so do the behind-the-scenes anecdotes. Tommy Clark, Daniel Roebuck, Kailey Hyman, Pooya Mohseni, Jamie Root, Jason, and Michael Leavy reflected on the moments on and off the camera. Fans asked questions to dive further into the lore of Art the Clown and where the movies would go next. Who knows how many movies it will take before we get an Art the Clown in space? We also took a super cramped group selfie, with Chris’s head just barely visible at the top.
Hell House LLC: Lineage Q&A
Lineage is the fifth and potentially final movie in the Hell House LLC series, which promised to tie up a few plot threads from the previous entries. Serving as a form of closure to this haunted house with demonic connections, the movie was fun to watch on a projector in a Victorian-style ballroom, which already feels like something out of a horror movie. We caught the screening and stayed for the Q&A session with Joe Bandelli, Searra Sawka, Elizabeth Vermilyea, and Jamie Root. From the session, we learned that the timing of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour in theaters affected the release schedule of Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor, resulting in some adjustments to Lineage development. Who knew T-swizzle would impact even horror movies?
Afterparty
After a full day of movies and discussions, it was time to kick back and rock out the rest of the night away. Up on the 11th floor, the grand ballroom was turned into a festive concert hall. Central New York area’s 80s tribute band, Pop Rox, played classic tunes that got people swaying and dancing, reenergizing attendees and guests to end the night with catchy songs still stuck in their ears, ready for a good night’s sleep.
Last Thoughts
Horror movies have an amusing charm where you see the worst in people, but see the best in people at a horror theme convention. Scare-A-Con came back from an absence with a solid lineup of guests and panels. We enjoyed the casual pace of the event and the great marathon of movies to watch during the day. If we needed a moment to relax, popping into a movie room to watch a scare or an interesting short was really convenient. We would like to see this event expand to include more panelists, allowing for a wider range of topics and community-driven subjects, which would lead to more in-depth discussions and the exploration of lesser-known horror gems. We spoke with other attendees about their favorite movies, awesome death scenes, and upcoming films we want to catch. Guess when you witness so many on-screen kills as a group, everyone kind of understands each other at the con. Scare-A-Con was a great time, and we look forward to seeing how its next killer sequel unfolds.
