This was the first Twisted Nightmare Weekend horror convention, and while it had a lot going for it I hope the organizers learn from their mistakes if they do a second.  First of all, on the positive side the line-up of guests was excellent.  Even with a few people canceling due to the hurricane there were plenty of horror/fantasy/sci-fi celebs to hobnob with.  Among those making the trip were Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead), Ed Neal (Texas Chain Saw Massacre), Erin Gray (Buck Rogers), Marc Singer ('Beastmaster'), Glenn Shadix (Beetlejuice), Reggie Bannister (Phantasm) and  "scream queen" Brinke Stevens.   Actress Robin Griggs (from the upcoming films 'Dead Planet' and 'Aberration Boulevard'), one of the event's organizers, acted as hostess throughout the weekend.  There were also several Utter Trash interview subjects present in the persons of filmmakers J.R. Bookwalter ('The Dead Next Door'), Wayne Allan Harold ('Townies'), and Andy and Lucas Campbell of Speed Freak Productions ('Midnight Skater').  Wayne Allan Harold also brought along his star actor Toby Radloff, fresh from his Hollywood debut in 'American Splendor'.  Despite hitting the big time, Toby was gracious enough to do an interview with me which you'll be seeing soon in Utter Trash.  The location for the convention was nice as well and easy to navigate. 

Now on to the problems, the biggest of which was lack of promotion.  This was actually kind of nice for me since the small attendance meant I could chat longer with the guests, but I'm sure the organizers would have liked a bigger crowd.  It ain't cheap to put one of these things on, after all.  My advice to the Twisted Nightmare crew if they do this again is to make sure you get press releases out to the local newspapers and alternative weeklies and get flyers passed out at independent music and video stores.  A number of friends I spoke to who are regular attendees at local horror events had no idea this was going on until I told them.  I'd also recommend lowering the door price.  Frightvision and Cinema Wasteland are both larger events but cost less to attend and people will factor that in to their decisions.  Also, the dealers room was pretty slim pickings.  Maybe that was due to this being the first Twisted Nightmare convention, maybe it's because this was scheduled to close to the more established Cinema Wasteland.  I don't know, but if I had come to the convention mainly with the intent to shop (as many folks do) I would have been disappointed.  Since I'm more interested in meeting the guests I had a good time despite the problems.  Robin and her partners had their hearts in the right place when putting this together, but if they do another one hopefully they'll consider my comments.  (Bob Ignizio)

For pictures click here.