Calling all the monsters. ’Tis time for the first-ever Memphis Monster Con, a two-day horror extravaganza happening this Saturday and Sunday.
The convention will have more than 15 celebrity guests, more than 100 vendors and artists, food trucks, cosplay and cosplay contests, panels, photo ops, and more.
“Memphis has a good comic con with the Memphis Comic Expo. It’s got a really good anime convention with the Anime Blues [Con],” says Jaime Wright, one of the event’s organizers and co-owner of 901 Comics with Shannon Merritt. “One thing Memphis has never had is a dedicated horror convention, so we felt it’s an itch that needs to be scratched.”
Wright fell into horror as a kid who wanted to watch what his older brother and late sister were watching. “I distinctly remember they were watching the movie Phantasm on TV one night in the late ’70s,” he says. “It gave me nightmares, but I had to get more.”
Wright expects others feel the same about horror. “People like being scared,” he says. “They like being taken out of their comfort zone.”
For the horror convention, guests will get to meet Tyler Mane, the now-retired professional wrestler who played Michael Myers in Rob Zombie’s Halloween; C.J. Graham, who was Jason in Friday the 13th Part VI; Brett Wagner, who did the first kill in the 2003’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre; scream queen Felissa Rose from Sleepaway Camp and Death House; and more. “We’re doing a Return of the Living Dead reunion with five of the cast members [Thom Mathews, John Philbin, Beverly Randolph, Miguel Núñez Jr., and Allan Trautman].”
Ken Foree, who starred in Dawn of the Dead and also appeared Rob Zombie’s Halloween, will also be there. Wright calls him a “horror legend.” Like other celebrities at the event, Foree will give a panel talk (Sunday at 1:50 p.m.). “I’m gonna tell stories to the audience and talk about what I’ve been doing,” he says. “I’ll go into Q&A and let them ask questions. I have a great time doing that.”
Other panels include “The King’s Reign: Celebrating 70 Years of Godzilla” with Beale Street Monster Club, “Darker Side of Disney” with the Memphis-based podcast I-Scream Queens, and “History of Horror Comics” with 901 Comics’ Shannon Merritt.
A full schedule of events can be found at Memphis Monster Con’s Facebook page.
Memphis Monster Con Afterparty, Hi Tone, 282-284 N. Cleveland, Saturday, November 9, 8 p.m., $15.