Tales From The Con: Monster Mania 13

Last weekend I drove up to Jersey to attend Monster Mania Con 13, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill, NJ.  One thing I do have to say is on arrival at the con it was packed, the parking lot and the con itself was literally bursting at the seems with people. When I finally found a parking spot and entered the hotel(parking was indeed free, but hard to find), something that became apparent and a reoccurring theme for me throughout the day was the lack of organization of the con.  There were no signs visibly posted to tell you where to go to check in at the con, and I actually ended up waiting in the wrong line thinking it was for registration.  Once I got checked in at con registration which was $20 for Saturday only, which I was actually pretty happy with, not only did they offer a one day pass but considering most con rates run $30-$60 for Saturday alone, I thought it was a pretty good deal.

Once I received my schedule I realized at a 3 day convention there was only one panel track with 14 panels, that were all held in the same room. There was no map in the program either, which would have been a bit helpful considering that things were not clearly labeled, and it took some wandering around to find out what was where. I have been to several horror cons in the past and honestly Wizard World(which is NOT a horror con) had more horror content(panel wise) than this convention. The panels were not moderated most had no introductions by the speakers, this led to a lot of awkward silence during the panels. One suggestion I have is in choosing cast members for these reunion panels, I really thought they should have chosen quality over quantity. A perfect example was the Halloween Reunion panel where one of the 3 panelists was the boy who played Michael Myers when he was 6 who really didn’t have much to offer on his experiences in the film, I mean he was after all he was only 6 years old.

Funny thing is there were bigger stars who never left their autograph tables, who I would have loved to see speak and do a panel on their experiences in the genre.  But here comes a big pet peeve of mine about horror cons is the way that “Celebrities” and I use that term loosely, overcharge for autographs at these things. I must have overheard several conversations of attendees complaining that actors were charging $20 for a cell phone picture with them.

This is something I am very familiar with, my first experience with this came at my first horror con getting Ken Foree’s(Dawn of the Dead-1978) autograph back in the late 90s. After signing my copy of the DVD he then asked for $35, I looked around for a sign and couldn’t find one. I honestly felt this was a bit much for an autograph, but he began to get upset with me and I relented and paid him and by doing this giving up my entire food budget for the weekend. Funny thing is, some people consider this “meeting” a celebrity, I do not, and this was not the only occasion I have seen a celebrity get upset and literally shake down an attendee at a con over the price of an autograph. There really should be some kind of rules in place over this practice. I mean aren’t they being compensated for being there in the first place?

One positive thing I have to say, that stood out to me at the con was the great dealers room. It was a bit dark and cramped making it hard to navigate, but there was a great selection of vendors who had something for any fan of the genre. I found myself doing several laps of the room just to make sure I got a chance to check out all the great tables.  Diabolik DVD and House of Mysterious Secrets were there but there were also some really great vendors selling a lot of cool stuff. Sadly there was no artist alley, although some of the bigger artists did have tables.

Overall I enjoyed the con, but it definitely was having some growing pains. The con was definitely over attended and under staffed.  I think next year they should look at a bigger venue and possibly adding another track or 2 giving the attendees more activities to participate in. I mean a horror convention with out a single make-up panel is a sin in my book. They should also spend some more time on prep, like having a schedule up a few weeks in advance and making better signage to help attendees find where they need to go. I will definitely give this con another chance but for all those attendees they had, they are really missing out on some great opportunities to make this a much better experience – and give people more reasons to come back next year.