For some, February marks a time to celebrate love and Valentine’s Day. But for those with a darker heart, it also means horror is in the air.
The second annual Creep IE Con horror convention returns to the Ontario Convention Center on February 4-5 and is expected to draw thousands of horror fans, who come to meet celebrities, walk through pop-up spots and shop everything. kind of creepy and funny stuff. unique merchandise from vendors.
The convention is also one of the first of several Halloween-themed and horror events scheduled for 2023, as they are no longer restricted to the months of September and October. Horror is now a year-round business in Southern California, fueled by die-hard fans whose spooky celebrations aren’t dictated by a calendar.
“There’s a really cool segment of the convention world and that’s the horror world. It has completely fanatical fans who really enjoy anything related to horror culture,” said Brian Boget, Co-Founder of Creep IE Con.
“There are so many passionate people who attend superhero and comic conventions and now it’s expanding to very passionate people who love horror,” he added. “Horror conventions have been around for a while, but now they’re really gaining popularity quickly and it’s a whole different scene and it’s really cool.”
Creep IE will bring together horror movie celebrities, including the cast of the “Terrifier” movies, with actor David Howard Thornton, who plays Art the Clown in the movies, appearing in full costume at the convention on February 4 . Other celebrities scheduled to be there include Skeet Ulrich and Jamie Kennedy, who co-starred in Wes Craven’s 1996 slasher “Scream”; Ryan Hurst and Tom Payne from “The Walking Dead”; Bill Mosley and Walter Phelan from “House of 1000 Corpses”; Devon Sawa from “Final Destination” and “Hunter Hunter,” plus Richard Brake and Matthew Patrick Davis from the hit 2022 horror film “Barbarian.”
Creep IE will also be home to hundreds of vendors selling all sorts of collectibles and artwork, plus a haunt produced by the Fear Farm, a horror prop museum, and since it happens right before Valentine’s Day, there’s a horror speed dating session planned for the weekend.
“We thought February was the perfect time for that, it’s a week before Valentine’s and the Super Bowl, scam season starts early and people want to celebrate Halloween and the spooky season all year long,” Boget said.
The Inland Empire event will be followed in the summer when the monsters invade Pasadena at Monsterpalooza June 2-4 at the Pasadena Convention Center. The event, which debuted in 2009, focuses on monsters, makeup artistry, and special effects.
Then evil really heats up in the summer with the return of Midsummer Scream to Long Beach on July 28-30. Thousands of horror fans are expected to flock to the city to see haunts, attend a horror film festival, attend panels and hear what other major venues, like Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, have planned for 2023. This convention was launched in 2016 and had around 40,000 attendees last year, making it the biggest horror event in the city.
Things haven’t calmed down in the fall for conventions since Horrorcon LA, which made its debut last year, returns to the Los Angeles Convention Center from September 30 to October 1. If you thought you were finally safe over the holidays, think again because that’s when Season’s Screamings is expected to return to Pasadena in December. It’s a more light-hearted, holiday-themed horror convention that started out as a shopping pop-up market for the organizers of Midsummer Scream before becoming a full-fledged attraction in 2021.
Aside from the big conventions, there are also smaller events throughout the year, including pop-up markets like the Witches Brew Night Market in Anaheim and Santa Ana, the Spooky Swap Meet which takes place April 29-30 at Heritage Square in Los Angeles and the annual Salem’s Market, a Halloween-themed market that will bring live music, costume contests and more to Ontario in October.
“I feel like it has become a lifestyle. It is no longer just a seasonal event. Everyone has their niche and some people love horror all the time, not just a couple of months out of the year,” said Ontario resident Danny Mui, a horror fan and convention vendor who sells custom etched glass horror characters. at various horror conventions and events.
You are now preparing to mount your booth in Creep IE
“I think Creep IE has found a good niche because before them there were no conventions (in that area),” he said.
Mui also took up residence at the Midsummer Scream convention, which was co-founded by David Markland, who has long been in the horror business and helped launch one of the original local conventions, Scare LA, in 2013.
“When we first did Scare LA, I was amazed that we had 2,000 people there and the audience just grew,” said Markland. “It’s not just horror, Halloween has its own culture around it, people who live and breathe all year long. It always amazes me how many people are interested in these things and how it seems to keep growing.”
His Midsummer Scream proved such a success that Markland and his partners turned Season’s Screamings into an entire convention, which is about a quarter the size of Midsummer Scream, attracting passionate horror fans like Los Angeles resident Carlos Lopez.
Dressed as a freaking Santa Claus and holding an ax with bells, the 33-year-old was at the 2022 season’s Screamings event, where he said he felt at home among monsters, zombies and other creatures.
“I love everything, the people, the costumes, the haunted houses and all the things you can buy,” she said as she waited in line to enter one of the mini hangouts at Season’s Screamings.
And after receiving a few scares at Valley Fright Nights’ 3D clown venue, Lopez said she was already making plans to attend the Creep IE convention.
“Maybe I’ll go to that one like a fucking Cupid,” he said with a smile.
And all that opportunity to buy things like custom costumes, decorations, accessories and all sorts of horror-themed gear is a big part of what makes these horror conventions so popular, said Brea resident Jeff Schiefelbein, owner of Sinister Pointe Productions, and Orange County-based company that develops haunted attractions and works with conventions like Midsummer Scream.
“You go to these shows now and there are hundreds of stalls of people selling everything from little figurines to scented candles, T-shirts, posters, everything, and the market never used to be like this,” he said. “You would go to these shows and maybe there would be a T-shirt guy. I think shopping is what really attracts people.”
And while there are plenty of local vendors at these conventions, many even come from out of state to cash in on some scary fun.
“People who are horror fans, for them horror is all year long,” Shawn Fairhurst said while standing inside his Knee-High Horror booth at Season’s Screamings last December. “There is not just October or a season for it. It’s what horror movies do to people; there are no romantic comedy conventions.”
The Las Vegas resident has been selling bags, stickers, banners, posters and other horror items at Midsummer Scream for four years and at Season’s Screamings since its launch.
Adjacent to her stall, Kerrilynn Loftus sold all manner of gory items and medical-themed accessories at her stall. She traveled from her home in Wisconsin to attend Season’s Screamings.
“The fan base is great here,” he said. “They have loyal fans. Horror is now part of people’s everyday lives (and) it’s a lot of fun, so why not do it all year long?
Creep IE With
When: 11 a.m. February 4 and 5
Where: Ontario Convention Center, 2000 E. Convention Center Way, Ontario
Tickets: Tickets are $25-$30 for single-day general admission passes; $50 for general admission weekend passes; $110 for VIP Weekend Passes, which includes 1-hour early admission to the Vendor Lounge and VIP Lounge, as well as front-line access to autograph sessions. All passes can be found at creepiecon.com.
