Convention Mini Report: Sinister Halloween Con

Credit: Steven Arellano Rose

 And this really will be a mini report and I will tell you why in a bit. As you may have guessed, I’m delaying the Book-To-Movie of the month to next weekend. Today was Sinister Creature Con's Sinister Halloween Con at the Scottish Rite Center in Sacramento, CA and so I wanted to go over that a little, and, as I’ve kind of already indicated, I do mean I’ll go over it just a little. Sinister Creature Con is the organization that puts on horror conventions in the Sacramento area throughout the year and is very big on make-up art but features other art as well such as books, comics, paintings, sculptures, jewelry and even clothes. And they always feature tons of guest celebrities.

Now, why is this con report going to be so short? Because I didn’t attend it. Not really. I only attended the free outdoor portion. By the time I arrived at the Scottish Rite Center, which was a little before 2 PM, the length of the line for admission was nearly the equivalent to the perimeter of a whole block. If I were to have gotten in line, by the time I'd get to the door I would have not much more than two hours at the con. Admission was twice as high than I remember it being most years: 36 bucks and that’s if you bought your tickets online; it was probably more at the door. So, I wasn't paying that kind of money to attend inside for only two hours. 

Not to say that the price wasn't justified. Inflation has affected all levels of the economy, and it costs a lot to put on a con especially if you have big celebrity guests such as Corey Feldman of "The Lost Boys" who was there signing autographs. 

However, what was different than most years is that many of the convention's vendors were set up out in the parking lot. So, I said, I'll just look around at the arts and crafts in the vending booths outside. Cheapskate I am, right? Well, not too cheapskate. 

I believe in supporting indie and local artists, and so I purchased a plastic figure of Cthulhu in a space suit. The artist who made it, Scott Zillner, owner of Toy Wizards actually said the character's name was Fred and that it's from a series of figures he created called Dead Space Men. He modeled them after the line of Marx plastic figures of Universal Studios Monsters that were manufactured and sold in the 1960s in which most of came in either orange or blue. The Cthulhu/ AKA Fred figure I bought was the latter colour.. But he likely also modeled this particularly figure off of Cthulhu since it looks too much like H.P. Lovecraft’s Mythos god of darkness. Still, Zillner’s Dead Space Men series is a clever idea.

Photo Credit: Steven Arellano Rose; Figure Credit: Scott Zillner

Most booths’ products were fan-based arts and crafts such as celebrity movie monster paintings, pins and purses. Other vendors had commercial line items such as Funko bobble heads. One author, K.N. Nguyen, had copies of her books from her “Fallen” fantasy series on display. There may had been other authors promoting their work inside. 

So, there’s the ghost, I mean gist of what I got of Sinister Halloween Con. Next year I’ll either have to purchase tickets online or go early. 

Coming Up . . . 

The Halloween edition of my newsletter, "Night Creatures' Call" will be out by the end of the week so look out for it in your in-boxes. If you don't subscribe to it, you can do so for free here. In issues of "Night Creatures' Call" I go over the progress and behind-the-scenes of my latest fiction which currently is my upcoming short story collection, “Bad Apps”; I also offer exclusive discounts on books and cover other sci fi/fantasy news, info and details on events not covered here at A Far Out Fantastic Site. Then next Saturday will be our Book-To-Movie review which will be of a horror cult classic! So, be here then!

What Halloween events have you been attending or plan to attend this year?

Until next time . . .