Scaradise - Day 2
- Doug Ennis
- Mar 3
- 6 min read
Day 1 was rough for me physically, so Day 2 got off to a bit of a rough start. But I was still able to get there bright and early on Saturday. After dealing with a rude fairgrounds employee at the entrance to the parking lot, I was finally able to make my way in. Once again, I had a great time talking to everybody in the morning before doors opened. In my post in the Scaradise Facebook group I had mentioned my back pain, and lots of kind people approached me asking how I was doing. We've got a great little community going here, and I'm glad to be a part of it.
Because I was moving much slower than usual, Mike and Lee went above and beyond to help me out today, making sure I wasn't overtaken by everybody else in line behind me once doors opened. Love those guys.
Once I was inside, I went straight to Matthew Lillard's line. There were other celebs I needed more than Matt today, but I knew if I didn't go to his line first thing, I would end up not getting to see him again. I think this was the fifth time I've met Matthew Lillard. But it was the first time I made a point of telling him how much he meant to my development as a horror fan. "Scream" was the movie that made me into a horror fanatic, and Stu was by far my favorite character. I was a senior in high school when that movie came out, and I pretty much idolized Matt/Stu. Well, except for the whole psycho killer thing. Though there were definitely some people I wouldn't have minded seeing become Ghostface victims in high school!
It was almost certainly the best meeting I've had with him yet.
The lovely Jessica Rothe was next. As soon as I got to her table, she said "It's so good to see you again!". It's amazing how good something like that can make you feel. I met her for 5 minutes 4 months ago, but she cared enough to remember. We talked about her hope for sequels to "Happy Death Day" and "Boy Kills World", and I congratulated her on her pregnancy. She said she loved the quote I was asking for.
Next I met Nico Tortorella. He really liked my cutout system. I didn't grab a selfie, but I was really happy to add him to my Scream stuff.
After Nico I met Rory Culkin. I had a weirdly memorable (in a good way) encounter with him the last time he was at Scaradise, and more of the same this time. I barely recognized him without his distinctive long hair. Here was our exchange: Me: What happened to your hair? RC: I cut it for a role. Me: Have you ever turned down a role because you didn't want to cut your hair? RC: I don't like my hair that much. With this hair I can play, like, teachers and stuff.
Me: With your long hair you could have played the cool drama teacher. RC: You'd be surprised how few cool drama teacher roles there are. I love this guy. I didn't grab a selfie because I'll be doing a photo op with him tomorrow.
I met Sam Rechner next. Sam is very chill and laid back. He said he plays a solider in the Vietnam War in his next movie. I was shocked to see that Ty Simpkins was sitting next to him at the table. I asked Ty why he was there, and he said he was supporting his buddy.
Jack Quaid's line had died down a bit, so I hopped in line. He was just as nice as he was at his last Scaradise appearance. We talked about what an amazing 2025 he had. He's definitely one of the good guys.
You'll notice that I didn't get a whole lot of selfies with the celebs today. I was spending way more than I usually do at a typical horror convention, and was simply running out of money! But I absolutely had to get a picture with the next person I met.
Vincent D'Onofrio was near the top of the list of people I wanted to meet this weekend. I've been following his career since "Full Metal Jacket". I saw a lot of his movies in the theater in the 90s. He is pretty quiet, but friendly. He said he wasn't sure if he'd ever signed a "Sinister" poster before. I'm sure he has, but it's good to know he hasn't signed very many of them. He went to great lengths to make sure his signature lined up with Ethan Hawke's signature so it would look symmetrical. That's my kind of guy! I hope to meet him again some day as I'd like to get a poster for "The Cell" signed.
I met Aimee Teagarden next. This girl is a spaz, in the best possible way! She talks so fast, and is so animated, and so sweet.
I had two people left to meet. One that I was looking forward to, and one that I wasn't. First was Alicia Witt. I've met her before, and she is always very sweet. She seems like such a gentle person. She commented that she really liked my white pen, and asked if she could take a picture of it. I told her she could have it in about 5 minutes. After I met my final person of the day, I gave her the pen. She was very appreciative.
My final meet of the day was Shannon Elizabeth. This is the meet that I wasn't looking forward to. She was at Scarefest a couple of years ago, but I chose not to meet her. Why, you ask? Because she charges double if you don't want her to personalize your item. I think that is disgusting.
First of all, I am tired of the assumption that if you don't want an autograph personalized, it means you're going to sell the autograph. I do mostly cast pieces, and if everybody were to personalize, that leaves a lot less room for more autographs.
Second of all, how much do people think a Shannon Elizabeth autograph is worth? She charged $70 to personalize a mini poster. I promise you that her autograph is worth nowhere near $70 on a mini poster. If my poster below was signed by only her, I'd probably be lucky to get $30 for it. But I'm not selling it, so that doesn't matter.
And lastly, if a person does want to sell an autograph, so what? They paid to get in, they stood in line, they paid for the autograph. Who the hell cares what they do with it? Again, I don't sell my autographs. But it doesn't bother me in the least if somebody else does. I need her on three items, but I refuse to pay $140 an item for three items. So I held my nose and paid for the one item I really wanted her autograph one. And I felt dirty afterwards. I don't appreciate the shakedown. The hilarious thing? Shannon Elizabeth was my most expensive autograph of the weekend. Let that sink in.
And that does it for day 2. What a day! Because I finished with all of my autographs relatively early, I got to spend some time hanging out with friends. Many of whom flew down from other parts of the country.
Tomorrow will be a (hopefully) short but stressful day. It's Emma Roberts day! The stats:
CELEBS MET: 10
ITEMS SIGNED: 15
TOTAL AUTOGRAPHS: 20
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