Texas Frightmare Weekend - Day 1
- Doug Ennis
- May 23
- 6 min read
Hello everybody! I had the pleasure of attending Texas Frightmare Weekend for the second straight year. Last year was my first time, and other than a couple unfortunate things about meeting Bruce Campbell, I had a phenomenal time. As soon as they announced Leigh Whannell, I knew I wanted to go. I was supposed to meet him at Horrorhound last year, but real life got in the way and I couldn't make it. But I've been really busy, and it didn't look like I'd be able to make it this year. But I got lucky. I ended up having to go to the home office in Hutto, TX for the week leading up to TFW. That's less than a 3 hour drive from Irving! I guess I was meant to attend TFW this year! Luckily I was able to find a VIP ticket pretty quickly. Not only that, but through sheer persistance I was able to get a points reservation for the Sheraton next door. I checked into the Westin Thursday afternoon. I got unpacked, and then head down to the convention center to pick up my VIP credentials. I was quite early, but there was already a line forming. I was about 10 people back. Not long after I arrived my friend Clair showed up, so I had somebody to talk to while I waited. Once they opened, it was a very smooth and efficient experience. With VIP credentials in hand, I went back to the hotel. I hung out in the lobby for a while, just watching all of the celebs check in. When Ruby Modine checked in, she saw me in the lobby, pointed at me, and said "Hey I know you!". That was awesome. I ordered some dinner and called it a pretty early night. I don't usually sleep much during conventions, so it was going to be nice to be able to start the weekend relatively fresh.
Since Friday opens late, there was no reason to wake up early. I slept as late as my body would allow, ordered some Doordash breakfast, and then went down to get in line. I was first in the VIP line. There were several people near me in line that I had gotten to know last year, which helped make the time fly by.
Even though there were other people I needed more, I went for Matthew Lillard first. He obviously gets the longest lines, so I just wanted to get him out of the way. I keep thinking I'm done with him, but I keep finding more stuff to get signed lol. The meet was good as always. No photos with the Scream guys today. I've met them all before, and just can't swing the selfies with how many autographs I need this weekend.
Matthew Lillard 16x20 Matthew Lillard 16x20
I went for Alan Howarth next. After Leigh Whannell, he is probably the person I needed most. I need him on lots of stuff, so I decided to split the items up in multiple batches so I didn't accidentally smear anything. So I'll be getting a few more signed on Saturday. His handler cut me a bit of a bulk deal, which was much appreciated.
Gremlins 24x36 Halloween Franchise 24x36 Halloween II 24x36 Evil Dead Franchise 24x36 Prince of Darkness 24x36 Halloween III: Season of the Witch 16x24 Halloween III: Season of the Witch 11x17
Skeet's VIP line wasn't crazy, so I went there next. Just like Lillard, I've gotten him a bunch of times, but keep finding new stuff to get signed. He was super friendly as always. I don't remember how we got there, but we were talking about Scaradise. He said it might be his favorite convention that he does. Then he said "Who's the guy that runs that show?" When I said it was my buddy Deej, he said "Oh yeah, I love that guy". Way to go Deej!
At this point I saw that the "IT: Welcome to Derry" kids had literally no line. So I went for them next. I started my way at the far right of their row and worked my way across. In order, I met Clara Stack (Lilly), Matilda Lawler (Marge), Arian S. Cartaya (Rich), Mikkal Karim Fidler (Teddy), Blake Cameron James (Will), Amanda Christine (Ronnie), and Miles Ekhardt (Matty). They were all super friendly and enthusiastic. Sometimes it's akward meeting child celebrities, but this was fun. I did make sure that my arm was floating about six inches behind their backs though, lol.
I got Joseph Whipp next. I needed him on 5 large posters, but 3 were still in the hotel room. So I got him on two now, and will get the rest done on Saturday. Mr. Whipp was incredibly friendly. I spent a good amount of time chatting with him and my friend Stacy, who was sitting with him.
Added Joseph Whipp (Signal White Molotow 2mm) Added Joseph Whipp (Signal White Molotow 2MM)
At this point I ran back to the hotel for a quick break. When I got back, I decided to go upstairs for Warwick Davis. I'm glad I did, as they capped his line shortly after I arrived. He was at his photo op, so I had a bit of a wait. Everybody cheered when he came rolling back on his Segway. I was probably about 15 people back. When I got up to him, he was quiet, but friendly. I had him sign my photo and poster with a a green Posca pen. I'm not sure how it happened, but he ended up with green paint all over his hands. But the paint wasn't on the photo or the pen. It was strange lol. I apologized profusely, and he just kept saying "no worries" while he waited for them to get him some hand sanitizer to try to clean up some of the paint. You can see some of the green on his index finger in the image below.
Warwick Davis (with Posca 5m Green) Warwick Davis (with Posca 5m Green) Warwick Davis (with unknown gold pen)
Next I met my main target for the entire event, Leigh Whannell. He was pretty much the whole reason I wanted to come. As soon as I got to his table he gave me a big hug. His booth had Van Halen playing (Hot For Teacher) and he was wearing a Van Halen jacket. So I started off by talking about Van Halen lol. We agree that Van Hagar isn't Van Halen. Then we started talking about his work while he signed by items. He is so friendly and personable. When I told him I prefer the Insidious films to the Conjuring films, he agreed with me wholeheartedly lol. When we got to the poster for "Dead Silence", he apologized for the film. And then he wrote "I was drunk" under his signature! And he really loved the Japanese poster for "The Invisible Man". Meeting Leigh was definitely the highlight of my day. I'll be meeting him again on Saturday, as I just had too many items to get done all at once.
Signed by Leigh Whannell with Signal White Molotow 2MM Signed by Leigh Whannell with Signal White Molotow 2MM Signed by Leigh Whannell with Signal White Molotow 2MM Signed by Leigh Whannell with Signal White Molotow 2MM Signed by Leigh Whannell with Signal White Molotow 2MM
I jumped in Jamie Kennedy's line next. Needed him on one last Scream item. I'm finally done with him... for now lol. He was great. He always tells me how much he loves the quality of my items, as well as my crazy preparation. He made some other comments on that topic, but I don't want to share them publicly, as the comments might bother a few people reading this, lol. Meeting Jamie is always a blast.
My last meet of the day was Billy Zane. The con was about to close, so I was happy he was still there. I also got to see my friend Dominic, which is always a pleasure. Billy seems like a character lol.
And thus ends the first day. It was a blast. All of the celebs were cool, there were no operational snafus, the staff was great, and I had lots of awesome people to hang out with. I'm hoping the Emma Roberts and Tobin Bell lines go okay. I guess we'll find out! The Stats:
CELEBS MET: 15
PRO PHOTOS: 0
ITEMS SIGNED: 23
TOTAL AUTOGRAPHS: 30
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