Texas Frightmare Weekend - Day 2
- Doug Ennis
- May 24
- 6 min read
I got there obscenely early on Saturday, and was once again first in the VIP line. But not by much. My buddy (he'd probably say adversary) Jake showed up not long after I did. And boy, was he not happy that I beat him there lol. Many people arrived earlier than they otherwise might have because of Emma Roberts. She only did one day, and the VIP window to get her was first thing in the morning. The con announced they'd be letting VIPs in early, at 9:15am, to get Ms. Roberts. By 9am, the VIP line was massive. Right around that time, Loyd (TFW owner) came out with a couple of employees/volunteers and separated the VIP line into Emma and no-Emma lines. I was at the front of the Emma line. They led us inside to line up. Even though I was the first VIP in line, there were a couple of people already in line for her when I got there.
We were probably in line for about 15 minutes when Ms. Roberts arrived and they let us in her little room. I was third in line, so I got to her very quickly. I was extremely surprised when she greeted me with "It's so nice to see you again". I was at her first ever convention appearance (at Scaradise) a couple of months ago, and she remembered me! I don't know if it's because she remembered me, or what, but she totally hooked me up this morning. When I was preparing my items for TFW, I didn't know if there would still be a "no quotes" policy like there was at Scaradise. So I prepared my item as though I was going to ask for a quote. I printed the quote I wanted on a piece of paper, which you can see in the image below:
Well, she saw it. And she wrote it! As soon as I saw her writing quotation marks I knew what was happening, and I was giddy. I blurted out something like "Oh my god, thank you so much!". When she was done signing, the guy next to her told her she wasn't supposed to be doing quotes. Part of me feels bad that I got a quote when I wasn't supposed to... but only a small part lol. I got my photo and mask signed. I had debated whether or not to get a selfie, as $125 is pretty steep. And I got the pro photo op with her and Rory Culkin at Scaradise. But I decided to do it.
I made it back outside in time to regain my place in line. I appreciate my con buddies for holding my spot. So once they let us in, I was able to be near the front of the line for Tobin Bell. .
Tobin was awesome as always. He absolutely loved my 16x20 of the iconic image of him in the Jigsaw robe. He said he had never seen one that looked so nice, and printed so big. I appreciated the comment, as I spent a lot of time making that image look pretty lol. He gave me the "Game Over!" quote, even though I found out much later he was not doing quotes. So that was much appreciated!
After I got Tobin, I went over to Tom Atkins. I absolutely adore this man. He is neck and neck with Brad Dourif as my all-time favorite horror icon. Nobody else is even close to those two. Even if I meet Mr. Atkins 100 more times (and I already have 2 more meets on the schedule for this year lol), I will always find an excuse to meet him and get something else signed. My friend Rachael was sitting with him, so I got to see two of my favorite convention people at once. I even convinced Rachael to join me in the photo!
I started a new Night of the Creeps 24x36 because of the upcoming reunion at Scarefest. I also got a couple of really cool large Night of the Creeps photos done.
I decided to knock out the rest of my Leigh Whannell items next. Once again, he greeted me with a big hug. He really liked the Invisible Man Steelbook.
Another repeat visit, this time Joseph Whipp, was next. Another great meeting. He asked if I wanted another photo. I told him not to bother, that the photo from the day before would suffice. He said something like "We do look exactly the same today!". Great guy.
My third, and final, repeat meet of the day was Alan Howarth. I got my final three items signed.
At this point I went back to the hotel for a bit of a break. I had some time to kill before my Saw trio photo op. When I got back, I went straight to the photo op area. When it was my turn to take the photo, Leigh Whannell instantly recognized me. He started positioning everybody, and then Shawnee suggested we do "rock hands". I am really bad at throwing the horns, but I obliged. Mr. Bell did his own thing lol.
Linnea Quigley had a steady line all day, but it was the shortest I'd seen so far, so I jumped in. She was a sweetheart as always. She did have a bit of trouble with the Funko Pop, but she gave me a great, full signature with quote on my large photo, so I'll gladly take the tradeoff!
I met Stephen Dorff next. He's a nice guy. A bit smaller than I expected, though.
At this point I worked my way through the rest of the Texas Chains Massacre people. In addition to Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise poster, I bought an 11x14 photo that was already signed by Gunnar Hansen and Marilyn Burns. I was really excited to start getting the rest of the cast on it.
First up was Ed Guinn. Very nice guy, we talked for a bit while I was waiting for Daniel Pearl and Ed Neal to return to their tables.
Daniel Pearl was next. I'd met him before, but I still needed him on a lot of full size posters. He kept apologizing for his signature, saying his art was in his eyes, not his hands. He also gave me a discount for getting 5 items signed, which was much appreciated.
Next I met the hitchhiker himself, Ed Neal. He told me some good stories about the making of the TCM video game.
The last TCM person I met was J.M. Logan. He was signing personal items for free, or charging $20 to sign one of his photos. I felt bad getting a free autograph, so I had him sign one of his Wishmaster photos for me. I don't have a picture of it, as I'm having a hard time locating it lol. It's here somewhere! He was a super nice guy, and be bears an uncanny resemblance to former White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko.
Samantha Scaffidi's line was short, so I met her next. I've met Sam a bunch of times at this point. When I was next in line, she was having a conversation with the person in front of me. She saw me there, stopped mid conversation, said hi to me, and then resumed her conversation. When it was my turn, we talked for a while. I told her I'd be seeing her again in two weeks at Spawn of Scarefest.
I met Damian Leone next. I think it was my third time meeting him. He's a super nice guy, and doesn't seem to have changed after the massive success of Terrifier 3. I can't wait to see what he does with Terrifier 4. His agent Bob was nice enough to give me a "Bob the Elf" signed 8x10. Which I also can't find at this moment. It's somewhere with the J.M. Logan 8x10 lol!
My last meet of the day was Charles Band. He was nice enough to sign my four items for free if I bought his book, which he also signed.
And with that, day 2 of Texas Frightmare is complete. Day 2 was supposed to be my last day, as I booked a 6am flight home for Sunday. What was I thinking? There was never any chance I'd be able to get up early enough to make a 6am flight lol. So I changed my flight to one in the afternoon, which means one more TFW morning for me. I forgot to get a couple of items done, including one for Tobin Bell. So it will be time well spent. The Stats:
CELEBS MET: 16
PRO PHOTOS: 1
ITEMS SIGNED: 36
TOTAL AUTOGRAPHS: 41
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