Days of the Dead Chicago has returned to its traditional format of two shows per year and horror fans showed up in droves! Days of the Dead Chicago took place from March 22 to 24, bringing a bit of shadow to start the spring. This time, in addition to the regular conventioneers, there were a lot of new conventioneers since the celebrity list sets the tone for each show. This spring’s list of actors included Malcolm McDowell, Heather Langenkamp, Craig Sheffer, and more. Clive Barker was the biggest draw of the weekend, along with McDowell and Langenkamp. The line to see Clive Barker in his own sequestered room was long and wrapped around the lobby. Some say that this could be his last year doing conventions. It was evident how much of a fan base he has, having brought to the masses a unique brand of horror fiction, creating his own now legendary mythos as Lovecraft and Poe have done.
The convention area is a large and long ballroom in the Crowne Plaza Rosemont, combining the celebrities area with the majority of the floor for vendors. Fans of scary movies and fiction tend to be highly creative. There were many visual artists at this show, not only of two-dimensional art but for some reason, three-dimensional art has always been popular in the horror fan community. Figures, statues, popup posters, and replicas of the original Chucky were everywhere. There were writers of horror fiction selling their books alongside independent filmmakers selling their movies. It is rare to meet a horror fan who is not creative in some way and perhaps we all feed off of each other’s macabre or delightful productivity.
For the first time at Days of the Dead here there was a dedicated area to intuitives and psychics. This area was next to a team of paranormal researchers who were promoting their Paraflixx streaming service focusing on the supernatural. In the course of people’s lives, encounters with the unexplained happen more often than people expect. The team shared the adventures they have experienced on their hunt for the uncanny, including visiting haunted places in Chicago. There was some talk about the Whaley House in San Diego, purportedly the most haunted house in America and the Congress Plaza Hotel in Chicago, supposedly the most haunted hotel in the city. Also discussed was the haunting of the hotel that Days of the Dead Chicago is hosted in, the Crowne Plaza. A woman was found dead in a basement walk-in freezer in 2017 after wandering about in an influenced haze in the middle of the night. Her ghost is seen from time to time by people in the hotel.
Heather Langenkamp’s panel was packed to the brim. Known as one of the most iconic “scream queens,” Langenkamp started her panel with talk about projects not related to A Nightmare on Elm Street but eventually started to talk about this famous franchise. The panel was then opened up to audience questions and it was discovered that her favorite film, if she had to pick one of the Nightmares, was A Nightmare on Elm Street 4. She also shared that she’s not a fan of horror but ironically, in a later answer to an audience member’s question, she said that she has written a Nightmare on Elm Street screenplay of her own. She tried to get this produced but said that Hollywood is only interested in the almighty dollar and profit. We hope that her treatment will eventually be published in book form. She also shared how great she felt working with Kathy Bates in New Orleans on American Horror Story and fielded all sorts of questions about Nancy’s death and how Freddy had a vendetta against her which made her demise all the more meaningful. She also talked about her role in New Nightmare and thought that Wes Craven had lost his mind when she first received the very meta script. She said that she couldn’t play a film version of herself at first but then it started to click for her after being on the set for a while.
The panel for Malcolm McDowell was immediately after and it too was full of eager people. McDowell, a living legend, didn’t talk too much about A Clockwork Orange but pontificated on other projects he was involved in such as Star Trek: Generations. He talked about his thoughts on industry awards. When asked what was his favorite of his performances he said that he couldn’t choose one. Similar to his thoughts about industry awards, he felt it was absurd to compare and rank performances. Interestingly, he avoided an audience member question about how he prepared for the role of Alex in A Clockwork Orange but veered into other aspects of his career, reminiscing about actors he’s worked with such as Laurence Olivier and Alan Bates. When asked if he was interested in being one of Doctors in the Doctor Who franchise, he said that he would never.
The Nightmare on Elm Street 3 stars were there, making their first appearance ever in the Chicago area. They were all in a row together and many fans of the third installment, which fans say is one of the best if not the very best of the entire series, were there to have their memorabilia signed and their photos taken with them. Seeing them all together had a profound effect, as if you had found some instant, lifelong friends. Many fans of the third movie felt that the characters in it were relatable in a way far more than usual in horror films. We certainly hope to have more of their appearances in the Chicago area and what a treat it was for the fans to see them finally.
The Count Gregula team did three-minute interviews of the celebrity guests. John Franklin of Children of the Corn said that the most difficult scene he had to film as Issac was being on a cross for five hours. It wasn’t strictly in the air as seen in the movie but it was rather near to the ground. Denise Crosby said that she has never been given the role of a vampire in her work yet but said that she is very interested in it. Michael Ironside was talkative, having much to share about his knowledge on Vlad Tepes, also known as “Vlad the Impaler,” the historical inspiration for the Dracula legend. Tepes, as gathered from what Ironside shared, was actually a sympathetic figure who did what he did because he was in love with a princess. Fascinating to discover how history can become distorted along the way into urban legend.
This year the show did something new and had a VIP Breakfast. After the show hours on Saturday, many of the conventioneers had dinner in Caddyshack, the hotel restaurant owned by the Murray Brothers. Part of the fun in dining at Caddyshack after Saturday’s hours is the chance of celebrity guests appearing. The only one spotted this time was Denise Crosby and she was her ebullient self, greeting fans, evidently happy to be there.
Costumes seen included the twins from The Shining, gigantic papier-mâché heads of Pinhead, a Droog, Mortal Kombat characters, and of course, Michael Meyers. For a lot of us, we view scary movies as a significant break from reality. Maybe it is the vicarious experience of surviving trauma and prevailing against it that we revel in or perhaps we just love a significant jolt to stagnant blood, much like the thrill of a murder case becomes fascinating news. It is an adrenaline-fueled journey away from the terrestrial for a bit where our visceral reactions are intensified. A lot of fans of scary movies are eccentric themselves which rouses a public bonding whenever they gather. Maybe we’re hypnotized by those unfairly maligned or utterly maligned.
Twice a year this convention gives the opportunity for Midwestern horror fans to gather and celebrate. Fans of this movie genre usually have no hesitancy about seeing “old” movies or classic movies in contrast to fans of other movie genres. As long as it presents a dark thrill, horror fans can watch anything from the 1910s-1920s silent era to the present. In fact, older films tend to have more of an impact and are far more treasured than newer, modern films in the horror fan community. As long as the film has something dreamlike, nightmarish, or darkly fantastic, it can be from any decade. Most horror fans love the thrill of a more shadowy, more intense version of the hero’s journey, the cycle of stages that a hero or heroine goes through, survives, and becomes a changed, stronger character as a result.
Days of the Dead will next be in Rosemont at the Crowne Plaza Hotel this autumn. It promises to be another excellent time! We, the Gregula Crew, hope to scare you there!
