Days of the Dead took place from March 28 to 30, 2025, and had more of a focus on the lesser seen horror and comedy stars on the convention circuit. An emphasis was on the Revenge of the Nerds cast, and also on horror director Ti West, different from the previous Days conventions in Chicago which featured the Terrfier independent franchise. This time around it was more specialized, with a lot of appreciation for Days being so “unconventional” and always offering something new rather than being repetitive.
John Shepherd of Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning was on hand. He starred in one of the installments that veered off the regular pathway of the Friday the 13th series. The movie that Shepherd starred in kept the viewer guessing and offered something new–is Jason Voorhees in this one or not? Is the slasher an imitator? Is it a local killer masquerading as Jason? This much underappreciated film has its fans and conventioneers come up to greet John Shepherd and have their photo and autograph. Interestingly, John didn’t know when auditioning for the part that it was a Friday the 13th movie. The crew kept it a secret until he was officially cast.
Most of the cast of the infamous Revenge of the Nerds was there, having a reunion of sorts. Some were already local, such as Brian Tochi, who the Crypt team talked with and reminisced about the Golden Age of Hollywood and how horror fans seem to know more about film history than the run of the mill movie fan. The horror fan tends to not neglect any decade of filmmaking. While talking with Brian Tochi, names such as Danny Kaye and W.C. Fields, stars of old Tinseltown, popped up. It was profound seeing the other stars of Revenge of the Nerds such as Curtis Armstrong and Donald Gibb. While they played “nerds” in the movie, of course we know they were acting a caricature of the concept of the “nerd.” The whole cast were very welcoming and genial to talk to.
The costume contest had many entrants and took more than an hour in total. There were some memorable costumes from video games and also a giant rubber Godzilla with a handler. The winner of the contest was an elaborate Beetlejuice which took years to complete as a costume.
The VIP Party was held on Saturday night in a large ballroom of the Crowne Plaza Hotel and hosted by Rick Styczynski, the Selfie Guy from Terrifier 2. The theme of the party was the 1990s. Music hits of that decade were played by a DJ on the speakers. There were a lot of dancers and merrymakers in the party, along with a stage where various announcements were made. Mostly people gathered to talk in circles and also to mingle.
There were some new vendors at the show, such as an artist from New York who drew highly detailed comic panels that were reminiscent of Hieronymous Bosch. There was so much fine detail in the drawings that you had to have a magnifying glass to see everything. There were also purveyors of vintage horror memorabilia and also writers of original thriller, crime, and horror fiction, including a friend of Ramsey Campbell who writes modern gothics. John S. McFarland’s horror short stories have appeared in numerous journals and has even written a young reader series about Bigfoot.
The next Days Convention will be a ways off, not till November later this year, but the crew is glad to have Days twice per year, something to not take for granted! It will be at the same hotel, the Crowne Plaza in Rosemont, from November 21 to 23, just a few days after Thanksgiving and promises to be just as good a show! The Crypt is looking forward to it!
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