Rock and Shock served as New England’s premier horror convention for 16 wonderful years before its reign came to an unexpected end in 2019. While several other events admirably attempted to occupy the void left in the local horror community, none were quite able to fill Rock and Shock’s sizeable shoes.
If its debut is any indication, Silver Scream Con is, at long last, a worthy successor to the throne. Created by Massachusetts’ own horror-inspired metal band Ice Nine Kills, the first ever Silver Scream Con took place August 26-28 at the Doubletree Boston North Shore in Danvers, MA.
Rock and Shock catered to the intersection of music and horror, but with Ice Nine Kills’ rabid cult following behind it, Silver Scream Con brought in a new audience beyond die-hard genre fans. Informal polls conducted before each panel consistently showed that more than half of the attendees were at their first horror convention. Moreover, INK frontman/mastermind Spencer Charnas often had the longest line out of all the celebrities.
Cancellations are an unfortunate reality when it comes to conventions, and it can hurt when a headliner has to back out at the last minute. Silver Scream lost Skeet Ulrich the week of the show due to filming commitments, but they promptly replaced him with a fellow Scream star, Jamie Kennedy.
The guest list also included Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th Part VII-X), Nick Castle (Halloween), Bill Moseley (The Devil’s Rejects), Doug Bradley (Hellraiser), Danielle Harris (Halloween 4-5), Tom Arnold (Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare), James Jude Courtney (Halloween 2018), Ari Lehman (Friday the 13th), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Paul Soter (Super Troopers), Erik Stolhanske (Super Troopers), Miko Hughes (Pet Sematary), Andrew Bryniarski (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003), Dave Sheridan (Scary Movie), Ricky Dean Logan (Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare), and more.
Upon entering the main floor, attendees were greeted by the sight of the Ice Nine Kills museum, complete with memorabilia from the band’s music videos and live shows. The room featured a variety of vendors — ranging from handmade collectibles and artwork to shirts, toys, and posters — with the outer perimeter lined by celebrity guests. Those with long lines occasionally caused traffic jams, but for the most part it worked well. A second room housed additional celebrities.
Panels are one of my favorite aspects of any convention, and Silver Scream Con did not disappoint, with MTV’s Ryan J. Downey on hand to host them all weekend. After traversing down a labyrinth of hallways to the designated area, I poked my head in on a standing-room-only Ice Nine Kills panel featuring Charnas with Moseley, Logan, and Hughes, all of whom have appeared in INK music videos.
I was most interested in hearing Kennedy discuss how Scream captured lightning in a bottle. It came as no surprise that he was funny, but he was also insightful; he shared anecdotes about how viewers identified with his character of Randy, seeing Jaws at the age of five, Scream‘s alternate ending in which Randy asks Sidney out to a movie, and inadvertently ingesting magic mushrooms one night after filming.
When the subject of Wes Craven came up, he relayed a quote from the director that stuck with him: “Just because we’re making a horror movie doesn’t mean the experience has to be horrific.” He’s also a fan of the Radio Silence team behind the new Scream films. “The franchise couldn’t be in better hands, and I’m just lucky to be part of it,” he said, later admitting that he cried during the big death scene in Scream (2022).
A highlight of the hour-long chat was seeing Kennedy’s mind be blown when Downey exposed him to the fan theory that Billy and Stu were queer-coded, with their homicidal tendencies spawning from repressed sexuality. “I’ve gotta get on the Reddit boards,” he quipped.
Kennedy’s panel was immediately followed by one with Doug Bradley, much of which was unsurprisingly dedicated to Hellraiser and Clive Barker. He admitted that he played Pinhead in eight consecutive movies for the money, but he also said, “I didn’t want anyone else doing it. I was possessive about the part, to a point.” Despite diminishing budgets and unrelated scripts having Pinhead added to them, he stands by his work. “The only one in the series I feel doesn’t work is Inferno, for various reasons.”
It was heartening to hear the horror icon share his thoughts on Jamie Clayton’s casting as Pinhead in David Bruckner‘s Hellraiser reimagining (which you can read more about here). He also talked about working with Cradle of Filth, meeting Ringo Starr in full Pinhead makeup at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, being a fan of the band Ghost, and his dream of Guillermo del Toro adapting Clive Barker’s The Scarlet Gospels.
Cosplayers were out in full force throughout the con, but they were giving a chance to shine during a costume contest on Saturday evening. The kid’s competition was stolen by a Krampus, while the adults featured with a plethora of worthy entrants ranging from Dani from Midsommar in a hand-painted dress (who took home the top prize) to a Wendigo on stilts and two different takes on Stranger Things‘ Eddie Munson.
The weekend’s festivities also included in-costume photo ops with Ice Nine Kills, Hodder, Moseley, Harris, Bryniarski, and hip-hop duoTwiztid. Friday night featured a karaoke party, complete with celebrity participants. On Saturday night, Ice Nine Kills headlined an intimate, sold-out concert at the nearby Cabot Theater in Beverly, MA with support from Twiztid and Lehman’s band, First Jason.
In all my years attending conventions, rarely have I seen a first-year operation run as smoothly and with such a strong turnout. Everyone I spoke to — celebrities and attendees alike — seemed impressed as well. I’d love to see it expand to utilize more space, thereby creating room for additional vendors and a less cramped environment in the future. Sequels are almost always inevitable with horror movies, after all, so I’m already looking for Silver Scream Con Part 2.