Carolina Fear Fest 2023
Last Saturday, Brandy and I attended Carolina Fear Fest. It was a last second decision, right after lunch, but I’m glad we made the trip. I attended the show last year, but I feel like things were improved this year and we got some really cool swag.
Fear Fest is held at the North Carolina Fairgrounds Jim Graham Building, which is perfect for a con of this size. It wasn’t overly crowded, which also makes for a more enjoyable experience.
Like all pop culture conventions, the show hosted vendors and celebrities. Lots of folks arrived in various horror cosplay and well… there was a shocking number of strange animals there. A wildlife outreach had a table and when we walked by the first time there was a massive snake. The next time a massive owl. Then we saw a couple walking around with a stroller and a pet monkey!
Brandy loved all the vendors, and she ended up buying a Freddy Kruger/Jack Skelton inspired sweatshirt, that was torn like it was cut by Freddy’s claws.
She also got a cute little ghost light and a candle.
We took some photos in front of a replica car from Christine, which had an awesome set up full of vintage Stephen King booths and actual props from the film.
There were two celebrities there I really wanted to meet and so I did.
The first is Dee Wallace, whom I like to refer to as my 80’s mom. She was the mom in ET, Cujo, and dozens of other films.
The second was Barbara Crampton, known for her roles in The Re-Animator and Chopping Mall, she is one of the essentially scream queens of the 80’s.
On our way out, we stopped by a neat set up where we could get our photo taken with Jason. Major kudos to the photographer CJ Spence and his excellent customer service.
Overall, Carolina Fear Fest was a fun time. I think it was better than last year’s and I’m glad we popped in for a few hours.
