Sid Haig meets Texas fan March Baremore

Though horror film conventions are rarely big news events, especially in New York or Los Angeles where they appear to schedule them on a monthly basis, Texas is a true exception. While small comic-cons and sci-fi shows spring up rather frequently, there’s precious little “horror-thoning” in the state that gave birth to Leatherface and countless drive-in classics from Larry Buchanon and S.F. Brownrigg. That all changed this past weekend in Grapevine, Texas (one-time home of Joe Bob Briggs) where fellow fear film fanatics got the chance to mingle with several horror greats.

The cornerstone of the event was the 20th anniversary reunion of “Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.” Most of the original cast were on hand including Bill “Chop Top” Moseley, Bill “Leatherface” Johnson, Lou “L.G.” Perryman, effects guru Tom Savini and, best of all, Caroline “Stretch” Williams. Making her first-ever convention appearance, Ms. Williams proved genuinely excited to be meeting fans and very proud about her participation in the film. The one odd omission, director Tobe Hopper accepted, was the cult film itself. Though the cast gathered for a Q&A moderated by Joe Bob Briggs, a screening of the cult favorite was not scheduled.

Groovy Texas artist from www.goblinhaus.com

Several other film icons made appearances including Sid Haig from “Devil’s Rejects,” president of Troma Entertainment Lloyd Kaufman, Edwin Neal from the original “Chainsaw” and mother/son tag team from “Friday the 13th” Betsy “Mrs. Voorhees” Palmer and Ari “Jason” Lehman. Palmer proved to be the most surprising guest; gracious to a fault and willing to share stories, she was the antithesis of her ‘queen of the slashers” title.

There to receive a lifetime achievement award was exploitation legend Herschell Gordon Lewis. Lewis was very impressed with Texas horror fans, stating several times how mannerly everyone seemed to be. He also revealed that he’s still awaiting funding for his long-awaited “Grim Fairy Tales” feature.

The beautiful Caroline Williams meets her "number one fan" Snow Ghost

In addition to the ubiquitous scream queen parade and vendor tables, there were several Texas-lensed films shown. The obscure ‘80’s slasher “Nail Gun Massacre,” recently given a DVD release, was screened complete with cast reunion. And new fright films from the Lone Star State, including Necroscopic Unlimited’s “The Ancient” and the world premiere of Fringe Media’s “Pot Zombies” were shown with the talented filmmakers present.

All in all it was a suitably scary start to what will hopefully be a yearly event.