The Road to Scarefest Weekend with Wes Forsythe

0:00 Hello everybody. I'm Jeff Johnson. I'm David, and this is a film by podcast with a special commn episode Dave. The listeners seem to love the common episodes. I wish we could be doing a lot more of them, but we've got a special treat from today we do. I'm excited. We are just three weeks away from the return of Scarefest weekend in Lexington, Kentucky and West Forsyth. The media director of Scarefest is with us today.

0:54 And hello, and thank you for having me. Wes. It's awesome, man, awesome that that you're here with us today. It is just close to Scarefest. We know you must be very busy, so let us be on my thanking you for making time to join us today. You know it's weird. Honestly, I don't feel less as busy as I have in years past. Some of the things I've been helping them with, Like I don't do any of their graphics anymore, I don't do some other things. But just like this month is the we finish up the film festival, and every spare moment I've had, I forgot how busy I got in that last month to do the Film Festival just to get all that done.

1:34 So yeah, busy as all get out, but it's coming together. Good, good, Well, we're. Gonna talk all about Scarefest from its beginning some eighteen years ago to the Camp Miss horror event it is today that sees tens of thousands of horror fans from all over the world coming together for one weekend in Luxington, Kentucky, every October. But before we get into it, let's get to know west Ford Stifle a little bit, shall we, Dave, Yeah. Let's do that. I can imagine you become the media directors of Scarefest without having the proper credentials. Tell us about let me tell you, let me tell you it works. Now. I did the I did a podcast for him, and the podcast it started out as part of another show called The Paranormal Icon. And then I said, hey, Patty, let's do a monthly thing just about Scarefest. And that was Patty Star, the previous owners, and yeah, yeah, so anyway, so that's how I get started podcaster, Okay, and then I showed up one doing that show for him. Then I showed up scare Fest I want to say eight or nine. Basically, I walked in and they handed me a stack of T shirts and said, you're the media director that was the pomp and circumstances involved in my rise to power.

2:53 Oh well, welcome to the party. Apparently. Yeah, Wes, it's not just horror films, it's it's paranormal stuff. Uh can we talk about paranormal filler for a bit? Oh my god, you duck that one out of my my the history of archives, I've watched it now. I was doing paranormal filler back when podcasting was hard, and if you could really dig out the really old episode inside episodes, it shows. But yeah, because I'm out here in the country, five miles out of town, and at the time, by the time we got what they would really call high speed internet, I was convinced the rest of the nation would have telepathy. That's how that's how bad my internet is out here. Uh finally the cell phone companies, now I'm on that five G stuff, so I'm I'm there just barely. But anyway, but yeah, I was doing it back up, but I you know that now, doing paranormal filler. I got into it because I like stumping around dark buildings at night. I wish there was I watched too much TV. Wanted to do it. Uh, And then I started one I need to share what I'd learned. That was just you know, And somewhere along the line I found out I'm not gonna say I'm a good interviewer, but I have a unique approach to it.

4:11 In words, it's just very very let me see me here. I used to wave my hands when I was all audio. I said, I had you know, I was doing thocts on audio, so so video came very naturally to me. But yeah, Paranormal Filler I started independently. Then I went to Live Peranormal and I got several shows there. They kept every time they have a new project, Ay, Wes, you want to do it. I didn't want to pay me to do it, you know, but I did. I gained a lot of experience there, including working with co host. I started one show there for him. I don't remember which one it was, but uh, they h I said, Okay, I'm gonna do well. Actually I did on Paranormal Filler for a while. I said, I'm gonna have a co host.

4:54 I've never worked for the co host. I'm just gonna do it. And so then I learned I like working with co hosts. It gives me a as to catch my breath. And then uh, and so I did that for you. But then when Brandon Brandon Griffith that bought Scarefest and I was doing at the time, I was doing both shows, Paranormal Filler and Scarefest Radio, and he said, uh, how about if you just give up Paranormal Filler mmm, and and and I'm thinking it was the very same time he said, I want you to go video and so and basically he sponsored me to go to take from Paranormal Filler, which I'd played with video not much, and then went and I said, when if I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do it my way. You understand I'm not a I'm not a blow smoke up your ass kind of guy. And so, I mean the rest is history. But yeah, he Brandon Griffith talked me into going the video and launching Scarefest TV and bringing it to what it is today.

5:53 Was it easy to go paranorma filler? You know what I want to see it? Actually it was, but in my mind I thought I should just go ahead and quit. While I was at like the high middle I wasn't at the top. I'm not gonna have no illusions, but you know, but I did before the quality of the show started because now that was really when everybody was getting into podcasting. It got easier and easier to do, so there's more and more competition. And really, here here's a good example. When I started it, and for several years I was getting booked at conventions around the country because podcasting my reach was not that common. And then by the time I got done, it got to well why should we fly him in when Bob has a podcast He's just down the road and I could see that. So, I mean, my popularity was stagnant, I'll put it that way. I wasn't getting any bigger, wasn't really getting any smaller. Same people want, you know, listening week after week. So I was looking for a new project that I could dig my teeth into, and and so letting that go. I still like to revisit it every now and then because it's still in my roots, my soul, if you will. But but yeah, I'm not sorry that I gave it up.

7:07 Okay, now, tramping around in the dark, I hope you've been to Waverley then. Oh yeah, Yeah, I've been to Waverley three times, four times. Scariest place on earth as far as I'm concerned. Well, yeah, it's I'll put it this way. As far as just wanting to be scared, yes, great place. And when you walk what always say about Waverley when you walk, when you pull in the parking lot, that place, the history just drips off you. It does, of course, one time I went in August, and that's an all that's dripping off you. If you go in August. They built that hospital. Nobody they don't tell you this in the ber sures. It's built on the face of the sun.

7:50 Yeah, I went there in October. If I didn't experience the that heat that you're talking about, it gets. Pretty gets pretty pretty roasty. But I've had some good experiences there. I never felt like it lived up to its hype as far as a haunting part of it. Now, once again, I don't want to put it down in any way, and I did have some experiences there. But when you hear people, you know, oh there, you can't get through that building without getting scratch or pushed down the flight of stairs of the little creeper is going to run across stealing. First time I went, I don't even remember if I got any good evidence the first time I went. Now, later trips, I did get some evidence I would call good, but nothing nothing to any although now we'll say it, I had one of my biggest jump scares there because there's a door in the hallway that goes to the death Tunnel and whatever they call it, the Death Tone. There's a swinging door and if you walk up through it and it go, it'll swing.

8:46 And we were actually we were cleaning up equipment getting ready to go, and I was trucking down through there and I created enough breeze to make that thing swing. And it's scared to live in help and I'm going to admit that. But but beyond that, like I said, nothing's fury there that I've ever encountered. I did actually see an apparition there, but it was one of those say I was walking down the hallway setting up sold out of the corner of my eye, and then I walked past the door. It was like, wait, that was a person. It was gone, of course, of course, you. Know, yeah, that's frightening. I can't imagine having experienced something like that because I would be trucking out as fast as possible.

9:27 Honestly, it was so fast, and you know it ain could be my imagination. The place does have rough walls. Uh, you know, the light will play tricks. But I saw a human figure standing over in the corner looking down. Uh that's what I thought I saw. Yeah, no thanks, they have no thanks. I've got nothing. Yeah. So I've got a question for you regarding the genre of horror. What do you think is the best horror film of all time? And what is your favorite. I'll tell you what my favorite is. Now. I'm not gonna pretend to try and tell you what the best one is, because these people have things on DVD that I've never even now that said, the two, I'm gonna give you two, the two that left the biggest impression on me. My favorite is probably still Nightmare on ELM Street.

10:08 Good one the. Series as a whole, Yes, But that first one I remember the first time I watched that and saw him do that little creepy thing where he's walking down the next to the gate or the fence, and you know as irone stretches out and you know, and and that that had an I remember that had an effect on me when I watched it. Yeah. Now the other one admitted it is completely different the first Well I can. Now I've seen three of them. I think hell Raiser, Oh yeah, he chills down my spine. Now, it's but it was the psychology of it. It wasn't the grossness, it wasn't anything. It was just the whole trying to psychoanalyze the connection between pleasure and pain and all that kind of blew my mind. But those that's that's my personal little dirty sacreds.

10:56 I guess it's too choices. I gotta say, the first Nightmare in Elmstreet, you know, that's when Freddy wasn't funny, he was scary, I mean, frightening scary. So I completely agree with you. Both both Choices were fantastic. I love both of those films. Yeah, Wes, how do you feel about the state of horror films today? Is there is there a director or a studio that stands out to you? Now? Uh no, Now, I'm gonna tell you honestly, I'm a movie fan. I don't get into the nitty gritty of it. And if you want to get Joe Lewis on here, he's the one that can approach you the cast and everything. My take on the horror in Okay, Terror Fire, love the series. Yes, so there is some fresh faces out there, there are some fresh ideas. But every time one of these goddamn studios announces another remake, I just want, I just want to pull my ears off my head, you know.

11:46 And in the outbox they're talking about Amityville. Now they're gonna remake. Yeah, the remake. I mean, come on, go back and get bad movies and remake those, yes fast, the case could be done much better for you. Yeah, yeah, you know. But to take classic movies like that and just reomaking for that, now, I'm not just like Halloween when it was remained. I did watch the remake, and I said that was a good remake. It wasn't needed, but it was a good remake. I'll give you credit for that. But I saw no point in it. You know, it was just another telling of the same story. Yeah, I agree, it's ridiculous anymore, some of the things that we get. But I agree with you, they need to go back some of those B titles that could use a good reason.

12:29 Yes too, if a director's out there any once ideas, I think it's on Gosh, I think it's on Amazon Prime. But it's like the one hundred worst movies of all time, and fifty of them are horror movies at least. And it's not that they were bad concepts. Some of them are considered classics, but you know, yeah, let's let's let's do some of the ones that had an idea but just didn't quite rise to the occasion the budget was too low. There's a lot of stuff done back in the late seventies and early eighties that the soundtracks loan runs. Yeah, maybe a twenty four will listen, which I love A twenty four of the studio because they feel like they're doing original stuff and at least trying to get away from that studio stuff. Maybe they're listening though something like that. We'll see. Yeah, So let's talk about your first con experience. Do you remember which show you attended?

13:25 My first convince and this was actually I guess, well, I've been to some little para cons, but my first experience with Scarefest was the second one. I didn't even hear about it the first year. I had no idea that existed, and a friend of mine in Louisville said, Oh, you got to come to this. It's great. It's all kinds of paranormal people. You'll be networking, because back then paranormal was like almost half the the footprint. And so I went and I was hooked, the crowds everything about it. And then the next year I said, I can't wait to go by and then the son of a bitch that invited me didn't like it. It had already got too big for him. Oh God, it's lost his character, and I'm like, dude, you know so yeah, but I've been since. I've been there every year since the second one.

14:11 I missed exactly one. Wow, that's impressive. Any anyone you were excited to seeing meet at at these before you became the media guy. Oh gosh, well when I Yeah, when I was big back early, I was big into the paranormal field. So yeah, there anybody they had I was happy to meet. I mean, I remember Amy Rooney, I kind of met a Ghost Adventures. Aaron's great Zach. It wasn't that. But I'm just gonna say it wasn't that great of a meeting because I'm not a good one about spending money when I go to these things. I'm a tight one. But you know Aaron, you see him out, he'd be out on smoking around lounge and cutting up. You know, he'll talk to you for an hour. But so they really that's where it started was me is going to see the people I've seen on TV from the paranormal field and getting to talk to them network and having some good conversations over drinks.

15:08 Because that's one thing about Scarefest when they when we close the convention doors, we're still going for another four to six hours, sure, And that's been like that from day one. It still goes on today now as I've got to do the show for him, and they occasionally helped me get ahold of a celebrity and bring in I've made some really good friendships with some of these celebrity guests. Now I'm not saying they would, you know, invite me to their next wedding, but you know we we are. You know, I've got the actual on my phone. I could call them if I needed to. So, but yeah, so there are some favorites. I'll tell you. I think I think some of some of the people in the business, especially in the in the horror movie industry. And you've said it like, there's some of the most genuine people you're ever going to talk to, you ever gonna meet. You know, we've we've you know, Dave and I have made some some pretty tight friendships over the past two seasons, just reaching out and then you know, we've met some people at Scarefest, We've done some interviews, and then you know, they're like you said, they're in your cell phone, You're you're talking to them, They're they're commenting on your your up to your Facebook posts. You know, it's it's it's a it's a family. It's a cool community.

16:16 I think the the the celebrities over the vast majority of them are the most down are just down to earth. The people they'd live in the double wide next door. You'd never know the difference. The fan now, we'll say, horror fans are absolutely rabid. These people on earth they are too. I I mean, I've watched, okay huge a couple of days. I've watched I've watched fans go up to celebrities and quote their movies, saying, you know, repeating their lines to them, and you can tell the celebrity don't remember the damn script by now, Yeah, it's been twenty thirty years. And then last year we had Matthew Lillard.

17:00 Oh yeah, yes, great guy. Okay. I worked. I helped his photo ops lines on Saturday night, so I got to see everybody, you know, before they got their photo op with him. I watched fourteen year old girls come out of that faux op photo op just absolutely sobbing with pleasure because they hadn't met this man. And I'm going, the dude is my age. We could be on the same bowling team. Geeze. So yeah, it tight, it is. It's a tight community. Matthew is special because he has fans from eight years old to my age and beyond. He's been in the industry. Robert England actually he's like that too, but the words got around that he's just he's gotten to the age. You know, he can't sign it as fast. He doesn't build as much excitement. People don't go to the convention with the high expectations of meeting him. But you know, Robert, you know, you go back to the eighties and then just stranger things, you know, a year or two ago. So he is still getting that new fan base, but he's not he's a hot ticket. But I think people have lowered expectations because words out and around, you know, yeah, and he just can't sign that fast.

18:15 Do you think part of that that lowered expectation is coming from just I mean, we've seen him at a couple of shows and his lines are just massive, and you kind of wonder like, well, I'm not gonna get a chance. You know, he's just he's. Just too well, and you won't. You won't. That's the point. First time we've had him, this is this will be the at least the third time. The third time, I'm pretty sure first time we had him, we let roughly, I'm gonna throw out a number. I don't know what's right, probably eight hundred people getting got in his line. Seven hundred ever left man on Friday if you were on Saturday, you know, because but you know, people just wanted to get in and they'd waste the whole day standing in his line. Now, let me be clear, a lot of that is that he he spends five minutes with every signature.

19:03 He doesn't crank him out. He just you know, he stands there, he talks to you. It's a great fan experience, but that means when you spread it out, not as many fans are going to get that opportunity in a day's time. So there's that now. We came up with a system. When he was coming back, we said we can't go through that again. Well you know they were, they were ready to come at us with torches because they stood in line all day. So we were the ones that came up with the system that so many places are using now where you go up, you get a ticket given approximate time you get then you don't have to stand in the line. You just show up when we call that group of tickets. So it's like the celebrity photo ops.

19:43 Yeah, very very very similar to that. That's brilliant. Yeah, but we we have we got we follow him around the country. We see about how fast he can sign and other celebrities too. We did it for Matthew Lillard last year. The thing on him is he'll stay till midnight. If he's got people in his line, he'll just he'll stand there till he drops dead. I think, wow, you know, we were chasing people out of the building with with brooms and torches and he's he's still signing. Mister England, he's older than me. He's not gonna do that? Ye makes sense? Wes Uh you mentioned Brandon putting some T shirts in your hand and dubbing you the media director. More more than that, Uh, can you share some details about the role actually, like because I got it? You know you talked about scare Fest TV. What all goes into being the media director for an event this big?

20:36 Okay, the I'll put it this way. There's been a lot of mission creep since I took it over. When it started, you was podcast and then the enemy T shirts. As the media director, I was in charge the main thing. I was in charge of checking in media. In other words, when you do you know, we do give up media piece passes and so I was in uh charting out at that particular show. All I do is hand them out at a list. Now. Then, so the next year, being media director, I had to figure out who wasn't who wasn't media and I was I started from scratch. Soever. You know, we'd put links on there. You know, they give me links and I make sure they were a real podcast or real magazine whatever.

21:17 Uh. Now that the TikTok's out, everybody with a thousand TikTok followers think thinks their media that's made of toughness because I hate hurting people's feelings. But when you sign up for TikTok, they give you a thousand followers. You know, it just comes with the package. So it takes people can't understand why don't jump at influencers because I put my time in, had to do this. You know, I know what goes into presenting a quality podcast. Just because you can wiggle your butt in front of a webcam don't impress me. So let's talk about Let's talk about planning though, Like when the doors closed on a Sunday night, are do you get some time off? Or are you already pause Best Week at eighteen?

22:05 You know? No? Start? Okay, now I don't because okay, first of all, when we shut the doors on Sunday night, now this is a running joke. I shouldn't call it a joke, but it's our little dig at Adrian the show manager. All the volunteers leave when we shut the doors, except for a handful of us hardcore, you know, devoted staff members, and so we're packing all that shit up. When you go in and you see those set pieces that we've set up, the twelve foot skeletons, the Stranger Things set piece that we packed around, the Chucky Barbie doll thing. All that stuff has to go in storage and the convention center wants it out there by midnight. So but for some reason, Okay, it was really tough. I think it was three I want to give my story straight.

22:58 Three years ago, it just like kill us because they just went Brandon went nuts on how many set pieces that he brought. So the next year he said, no, no, it'll be easier. This year, we've got pods and I said, that doesn't change anything. They're just down the ramp so anywhere. Yeah, And because he thought that he didn't even have as many volunteers, so it did go a little faster, but it was just the same number of people doing more or different number of people, fewer people doing more work. Then the last two years they've decided to something we never did before. They've decided to schedule big events on Sunday after the con big events that our volunteers would sure damn well like to go to. So it's basically now it's me Adam and j W. That's that's our that's our Low Douck group. And and and they did it again this year, they're having the Nightcap on Elm Street.

23:57 Start right at the end of the con. Everybody, I one my volunteers called the other night, Are you going to that? How can I go to that? Somebody, somebody's got to get this crap loaded. Sorry, Yeah, hey, we might have to bring our gloves and you know, so we might have to help this guy out. I know, right, and. I get to actually trade somebody free tickets. Last year. Yeah, he plowed up good girls. Yeah, I knew what was coming. And I'm a doer. I'm a you know, I'm a problem solver. Yeah. Well, Dave, I think now's a good time. We'll take a quick break here from some of our sponsors, and when we come back, we got more Wes, and we got more about Scarefest. Welcome back. We are talking with Wes Forsyth, the media director of Scarefest Weekend. What has got to be the biggest horror convention? Yeah, ever, Dave, do you think?

24:55 Yeah? I mean, Scarefest is known as the Senator site of Comic Con and has been called the ultimate horror, paranormal, pulp culture convention. So Wes take us back to the beginning. Can you tell us what the where the idea of Scarefest came from. Who was involved in how it was initially put together. Yeah you mentioned Patty, Yeah, Patty Starr and Jeff Waldridge where the originator, Jeff Walder was a big horror fan. He knew Patty had some money and some connections, and so he went, he said, let's have a horror convention. She said, I don't know anything about horror. Well what if we mixed paranormal with it? At the time a very novel idea. So she launched it in the Lexing convened.

25:36 We've already been a convention center show. But over the years it did. It grew very organically. Now it kind of leveled off at about ten thousand people. I'm not gonna make any bones about it. Go up one year, down one year. I think the biggest year was fifteen thousand, before Brandon got hold of it, but yeah, it was then they I think it by year three it was already it basically gained on average probably one thousand people a year. Then he bought it in Scarefest ten. That was twenty sixteen, I want to say twenty seventeen, right around there, and it was tough for a couple of years because convention center. He's not he's he's got a good job, he owns his own business, but he really he's not a rich man, and it takes some real money to put on these hotel or one of these convention center conventions. So that first year it was hard on him. I mean, he has house mortgage. He was he was sweating. And then well we had a great crowd, but the bills just were so high from the convention center because nobody was watching the money. He came into the organization, gave, you know, handed it over the checkbook, but there wasn't anybody at that level that was really watching the money. So the next year he started tightening down and what he made sure he knew where every

27:07 penny was going, to find out where he could cut costs. First year lost a lot of money. Second year he owned it. It was roughly I think that was either broke even or just went a little bit in the hole. And by the but by the third year he started showing a profit on it. And it wasn't by doing it. He was just watching his expenses. And in the meantime though, still the crowd was fairly flat. So he knew what what he had to deal with. Then twenty twenty came and COVID and he and of course we had the year off yep. But it did give him a chance to kind of get his take a breather, build a bank account back up, and uh, and think about the organization and you know, and how to put on a show.

27:53 So he had to really at that time he was able to think about the kind of show that he would. He liked the things he liked about other horror conventions, but you couldn't find any one horror convention that did them all right, and he would He started doing that. Plus in the meantime he kind of became a wizdom in internet marketing. Got to give him credit for credit for that. And then he was scared to death in the year after COVID had calmed down. Uh, we were still under masked. They weren't mandates, but nah, it was mandates. Yeah, and uh, Brandon was scared. He said, I don't think people's gonna come out. I said, Brandon, people will come.

28:35 They were wanting out of the house so bad, you know, don't even now that was one I called, right, I said, people want out of the house. You don't even need to have celebrities, just have a big party, don't show up. But he did. He had celebrities, We had the convention, and yes, we pretty much doubled our normal attendance that next year and every year since we've grown on about fifty Now we're not going to grow another fifty percent this year because we're out of room. We're at capacity we were and even though we've got more of the building. That's one thing I want to get the word out to people. Yes, we rented finally the entire The only thing left is Rupperina and twenty five thousand seats and no four space. Yeah, so we're not gonna rent that yet.

29:26 But we got every We've got every other inch of that building. But we are did not add to the number of tickets we're selling. That's to make room, make it kind of get it back to that easy flow that we were always known for. Well, it's like you said, it's grown bigger year after year, and it's not just about meeting your favorite fiend or scream queen. It's it's it's more than finding that vendor that has the rare sealed copy of Halloween two on VHS. Can you tell us about some of the great activities that you guys provide, because there's all there's a bunch of. I knew you were going to ask me that I should have wrote them all down. Okay, after ours events gorgeous.

30:07 We have a launch party. Yes. Now, if anybody ever been to Scarefest before or five years ago and the launch party sucked, we got it fixed now, Okay, but I've never been to a convention that had a good launch party. Just they just just and we didn't. They just always sucked. And then uh, basically we said, well, let's quit putting so much energy into it, and we just said horror trivia in a bar. Place is packed. So yeah, that's our that's our launch party. Then on Friday night, let's see, we've got of course the War in a Cult Museum, Yeah, is coming this year. We'll have a ghost hunt basically with that you can actually buy a ticket to ghost hunt. Uh, bring your little gadgets and and and lighty flashy things and they're going to do what's called the with the headphones. Gosh, that shows you what all out of an eye am on ghost es ESTCE Experiment. Yeah, the ESTES method. They're going to be doing that. They we have a celebrity that night, Shane Pittman's coming in on Friday night to Actually it's more of a participation with you, it's not even his event. But then I also talk to Jericho with Chris Jericho is one night, Worn Museum, War Museum of course at Saturday night. Also we're doing two of them.

31:33 We have a ghost hunt schedule. We just scheduled it for Friday night off site in case somebody doesn't want to spend that money. We've got actually one that's fifty fifty five dollars maybe down at the Living Arts and Science Center. It's over it's well over one hundred years old. It's almost two hundred years old. That'll be going on with Aaron Seger's talk Scary to Me Live is coming up on. They're coming back. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah they may bank. No, they're coming bay. I'd love to say it's for the fans, but no, you know, it's it's a very popular event. We've got of course gallery readings during the day, Psychic gallery readings, War Museum, another ghost on Saturday night down to the Italian Winery and Killers on the Rock now this is another Lonch activity. Killers on the Rocks is on Thursday, and basically it's whiskey tasting with celebrities and hodd Ari mahailof felicea Rose. They go on a whiskey tasting with you. We put a lot of effort into making this our weekend a destination weekend. In other words, he gets a horror convention, but we want you to have something to do the entire time other than get signatures and shop. Of course, we do have the film festival I mentioned, we have the pan panels seminar. Seminars usually lean towards the per normal still, but the panels are greatly tilted towards the horror end of it. So

33:08 there's lot of seven of course, and we have our VIP party on Saturday night, and then we have the new Nightmare and I'm sorry Nightcap on Elm Street event that we've just added this year and honor Robert England and basically it's a or dervs and drinks with Robert England. Nice which sounds amazing, but we'll all miss because we got packed the show up right wise. Yep, I'm I don't get in on that one. I didn't even make the VIP party last year because I volunteered for Matthew's line building for his photo ops. I got out of there at eleven thirty and I said there and I actually give it to give our security guy, a logistics director, Adam credit he went to the party. Okay, I did not go. I did not go to the FB party.

34:04 You're a busy man. I'm sure you get hardly know. I was tired, I was flat out. I was doll as tired. I'm sure you are. Went over setting from the height a few minutes, had a cocktail, went to bed. I don't blame you on that at all. So I've noticed you're very active on the social media pages for Scarefest weekend. Uh. You responded to comments about everything from guest request the little things that can be found on Scarefest faq link, and you're doing Scarefest TV. Are the interactions online ever helpful in guiding your decisions for the next year's event. I will say we are one of the conventions and this isn't okay on Facebook. I'm in charge of where I shouldn't even have them in charge of it. I get it's in my Wheelhouse. I answer most of the questions that go on the so called business page now the group. I do answer some of those the fan group, but largely we have some volunteers that do that because we get a lot more interaction on that page. Now, on that I will say that we actually people don't believe we do this, but we put a guest post up right after the show that it'll go out there a week do later request your celebrities here, and we try to drive everybody rather than just make random posts.

35:16 You know, I want so and so put it on there. They keep a spreadsheet. We have somebody that actually goes through every day and sees what's been requested and keeps a spreadsheet. Now I'm not saying it's shoe in, but it really does affect the direction we go in the next year in booking. That makes me feel that's one way. Yeah, I like that you guys do that. That makes you, you know, fan friendly basically is what it is. You're listening to the people who come to that convention. You may not get everybody that people request, of course not, because that's just not the way it works, you know, But it's not that to hear that you keep a spreadsheet like that. That's impressive. Well, now, another thing I want to point out to people. We are basically an eighties nineties horror movie convention. Okay, on that end of it, that's when the classics came out.

35:58 We dipped our toes in the years into the more modern stuff, and sometimes we got our toes bit off. So I just want to have people to understand that's why we don't try We don't go after uh some of the current stars is because they first of all, they don't want a conventions. But we even though they're popular, we can't count on them drawing our fans in uh. Here's here, there's a quick example. Tobin Bell. Yeah, we had him six seven years ago. I had a fan walk up to me and said, you mean Tobin Bell is your headliner? You all got to do better? What? Wow?

36:38 Come on? He'd but he I mean he's and he's I like the movies, but said, he's not a horror star. And now we can hardly get Tobin Bell because he's always so busy doing horror conventions and he is one of our most requested guests. I do want to point out we tried to get him this year, but he was already booked elsewhere. Well, yeah, that's aside from Tobin Bell. Though. Is there a specific guest you've had in mind over the years that you'd like to see attend or perhaps someone that you'd love to see make a. Return Evil Dead guy. It's Bruce Campion better. Yeah, Bruce Camble. Yeah, he's He was actually scheduled to come back originally this year, but something came up and couldn't do it. Because we thought that would be really cool.

37:24 I have Robert England and and him, so I look for him to be back anytime. He's very popular with the fans and the man is an autograph machine. The thing I'll say about him, and really it's a lot like Matthew, but he whips out autographs incredibly fast and every fan walks away from him going that was such a great experience. He has somehow just found that perfect balance between engaging the fan and cranking out autographs. But really, there's nobody we've really tried to now. We've tried to get some, we had some we wanted this year. To be honest, I'm not gonna drop names because hey, if I dropping somebody say oh he said they're getting them, you know, that'll be the first thing happens, or I'll say we're not getting them, and then they come to find out we end up with him because we were waiting on filming commitments and we just never got them done.

38:17 But we had a couple of more really big big stars this year that I hope we do get in the near future. That but I'm afraid I would love to drop the names to you, but it would just backbur on me, so I'm not going. Oh. Yeah, Colic s Cooper is one we finally gave up just trying to get We get his agent says, yes he wants did the show. Yes, I'll talk to him. Yes, Well, we just got to wait on his touring schedule, and every year it falls through. We finally just quit asking. Damn, that's unfortunate. I need him on my Friday the thirteenth poster, Part six on Alice Cooper. Yeah, come on, Alice, listen. Uh, just because you mentioned Bruce Campbell, I'm gonna shoot my shot right here. Uh.

39:02 I'll tell you something. If you could reach out to Sam Rami at some point and just have him bring in the Delta Classic, you know, the car from the Evil Dead that shows up in every Sam Rami film because you guys, you guys have some amazing cars that show up, you know, some of the greatest vehicles from Hore. You know, there's always gonna be anc that one. I've seen the DeLorean. You know, you guys had the Kuda from Phantasm last last. H Yeah, I never made it to in the building. I forget what they have every year, but yeah, that's the dead opposite end of where I'm stationed through most of the convention. But yeah, I mean and even some of the more frivolous ones. Supernatural, Oh gosh ya, the Mystery Machine. We used to have the Mystery Machine every year.

39:45 So yeah, it's of course Christine. We get Christine about every other year. Christine doesn't like to do same conn. You can count on Christine next year. Now now west for for the first time a heading to scare Fest. Are there any dues and don'ts you can offer about meeting your favorite celebrity or maybe what to expect on the convention floors? Well, first of all, anybody that has not been and this actually you can use our website and then apply what you learn to where we want to go read the FAQ on our website, which incidentally I wrote, you can tell there's a little snarky remarks in it every but uh and then they put but they have put together a lot of information on the website just has to do with going to conventions in general. But the main thing I would wear comfortable shoes. That's rule number one.

40:41 Rule number two is actually deodorant just for the sake of it. But beyond that, I don't can tell people is be patient in our case, expect your crowd. But we do everything we can. Last year week we uh jacked it up Friday night. We weren't expecting the mad rush of uh Matt Lillard Lillard fans. Yeah, and data hit is brought on and we did we got we we dropped the ball fright. We had it fixed by Saturday. You know, the line was back to moving the way it should. But so we've actually instituted instituted a new plan this year just to get people in the building early, just to make sure there's stage ready to go even if the tickets mess up. We've got extra time now to work out the problems because we'll have you in the building good. But as far as the We're an easier one. As far as meeting celebrities, Robert England is still is gonna be very, very difficult, But we have found the magic number. Everybody thought Brandon was crazy crazy when he went north of eighty celebrities because there was always a tipping point there where you could the celebrities couldn't make money. That is, it's spread it out too much.

41:52 But we was able to, or I shouldn't even say we. I was not responsible for it, but he did manage to keep the crowd growing and grow that number of celebrities with it. And by doing so, now when you walk up if you look at Oh my God, Pelissa's line is ten people along. Oh look, Cane's it, you know, and you go to and you've got another celebrity. With that many celebrities, there's gonna be more than one you want to meet. And so you get to you get to choose your line that you want to stand in, and it keeps it really keeps going smoothly. Well, one thing I'd like that you guys are doing. You guys are getting groups of people from particular films so you can just basically go down the line and fill up a poster because you've got so many people I love that I really do.

42:37 Well. See that was once again, that was Brandon. We were the same as every other convention. We just took the who the agents threw at us. We'd have a headliner, we'd try to get some supporting cast behind a headliner, but we just really didn't put a lot of effort into getting reunions. But Brandon once he bought it. Now this Brandon's a horror fan. That's why he bought it. He honestly was up to him. He closed the paranormal down. But his wife is a paranormal fan, so that's what keeps that into uh involved. But he knew what he wanted out of the convention and he will and he's one of those guys that will buy a poster just to take it to the convention to get five signatures on it. Yep. And then somewhere it occurred him, wait if I could get the entire cast here, and in words, you're looking at a fan building the convention that the fan wanted mm hmm, and rather than just being all over the map with the celebrities.

43:38 Yeah, you can see it. I mean, I'm telling you I'm gonna get as a kid seeing the Monster Squad people, and how many of you all got what eleven? As far as we know, we're the biggest Monster Squad reunion ever. Yeah, yeah, I read that. This is there's not been one this size ever and you guys got it. Yeah, and and a lot of that that Once that's I'm of this dumb luck because once you get so big. As far as the convention you mentioned before, we don't know we're the biggest convention in the country because when we were I went to a couple of the ones that said they were the biggest, and I'm like, you, you couldn't fit our line for the bathroom in this convention.

44:22 So yeah, so you know, so I don't. But at the same time, Texas frightmark great convention. They've moved a convention center now, and I think, you know, we're on we're on par with them. So I'm not gonna say we're the biggest, but I'm saying we're we're, we're in the team, We're we're still running for it. Uh, I'm sorry, go ahead, No, I was just about to say, now, what was I even talking about? When I start went off on that tangent and. We were talking about reunions and stuff like that. Oh yeah, yeah, so. Getting getting the whole whole cast together. Yeah. But so I was talking about dumb luck of it a lot of times. You know, we'll he'll have a reunion in mind, and then the agents find out that we're booking that reunion, and then of course they started contacting and saying, hey, I've got the you know, I've got the person that you know, customer number three that was standing in line, I've got the dead lady for you know, the caterer is really but they do, really they find us a lot of times what what have people? And He's like, that's never done a con before.

45:21 And they said, oh, I saw you're doing it. I was in that movie and yeah, we know you were. Where the hell have you been that way? That's awesome? Hey, I love that. And you know, you guys, I think when we went to you guys what three or four years ago, we fell in love with you. We really did. We we love this convention very much and we find we look forward to it every single year. So we're starting to come back again this October for sure. But if that is that's a lot of our goal is and this one thing I've been I'm in business the repeat customers or what makes your business. You can get new customers, but you've got to get people a reason to come back to you. And I'm hoping that we we we've done that. We Like I said, now, some people first if they were last Friday last year on Friday, if that was their first con experience with us, they went away parties and wall I'll never go back there.

46:12 I'd love to say, give it to another shot, because we'll we will do it right. We will fix it. Yeah, I mean we it's we want people to come back. We were in that line on Friday and you know those things happened. You know, it didn't FaZe us one bit. You know, you know we're fans. We understand what you guys have to go through to run a convention like that. So but to hear you guys recognize that that and are fixing it, that speaks volume. It really does. Well. It was a quick reaction to last last year too, with that Friday, because I know when we got got to the doors, I was like, man, they they kind of course corrected quick, there, didn't they? They you know kind of fixed it right on the spot, you know, so. We know what we know. Yeah, basically I think of what that was. Some got screwed up, and then they tried something that made it worse, and then finally they kind of got it under control. Now I wasn't there Friday night. Brandon was all a panicky and everything, and and well I shouldn't say that he was. He was upset, and so I said, okay, I will be there Saturday morning.

47:11 I'm not a morning person, but I said I'll get up bright and early. And I did. I want I do like my breakfast. But I got over there and I took the reins and I got the best compliment. Somebody went, uh uh, posted on online, well they got the line working. It was going great until Wesley left. I don't think that was true. But but I was. I was out there. I was greeting people. I had a postcard all the way from France. Somebody came from France and saw me directing traffic and greeting people and getting them across the street. And he said, you don't see that. It conventions. The guy that it's not even my damn job, the media director, the guy that does her podcast is out there bringing fans into the building making sure the lines are right. And that's and I'm not and I don't want to take credit because that is why the way our volunteers are our staff. That's one thing we get a lot of compliments on. When you walk up to one of our staff and ask them a question, they're instructed they are not allowed to say, I don't know. Goodness, if they don't know the answer, they're going to escort you to the person they know that will.

48:21 And you know, I experienced that last year. I went up to some at work because I had a question for them and they didn't know what they said. Hold on a second, let me go, let me go find such and such, let me get this answer for you, so I know exactly what you're talking about. That's exactly what happened to me. So kudos to you for that. Well, we we think it's very important for the fan experience. And it is and that's why we keep coming back. And that's why you guys keep growing because obviously you care about it. You care about the fans, and you care about the guests. They are there. You can see it because the guests are having fun. I mean, everybody we met last year and the year before that is just or having the time of their life. You know, you want to sit down with them. I mean you could sit there for hours with them if you could have the time, and they had the time, you know, to listen. It's it's a great experience for fans. It really is a question you do you do? So I got a question for you. I mean we had many questions for it, but I got another one for you.

49:11 If you guys thought about inviting anybody from like cryptids and stuff like that, you know that genre. Have you thought about that? Yes? Okay, how can I explain this? We actually had some people from the cryptozoology booked last year. I'm in I'm largely in charge of booking the per normal side, and we we pulled that in that new apology into the into that side of the building and I had a couple We announced them and then they called me. We had them out like a month and they called and said, we got to cancel, we're filming. Then just let me know we're filming. So we lost them. Then we had another convention in Lexington that's a month after us.

49:58 That the minute they were on the phone the minute we announced the cancelation and booked them, and now what that they're going back this year, I'm pretty sure they're just trying to keep us from getting them. That being said, we have the Mountain Monsters coming. I realize it's not the serious side of it, but we do. We do look at that and like now our speakers, there's usually somebody that will be speaking about it. They may not be famous, but there we do try to make sure that they're an authority. You might say, sure, but we are trying to get like we we want to get more into the cryptozoology and in UFO type fields and it probably I'm not gonna say it's be easier to do, but paranormal. As far as paranormal TV, it's slim pickens now and a lot of us went to streaming. But as far as what's on TV in the for the wide audience, they've canceled everything. Aaron Sagers as other than Ghost Adventures. Aaron Sagers and his paranormal caught on camera.

51:05 I believes the name of it. He's that's one of the last paranormal shows left on TV. That's crazy. But there are still UFO shows and I believe the crypt the some of the the Bigfoot shows are still going, so we're we'll we'll work on that harder. Yeah, just try to stay current with that. It's funny and horror. We don't have to stay correct, right, paranormal we did do. Yeah, it makes sense. I'm a big Crypti guy. I love bigfoot sasquatch, anything to do with that. I'm a huge fan. I have been since I was a little kid, and I would just love to be able to get some of those groups who I see on YouTube and stuff like that. There's a group called small Town Monsters. Yeah, no, we we had what's the guy's name that's in charge? That on top of my head right now anyway, But yeah, he's from Ohio. I've known him for years.

51:57 We actually had him two or three three years ago, four years Yeah, he so we it is on our radar. So yeah, okay, good deal. So, looking back over the yours of scare Fest Weekend. As the media guy, do you have a favorite moment you can share with us besides being busy all the time? You know, that's a tough one. I'm gonna give you a generic answer first, and then I'll be more specific generically, I make really good friendships with the slibs that come on my show. Melanie Kenneman, we kept in touch. I've known Dustin Perry from the paranormal side forever. We keep in touch. Beatrice Buffly, who incidentally, I am absolutely in love with that woman. I would murder my wife to but then felicita rose. Of course, every she's everybody's friend, but every time, you know you, when she sees me, you know, she will jump out from at her table and give me a big hug. But I think she does that with like everybody she's ever known. But so in generically, it's just the friendships I made and getting to see those people again. But specifically, and this fell mostly towards the felicita side of the argument, I basically made a bet that I said I will dress up as the what I called the douchey eighties character from sleep Away Camp, which Ina didn't laugh, metting he's not

53:29 He's really hell. He's a hell of a guy. But so yeah, cut off shirt, daisy do shorts, the works, and some of a bitch found a somebody found a loophole in the way I made the bet, and I and I said, no, I'm gonna stand up to it. So yes, I actually did cosplay sleep Away Camp cause play. It was just two years ago and I was sucking my gut here, so yeah, but that's probably the right now. That is probably most memorable experience and the reception it got. Honestly, he was Catherine. Uh hope, I don't mess pronounce her name, gosh v I hope she didn't watch this anyway, but one of the other stars was there, and uh, Catherine Cammy.

54:19 Yeah all right, now she's a listener. Dave ye, you saved it West, thank you, Okay, Uh yeah, I got to take pictures. I mean that, you know, she wanted a selfie with me. Felicia got his selfie with me, all because I was in my little type bans and tucking my gut in my cut off shirt. I was about ready to ask you if there's photo evidence of this, but. Oh yeah, it's it exists on the internet. Well, as we wrap things up, let's talk about what's next for Scarefest, because, uh, if this event wasn't big enough next year, uh twenty twenty six or is a midyear event planned? What what can you tell us about Spawn of scarefest.

55:03 Not a lot, just because we've been so tied up in the planning for this that they haven't let me in on what any of the planning that they made on on that show. It's going to be a hotel show. It's going to want to where it's going to be much smaller now. I mean we're talking twenty thirty celebrities tops, just because you know, that's about a hole we can fit in the hotel. But Brandon kind of wanted he's wanting to do an extra event, and he wanted to do something to take us back to our roots. That smaller crowd, the more intimate, you know. Uh, we're not gonna get thirty thousand people, forty thousand people in this hotel.

55:47 Matter of fact, when we told him how many we were expecting to show up, they went white. So we might have to work on that. Because I told Brandon when he bought the business brand, you had nine thousand people that if you bolted the door shut, they would break the windows and come in. You've got that covered. But uh, but yeah, that's uh, it's gonna be a a smaller version. Uh, it's gonna be more of a I want to say a party atmosphere most of the after our stuff will be more geared, like we're already planning. Uh. They've got fire pits at the hotel and we're gonna be sitting around the fire pits and and and just see what all we can get into outdoors. It'll be in June, so I don't have a lot of details on it, but I can tell you it is gonna be a completely different animal from what we are now.

56:37 Okay. It takes me back to when we first started going to conventions back in the late nineties, where you had those hotel events and they're very intimate. You know, they weren't gigantic crowds, but they're you know, decent crowds and you you had more time to like sit there and talk to the guest and take your time with them and stuff like that. And I am absolutely a static that you guys are gonna do that, and I would definitely be there for that. I I can't wait. Well, I can't wait, Dave, I know we got three weeks to go. Uh. Scarefest Weekend is taking place this October seventeenth through the nineteenth at the Central Bank Center in Lexington, Kentucky. Tickets. You're on sale now, so head to www dot Scarefest Weekend dot com to get your tickets.

57:17 Secure those celebrity photo ops, find out all about the great things happening during the. Weekend, and listeners, are you heading to Scarefest Weekend next month? We'll be there all weekend long and we hope you see you there. Who are you hoping to see? Let us know on social media. You'll find us on Facebook, Instagram, and x. You can check us out at www dot film by podcast dot com for our film and TV articles and our entire library streaming free. Write to us at a film by Podcast at gmail dot com with your questions, comments and concerns. We may just read your response on the show and send you some a film by swag. Well, So, I gotta tell you, man, this has been a blast having you on and talk to scat talking scared movies, talking, talking paranormal anything. Uh where can our listeners if they want to, if they want to find out more about uh your side of the business, like you know, like with the with the paranormal stuff. Any anything you can you can offer us.

58:10 I don't do paranormal anymore. I got I got tired of watching. I got tired of reviewing evidence, watching sixteen hours of myself talking to walls. Uh it so I I do a little bit of that now on the uh we'll call it the celebrity side, if you will. But as far as actual ghost stuff, now, I I I couldn't even lay my hands on most of this stuff I collected. I will say, if you want to, uh, find out more about Scarefest TV. Uh. We got the website now Scarfest radio dot com because Brandon never offered to buy me a new domain, so it's still under Scarefest Radio dot com. But we've got the full archives up there. It's searchable and you can kind of see how I cut up every every goddamn Fridays.

58:57 I like you said, well, that's fantastic. Uh. We appreciate you being on here. We thank you, and hopefully we run into you at the show. You'll be there, right, I. Mean, oh yeah, yeah, all right, whether you're right in the traffic, you'll either see me outside line building or now if you get if it's later in the day, just wait at the top of the escalator. I spend ninety percent of my time going from the scare FIST TV booth, which is you know where the big column is. Yep, Okay, that's where our booth is. From there to the second floor, back and forth because I run the second floor and so yeah, just stand at the escalator and eventually you'll fuck catch me.

59:37 Okay, Well, remember that we'll be on the lookout for you. Was uh. This has been great and for those of you out there listening each week, following us on social media and subscribing to our Patreon, we thank you and we'll see you at Scarefest. See you then,