Chicago Days Of The Dead Experience
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a horror convention near me. The convention was called Chicago Days Of The Dead, I had an absolute blast attending the convention and was happy my dad came with me. For this convention I also came up with a cosplay costume idea that was unique, but also easy for me to put together as I already had access to the necessary part’s for the costume. I decided to cosplay as young Michael Myers from Rob Zombie’s 2007 Halloween reboot. To bring this costume to life; I wore some old blue jeans, a Kiss Destroyer t-shirt, a black hoodie and also the same kind of clown mask that was used in the film which is rare and hard to find. I was lucky enough to find the mask at a Halloween store when I was younger and have used it for past Halloween costumes. The final touch for my costume was a fake butcher knife prop that was licensed for Rob Zombie’s Halloween (2007) by Fun World. It is worth noting that the clown mask I have had since I was younger was not licensed for the film, but was the same kind of mask featured in the film; the tag simply read “clown mask.” I was very happy with how much attention and praise my costume received when I attended the convention. At least 6-7 different people asked me about the mask or asked to take pictures of me, which made my day and inspired me to do this costume again at future horror conventions. The main reason I decided on this costume for this specific convention was because I had planned to meet one of the stars from Rob Zombie’s Halloween (2007) at the convention.
The biggest highlight of this convention was meeting the lovely Scout Taylor Compton from Rob Zombie’s Halloween (2007) and Halloween II (2009). She also did the motion capture work for all of the female characters in the recently released Texas Chainsaw Massacre video game. I was hoping to meet Scout at Halloween 45 Years Of Terror, but she was unable to attend that convention. When the opportunity arose to meet her at another horror convention closer to me, I was beyond excited! I purchased a photo op with her prior to attending the convention and made her my main priority for attending Days Of The Dead. When I got my picture taken with her she seemed very excited about my young Myers outfit and overall just seemed happy to be there. She had a very welcoming and bubbly energy which made her pleasant to talk to and be around. After getting my picture taken with her, I went to wait by her booth to have the newly taken photo autographed by her. When she returned to her booth and it was my turn in line, I began to tell her that I have been a fan of her’s since I was a child and adored the work she did in Rob Zombie's Halloween films along with The Runaway's (2010) movie. I also told her I enjoyed the work she did for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre game. She thanked me and asked me who my favorite character was in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre game to which I replied “Julie.” She then smiled and thanked me again. For those who don't know, the Julie character was designed based off of Scout Taylor Compton and I could tell she was testing my fan knowledge when she asked me that, so I am happy I was already familiar with that knowledge. When she was autographing the picture, she mentioned she thought it turned out adorable, that her and I look like we could almost be related. Her comment is even funnier when you consider that I was also dressed as her character's brother from Rob Zombie's Halloween films. I also told Scout that I listen to the Talk Scary To Me podcast. which she does with Danielle Harris and let her know that it has helped me out a lot during some difficult times of my life. When I finished telling Scout how much she means to me, she got up and gave me a hug which is something I will always remember about going to this convention. Overall, Scout Taylor Compton showed me she is a truly caring and compassionate human being.
While I was walking by some of the other celebrity booths, I took note and observed stars from some of my other favorite horror films such as: Danielle Harris (who I previously met at H45), Bill Moseley, Felissa Rose, Alyssa Sutherland, Dave Sheridan, David Howard Thornton, CJ Graham, and more. There were even guests that were not from horror films such as Ace Frehley who is a guitar legend and formerly part of the band Kiss (my dad got his picture taken with him). Days Of The Dead also hosted a wide variety of independent vendors and artists. It is interesting to note the convention was organized in a way so that vendors were on one side and celebrity guests were on the other. While exploring the different vendor booths, I was blessed with some very cool discoveries. The first booth I remember stopping at had some very cool magnets with designs taken from old magazines and ads for horror films. The guy at the booth made the magnets himself and I could tell it was a hobby he really enjoyed and was proud of. I decided to buy four magnets and wound up with a Halloween (1978) magnet, a Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers (1995) magnet, a Psycho (1960) magnet, and a Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) magnet. There was at least three different bins full of these magnets and I was really happy with the ones I had found as they featured ads and artwork I had not seen before for the previously mentioned films. The next booth I stopped at was called Terror Threads and they are a horror t-shirt retailer. While I was at this booth I got a Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) t-shirt that really caught my eye. They even gave me a free Terrifier 2 sticker with my purchase which made me smile. Another vendor I discovered at the convention was a lady selling horror themed pillows. I got a really neat Halloween II (1981) pillow from this vendor that featured patterned designs of two butcher knives reflecting Michael’s face. One vendor I saw at this convention was one I had already seen at H45, known as Devil Metal Art, he creates signs and different art pieces using only metal. It was very neat to see a vendor I was already familiar with. There were also some morbidly fascinating vendor booths that sold bizarre items and art pieces containing dead insects or bats. Some vendor booths even sold novelty and joke items like a fake copy for The Exorcist video game on the Nintendo Entertainment System, fake as in it’s not a real game and just a dummy cartridge. In short, there was no limit to the variety of different vendor booths featured at this convention. Some of my favorite vendors that I saw while browsing the convention floor were ones that were selling unique items you could tell came out of somebody’s extensive collection as they were one of a kind items; like rare figures, out of print media, and autographed collectibles. At one vendor booth, I managed to score a 2007 NECA Rob Zombie’s Halloween figure that was signed by Tyler Mane, who I also previously met at H45. The Myers figure was definitely my favorite item obtained from the convention. While H45 featured some big-name vendors like Fright-Rags and Trick Or Treat Studios, Days Of The Dead still did not disappoint. I was pleasantly surprised to see the many independent vendors and artists along with other retailers like Terror Threads. I am definitely hoping to attend this convention and other’s like it in the future!
If you would like to see the photos I had taken on this journey, please feel free to contact me in the contact section of my site!