Last weekend, Mrs. Highbury and I made the trip down to Columbus, Ohio to take in our first ever convention, the Midwest Haunters Convention. And though we only went down for one day, we were amazed at what we saw!
We arrived early Saturday afternoon and immediately made our way to the convention trade show with camera in hand. Upon entering the main doors, the entire area was covered in a thick fog. Froggy's Fog!! (I picked up two gallons of Froggy's Fog Juice for the haunt last year, and I will never use anything else. Top grade quality fog, and I even got mine scented with Mildew and Swampy Marsh.)
After the fog cleared up, we made our way to the Garage Of Evil booth, complete with their laser gun shooting gallery. There we met Steve O and the Evil Queen, who hooked us up with plenty of swag. Thanks, guys!! Next year I promise to bring you some "beverages"!!
We then stopped by Skeletons And More, where I got some shots of their amazing skull and bone props:
We also got some shots from the amazing Dream Scape Studios:
As well as Screamline Studios, with their awesome booth setup, The Tool Shack:
And one of my favorites, Creepy Collection:
We saw a great Scarecrow at The Corpses Hollow:
We saw Satan at BandB Productions:
We also stopped by and had a great chat with the group from Specter Studios. They had the absolutely greatest Opera Clown costume I had ever seen. Simple black and white color pattern and a wonderfully creepy head. I want this for my collection:
I applaud their efforts for manufacturing everything in the good 'ole USA and their beautifully designed catalog. And why, why, why did I NOT try on their duck costume??? That thing was crazy!!
Along with all the vendors, the Convention had a small custom car show in the back:
After walking around to all of the amazing vendor booths, we took a stroll over to the hotel bar to grab a quick refreshment. It was there that we met Leo McNamee and "G" Pradel from Chicago. We chatted with them about all things Halloween over a few beers. And it was then that "G" told us he was filming a documentary about Leo and home haunting. Seconds later, he whipped out the camera and we were blabbing our heads off about the Convention and our home haunt. G, if you're reading this, thanks again for including us in your documentary. I hope it is a success and I hope that we don't end up on the cutting room floor!!
After our cameo appearance, we made it back to a meet and greet with the Garage Of Evil Network. It was good to see a few members of the Northern Ohio Haunters Group (as I haven't made it to any of the make and takes this year), as well as other members from across the country.
It was unfortunate that we had to leave, as I really wanted to attend the Masquerade Ball later that night, but it wasn't to be this time around. We are already making plans to attend next year, for the entire weekend, including the Thursday/Friday Bus Tour, as well as the Masquerade Ball and a few instructional classes. I'll also be dragging Mrs. Highbury, Scrapes and Jimmy T along with me.
A big, big thanks to Kathy and the rest of her crew for putting on an amazing Convention. I hope to see you all there next year!!
And the Cleveland Plain Dealer has a good article with even more photos from the Convention here.
