Time flies at an unimaginable pace, so we’re already at the threshold of my favourite holiday – and I still haven’t written a post about my other favourite thing of darkness and horror: Weekend of Hell. Same time, same place as last year – with new faces and a definite upgrade in decor and ambience. My little black heart rejoiced again! From a veil of fog enveloping the visitors to an awesome hard rock horror soundtrack blasting throughout Turbinenhalle, Weekend of Hell – one of Germany’s top horror cons (note: not the only one, which is even more awe-inspiring considering other EU countries are lucky to have a good comic con in general) – amped up the volume in the final days of August to properly prepare us for the chilly autumnal evenings and Samhain on the horizon.
While I thoroughly enjoyed last year’s line-up of horror stars (check out my musings below), this year, as with everything else, it was dialed up to 11. One name: Skeet Ulrich. As soon as he was announced on the pages of WoH, I knew it was going to be pure madness. Skeet himself couldn’t have been more nice and pleasant to speak to, despite the long lines of fans waiting to take a photo or get his autograph on some Scream memorabilia. I loved his panel, as well – he spoke about the trilogy idea for the new Scream and how his vision was supposed to drive Melissa Barrera’s character into finally becoming the killer in the final apart. I also very much appreciated how he spoke against her shameful termination (because she was vocal against the genocide in Palestine), and overall, we could all feel that authenticity, modesty and kindness emanating from him.
We had a cute photo together (although my high forehead makes me look like a female Pennywise, lol), and I also took the opportunity to take a shot with Costas Mandylor (the Saw franchise), who’s an entertainer to the core, as well as Brooke Smith (Silence of the Lambs, Grotesquerie) and Bai Ling (The Crow).
Even though I didn’t have my faithful companion with me this year (Claudia, you better get everything in order for next year), much fun was had – and who could forget the classic vegan option of pretzels and French fries at the event! Luckily, this is Germany we’re speaking about, so eating ethically was never an issue, right from exiting the train and stumbling upon several pre-made dishes at a small Reve store on the side (including vegan sushi) to restaurant options, although I didn’t have time to really check those out. After all, the weekend was dedicated to Hell!
Until next year hopefully, here’s some visuals from my fave con ever – and Happy Halloween!
How did it all came to be? Marco Witzig, curator and Giger collector (and my dear friend who has helped me tremendously with the corpus for my PhD thesis) put me in touch with the festival organizers in order to do something regarding their homage to H.R. Giger (which included the screening of the „Dark Star“ documentary, short films and music videos). In a matter of hours and some email exchange later – it was all set: I was to present a lecture under the title „
