So Mike Hegg and I drove from Oregon down to Burbank, California to attend the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors over Memorial Day weekend, 2003.
There, we met up with John Bowker, who had recently moved to Hollywood. This was our first horror con and a good time was had by all!
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On our drive down from Oregon, Mike checks out the front of a statue of a prospector and his mule at the entrance to Yreka, California.
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...and Joe checks out another angle of the statue.
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Joe...loitering.
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John is pointing to the hotel where Mike and Joe are staying for the con, the Burbank Hilton. Joe is...pointing at John.
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Mmmmmm...Fatburgers are gooooood!
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Look kids! It's ucky liquors! I don't think I want to drink anything from a store called "ucky."
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John shocks himself by grabbing both of the Phantasm dimensional portal thingees.
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Joe imitates the "dancing with the wall" scene from a movie he shot called "The Evilmaker" by hugging this palm tree. Really.
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What room are the dorks from Oregon staying in? That's right! 642!
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Joe meets indie video vets William Combs and Ron Ford! Coincidentally, Ron and William had finished up shooting a segment for Joe's Twisted Fates horror anthology just that morning!
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Joe flanked by Alicia, Mistress of the Undead and Zenova Braeden. Hey ladies, I just might have a part available in my next project...
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How cool is this? The lovely and talented Brinke Stevens!
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Would you care for a mint? At the end of the con, there was a whole box of these "Underworld" promotional boxes of mints leftover. Why let them go to waste? I'm spreading the word about this exciting vampire/werewolf project!
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Look at this! The flying saucer crashed into this Frys was super cool! You can't tell from this picture, but Mike is really excited!
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Another sci-fi themed statue inside Frys. Little did I know my photo spree was about to come to an end...
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Right after I snapped a picture of this kickass squidmonster bursting through the store wall, a store employee brushed past me and mumbled, "nopicturesallowedinsidefryssir." Well hell, if you didn't want geeky tourists to snap pictures to share with their kinfolk back home, why bother with putting all this incredible stuff up? I mean, seriously, what a fabulous marketing opportunity - make your store a destination that people will seek out - you get them in to experience the 50's sci-fi goodness and hopefully they see something they can't resist buying. Cha-ching! Oh, are you worried about industry espionage or something!? Worried that I'll be snaping pics of your top-secret method of displaying discount DVDs and implulse-purchase candy by the checkout? Hell, if I wanted to do that, I'd come in wearing a hidden camera hat and tape every detail of your entire operation, you idiots!!! Nopicturesallowedinsidefryssir?!?! Well f#%& you, Frys!!!! Here's pictures of your precious top secret in-store decor for all the world wide web to see!!!! Ah ha ha ha ha!!!!!
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Joe mimics this nifty metal dinosaur skeleton we found at a gas station somewhere along the way home. Raaar!!!
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Can you see Oregon yet? Check out Mike's "driver's arm" sunburn. Ouch!
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And this is what I came home to: a kid with no front teeth who missed his daddy. Awwww...isn't he precious?
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