Rock & Shock recap

 Rock & Shock recap

Rock & Shock has always held a tiny piece of my heart. In fact, this was the very first convention I ever attended way back in 2006. Never before did I know what a "convention" was and from that point onward I was hooked. I have been to every Rock & Shock since 06 besides the 2010 show in which I was away at school. This show isn't exactly the greatest compared to the bigger shows like HorrorHound and Monster Mania, but it has charm simply because it's only 40 minutes away, and the fact I have nice memories of taking my late mother to this show. Last year my chest got shit on by how "off" the entire show felt. The guest line up has never been that impressive, but it was really, really, really bad. The vendors also sucked. The fact there were no bootlegs broke my heart in pieces. I think due to it being the 10th anniversary and the fact some people bitched and moaned, Rock & Shock decided to up their game this year and I was very impressed!

My feelings towards Rock N Shock last year.

Well I decided to give the show yet another try simply because it's the only Mass convention that's held. With Chiller coming up in a few days in NJ I decided not to go hog wild and simply to go and pass put my Waxwork fliers and see some old friends. Heading off Saturday morning, listening to some old CD's I made in high school (mostly 1980's rock songs on those) I had a believe it or not very smooth ride. The trees have pretty much all changed color and the view was breathtaking. After hitting no traffic I was lucky enough to arrive just in time to see the first ever screening of my friend Kyle's documentary Fantasm. This documentary focused on conventions on the East Coast and how much it feels after going a few years in a row that you have some strange sorta fucked up family. I couldn't agree any more. 

After metting up with some friends, I couldn't believe how long Kane Hodder's line was. I've met Kane several times before and NEVER has his line been that nuts. I have a feeling since Hatchet III just came out, and the fact people who go to this convention don't see him alot at regular shows it was sorta a big deal. I was planning on meeting Kane simply to give him one of my Waxwork fliers since he did stuntwork on both films but after seeing how long the wait was I decided to say fuck it. I really don't go to meet guests at this show simply because I'm spoiled and I really am only interested in meeting people if I've never met them before or if they never do a lot of shows. Since Kane is a regular I'm sure I'll be seeing him again and asking him for the 100th time what was it like beating up John D LeMay. Muhahahahaha! 

I did meet Tuesday Knight again since Kristy knows her and our friend Nicki was meeting her. I got a photo but I'm not sharing simply because I look like I had a massive stroke. Trust me, it's not pretty. Still, awesome to meet Tuesday again since she utters my favorite line in the whole series "Joey! Kincaid! Helppppp meeee!"

Well, after looking around I stopped by the good old boys at VHSPS. These guys are nothing short of awesome. I have been buying from them for the last couple of years and the amount of rare titles they have are insane. Chatting it up at that booth, I ended up walking away with several titles. To Die For, The Caller, Lisa, Blood Slavage, Socity, The Curse, and Return To Salem's Lot. Safe to say I was a happy camper. 

I then attended the Clerks panel that was being held by my friend Kristy Jett. I've only seen Clerks II and as much as I really like Dogma, I've never been much of a Kevin Smith fan. I was lucky enough to sit up nice and close and watch and listen to the whole thing. I was also finally able to meet my friend Tara who is one of the most talented artist around. She was the girl behind my awesome dead Zach Galligan print of him from Tales From The Crypt. I was able to meet Tara and her boyfriend, and their new lizzard and turtle! Tara is also going to be at Chiller and we're both going to show Zach the ever so amazing print of himself that I can only hope within next year will be the next or second next tattoo.

 After that I ducked out early to meet up with John who's the man behind the very awesome Pet Sematary documentary that's coming out this year. I met John and Justin a few years back when I was VERY drunk at HorrorHound when they noticed I was wearing the SE edition shirt of PS from Fright Rags. Since then a nice friendship has blossomed with me and the guys and I nothing but nice things to say about them. This documentary I fully support as a huge fan of the novel and film, and honestly can't wait to see the finished product on the big screen. I met up with John and his lovely girlfriend and the two of them gave me a very cool VHS tape of Siesta, which was Mary Lamber's very first film. Can't thank you enough John, very much looking forward to watching this!

I decided to say fuck it and finally meet Adam Green. I've had the chance several times to meet Adam but never really had any interest in doing so. I'm a huge Hatchet fan, and I adore Frozen so I decided to finally get off my ass and have him sign my Hatchet blu-ray. Adam is a legit guy from MA who just seems like a giant kid having fun. Since this show was being held in his home state him and the cast of his TV show (that I'm still yet to watch) were signing for free. I was able to tell Adam it was me and my friends at the first screening of Hatchet III that went "Awwww!" when Victor finally spoke and I told him what an honor it is since somebody from this state went off to have such awesome movies. Call me crazy but I think Mr. Green got a little choked up and told me after handing him a Waxwork flier he "liked" the page and thought it was awesome I was trying to do this. Getting a photo with him via Ipad, It's safe to say Mr. Green is one of the coolest and most humble guys around.

I decided to give the show one last run around before leaving. Now besides bootlegs, I rarely ever buy anything else at shows but I felt it was time to finally get off my ass and get another figure since the last one I think I bought was in 2009. Here I found Freddy himself still in the package with his power glove. Knowing I just had to since his face looks so fucking stupid it's adorable, I picked him up for pretty cheap, got an old movie monsters magazine, some magnets, and a hoodie for my father. I felt like I was sorta cheating since it's a tradition I always get the hoodie for myself, but ever since I got my awesome Raimis hoodie from Fright Rags, I can't seem to wear another one.

The remainder of the night I felt a little "off" so I relaxed with Kristy back at my house watching slasher movies. Now in less than four days I'll be making the drive up to NY to stay with my friends Casey and Jeanette and Saturday morning Kristy will join us as we shoot off to NJ for Chiller! I've never attended a Chiller show before but I have high hopes. I mean it has Zach Glaligan...that man could be signing autographs in a dark alley and I would go.