Scardiff UK 2014

Now in its second year, Scardiff is Cardiff’s first (and only) horror convention. Thanks to the wonderful Iz, I’ve had the pleasure of working at both as part of the Front of House Crew (or the Zombie Corp as we tend to be).

In a change to the previous year, aside from the event now being run by the fantastic Wayne and Rebecca, the first big thing for Scardiff 2014 was the change of venue. Previously housed in the Mercure Hotel, this year saw us taking up residence in the Cardiff Masonic Hall. This building is amazing. Spread over 3 floors, a lot of the rooms look like they haven’t been touched since the mid-70s. The main temple is outstanding, all dark wood and ornate carvings. They couldn’t have picked a spookier setting.

Duke of Connaught Temple

I arrived at the gad-awful time of 8am on the Sunday morning, ready to help set up and get my zombie game-face on. As my lovely OH was exhibiting at this event, with the comic he has co-created called Stiffs, I filled him with coffee and dragged him with me.

The Stiffs guys – Ain’t they a handsome bunch?

As with last year, our zombie make-up was done by some lovely girls from a local college, as part of the work needed for their portfolios. I’ve got to say, they were fab! Not only were they also there at ridiculous o’clock but the make-up was professionally done.

Make-up by the lovely lady. T-shirt by me.

At 10am we threw open the doors and prepared ourselves for the hordes. Including pre-bought tickets, around 300 people attended this event – Amazing! Exhibiting at the event were the following people..

Notable Special Guests:
Gary Slaymaker (TV & Radio Presenter)
Adam Nevill (Bestselling Author)
Tim Lebbon (NY Times Bestselling Author)
James Plumb (and the rest of the MadScience Crew)
Dan Henk (Tattoo Artist)
Dylan Teague (Comic book Artist for 200AD, Marvel & DC)
Jenny Jackson (SFX Artist)
and of course, running the show – Wayne Simmons (Bestselling Author)

Notable Exhibitors:
Animal Zone UK
Waterstones
Zombie Shop
Shottle Bop
The Morbitorium
The Rollin’ Hot Dog Co.
D’Vinyl Records
Anastasia Catris
Stiffs

The event was allowed use of 4 rooms, as well as the large landing and foyer spaces, all spread over 2 floors. All panels and the film premiere of Kerb Crawlers were held in the main temple on the ground floor. Upstairs, the exhibitors and guest were split over 3 rooms. The below photos were taken around 11am, when the event was still hotting up. Trust me when I say it got a LOT busier as the day went on!

In the main stage room, there were around 15 exhibitors. Plenty of space was left for people to walk around and look at the stalls without clogging up the aisles and a last minute cancellation meant that there was space in front of the main stage for the cosplay competition. Ah, the main stage. A place I avoided for a lot of the day, thanks to a delightful phobia I have. I sneaked back up at one point, just to get you this photo, even though it gives me palpitations just looking at it. The blood and gore, I’m fine with, but that knee, man. Oh boy. Even though I know it’s fake because I saw the model wandering around later, that knee gets me every time.

Fantastic work by the SFX ladies but urgh, it gives me the shivers.

Going back to the Cosplay competition, there were more people dressed up than I would have thought possible. Everyone that came really embraced the spirit of the event and put in some excellent effort. People were still turning up in full costumes at 4pm when we were due to close at 4:30pm – Madness! My favourites were definitely these Silent Hill characters.

Silent Hill

Being completely honest, the highlight of the day for me was Animal Zone UK.  These guys were amazing. They brought with them an array of spiders, scorpions, snakes and some (rather frisky) tortoises. The main attraction, however, was Honey. Honey is an Albino Burmese Python and is gorgeous. At 4st, she’s a heavy girl but was so friendly and calm with everyone who held her.

Ana Catris & Honey get acquainted

Overall, the day was a HUGE success. There were more people through the door than the organisers had hoped and I didn’t hear a bad word about the event from exhibitors for customers. Foolishly, I’ve also already offered my services just in case there’s another event next year and personally, I can’t wait!

For more information on the event, make sure to check out their: Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter as well as this review by Walesonline.

Laters xx

Sunday Scares – Internet of Horrors

Hey there, horror fans!

Hopefully, you’re all well aware by now that the internet is a dark and terrifying place.
On a human level, it’s filled with trolls and stalkers and creepers – oh my! Even more so than that, it serves as a place where the most horrifying tales that the mind can conjure up have been collected, stored and shared.

If you haven’t heard of CreepyPasta, you’re doing the internet wrong. Same goes for some of the horror threads on tumblr and reddit.

A personal favourite of mine on these sites is the short horror stories. Often no more than 2 or 3 lines, some of these have really raised the hairs on the back of my neck.

Here are some of my favourites:

“I could hear my mum calling me in to the kitchen. As I started to head down the stairs, I heard her voice whisper from her bedroom “Don’t go down there. I heard it too.”

“I was tucking my son in to bed when he whispered to me “Daddy, there’s someone under my bed. I look under the bed for his amusement and see him, another him, under the bed. Staring back at me, he’s visibly shaking as he whispers “Daddy, there’s someone in my bed.”

“I just saw my reflection blink.” – yeah, try not to think of that one next time you look in the mirror at night time.

You can read more of these here.

Another thing the internet is great for is horrible, horrible comic style stories and short films.
Don’t believe me, check out this (NSFW) offering from Korea – Bongcheon Dong Ghost Story.
Or what about this. It’s quite long but is both beautiful, sad and terrifying all at the same time – The Enigma of Amigara Fault

And this short film will play on your already shredded nerves.. Lights Out

And finally, because I couldn’t possible mention Internet Horror Stories without linking to the delightful terror that is.. Slender Man. A quick Google image search is enough to give you the heebie-jeebies for days!

I’ll just leave this here…

Scream when you spot him..

Have I missed any harrowing slices of horror from this list? Let me know in the comments!

Laters xx

Sunday Scares – Top 5 Horror Writers

Oh boy, and I thought choosing my favourite horror films was tough!

(NB: On that note, honourable film mentions go to: 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead, Rec, The Orphanage, The Mist)

I’ve been reading horror for longer than I care to think about. By the time I entered my teens, I had devoured all of the Point Horror books my local library had and had started buying horror stories by the bucket load from charity shops and car boot sales. That’s where I stumbled across The Exorcist. Oh, how everything changed. I’d found a new level of horror, outside of the world of ghosts. Around this time, my bestie introduced me to Stephen King. I never looked back.

So, after much deliberation and internal arguments, here are my top 5 horror authors (well, for today at least.)

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1. Stephen King.
As if there was any doubt. I’ve foolishly made it one of my life’s ambitions to own everything this brilliant man has ever written, which is A LOT. Pet Semetary was the first book I ever read and have re-read more than any other book. With well over 50 novels alone under his belt (pushing his total up to almost 200 when you include poems, comics, short stories and anthology work), I’ll admit there are a few there are a few duds. Even if you’re not a fan, you can’t ignore how good King is at characterisation and descriptive prose. The guy really is a legend of the field.
Recommendations: (the “classics”) The Shining, Pet Semetary and It.

2. H P Lovecraft
What can I say? His descriptive narrative is perfect. I’ll be honest and say that I’m not a huge fan of sci-fi novels (Phillip K. Dick aside) but the way that he blends elements of otherworldly beings and his love of astronomy with pure gothic horror is brilliant. Most famous for his works surrounding the Cthulhu Mythos, the influence his entire career has had on the horror world (films, art, poetry, music, everything!) is outstanding. If you’ve never read any Lovecraft (NB: where on earth have you been?!), I urge you to go and check it out!
Recommendations: The Call of Cthulhu, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

3. Edgar Allan Poe
Everyone knows The Raven and the Tell-Tale Heart but there is so much more to Poe than that.  His was the first Gothic horror that I had encountered and opened up a whole new world of authors to me. It’s not all about the horror with Poe, he’s also credited as being the inventor of the genre “detective fiction”. The majority of his work was poems and short stories with only one completed novel to his name. Although more successful as a literary critic than a writer while he was alive, there’s plenty of evidence of the influence that his work has had since.
Recommendations: The Fall of the House of Usher and Lenore

4. Ryū Murakami
Man, I love a good Japanese writer (Honourable mentions to Koji Suzuki and Natsuo Kirino). The film adaption of his novel, Audition, was my first introduction to this fantastic writer. Balancing carefully on the line between horror and Bizarro, his stories are graphic and brutal. His use of imagery is flawless and incredibly evocative, leaving their imprint on you long after you’ve read the books (I’m looking at you, Piercing).
Recommendations: Coin Locker Babies, In The Miso Soup

5. John Ajvide Lindqvist
You know when a someone looks nothing like how you think they’re going to look. Yeah, that’s this guy. Much as with Murakami, I saw a film adaption of one of his novels before reading any of the books (shame on me, I know). Over his relatively short career so far for someone of his stature, he’s already dealt with vampires, zombies and ghosts (Oh My!).
Recommendation: Handling the Undead.

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Any horror authors I’ve missed out? Let me know in the comments!

Laters xx