Coming Soon to Toronto: Festival of Fear

In less than two weeks, Rue Morgue will be holding their annual Festival of Fear National Horror Expo in the Toronto Convention Centre.

I went last year and have mixed feelings about the event. As a horror fan, they had some impressive celebrity guests. As a Haunter/Halloweener, they had very little to get excited about. Most retailers weren't offering anything I hadn't seen around the city (either in speciality or party stores) and the prices were the same (or more expensive).

I'd gone to a workshop offered by a well known make-up artist complete with tips and free samples of their make-up line for making a classic Zombie look. Perhaps they didn't want to share complicated techniques in such a short time frame, but I was very disappointed.

They spent most of their workshop pushing their product, and their approach to zombifying a friend was at par with the basic Halloween makeup skills of my mother (who, in fairness, made me look like a pretty cool caterpillar one year). I just expected better from the professionals than advice to use a grey base, some black for under the eyes, and a crude application of what looked like rice crispy cereal. The entire experience felt more like an infomercial than a workshop.

Since I'm all about second chances, I am going to attend this year. I'll probably bring my camera with me, so if there's anything terribly exciting (or just terrible) I'll blog about it.

To learn more about this Fan Expo event, visit the Hobbystar website. The convention runs from August 22-24th. Maybe I'll see you there.