Creep I.E. Aftermath 2023 - Highlights
Creep I.E. Aftermath was the third event following Creep I.E. Con in February that was held at the Ontario Convention Center on September 23rd and 24th. Creep I.E. Con was so successful that they created Aftermath to continue spreading the frights and fun with guests, cosplayers, celebrities, vendors, and more. I attended for the first time as “Media”, which was an amazing experience and one that I am super grateful for.
Photo taken by William Perry
Prior to this event happening, I had reached out to one of their celebrity guests and asked them if I could interview them. This guest was none other than the original Ghostface himself, Lee Waddell. He was generous enough to let me film him before the convention. Thank you Lee and the convention staff for letting us in early to be able to do that. I have the full interview on the website and it is also posted on YouTube.
Speaking of celebrities, this year they had even more Scream cast members including Rose McGowan from Scream and Jack Quaid from Scream 5. They also had horror icons Tony Todd, Tim Curry and Linda Blair in the building. Shawnee Smith from the Saw movies was there and so were some of the cast from Megan, Black Phone, and A Never Ending Story. Charlie Cox from the series Daredevil was also there. I met Lee Waddell at the interview and saw him a few more times throughout the day. It was fun getting to hang out with him and stuntman William Perry while I shot b-roll of them for the video. In terms of regular meet and greets, I was very excited to meet Tony Todd. I loved him in Candyman but I also loved him in Smallville. He was a guest star in an episode from season 1, so it blew my mind that he remembered the title of the episode and could recall making it. He told me they shot the episode he was in “Jitters” on 9/11 and he was stuck in Vancouver for a month when it should’ve only been 1 week due to the airlines being shut down. He said he enjoyed working with Michael Rosenbaum and Tom Welling. He signed my Candyman poster and we took a selfie. He was super nice and exceeded my expectations. I met Jack Quaid who I was also excited about because I love his work on Amazon Prime’s The Boys. I also loved him in Scream 5 where he played Ghostface. Because of the strikes going on and the fact that The Boys is still on TV I assumed he couldn’t talk about it. I forgot to mention that before I met any of these people I had made them all custom friendship bracelets. I had given Lee and Jack “Ghostface” ones and gave Tony a “Candyman” one. When Jack saw me giving him his, his face lit up. He was so excited. He put it on and went, “I’m going to wear this the rest of the day.” He signed my Scream autograph book and wrote “Holy shit! It’s Ghostface!” which made me laugh. That line always gets me. He was so sweet and kind. We took a selfie together too.
The Scream Lab
After getting my autographs and selfies, I headed into the vendor hall. I was very pleased to see how much more space there was. The aisles were bigger which made it a lot easier to navigate and get into the booths. I saw so many great vendors. My new friends Toxic Doom Studios were there selling their awesome shirts. Their clothing is heavy metal and sci-fi/horror inspired. The artwork on everything is very unique. I saw a ton of horror themed tumblers and mugs which is a problem for me because I love tumblers and I already have too many of them. There was a green bedazzled “Stab” tumbler I really wanted from The Scream Lab. I didn’t get it, but it’s still on my mind so maybe I will eventually. I saw some really cute purses and wallets that were hand painted with characters like Casper, Art the Clown and Ghostface. That vendor was 1-800-Dead-Dreams. I own a lot of Steve Madden wallets and purses already because I love their stuff, but once you put a Ghostface on one, how can you not buy one of those? I refrained from buying one just because I was already on a tight budget, but I highly recommend people go check them out. The vendor hall had what you would expect to see at a convention. Posters, apparel, collectibles, sweet treats, and more. I saw some cool flannel shirts that had patches on the back of Linda Blair from The Exorcist and an Evil Dead one. I bought Scream 1 and 2 on vinyl which was something that had been on my wish list for a long time. I also bought a classic Halloween (1978) poster. I’ve been to enough of these horror conventions and markets now that it’s been fun seeing some of the same vendors I ran into at these other places now at Creep I.E. Aftermath. It makes it feel like you’re part of a community. The horror community specifically holds a special place in my heart.
There were other halls being occupied by a “selfie room” and an arcade where they built exterior facades from famous locations such as the Michael Myers house and A Nightmare on Elm Street house. The arcade room had a ton of 80’s arcade games and photo op areas that made you feel like you had been transported back to the 1980’s. I think they had a similar room like this in February, but I never had the chance to see it so I’m happy I got to experience it this time. There was a lot of cool stuff to look at in there.
In the afternoon, I headed upstairs to where the Frida Cinemas was showcasing some of their horror movie screenings. I attended the Scream (1996) one that Lee Waddell was going to be at so I could shoot some footage of him interacting with fans. Before the movie started he was introduced and he talked a little bit about the movie. They played the opening kill scene with Drew Barrymore and then stopped the film so Lee could answer some fan questions about that scene. It was cool watching Scream with Ghostface himself. It’s also ironic this was in a movie theater setting considering in Scream 2 the opening kill scene takes place at the theater watching a Stab movie. Fortunately, Lee was not in full costume with a knife. Although, that would’ve been very entertaining to see.
That night was the After Party and I was ready to rock out to Firing on All Cylinders and A Nightmare on 80’s Street. They had a giant stage outside in the parking lot with tons of food truck vendors and seating. I had a great time listening to the bands perform and seeing people in cosplay rock out to the music. At some point during the night they held the Cosplay Contest where cosplayers were hand selected to go up on stand and strike 3 poses so that the judges could decide who was the best cosplayer of the night. Every one of them were amazing. You had the classics like a little Michael Myers, Freddy Kreuger, a Mars Attacks alien, and Candyman. You had some Blockbuster movie characters like Predator and Ken from the Barbie movie. The competition was tough. Predator ended up winning first place which was well deserved. His cosplay was very elaborate. It looked like he had been transported out of the movie. My sister and I met up with some friends during the night and Art the Clown aka Chucklez the Clown decided to join us. He shared with us all of his oddities he brought with him including a lady with a blown out face in a wheelchair. I can’t say exactly how things escalated to me drinking a slushie out of her face hole, but it happened. What happens at Creep I.E. Aftermath stays at Creep I.E. Aftermath.
Overall, I had an amazing time at Creep I.E. Aftermath. What I appreciated the most about this convention was that they listened to some of the concerns and criticisms people had about Creep I.E. in February like the crowded vendor hall and lack of food options and they delivered on both of those. That alone as a convention goer meant a lot to me that they did that and more. I cannot wait to see what is in store for Creep I.E. Con in February 2024.
