CreepIE Con 2023 - A Sequel That’s Better Than the Original?
CreepIE Con 2023 pulled out all the stops this year, feeding fans’ cravings for horror, gore and spooky surprises. This event took place February 4th and 5th at the Ontario Convention Center located in Ontario, CA. This was only their second year in operation and it was a sold out weekend. There were appearances made by the cast of Scream, Terrifier 2 and other notable horror film actors who came out to sign autographs and take photos with fans. I had the pleasure of meeting some of these people and exploring what all CreepIE Con had to offer.
The Ontario Convention Center is a small venue which was perfect for their first year of operation. This year, it was a bit different because they were working with a crowd 3x the size. Their guest line up was a main draw for a lot of these people, myself included. Matthew Lillard (Stu Macher), Skeet Ulrich (Billy Loomis), Jamie Kennedy (Randy Meeks) and Lee Waddell (Stunt Man Ghostface) from Scream were all there to sign for fans and take photos with them. Scream just had their 25th anniversary not too long ago, so having all of these actors in one place 25+ years later was a rarity. It was cool seeing multigenerational fans of the film franchise come out and show their love and support.
The convention opened for the VIP ticket holders at 10am and 11am for general admission. I had bought general admission. They had scare actors dressed up entertaining people waiting in line to get in which made the wait go by fast. Once inside, I went over to meet Lee Waddell who couldn’t have been more kind. I asked him if he got to keep the voice changer and he said no it didn’t actually work but he did keep a knife and a mask. I was in awe when he started telling me about working with Wes Craven. He said Wes’s vision for Ghostface was that he wanted the character to be a phantom. Lee stated that he personally isn’t a fan of some of the newer films, but considering he is the iconic Ghostface who kills Drew Barrymore’s character in the opener of the original Scream, I can see why he would be a bit biased. Before I left, he gifted me a Ghostface bracelet.
I got in line for Matthew Lillard and I have a PSA for anyone who wants to meet this amazing man and it is, be prepared for some of the longest lines you will ever wait in. Trust me, it will all be worth it. I loved his work in Good Girls, Without a Paddle, SLC Punk, and of course Scooby Doo and Scream, so I would say I was a fan but not a mega fan where I knew everything about him and had seen everything he’s ever been in. I stood in his line for about 2 hours with it not moving at all before I had to get out of line because I had my group photo ops with the Scream cast.
The photo ops were quick and easy. You are assigned a timeframe to get in line and the line moves quickly. I scurried up to the photo op area and standing before me were Skeet, Matthew, Jamie and Lee who was wearing the Ghostface costume. We took the photo and I was on my way back to the vendor floor. I didn’t get to interact with them at all for the photo op, but come to find out, Lee was wearing the screen used mask in the photo and I’m pretty sure he’s holding the knife too so that was cool to see.
The Cast of Scream
Photo op (Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lillard, Lee Waddell, Jamie Kennedy)
I shopped around for a little bit to kill time before the Scream cast got back to their autograph stations. I picked up a cute glass tumbler with Ghostface stickers and hearts all over it and a black tote bag that was promoting Scream VI. The vendors had every type of horror character you could imagine designed onto mugs, keychains, tumblers, shirts, bags and candles. I wanted to buy everything but I refrained from doing so because I knew I still had to get autographs. I didn’t have time to look down every aisle, but I snagged some business cards. That’s a tip for anyone who gets overwhelmed on vendor floors at conventions. If it’s super crowded and you have crowd anxiety, sometimes it’s easier to check out their business at your own convenience. A lot of vendors that weekend sold out of stuff, so it’s a good way to check back and see if they restock on their online stores.
Meeting Matthew Lillard
I got back into Matthew Lillard’s line and I’m not exaggerating when I say in total I probably spent 5 hours in his line, which is not a complaint but an observation. At one point Matthew left his station and walked through the line high fiving people and reassuring everyone that he would get to us. He made an announcement saying that if anyone is disabled, has kids or has bad anxiety that they could come to the front of the line. I thought that was really sweet. I watched him interact with fans and he spent a lot of time with each and every one of them. The convention was coming to a close and I started losing hope that I would get to meet any of the cast. Miraculously, the Scream cast collectively decided to stay 1 hour after closing to get to everyone. I had never seen anyone do that for their fans before. When I finally got to meet Matthew I told him the first time I watched Scream I was 5 and it gave me nightmares but now I love it. He joked, “That’s bad parenting. You were way too young to be watching that.” I laughed and we took a photo together. He gave me a long hug and asked if I was having a good day and told me he loved me. He thanked me for coming out.” It was honestly the most pure and wholesome interaction I’ve ever had with somebody. He really does care about people and I went from being someone who admired his work to now being a fan of him as a person too. My eyes started tearing up when I walked away which has never happened before after meeting someone. Imagine all of the fans he meets at these conventions and how many lives he’s changed just by telling them that he loves them. A lot of people don’t hear that enough or at all so that’s amazing he’s willing to give that to people and make them feel special. That right there was the reason I waited in line for as long as I did because I saw how happy he was making people and I support that endeavor.
Next up, I went over to meet Jamie Kennedy. He was such a cool laid back guy. I said to him, “I know you always get asked what’s your favorite scary movie so I want to ask what is your favorite comedy?” Jamie is a stand up comedian, which a lot of people forget about because they only know him as an actor. Excited to answer, he lists off a few of his favorites while he’s signing. He puts his arm around me and we’re chit chatting about them. He was delightful. I always felt like Randy from the Scream movies was my spirit animal because I’m a film nerd like he is, so meeting Jamie and getting to talk to him about our favorite movies was a dream come true. Lastly, I met Skeet Ulrich who was also very kind. I was so tired by that point I didn’t say much to him aside from “Thank you for coming out and doing this” to which he replied, “No thank you! We should be thanking you!” He asked where I lived and I told him and before I went to leave he came at me with a hug. You don’t say ‘no’ to Billy Loomis when he offers you a hug. I gladly accepted. He was so sweet.
Meeting Devon Sawa
Meeting the Scream cast set the bar really high for me in terms of my future con experiences. I also met Devon Sawa from the Final Destination movies and Casper. He was another standup guy shaking every person’s hand and engaging with them. David Howard Thornton from the Terrifier movies was having fun with people at the convention dressed as Art the Clown. Felissa Rose from Sleepaway Camp sounded like she was having a party over at her table. There was a lot of screaming and laughing by both her and her fans. I wanted to go over there and meet her just because she seemed like such a fun person.
CreepIE Con 2023 was an overwhelming success. Not only did it bring out some amazing guests, but there were tons of vendors, an arcade room and even speed dating for horror fans. Sadly, I did not get to participate in the last two but they sounded amazing. The demand for more spookiness has inspired the creators of this convention to do a spinoff of it called CreepIE Con Aftermath which begins in September and tickets are now on sale so get them before they’re gone!
