On Friday we arrived at the actual fest. Mike secured a fabulous venue ( it kills me to think I forgot to take a photo of the theater itself – ornate old theater with balconies and red velvet.) The fest was very well run with reminders onscreen in between movies of what would play next and at what time (I took the photo on the right for my friend Sky Soleil whose great short, How My Dad Killed Dracula played.) An added bonus is they used rear projection which made everything look amazing and nobody’s head ever got in the way. A very filmmaker-friendly fest!
We spent all day watching a variety of eclectic horrors kicking things off with a very informative documentary about Bram Stoker and Dracula, as well as an Australian pseudo torture porn from a female director called Family Demons that showed a lot of promise and had some truly creepy moments. Again, if time ever permits, I will write actual reviews.
As with most fests, I met a few super cool people who would immediately become my fest buddies for the duration. Deb, a screenwriter and film reviewer for Stalk ‘n Slash (who also writes greeting cards with teddy bears on the side) and her son, Steve, a soon-to-be rock star legend. Yes, she clearly drinks the blood of virgins. Hell, it beats Botox, right? Our in-between screening discussions were a blast.
The highlight of the evening was the kick-off party which featured 
everything from vampire burlesque, undead belly-dancers, break-dancing Frankenstein and monster, topless fire-swallowers and a Rocky Horror Picture tribute that ended with the entire party doing the Time Warp. 
The highlight of the show was by far the magnificent Chris Cross, a contortionist who truly understands showmanship (and not the bassist for Ultravox in case you were confused.) Not only did he make his body do things usually only witnessed in special fx scenes in horror films, but he instantaneously revved up the energy in the room by 1,000%. This man is the perfect cure for jet-lag (ideally accompanied by several double grapefruit vodkas I found). 
An added bonus was an appearance by Saxon frontman, Biff Byford, which made metalheads Deb and Agustin particularly stoked 
(and me, too, when he bought me a drink – made me want to bang my head for sure!) Apparently Saxon’s looking to do some indie film soundtracks, so keep them in mind the next time you’re putting together your next rockin’ movie!
[...] us those who can. For an account of last year’s adventures, you can find them beginning HERE. Congrats, Team and thanks, wonderful folks at the Bram Stoker Fest – you rock and we [...]