PopHorror Let's Get Scared
In 2015, at the age of 12, I attended my first ever comic convention, which just so happened to be New York Comic Con. Ten years later, I have a variety of other comic cons under my belt, but none have quite compared to just how much of a juggernaut NYCC really is. In my mind, I rode the best rollercoaster first; there is no beating the con of the city that never sleeps. This year I got to take full advantage of being a member of the press, which led to a much different experience… As much as I don’t want to spoil my feelings this early, New York Comic Con 2025 was my best experience there.
I attended Friday through Sunday, and much like this year’s San Diego Comic Con, most of the events I had planned were happening on Friday. At 10:30AM, my comic con experiences promptly started with Blumhouse’s ‘Business of Fear’ presentation. In a beautiful venue, we watched an intimate panel containing members of Blumhouse and Atomic Monster where they walked us through the business aspect of making and promoting horror movies. As a fan of both companies and (of course) horror movies in general, it was such an intricate presentation; much more interesting than any presentation I saw in school. Afterwards, I got to speak to the President of Blumhouse, Abhijay Prakash, for a solid ten minutes. As much as I tried to keep it professional, I am embarrassed to say the fanboy in me slipped out a few times… What a way to start the day!
Next on the agenda was to meet the legend himself, George R.R. Martin. While he wrote the books that were later adapted into some show called Game of Thrones (heard it was pretty good), my favorite book of his has always been his vampire novel Fevre Dream. The signing was free, all you needed to do was buy a book there or bring your own. However, you needed a reservation in order to attend the signing. In short, a lot of this con came down to luck. The luck of the Irish was with me the entire weekend, as I got to do everything I wanted, but to my understanding, this process left a lot of people disappointed.
George was attending multiple days and a one-autograph-per-customer rule was put in place. He was happy to meet everyone, but kept his enormous line moving. When I finally made it to the front, he threw his arms up in shock when he saw my first-edition copy of Fevre Dream. He showed it off to his staff before signing it. I expressed how excited I was to hear he had a script already written out for a movie, to which he responded “of the 600 people here, this is only the second non-Ice and Fire book I’ve signed.” He really took his time with me, possibly just happy to talk about something else. Before I left, his handler stopped me and said “it’s also his favorite, here’s a little token.” She handed me a Game of Thrones themed coin, which I didn’t see anyone else get. Needless to say, I felt like a million bucks.
I then got to attend something called a press line, which I never heard of before. It was for Blumhouse, the all-star of the con for me, and featured the director of Five Nights At Freddy’s 2, Emma Tammi, as well as a few cast members from The Black Phone 2. I’ve attended roundtables before, and I was heavily mistaken in assuming this was similar. Everyone press member attending gets a solid 3-5 minutes with each actor or director. I chatted with a few other press members to get an understanding on how the process works, and they were extraordinarily kind to me. It really felt like we all were a team; such a lovely environment. While I came severely underprepared, with no questions to ask in mind, I feel like this led to more natural, informal conversations. Along with Emma Tammi, I got to speak with Demián Bichir, Miguel Mora, and Madeleine McGraw. All were unbelievably engaging, and really passionate about their art; which is just so refreshing to see. I was the last in line, so I got to spend a lot of time with Madeleine McGraw. We talked about horror and, for just being 16 years old, she was very knowledgeable on, not just the genre, but film in general. The press line truly was a highlight of the entire con.
My Friday ended with the event I was most excited for: Blumfest 2025. Blumfest is where the Blumhouse talks about all upcoming projects, and includes a healthy dose of exclusive announcements. It was so beautiful to be in a room radiating with love for a common denominator: horror movies! Ethan Hawke and Matthew Lillard made surprise appearances, and the icing on the cake was the Five Nights At Freddy’s shirt everyone in the audience received.
Saturday was a lot more lowkey, with not many things on the agenda. I had two guests I wanted to meet, but after that, I was locked and loaded. Upon the opening of the show, I ran to Norman Reedus’ line. For years, I’ve been collecting autographs on a The Walking Dead poster, and any viewer will tell you it wouldn’t be complete without adding Daryl himself. Coming in at $160 per autograph, I was surprised by how high the price was. But, I guess I’m the sucker being that I folded and got it. I brought up how much I loved Six Ways to Sunday, as messed up as it was. He was very down to earth, and we actually talked about Blondie and his friendship with Debbie Harry then we talked about the undead; much more talkative than Dixon himself.
Afterwards, I walked around the con for a little bit, not needing to be anywhere until 2:00. What did I have planned at 2:00 you may ask? To meet Ellen Ripley herself! Sigourney Weaver was making a very rare signing appearance at this year’s event. However, attendees would have to give up an arm and a leg (and possibly even a Xenomorph) in order to meet her, with her autograph coming in at $220. Over my years of attending, the only autograph that I spent more on was Ewan McGregor at $250. Sigourney is a legend, at the end of the day, so I can really complain. Many people who collected autographs on their Alien and Aliens posters over the years were missing her, so needless to say her autograph sold out within minutes.
Now, here is where a lot of people may call me crazy… As much as I like her performance as Ellen Ripley, my favorite movie of hers is Cabin in the Woods. With a lot of her fellow co-stars recently entering the con circuit, I decided to get an 11×17 poster from that movie signed. I expressed to her how I thought this movie was a modern-day masterpiece, and she agreed. For having as long of a line as she had, she was very sociable with everyone who came to see her. She took care of her fans for sure. Someone who was a few spots in front of me expressed how much her and her dad loved Alien, and asked if there was any chance she could write a quote on it. Her handler said no quotes, but Sigourney mouthed “I’ll do it.”
Something I have to point out is how much of a pain resellers were. There was someone a few spots in front of me who brought 30 items for Sigourney to sign, with multiple of the same items. I understand getting two or three items signed, I understand if they wait until the end of the line to get everything signed, but being the 15th person in line and taking a long time to get everything signed? Some people just don’t have con etiquette.
Before I wrap up with my Sunday, I want to express how much I appreciated the comic con staff I encountered. I wish I remembered their names to properly shout them out, but the exceptional ones were around the RL Stine line on Sunday. Something I learned at the show: if you want the best results, don’t be an a-hole to the staff.
Speaking of RL Stine, meeting my childhood hero was the last thing I got to do at the con. Anyone who experienced it will tell you it was a weird process, but well worth it in my case. The rules for this signing were the same as the George R.R. Martin signing, except there were no reservations and you could get two books signed. I went with Bride of the Living Dummy and Wanted: The Haunted Mask. Our chat was brief, but for 82 years old, the mastermind behind the Goosebumps books was still spry, and looked the exact same as he did in the 90s.
When the weekend finally ended and the birds flew back to their nests, I was bummed when I realized I’d have to wait a whole year before I got to attend New York Comic Con again. Yes, it gets exponentially more expensive with every year, but it also gets more and more fun. A special tip of the hat to ReedPop, for always putting on such a great show. Every staff member I met was nice, and overall the environment is always unmatched.
