I have attended many, many conventions all over the East Coast, and as a new resident to sunny Florida I just had to check out the notorious MegaCon Orlando at the Orange County Convention Center.  To say the least, I was not disappointed from what this convention had to offer.

Enthusiasm and passion kept everyone in good spirits, even as they stood in the long lines to see celebrity guests such as James Marsters, Eliza Dushku, and Nicholas Brendon who were celebrating their 20 years of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame that launched them all into the Whedonverse hall of fame.  Equally long lines snaked their way to the autograph tables to see Rocky Horror Picture Show veterans Patricia Quinn, Barry Bostwick, Nell Campbell, and Meatloaf and of course the infamous Tim Curry in his private photo op!

Cosplayers made up almost half of the attendees, and many of them were nearly screen accurate!  While many of the cosplayers were super hero related you can’t keep the horror fans down!  Fans of the macabre came out to support their favorite genre characters as well.  Jasons, and Michaels, and Freddys, oh my!  There were also many cosplayers paying tribute to their favorite Walking Dead characters, with an overwhelming proportion of them as the infamous baseball bat wielding Negan.

However, one cosplayer in particular made my blood run cold; Samara from The Ring.  This cosplayer fully committed to her character.  Not only did she look the part with her entire body fully airbrushed in a shade of corpse white, but she also conducted terrifying poses.  This girl contortioned her entire body into the ungodly positions as Samara did crawling out of the television screen!  It still gives me chills just thinking about it!

Professional cosplayers Cecil Grimes and Richard Dixon took the act of cosplaying to a new level.  In an experience affectionately called ‘set play’ cosplay actors Grimes and Dixon invited you into their zombie infested world inside a ‘Mega Con Safe Zone’ fort surrounded by barbed wire and completed with a lookout tower where you can take preparations to fend off the walkers.  Once inside you choose your weapon to join Rick and Daryl as you fight off the zombies who broke through their safe zone in your photo!

This year for the first time Sinners and Saints, a horror film festival which began as a staple in Tampa in 2002, partnered up with MegaCon Orlando to show this year’s movies.  Panels hosted by the independent filmmakers were showcased alongside their films.   Fear Film Studio Fest also screened independent horror films as well as shorts over the course of the weekend and gave fans the opportunity to meet with the people behind the movies.

While horror merchandise was in short supply in the vendor room, it is a mostly a comic convention after all, the dedicated could find some fantastic discoveries!  Local 13x Studios owner Rick Styczynski had his booth in its full glory, showcasing masks from the comic book world as well as the horror genre!  Drop Dead Bizarre showcased a beautiful cabinet filled with hand painted machetes featuring who else but Jason Voorhees.  I

f you were looking for something a little more cute and cuddly, Horror Show Jack’s booth had some adorably twisted stuffed bears in the likenesses of Sam from Trick ‘R Treat and Chucky from Child’s Play.

As a first time attendee of MegaCon Orlando I was not disappointed, and I will surely be returning next year!  In the meantime the convention is gearing up for their next convention; MegaCon Tampa September 29 – October 1!  It has already been announced Kevin Smith of Tusk and Red State will be in attendance.  Check out MegaCon Tampa’s website here as their guest list grows for their September show!

Be sure to follow iHorror for upcoming news on horror guests at their next show, and keep up with our Twitter here and Instagram here to see our pictures as we attend the shows in real time!

Read more about MegaCon Orlando horror vendor Rick Styczynski in iHorror’s interview with him here!