As the spine tingling fun of the announcements creep in, I am now summoning artists, creators, and business owners who want to be part of the terror by donating prizes for the convention’s exclusive VIP Party raffles!
The VIP Party is a killer event attended by Ultimate Ticket Holders and Celebrity Guests, making it the perfect place to have your creations and products showcased in front of the most dedicated fans and the celebs at Chicago’s largest and longest running horror movie convention.
😱 Want to become a prize sponsor? Visit this link to learn how you can contribute and get involved!
😱 Know an artist, creator, or business whose items would make a killer raffle prize? Summon them by sharing this post!
Who knows… your prize might just be the one everyone is dying to win this year! 🎟️ 🧟♂️
As excited as I was to type this up yesterday, I needed a little time to get back into reality mode and gather my thoughts after another killer artventure with my horror community fam at Flashback Weekend Chicago!
Frank and I started our Friday morning off by carefully loading 2 cart fulls of donated prizes and all our luggage into the truck and then ventured off to Rosemont.
For those of you that may not be aware, we have been attending Flashback Weekend since 2004 but I have been volunteering as the convention’s Prize Coordinator for the last few years. This means I am in charge of organizing and collaborating with various businesses, artists and vendors to collect merchandise prize sponsorship donations that are raffled off for the convention’s Ultimate VIP Cocktail Reception Party, held every year for Ultimate Ticket Holders and the celebrity guests. I collect, deliver, and set up the prize table at the event. I also market the sponsors by creating/maintaining the landing page, social media posts, and promotional flyers used to announce and market the prize sponsors online and at the event.
These are the 3 art pieces I chose to donate to the prizes this year. They included two oversized 16×20 canvas prints of Art and Victor (to be raffled off on their own) and one 8×12 canvas print of Freddy (to be raffled inside the Swag Bag of smaller prizes). All perfectly aligned with this years celebrity guests.
Despite there being a huge national sports collectors event taking place at the convention center next door, we were able to park in the hotel garage without any issues and were even able to check in early when we got there. A big difference from the stressfulness of last year which I think had a lot to do with the fact that there were no other big events taking place inside the hotel itself.
When we got there we unloaded and dragged all the carts and luggage to our room and then ventured off to get our badges at the registration booth, where we were greeted by the (always) amazing convention staff volunteers. We then hit up the dealer room to connect with some of the vendors who had prizes for me to pick up at their booths. Once we got those all back to our room safely, it was time to take everything in. Our first stop was to say hello to our very talented friend Chad Savage (Sinister Visions). I mean it just doesn’t feel like Flashback until we have this horror con family reunion.
After scoping out the amazing vendors and getting an idea on where everything was located, we went and got a bite to eat and had a few drinks at the hotel bar. Afterwards we got ready for a very exciting new event the convention was holding in the evening called Friday Night Frights Live. It was a fun on stage late night talk show hosted by local horror icon Svengoolie.
He interviewed horror legends, Robert Englund, Barbara Crampton, and Joe Dante and we got to hear so many great stories from all of them. They even had a musical guest who was the one and only Tuesday Knight! This new event definitely was a killer way to kick things off this year and we really hope the con continues to make this a fun new tradition.
The hotel at this point was jam packed with sports collectors from the convention center event letting out. It felt like hoards of zombies craving cards in every inch of the hotel. There was not a single place to sit in the bar or lounge areas and every table and floor area had cards spread out with groups of people standing and starring. Since I was a bit overstimulated with all the sporty chaos, we went up to the after party on the top floor to check out the panoramic views of Chicago skyline for a bit. The movement of the room itself was tripping me out, so we decided to end the evening by relaxing on our room’s quiet, private balcony.
We got up early Saturday and headed downstairs to get in before the con opened to the general public. It was time to get into full blown charity and art gifting mode.
First we stopped at Adam Green‘s table where I brought with me the 16×20 canvas print that we auctioned off for Yorkiethon 9. As soon as Adam saw it, he recognized it right away and came around the table and gave me a huge thank you hug.
He was beyond grateful for my contribution and talents and was so excited to also see the original piece in person. He got to signing the auction piece right away and then we walked over to Kane’s table to have him sign it as well.
Kane asked where the art piece came from and I was standing behind them holding the original ready to gift it to him. He was blown away when he saw it and intrigued that it was all hand drawn in pencil. I told him how the wood frame that I chose to put it in was ironically called “The Axeman” and he got a kick out that. He then told me “I really hope you’re doing something with all this talent.” while starring at all the details. My quick response was “I’m trying!” with an excited giggle.
He then told me we had to get a picture with the art piece and I was definitely not going to turn the man down..
I apologized to the folks standing in line that had to wait while all of this was happening and then Adam, as awesome as he is, had my back by saying “Sorry guys, this is for charity”.
When we were done with Kane we went back to Adam’s table where I gifted him a canvas print of the art piece as well as a Jason Voorhees squeaky toy for Arwen. We took photos with the signed auction piece and had a little one on one time with him for a bit where we told him how his work speaks to us as horror fans, and that thanks to Holliston, “piggly no wiggly” and “market basKET” now live in our vocabulary permanently, which he totally got a kick out of. He gave Frank a brotherly bond handshake when he told him how much mad respect he had for him including Dave Brockie aka Oderus Urungus into the show. He shared some fun and interesting facts with us about production and even the art used on the show. We even reminisced about our mutual dearly departed friend Sid Haig and his epic Scary Sleepover moment of kidnapping Axel the cat!
Once we safely put the the autographed art piece in our room it was time to mingle with our horror con fam and go exploring. We met up with our friends Ben and Jonathan of Dead Regime Media.
Ben surprised us with a very unique gift of horror history that he acquired from the set of The Amityville Horror movie from 2005. Apparently the crew hid trinkets on set in random places in hopes to ward off bad spirits after weird instances started to occur during filming. This included crew members would frequently wake up at 3:15 AM (the time of the real-life murders), a real body floating up on the water (where they filmed the boathouse scenes), and Kathy Lutz (who was involved in the remake’s production) whose family’s experiences in the house formed the basis of the story, passed away during the first week of filming. The piece itself is a Watkins Exposure Meter from the early 1900’s that was used to measure the power of light.
After having a late lunch and drinks with our friends, we were able to take a quick peak in as the annual costume contest winners were being announced, and then we immediately headed to our room to start gathering the prizes and loading them up for the Ultimate VIP Cocktail Reception Party!
This year, I did things a bit differently since the swag bags I created for the previous years were starting to get larger and larger each year. We offered prize sponsors the opportunity to donate a larger/higher value item to be raffled off on its own or donate smaller items to be put into one large swag bag that would be raffled off together. The thought process was to give more exposure to those who donate, sponsors not needing to donate multiples of one item, and to also give attendees more opportunity to win something. The outcome was incredible and we definitely ended up needing a much larger display table this year.
Due to so many generous donations and wanting to give props to each sponsor that donated, I assisted Chad when announcing each prize and pulled the winning raffle ticket numbers. Frank took photos of all of us live in action while Kat was getting photos of each individual with the prizes that they won.
It may have been a bit more work this year with the changes I made, but it was so rewarding to see the excitement from those hoping to win and the joy on the faces of those who did. During the event, four attendees came up to thank me and share that after all the years they’ve been coming to the party, this was the first time they actually won a prize. They were so genuinely happy to hear their raffle ticket numbers finally be called, and that made all the extra effort so well worth it.
I also got to enjoy a little time at the party with my horror con fam ghoulfriends Kat and Summer…
That evening, the hotel was once again filled with hoards of sports card collectors, but this time it didn’t phase us because we were excited to attend the live, late night performance of our friend and local master illusionist, Ron Fitzgerald. I snapped a few photos, then put my phone away to fully take it all in. The first time I saw Ron perform live was in the early 90s when my dad took me to be in the audience for a taping of his cable access TV show, Fitzgerald’s Realm. Watching him again as an adult at Flashback brought a wave of nostalgia rushing back. Even the music took me there. I vividly remembered sitting beside my dad, hearing music like Nine Inch Nails for the first time, and being completely in awe. It struck me how much Ron had influenced me. Goth culture wasn’t exactly common in our suburban bubble, but thanks to Ron’s dark, sticky, fun energy, I fell in love with it that very day. Since then, I’ve met Ron many times and become friends with him. He’s a true gem in the dark arts scene, and I’m forever grateful my dad took me to see him all those years ago.
When the show was over we didn’t get a chance to catch up with Ron because unfortunately he accidentally cut his thumb on a razor blade during the show and was getting it wrapped up. So we decided to have pizza and dessert delivered to our room and enjoyed another nice evening to ourselves.
On Sunday we were tired after a very eventful weekend. We checked out and loaded up the truck and then went back to the con to make a pit stop at Steven Luros Holliday‘s booth before heading out. On Saturday I had my “I need this to breath” moment in the vendor space when I discovered Steven’s 4 piece set of art called “Seasons”. Frank saw me attempting to pick my jaw up on the floor while the art was speaking to my soul and talked Steven into selling him the framed display for me. We agreed to wait to pick it up on Sunday so he could still display it at his booth. A killer way to end the weekend with a very happy wifey!
As I end this artventure con recap, I just want to reiterate what I’ve been saying for years…
Mike & Mia Kerz, and the entire crew at Flashback Weekend are the true beating heart of horror in the Windy City. They’ve created more than just a convention, they’ve built our midwest horror family and accepted all of us with open arms. There are plenty of horror cons out there, and we support them all, but the love, energy, and soul poured into this convention since the early 2000’s is why so many of us will always call it our forever horror home.
Thank you for keeping the spirit alive, and for giving us a place where horror isn’t just celebrated… it’s lived.
That “back to reality” feeling set in hard this Monday morning after Frank and I were away on another amazing, extended weekend with our horror community at Flashback Weekend Chicago!
Friday started off on a little bit of stressful note because Frank had to drive around for over hour looking for parking in the hotel garage(s). While he was doing that I was standing in the longest hotel check in line I have ever been in. None of this was at fault of the convention but more so the hotel itself. Ironically a majority of the folks I talked to in line were also split up from their group or significant other because they too were outside looking for parking as well. Later we found out that the hotel was hosting another event which had never been an issue before but they also now offer some sort of shuttle service where they let people park their cars there at the hotel garage for days after they shuttle them to the airport. Great perk for them, not so much for those of us actually staying at the hotel.
Once we got all our bags and our big cart full of raffle prizes unloaded from our truck and into our hotel room, we hit up the registration booth where we were greeted by the (always) amazing convention staff and picked up our VIP Ultimate Weekend passes and swag bags. We then decided to refocus our energy on getting a bite to eat and a drink at the hotel bar to cool off from the all the initial chaos. Once we were more relaxed we were ready to have some fun and headed to the convention floor to scope things out, get first dibs on vendor merch, and of course all the fun shenanigans a horror con brings. As always we had a blast the rest of the day and into the evening hours. The hotel may have been chaotic at the start of the day but it’s also one of the coolest ones around. I always joke that it feels like a shopping mall inside which is why I think the 80’s kid/90’s teen in me feels right at home whenever we are there. We also love getting a room with a balcony so we can take in the night sky and watch the planes fly over us.
For Saturday I represented the real OG of Cabin Fever by rocking my Cavity Colors Dennis shirt. I still think Matthew Helms should’ve been a guest for the cast reunion (even though I know that not all guests requests can be made you still can’t convince me otherwise 😆) but I also think I just wanted to yell “PANCAKES” with him and show him my best karate ninja moves. I would say the shirt choice was a success because when we started the day off meeting Eli Roth he immediately pointed it out.
This year was less celeb guest art gifting and more focused on being reunited and networking with our Midwest horror fam, including the one and only insanely talented Chad Savage of Sinister Visions. I stocked up on some of his Halloween art stickers and we were so happy to be able to catch up with him. Even more so later that evening when he was super ghoul to drag Frank and I out of the “shadows” to come mingle alongside him while he made his rounds during the after party festivities.
Fun Fact:Do you remember the Save The Date postcards we sent out for mine and Frank’s Halloween Masquerade wedding reception in 2009? Well…Chad was the talented artist who designed those for us!
We also met up with our September Son Films and High On The Hog movie fam who we got to enjoy drinks and lunch with while we hung out and caught up on all the great things they currently have in the works. As always we reminisced about our mutual friend Sid (Haig). It’s pretty obvious that we all feel a sense of emptiness every time we are at these horror cons without him. It’s also nice to have friends who can relate to what I can only describe as a bittersweet mix of gratitude and loss whenever you see his face on something but don’t see him sitting behind one of the guest tables or across from you at dinner. It’s moments like these that we are all reminded of how much of a blessing Sid was to all of us and how we will always have a unique bond because of him.
As an artist who loves supporting other artists and small business owners, we purchased a lot of fun things from the vendors this year. I unfortunately won’t be posting our full haul because we actually scored quite a few unique items that are going to be gifts for other people. However I definitely have to share this fun pic taken at the Nightmare 1984 booth. The lover of great mashups and the Jane Lane in me had to have this print. My husband being the big They Live fan that he is (and also has a tattoo inspired by the movie) immediately pulled out his wallet when I pointed it out!
Svengoolie made his annual appearance and this time we got to see him in full action mode filming his show throughout the event. Frank also got to see the Phantasm II car that they had on display. We are not sure if it is the same one we saw at a prior event many moons ago, but either way I always enjoy when he gets the opportunity to see cars that were in or inspired by his favorite films.
Saturday evening we attended the VIP Private Gala Cocktail Reception for the Ultimate ticket holders and celebrity guests. You may remember last year when I donated my framed artwork for the raffles and got some of my connections to send me marketing swag to throw in with them to create prize bags. Well they were such a big hit that I joined forces with Mike and Mia (owners and hosts of the con) to make them again this year. With next month being the 5 Year Anniversary of Sid’s passing and him being such a memorable part of our earlier years at Flashback Weekend, I wanted to do something special in his memory. So I donated prints of the portrait I gifted to him as well as some of the Memorial Fundraiser Necklaces I have in stock. I then still donated the money from the necklaces to his widow, my dear friend Suzie but on behalf of the prize winners.
When I announced that I would be making the bags again this year, so many generous artists, vendors, and businesses jumped on the opportunity to sponsor prizes and get their names in front of horror fans. So much so the bags were twice the size that they were last year and we even had some larger prizes that got raffled off separately from Trick Or Treat Studios (including what Chad referred to as “The Head of Svengoolie!”).
Due to there being so many donations and not being able to see all the amazing things inside the bags, I created and displayed a sign next to them that listed all the prize sponsors along with a QR code that attendees were scanning and taking photos of on their phones as they walked into the event. This QR code led them to a prize sponsor page that lists the website links of all of the prize sponsors so they can easily be found online and we can all support what they do. A smaller version was also included in the bags themselves incase the winners wanted to reach out to them directly.
People in attendance could not wait to see if they had won something and those who did were very pleased. Aaron who was a winner last year really lucked out! Not only did he win again this year but after he did he got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend! She said YES! Making true love the ultimate prize of the evening. A very memorable moment and we were all honored to have witnessed it.
Raffle Prize Bags on DisplayTime for Raffles Prizes!Chad Giving Me a ShoutoutRaffling Off Bag 1Raffling Off Bag 2Raffling Off Bag 3Raffling the “Head of Svengoolie”She said YES!Raffle Winner Aaron & his FIANCE’Raffle Winner & Podcaster SummerCon Social Media Guru KatCon Owners/Hosts Mia & Mike
After all the hard work that went into the bags, it’s always so rewarding to see the excitement of those who want to win and the smiles on the faces of those who do. The attendees who won them really lucked out thanks to all the amazing boils and ghouls who joined forces and donated to them. I seriously can’t thank you all enough for your generosity and meeting my deadline to keep things going smoothly. You made some hardcore horror fans very happy and the event that much more fun for all.
On Sunday we were tired after a very eventful day and evening but we were also pumped to meet up and have a convention Sunday Funday with our friend Jeff from Anthony’s Collectibles. A great way to end a killer weekend before heading back home.
Fun Fact:I first met Jeff through my brother as they are great friends who served in the army together.
Once again I would like to end this by giving a mad shout out to Mike, Mia and the crew at Flashback Weekend Chicago. Like I told Mike when I saw him this weekend, you guys are the reason we have gotten to experience this convention and meet so many amazing people over the last 20 years and we are so grateful to all of you and the hard work and time you dedicate to putting on such a killer show. Thank you Mike and Mia for making our horror community feel like a family. There are many conventions out there nowadays, and we love them all the same, but the heart and soul you put into this one is why so many of us will always consider Flashback Weekend Chicago our forever horror home.
You may recall a little fiend (aka friend) I made at Flashback Weekend in 2021. It was the first time since the pandemic that we were finally able to go to a horror con again and she had the right idea on masking up.. as Sam from Trick ‘r Treat! She asked to take a photo with our Stripe gremlin and I myself just had to get a pic with her and her amazing cosplay.
Since then, Raven aka The Mini Creep has become a part of my horror community fam and I have stayed in contact with her and her Mom ever since. They are the ones I give credit to for getting to spend our anniversary getaway dinner at Famous Monsters Pizza. They have also given me lots of other travel advice including tips for when I finally get to take my dream trip to Salem, MA.
I have had the joy of buying some of the items she has put up for sale and supporting her fundraising efforts so she can continue doing what she loves…. going to cons, cosplaying her heart out, and meeting her fave icons and people (like myself) that love the genre. Something I would’ve loved to have done when I was her age if stuff like this has existed back then. Another thing I love about Raven is not only does she rock her cosplay to the fullest, she actually helps her Mom make the costumes. I have even had the honor of seeing sneak peek photos that she sends to me during their creation process. She has entered many costume contests at these cons and she impresses the judges with her abilities to act the characters out on stage. Not surprising though, as this little one is also a scream queen herself and has already landed a few acting gigs along the way.
As a thank you for my support she painted me a small painting which she sent to me with some other goodies, including her Pennywise cosplay logo sticker which is seen here displayed on my art drawing board. I just adore that she chose to use my fave galaxy colors for the painting she made me. They definitely scream “Nicole” and it is now displayed in my art space room.
So now that you know about The Mini Creep, here is where the Freaky Fanatic part comes in. She recently sent me this adorable photo of herself proudly displaying her print of my “Be Wise. Be Brave. Be Tricky.” painting of Coraline and I just had to share it (with her Mom’s permission of corpse) ….
Thank you for being so ghoul Raven and sending me this awesome photo! Keep doing what you love!
Want to see more photos of my Freaky Fanatics (aka happy customers) then be sure to stop by my official art portfolio website where you will see Raven along with all the others in my slideshows! It may just inspire you to buy something from my Etsy shop or display case at Closet Collectibles and become a Freaky Fanatic yourself!
