Chiller Theater April 2018

Mom and Dad got spoiled last year. I visited them a lot in New Jersey.  After 6 months, they were asking when I would come out again. Luckily, the weekend we flew out, the Phillies were in town and Chiller Theater was scheduled.

The host hotel. Not what you think when I say Jersey, huh?

Smack to the back of the head.  The Wife is glaring at me with arms crossed and a tapping foot. She lifts a skeptical eyebrow and repeats the word: luckily. Defiantly I glare back…for a moment.  Guilt won’t let me hold that gaze long.  Truth be told, I did peek at the Phil’s schedule and the Chiller website when I decided which weekend we would fly home.

Chiller Theater holds 2 shows a year.  They are more of a pop-culture convention than a Horror Con like Texas Frightmare Weekend. Although they are both in a hotel, Chiller’s guests are clustered in small groups in small meeting rooms down the first floor corridors.  Texas Frightmare has 2 large conference rooms that are a mix of vendors and vendors.

Because the rooms at Chiller are down hotel corridors, the convention feels more crowded than it is.  You are walking down passageways that are barely comfortable with 2 people walking side by side. When people are queuing for a room, the traffic flow slows and there is lots of bumping and sudden stops.

After a long day, warm corridors, and aching feet, people get snippy. I knocked a phone from someone’s hand and we started jawing with each other.  In my defense, I was only trying to figure out if his phone was broken. It seemed ridiculous that escalated to chest bowing and a diatribe about rude people. Fear not, my eye was not blackened and my lip not bloodied. After a few minutes of talking trash, he ran out of energy and we parted ways.

Agents Molder and Scully questioning Krycek



This was my 3^rd Chiller Theater. I had a good time as always.  There were some guests on my want list I did not get and some that I hadn’t planned on getting that I did. When the crowd was at its peak, I actually left the building for about 90 minutes and drove around town.  I rarely leave a show for a break.  I was unproductive and figured the lines would me more manageable after eating and looking at the beautiful Jersey landscape.  Parsippany is beautiful in Spring and when I returned the crowds had thinned.

I finished the day in North Jersey and drove 90 minutes south back to mom and dad’s for dinner.

AH

PS my earworm for the day was Ramble On by Led Zeppelin. Very different than the Peter Gabriel I usually experience. Like I said, Chiller is different and I was back East.  Listening to WMMR play rock all weekend probably was part of that too.