Houston Horror Film Festival August 2024

Yes, another trip down to Houston. I don’t know if this is a new convention or I only noticed it this year, but there were a few names I was intrigued by.   

For the most part, the drive was easy. This was north of where I normally go in Hoston so, I didn’t get bogged down with the traffic. It was in a hotel. Parking was free but it was in the back and it filled up fast. As I as leaving, people were double parking and parking on side roads.

The convention was small. It didn’t take a lot of space. It seemed to fit the size of the crowd.  I walked into the expo floor first. It seemed the only option. I made a quick circuit and found the table for Shannyn Sossaman. That was the main purpose of the drive. I love the movie, A Knight Tail and I think she played the foil/love interest wonderfully. That movie has some wonderful lines that I find myself quoting to The Wife.

I got to the table before Shannyn. Which was good as she offered a large selection of photos. I had printed something, but found one I liked better from her table. I chit-chatted with her handlers and between us, we found a good color choice for the pen. I was all set. What could go wrong…

She arrived with a smile and I said hello. That was probably the last thing I said that where my foot wasn’t trying to find my mouth.

As she sat, I could tell she was looking over the table and trying to set herself up mentally.

What I SHOULD have said: Do you need a few minutes? I can come back.

What I said: Still need time to wake up?

                Really, I said that?  I was implying she needed to set herself up but I was saying she might be hung over. With a smile she said, she had a lovely morning.

Handed over the photo and asked if she could add a quote. I had it printed fairly large to make it easy to read. She read it and I tried to explain the context…like she wasn’t in the movie and hadn’t uttered the line a few lines.

 She signed and I barely said thank you when I said, I hope they take you our someplace nice to eat. Texas has great BBQ and Tex-Mex.

Very politely, she said, she doesn’t read meat very often.

I SHOULD have said: Houston is a large city with lots of options.

What I said: Course you don’t.

                Yes, I said that! Can you believe it? In my head, I was thinking, she was trying to eat properly and making good food choices and would avoid BBQ. But it did NOT come out that way. Oh, my word. I KNEW I was swerving all over the icy road.  I can’t believe how crass I sounded.

Give her credit, she never flinched. I mumbled how much The Wife and I love the movie and I backed out with a slight blush. I truly hope I was the worst she saw all weekend. 

The convention also had 2 Twilight actors. I’m not a fan of the movies, although we did see them all. I read the first book thinking it would be on par with Harry Potter but I was mistaken. But I still wanted to get these two.

The convention had put the Twilight actors in a separate room. I think there were a total of 4 actors set up there but only 2 were present when I was here: Peter Facinelli and Jackson Rathbone. Those were the two I wanted. A Large crowd was expected, but when I was arrived, there was only 1 other fan. I was in and out in 2 minutes. It would have been quicker but Jackson and I actually talked for a minute. He mentioned he lived in Midland, TX.  I know nothing about Midland but it was nice he shared.

After that, I was done. Found my car and headed home.

AH