Famous Monsters Convention Dallas (Event Report)

Mr. Dark |

Jun 13, 2017

I don’t know about you cats, but I love me some Uncle Forry. Forrest J Ackerman and his magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland were a big part of my youth. Thankfully, I got out to LA 20 years ago when he was still giving tours of his Ackermansion and got experience the mansion and the man first-hand.

Uncle Forry is gone, but Famous Monsters continues, and they’ve launched this new convention in Dallas starting May of this year. They’ve done Famous Monsters cons in other states prior to this, but it was the first this side of the Rocky Mountains.

Set only three weeks after the juggernaut that is Texas Frightmare Weekend, this one confused me a bit when it popped up on my radar. Sporting a mix of sci-fi and horror guests and an interesting but scattered mix of events (laser tag? D&D tournament? Lego building?), it seemed to come together quickly.

After speaking to main man Phil Kim, I came to understand there’s a very long story behind the circumstances, and that while the con will be back in Dallas next year, it’ll be closer to Halloween to kick off that season and remain well clear of Texas Frightmare in May.

The great news is this was a fantastic little con. It was very lightly attended for a number of reasons, but it was extremely well organized and very different from TFW. Other cons have attempted to compete directly with TFW, and those didn’t last past their first year. Famous Monsters fills an entirely different niche, sporting a lineup and design that meet the criteria of what Uncle Forry would have wanted. Forry loved his monsters, but he was also the man who literally coined the term “sci-fi” (it was the license plate on his car, no joke) and had a love for genre films across specific niches like horror, fantasy, or science fiction.

This show had guests as widely ranging as cast members of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” anime voiceover actors, and horror luminaries like Felissa Rose and Sean Cunningham. Vendors were similarly spread out, with cosplayers seated next to comic artists next to anime posters. Droid makers and Mandalorian cosplay groups mingled with Godzilla costume makers. An ECTO-1 sat parked next to the hot rods from The Munsters.

The goal seemed to be to bring together fans of ALL genres, which is something Uncle Forry was passionate about. In his Ackermansion you had a screen-used Cylon from “Battlestar Galactica,” but you also had one of Lugosi’s screen-worn capes and rings from Dracula. Forry was King Geek, God bless him, and that was the feel of this con.

Some of Famous Monsters’ famous covers

Everyone I spoke to had nothing but positive things to say about the show. The light attendance was a drag, but that should change next year with a better time frame, different location, and more lead-up time to promote. Guests told me they were very well taken care of, vendors were pleased with how things were managed, the events were handled very well, and the volunteers were plentiful and well-trained.

I think this will be an excellent addition to the already-busy con schedule in Dallas. Right now it’s Texas Frightmare Weekend and a bunch of general comic cons, with a random corporate con oriented around one fandom or another thrown in. This should give horror and monster nerds another party every year on the opposite end of the summer from TFW and give sci-fi and fantasy fans a brand new place to mix and mingle.

See you next year!