“Greetings… and welcome. I want to play a game.”
Megan Golden cosplays Billy alongside Ash Sweetring cosplaying Hannibal Lecter.
Photo credit: Colby Dumas.
This year held so many awesome opportunities for my cosplay adventures, one of my favorites involving Salty Horror. This organization, run by Mario DeAngelis, is responsible for cool events like the Salty Horror International Film Festival, Salty Horror Productions, and the new Salty Horror Convention which just completed it’s first annual event!
I was brought on to help represent this convention as a cosplayer, beginning with advertising at their official booth at Fantasy-Con this summer in Salt Lake City and attending a Salty Horror movie event at Brewvies, a local cinema pub. I had the opportunity to appear in a promo video series with Sketch Cabaret, filmed by DeAngelis– SUPER FUN. Our location was none other than Fear Factory, an extremely popular haunted attraction! And let me tell you, walking around it dressed as Leatherface just felt RIGHT!
Megan Golden as Lady Leatherface.
When the event rolled around, I was BEYOND excited to see what spooky, awesome things the event would hold. It took place at the Utah State Fair Park, partnered with Best Friends Animal Society. I had a booth set up next to some amazing artists, one of which being Colunga Art (which you can find here– https://www.facebook.com/colunga.art). Among some other venders were Fear Factory and Creature Encounters. I stared at the snakes and spiders from a distance, because well– spiders. I cosplayed two of my greatest fears as far as horror movie icons go: Leatherface and Billy (otherwise known as “that one puppet from SAW”). I had Leatherface prints available, thanks to Trevor! Those photos were taken in a lovely surprise snowstorm, and they turned out unbelievably well (go team)! The feedback was pretty cool. I enjoyed meeting (or reuniting with!) every single person who came up to say hi, browse the images on the table, and take photos.
I really enjoyed the setup of this particular convention, as the panels were the centerpiece. It’s a setup I’ve never seen before, and it was very cool. As this was not a heavily populated event, they could get away with having panel discussions on the same floor as the vendors, amongst the chatter of bustling attendees. And it worked really well for them. I got to sit in on ALL of the panels from my booth, and I thoroughly enjoyed that. We got to participate with the guests and speakers, where we typically wouldn’t have the option at any other convention. My personal favorites were the one and only Patricia Quinn and Aurelio Voltaire– they both had the audience totally engaged and entertained.
Megan Golden with a Fear Factory Creature at the Salty Horror booth at Fantasy-Con 2014.
I’d like to point out all of the hard work the organizer and staff put into this. Although smaller than the major conventions in our area, the dedication and passion could not be overlooked. I’d like to thank the whole team that brought something so unique to our community, and Mario DeAngelis for such a cool opportunity. I love scary movies, video games, and their characters, so this is something I was really happy to be involved with. This convention has so much potential, and it’ll only grow from here. I can’t wait to see what next year brings!
For more information about the Salty Horror Convention, visit https://www.facebook.com/pages/Salty-Horror-Convention/672524119447386.
Don’t forget to check out Salty Horror Productions (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Salty-Horror-Productions/141030565969097) and the Salty Horror International Film Festival (https://www.facebook.com/saltyhorror).
