GARF Global: For the Love of Horror (Part 2)

BY COLIN C

GARF Global: For the Love of Horror (Part 2)

Hi again folks, and welcome to part two of The GARF’s For the Love of Horror blog series. Wait, you haven’t read part one?! Well go back and check it out, then come back!

Right, now we have all read part one, I’ll carry on with the rest of the blog. Towards the end of part one I alluded to what was in my mind the main attraction of For the Love of Horror. To fully explain this and why, I have to go all the way back to 2019!

Seems like quite a long time ago, right? Well I guess it kind of is, we have all gone through a worldwide pandemic which, of course, included prolonged periods of lockdown and no shows. October 2019 was when the last For The Love of Horror event was held, and it was centered around a The Lost Boys reunion. Why am I carrying on about this? Well just bear with, and all will be explained.

Back to 2019 and the reunion: It was a well-attended reunion and all the main players were in attendance Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric, Alex Winter, Jason Newlander, et al. But for such an iconic picture with a huge fanbase, the guys at For the Love of Horror didn’t stop there. As well as talent from in front of the camera, they secured some of the talent responsible for the film’s music and score, including G Tom Mac and Tim Capello.

Now you may be forgiven for thinking/saying “Who?” as these guys may only be familiar to hardcore The Lost Boys fans and people familiar with Tina Turner (more on that later).

All the guests there for The Lost Boys reunion were great and really got into the spirit of the event. But for a lot of attendees one guest stood out in particular, and that was Tim Capello.

Tim appears in the Lost Boys for less than a minute, but his performance and song in the film really do resonate and stick with the viewer. Having him recreate this performance at the event in 2019 really was a master stroke. It was an amazing performance and really whipped up the crowd, both during each day and at the afterparty (multiple times!).

Tim’s passionate performance was loved so much that he was invited back for the 2020 show. This of course became 2021 and fortunately Tim was still available.

Tim, formally a backing Saxophonist and vocalist for many high-profile American musicians including Tina Turner, is a respected artist in his own right (if you’re unfamiliar with Tim, definitely check him out). He brought so much energy to his performance that again in 2021 to new and familiar attendees alike really whipped up a frenzy at the show!!

For me he was a standout guest and performer at the show and if you haven’t seen his I Still Believe performances from the 2019 or 2021 shows, be sure to check them out. In fact, even if you have, like this lucky blogger has (including a side stage view in 2021) still check them out.

On each occasion, 2019 & 2021, Tim demonstrated how thankful and humble he was to be at the show performing and it is certainly the hope of this blogger. I would say many other fans hope that Tim becomes a regular performer at For the Love of Horror.

As I mentioned, Tim performed multiple times across the weekend, including the Saturday night afterparty.

The afterparty is an add-on to the convention entry ticket but at only £10, well worth it as a number of acts are laid on (and who knows, you may end up having a pint or two with some of the guests!).

In 2019 I was fortunate enough to spend some time with the guys from the 1990 IT Losers Club.

This year was no different, with no less than four acts laid on for the party that runs from 6pm to around midnight. The acts were varied and themed to the event, so including a strong man who did some pretty “horrific” things (picking by a beer keg with his eye lids), a Rocky Horror Picture Show tribute performance, and a heavy metal band. All were very good acts and proved extremely popular with the crowd. Seating is available to enjoy the acts and a well-stocked bar is on hand if you fancy a little tipple.

The afterparty always leaves fans in a partying mood and Manchester is great for this, having a huge nightlife scene. Wrapped up in the partying mood, your GARF correspondent decided to venture out into the Manchester night and drink/dance the night away! The less said about that the better, but rest assured it was great fun and meant I did not get back to bed till around 5am!!!

This makes for great memories, but is not necessarily good for a busy con day as Sunday was going to be. If you’re a bit of a party animal the FTLOH after party and Manchester will leave you well satisfied!

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Sunday, as perhaps with most cons, was a little less busy (thank goodness) than Saturday and gave me a bit more or a chance to meet guests, friends and vendors alike.

Over the course of the weekend, I had my photo with Scream ghostface killers Matthew Lillard and Skeet Ulrich, these guys were in great form, even commenting on my Aliens cap. Got my selfies with Tim Capello, had a little meet & greet with Alex Vincent (of Chucky fame) and even revisited Jeffery Voorhees and Susan Snyder for more chats. A quick chat with Christopher Biggins, an absolute icon and legend of British television was a great time and a great tick off the bucket list. As with guests. it was awesome to see and catch up with vendors & friends, some I have never seen in person or if I have, not for up-to 2 years!

Vendors at the show I had a great time catching up with included Rick and Meg from HorrifyMe (more on them in a future blog), What if Stories…comic book writer and artist Matt Stapleton, artist and filmmaker Tony Marden and amazing model makers Arkham Arts Studios.

Too many friends old and new were met and made at the show, and it was great to spend time in person with all of them, in particular fellow Horror Outlaws and Weekend of the Dead alumni Paul Meenan, Scott Harman, Steve Humphries, Kate Dailey, Andrew Butterworth, Alan Hoare, Lee Williams (in full infamous RJ cosplay) and Peachy Russell.

Also, my party and nightclubbing crew, Jamie, Paul, Tony, Andy, Micky, Andy (again) and Vicky! Surnames left out to protect the innocent!

I should also shout out to all the guys I hoped to run into, but never quite got the chance including David Slight, D “Spike” Flemming and Mark Curzon…Hopefully next time guys

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I have to mention the amazing cosplayers I had the enjoyment of seeing over the two days, every single one had put real effort into their cosplay and all were really great covering a huge number of iconic characters from the world of horror movies, literature and art.

So how was George A. Romero represented at For the Love of Horror? Pretty well actually, among the venders there was some choice Romero merchandise including original quad UK posters for Dawn & Day, pins, badges and magnets covering a range of George’s movies and tee’s to boot.

With regard to the fans, I spotted a very cool Creepshow cosplayer, and after having a good chat we may have a Romero theme pub project to work on (fingers crossed and more on that in the future)!

I had a good chat with Tom, an Irish filmmaker and big Romero fan. I spotted him wearing the Frightrags/GARF collaboration tee. It was great to see the tee this side of the Atlantic, bearing in mind how difficult and expensive it has been to get things shipped to the UK. I’ll work on featuring some of his work on this very site and will update you on that in future posts.

Lastly, it was great to see a Joe Pilato remembrance tee on an awesome Romero Fan. We didn’t get to speak much, but much kudos to you brother for keeping the memory of Captain Rhodes very much alive!

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I guess that’s a very suitable way to end this blog, remembering George and his great work.

Rest assured The GARF will be in attendance at For The Love of Horror 2022….and hopefully other events across the UK, Europe and the Globe, so please pop over and say Hi…We’d love to start meeting you all again!!!

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The George A. Romero Foundation (The GARF) is a 501c(3) non-profit organization dedicated to honoring George’s life, art, and cultural impact by restoring and preserving his portfolio and legacy, and supporting the dreams and imaginations of independent filmmakers, artists, and writers inspired by George.