The fourth annual Silver Scream Con (SSC) gathered all of the horror fans in Worcester, Massachusetts, at the DCU Center for a weekend of blood, gore, and smiles galore. The Silver Scream Con is a horror movie convention curated by the band Ice Nine Kills (INK), a metalcore band founded by lead singer Spencer Charnas in Boston during his high school years.
The convention has continued to grow year after year, which spurred a move to Worcester’s DCU Center last year. This year, the panel room expanded, and it was still packed out. And now it’s on its way to London this December.
After four conventions, Spencer and the Ice Nine Kills machine have become the official horror movie ambassadors for the metal music genre. They have curated one of the best sources for horror fandom in the entertainment ecosystem.
Where else can you hear Art the Clown’s actor, David Howard Thorton, speak on a panel with the rest of the Terrifier cast, then go meet them downstairs and get pictures with them in costume? Then you walk across the convention floor and talk to the makeup artist who did all the makeup and prosthetic effects for INK’s “A Work of Art” music video. Then, to cap it all off, watch Art the Clown “murder” Rhea Ripley on stage during a metal concert?
SSC 4 delivered a very meta Christmas for several iconic horror franchises Terrifier, Halloween, and Scream, in the event’s biggest and most successful year to date.
From the Silver Scream Con Floor
The showroom floor was packed all weekend. All the vendors had lines, and the merchandise was flying off the shelves. Horror fans love to collect, well, everything. The best time on the floor was happening at celebrity row. The phrase “never meet your heroes” need not apply in this scenario because there was nothing but smiles from the celebs and the fans for three straight days.
to the Panels
The panels were hosted by Ryan J. Downey, who met the band shortly after the release of the first Silver Scream album. Ryan has a background in music journalism and copywriting and eventually developed a working relationship with Spencer.
“I’m responsible now for just about anything that you see come out of the Ice Nine Kills camp, copy-wise, whether it’s a social media caption or a press release or what have you,” Ryan said.
When I asked Ryan how he prepares for a panel, he said it always helps that he’s a fan first.
“I think it’s important to establish trust early in those conversations. And a big part of that trust is showing them that you know a little bit about who they are and what, and that kind of perks them up,” Ryan said.
From Reanimator to Terrifier, it’s clear that the master of panels has decades of horror movie knowledge rattling around his head like a ghost in a haunted house. Each panel felt like a conversation with old friends talking about tricks of the trade. The “Behind the Masks” panel featuring Tyler Mane (Rob Zombie’s Michael Myers), Kane Hodder, and Ken Kirzinger (Jason Voorhees) gave fans a look behind the intense stunt work and physicality that goes into playing an iconic serial killer on the silver screen. Rest assured, Michael Myers doesn’t skip leg day.
INK Closes the Show
The band’s all-encompassing presence was felt throughout the weekend. From the INK museum filled with all the props from the INK cinematic universe and their “Hell of a Summer” tour finale on Saturday night to the con closing panel, it’s clear this band loves their fans, and the fans absolutely love this band. SSC felt like a warm invitation into their world, but that’s because it was soaked in blood.
