New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Thousands of fans of The Walking Dead gathered in Boston this weekend for the annual Walker Stalker Con – a two-day convention for fans of the series and other zombie, horror, and sci-fi shows.
The convention offered everything from photo ops to celebrity meet-and-greets, panel speakers, and a whole lot of shopping. Three huge conference rooms were lined with hundreds of vendors displaying and selling art, jewelry, and collectibles for comic, sci-fi, and horror fans of all generations, interests, and times.
A surprise was around every corner! (Josh Souza)
Surrounding the vendors were individual queue lines packed with fans patiently waiting for the convention’s two dozen or so celebrities to appear for photos and autograph sigings. Photo ops with any one celeb ranged from $40 to $150 – and $420 bought you a photo with the entire Walking Dead cast.
However, cast members of The Walking Dead weren’t the only celebrities to appear. In fact, actors from shows like Bates Motel, Gotham, and Night of the Living Dead were there too. Even Elvira was there – in full attire of course.
While fans waited for celebs to show up, they checked out other convention features such as the “total immersion” zombie experience – an interactive, zombie-fighting, almost too real, apocalyptic nightmare where participants fight to survive and shoot zombies with laser guns.
Tate Steinsiek, special effects/makeup artist for The Walking Dead, offered demos late Saturday afternoon, and even offered to zombify fans for a fee. Other makeup artists were also on site giving attendees everything from bloody, oozing bite marks to pulsing veins, bruises, and black eyes.
Artist Rob Prior showing off his craft. (Josh Souza)
One unexpected, awesome suprise Saturday morning was seeing Katelyn Nacon, who plays Enid on The Walking Dead, singing and playing the ukulele.
Just down the hall we found Rob Prior, an incredibly talented artist who’s worked with some of the biggest in the industry including Marvel, DC Comics, and Image Comics. He’s an amazing painter, and was painting right their on site at the convention.
Prior said can’t create his works of art unless he has music playing – and playing loud. During a panel that afternoon, he explained that he paints “with the music.” Yep. He blasts music, finds a groove, and get this – paints with both hands, an unusual but trademark skill he developed when he was just a kid.
But perhaps the biggest surprise was the lack of zombies – anywhere. While some fans chose to attend with blood-stained t-shirts or their own personal attempts at minimal fake bruises and wounds, most simply wore t-shirts and jeans. The convention itself didn’t seem to incorporate zombies into their planning at all. Sure, meeting celebrities is cool, but where were the zombies? The convention paled in comparison to the costumes and atmosphere you’d find at Comic Con. We won’t be too disappointed though – that’s coming to Boston in a few weeks.
The Walker Stalker Con coincidentally came to Boston the same weekend of Sunday night’s premiere of new show, Fear the Walking Dead – a pre-quel to AMC’s The Walking Dead chronicling what happened before the zombiepocalypse.
The real question on fans’ minds though is not what happened before, but what’s happening next. Season 7 kicks back up on October 23rd – with season 6 ending and leaving fans in total suspense. Who did Negan kill during the blacked out scene of that final episode? Who won’t return? Or scarier yet, who will return as a flesh-craving zombie? What are your predictions? Who’s next?
