My brush with fame

Last weekend I made my first pilgrimage to Crypticon, an annual horror convention in the Twin Cities.

For the closest
shave ever, try
a rusty machete!It was my first-ever horror convention and I had a blast. This should come as no surprise to anyone that's ever read this blog or listened to "Six Minutes Over Hutchinson." If it creeps, crawls, bleeds or oozes on-screen, I'm all over it.

I got some great deals on a couple movies I'd been wanting to buy forever, which is always fun. But the real treat was rubbing elbows with the celebs.

Here's me chillin' with Bill Moseley, who starred in Rob Zombie's "House of 1000 Corpses", "The Devil's Rejects," and "Halloween." He was a very nice, down-to-earth guy. I told him I could hardly recognize him sporting short hair, a clean shave and not killing anyone.

Recognize that guy on the left? Don't feel bad if you don't. Steve Dash played Jason in most of "Friday the 13th: Part 2." The veteran stuntman/actor wore a burlap bag over his head the whole time. Apparently he wasn't told about this part of the job until he arrived on the set. Dash also said he didn't know Jason had no dialog at the time he accepted the gig. Dash said he was offered the part of Jason for Part 3 but passed on it, a decision he now regrets.

The absolute highlight was meeting Margot Kidder. I have been a fan ever since she played Lois Lane in the "Superman" movies and have since come to appreciate her as a top-notch scream queen in some of the coolest horror films ever.

Kidder signed my copy of Brian DePalma's "Sisters", and struck me as very cool, smart and funny. During her Q-and-A session with fans, she shared memories of hanging out with the likes of Stephen Spielberg and Martin Scorsese before any of them got famous. She said Spielberg is a really nice guy ("What you see is what you get.") and said moviemaking was a lot more fun when there wasn't as much money at stake as there is today.

Kidder also revealed she is working on a script for what sounds like an potentially heartwarming oddball comedy, and enjoys small-town Montana living.

I will definitely had back to Crypticon next year. Who'd guess a horror convention could be such a pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon?

(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com)