Scarefest has made its haunting return to Lexington for the 15th year in a row. The weekend-long event is a convention that draws in every type of fan of the horror genre. It takes place in the Central Bank Center with the entire space filled with spooky vendors, local businesses, and celebrities who have become icons in the horror genre.
This year’s headlining celebrities included David Arquette, who played the role of Dewey in the Scream franchise, Dylan McDermott, who starred in American Horror Story: Murder House, and even large parts of the casts from movies such as Friday the 13th and Jaws. Fans of these celebrities waited in incredibly long lines to receive autographs and even photo ops.
While the stars bring in a huge crowd, most people spend the majority of their time (and money) browsing and shopping from the dozens of vendors at the event. Vendor James Powell, who is a Scarefest veteran taking part in the convention for all 15 years, provided insight into the world of convention sales.
This year, James had four booths that all sold the same items, Funko Pops. Funko Pops are collectible figures that are made as cartoonish resemblances to whoever, or whatever, they are based on. If you are a fan of anyone or anything in the pop culture world, chances are there is a pop figure made of it, and vendor James Powell will have it.
James showed off his top shelf figures, one of these figures being an incredibly rare one, the fabled Ghostface from Scream. It is one of the only figures based on the iconic 1990s slasher, making it extremely rare and much sought after. The miniature effigy held a ghoulish $400 price tag. It is interesting to see how members of a niche community, such as one that collects these rare figurines, are willing to pay such high prices to obtain their favorite piece of horror memorabilia at conventions such as Scarefest.
