The non-event that put the con in convention has so far financially fleeced many members of the Friday the 13th fanbase. The last shifted date/no-show was Friday, May 13th, pretty much the nail in the coffin. Fan-outrage has now crescendoed with news coverage of the snakeoil shennenigans plus well as wheels in motion for legal intervention. Deserves an air fist pump, all.

This video interviews some affected and skips the interwebby drama to summarize the main points of the deception – even approaching the organizer on the street for comment. If you lost money, it’s vital you watch the news piece for advice on getting it back – or getting even (legally, of course).

Media Source: CBS Dallas/Fort Worth

I know that this is still a sore subject for many, but I hope that since a few weeks have passed now, visitors can be civil and read the information and then leave their thoughts as needed. Below is an excerpt of the interview and at the end of the excerpt is a link to read the entire interview.

John Gray : Oh my God! This week is turning it self around quite a bit. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I’m just trying to get through it and turn something terribly negative into something positive. I’m trying to make sure the fans are pleased. The celebrities are behind me and understand the situation. Just gotta muddle through the crap that this person has created and move forward. Larry (Zerner) just called and he’s an attorney so were trying to see what we can do to this person. I’m clueless on where to go with this guy because he has nothing. I would actually have to spend money to lose money for nothing. Basically the best I could do is get a civil judgment and he would owe me the money for eternity. When somebody has nothing to offer you, they live out of there car, they have a smart phone that they can email and make phone calls with. It’s amazing in this day and age how much havoc you can reek on someone you don’t even know. This guy doesn’t even know me. Other than me blowing him off for years and saying I’m not utilizing your clients because you don’t represent them. I know these people personally. They say you are full of shit. Then he starts going with these aliases, posing as other agents. I feel a fool for even buying into some of the crap. Then the impersonations of him going around calling not only celebrities but my venues canceling the dates. The first call I get is from the legal department from the hotel. They’re like “Hey, you owe us x amount of dollars for canceling” What are you talking about? Everything is good to go and they’re like “No, you called and cancelled the show.” No I didn’t.

Richard Malone: You posted that the first hotel, the Hilton Gardens canceled Camp Blood because they didn’t like the musical acts scheduled for the convention. Then you posted that someone sabotaged you.

John Gray: Well basically I got a letter in the mail saying we’re not having rock concerts here. We’re a Christian oriented facility blah, blah, blah. Come to find out later that this person did have something to do with egging them on. Basically tarnishing my reputation with that particular company. He did facilitate that, but ultimately they made the decision. Honestly, we wanted to move past that very quickly and do the best we could to find a venue within 5 months that would house 5,000-6,000 people. That’s why we split it into two different places. Honestly, this could be a small blessing in disguise that we have it all at the Crown. We have 90,000 square feet of space. We have 500 rooms. Everybody can stay in one place. Think about it, you know 5,000 horror fans in black standing outside to get in. In 110 degree weather, it would have been a total bitch fest. Not saying I wouldn’t have absolutely gone ahead with it because that is what we had committed to and we would have made it work one way or the other. I just want the fans to be pleased and happy. Ultimately I did find out that he facilitated that. I’m not going to comment on the forum about it because people are like “he’s contradicting himself “

I’m going to go forward with things. The show is NOT canceled it’s moved. I have been doing this since 2024. I have never had a convention that has not come through and made the fans extremely happy.

For the full interview, visit the website.

All,

There have been a lot of rumors going around since our first location change and we have done our best to try and hold things together on our end but have had our backs against the wall. You see, what you don?t know is that a certain so-called ?talent agent? that we have refused to work with since day one has been trying to sabotage the show while at the same time telling people he was working with us all along. You all know who he is and for legal reasons right now we can?t call him out by name.

This individual was responsible for us losing our first location and as we learned today has tried to sabotage our current location. We didn?t have the proof it was him until this most recent attempt where he wasn?t even smart enough to call from a blocked number.

In addition to this he has posted under fake names on our message board and several other boards starting rumors about various things from guests not actually being booked to locations never being locked down etc.

He has also called celebrities directly telling them these rumors and casting a lot of doubt among them and even causing some to flat out cancel for fear that the show wasn?t for real.

He has made death threats to one celebrity who has contacted the authorities and has a warrant issued for his arrest. He made death threats and has continued to harass via phone, text & e-mail several board members here and another real talent agent. All of which has been documented and we will post that information here for all to see once certain legal issues have been met. This individual won?t be a problem for us much longer as the law will be dealing with him shortly.

Sadly he has been successful at temporarily sabotaging this event for the time being. As much as it pains us to do, we have no choice but to postpone the show to Friday, May 13th-Sunday, May 15th 2024.

We know several of you have booked flights, got time off of work etc. and we are very sorry for the personal and financial inconvenience. We are going to look into some sort of compensation for those who have already booked flights and will incur a fee to change your flight.

This all may seem like one big excuse but it?s all very real and very serious. This individual seems to think he is above the law and untouchable but he is about to find out the hard way that isn?t the case.

Finally, all events will now be held at The Crowne Plaza. The code for booking your rooms is FRT and you will have to call and reconfirm your reservations. The room rate and block stays the same. They have been nothing but professional and courteous throughout this entire debacle, especially David Ramcharan, so PLEASE do not give them a hard time….they have made this arduous process go a lot smoother and made things happen much quicker than could be expected of anyone. We look forward to a long relationship with the staff at the Crowne Plaza!

All the best,

Texas Fear Fest Staff

Check out Scoot Jackson’s website, www.monstermangraphic.com, to see more of his work to get an idea of where the poster direction is going towards. Our website hopes that the poster stays the way it is as seeing all of the different Jasons represented in different poses, with and without a mask, looks pretty cool. What does everyone think of this poster so far?

MAJOR UPDATES FOR JUNE 2024

GUEST ADDITIONS:

Gloria Charles – “Fox,” Part III
Bruce Mahler – “Axel,” Part IV
Erich Anderson – “Rob,” Part IV *First Convention*
Wayne Grace – “Officer Jamison,” Part IV *First Convention*
Debisue Voorhees – “Tina,” Part V
John Hock – “Jason Voorhees Body Double,” Part V
Todd Bryant – “Neil,” Part V *First Convention*
Fred Mollin – Composer F13th the series, pt. 7, pt. 8
Mika Ward – “Campfire Teen #1,” Jason X
Mark Swift – Screenwriter, Freddy Vs. Jason + Friday The 13th (2009)
Damian Shannon – Screenwriter, Freddy Vs. Jason + Friday The 13th (2009)
Tammy Morris – “Gibb Body Double,” Freddy Vs. Jason
Douglas Tait – “Jason Voorhees Stunt Double,” – Freddy Vs. Jason *First Convention*
Rosemary Knower – “Old Lady,” Friday The 13th (2009)

CANCELLATIONS:

Steve Dash – “Jason Voorhees,” Part II
Ken Kirzinger – “Jason Voorhees,” Freddy Vs. Jason
Kelly Hu – “Eva Watanabe,” Part VIII
Dan Bradley – “Jason Voorhees Body Double,” Part VI

CELEBRITY MODERATORS:

Michael Berryman – The Hills Have Eyes 1 & 2
Bill Moseley – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, The Devil’s Rejects
Dan Farrands – His Name was Jason, Never Sleep Again
Thommy Hutson – His Name was Jason, Never Sleep Again

Also, there will be signings available on Thursday August 12th for those that are going to be in a mad dash to to have as many signatures as possible from the weekend. For more information on the 30th reunion check out the offiical website.

We are now doing the show at Sneaky Pete’s in Lewisville, about 5 miles from the original location.

http://www.sneakypetesonline.com/

We even plan on having Stu Charno greeting fans as they enter the camp ground saying “welcome to God’s country” lol!

Keep an eye out for more information on the location change and the last big guest announcement before the event takes place in August!

Although an official announcement has not been made yet, Ari Lehman has mentioned a Strip Monopoly Tournament will be happening at Camp Blood: Friday the 30th reunion in August. If this does indeed make it through to the final stages, I think this could be some wild and crazy times happening at the reunion event. Besides having a great time, proceeds from the tournament will be donated to THE WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT. Read on for more information.

Everyone will be invited to participate, bikinis and bathing suits under street clothes are fine. We will be right on a lake anyway! This will be a wildly fun time for all, and a great way to help those wounded while serving their country.

So, get your dice ready people (no pun intended), we are gonna have some fun – CELEBRITY STRIP MONOPOLY TOURNAMENT FOR CHARITY!

Alright, everyone that will be attending should make sure you are wearing your tighty whities and not your birthday suits to the event. If anything changes with this tournament we will let you know. With everything else going on, why wouldn’t you want to attend this reunion event?

SPRING UPDATE, 30th March 2024
None other than OTEP announced as FearJam headliners! With Support from Michale Grave’s act Gotham Road and add to the mix punk rockers Calabrese and Ari Lehman’s First Jason and you have one hell of a rock concert!

NEW GUEST ANNOUNCEMENTS

Also Just Announced

Damian Swift & Mark Shannon (Writers of FvJ and the F13th remake)
Gloria Charles (Fox, Part 3)

CELEBRITY MODERATORS

Dan Farrands (His Name Was Jason, Never Sleep Again, Halloween 6)
Thommy Hutson (His Name Was Jason, Never Sleep Again)
Lucky McKee (Director – Masters of Horror – Sick Girl, May, Roman, The Woods, Red)
Peter Bracke (Author – Crystal Lake Memories)

Perhaps we can get Mario to the states sometime soon! In the meantime, Mario is currently working on displaying his collection at a number of other events that will be happening in Europe. So, stay tuned for that information as it becomes available.