What We Do at Nightmare Weekend Chicago: A Review

Photo: Alex Orona

Nightmare Weekend Chicago, presented by GalaxyCon, is a small scale celebration of all things horror for us here in the Midwest. A bit smaller than the C2E2’s and Fan Expos of the world, it had no shortage of star power, events and sights to see throughout its aisles. 

Let’s dig into what made Nightmare Weekend at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center a must see con for horror fans. 

Starting off with the big ticket items: celebrities. Of course, being a horror con, you’d expect to see classic icons such as Cassandra Peterson (Elvira), but adding in Kayvan Novak and Harvey Guillen from What We Do In The Shadows gives some real star power. 

Photo: Marielle Bokor

Also amongst the notable celebs was director Sean Cunningham, who appeared with Ari Levine for a Friday the 13th panel, where he teased a brand new video game and upcoming TV series, and Eli Roth alongside the cast of his slasher horror movie Thanksgiving.

James Marsters of Buffy fame was also onsite, not just for a panel but for an evening concert, and you could also get autographs or spend panel time with, Matt Ryan, Chris Kattan, Barry Bostwick, Clint Howard, and Dermot Mulroney. These names are massive for what you’d expect at a con like this and it really impressed us how accessible the panels were. 

Photo: Marielle Bokor

Most celebrity panels were on the show floor with an open floor set up which makes for no limitation on seating capacity. That’s always a plus in my book, when some of the bigger names at other cons tend to fill up instantly, leaving fans with no way to see them without waiting in long lines for hours. 

For those of you looking to spend some money, there was so much fantastic horror and fantasy themed art, jewelry and other home made goods available. Everything from candles to plushes, and even hot sauces. 

These cons are rough on our wallets personally as we take time to search for some of the best they have to offer, and this con had a lot. Who doesn’t need a custom ouija board or Fallout bobblehead. There’s something here for everybody. 

Another thing that stood out about Nightmare Weekend compared to other cons is that this one tends to skew towards the late night, with events occurring all the way until 2am. Cosplay Burlesque, horror comedy shows and late night dance parties were all on the docket here and they were bumpin’. There was even a cosplay wrestling event with a full cast of horror icons duking it out in a giant ring set up on the main show floor!

All in all, we had a great time feeling our spookiest, and welcome the return of Nightmare Weekend next year.