This was the Con's atlanta debut, so it was small. The hotel was nice , but location made me feel like it took as long to drive down there as it did so browse every room. The word today is next year's is being moved to the Marriott down town, which is encouraging as the trek discouraged me from attending all three days. The high light for me was meeting Laurence R. Harvey of Human Centipede 2 fame, who was very sweet and humble man, as well as Ogre from Skinny Puppy/Repo! a genetic opera, who stopped to talk to my daughter about her Cthulhu doll and the finer points of picking your nose as a baby.
Interesting to see the pseudo celebrity status some of local cos-players have taken on. Chambers of Horror and Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse were represented but there was a noted lack of presence in terms of the other Georgia haunts. I think the healthy Haunt community keeps the Horror scene in Atlanta as vital as it is today, while guys like Shane Morton and Luke Godfrey, keep the horror arteries unclogged and flowing with monthly/quarterly events its also something more hands to need to come to the table to keep the horror scenes growth.
I think a hug opportunity was lost to not have fan tracks/ panels , as they dark fantasy panel has proven at dragon-con, it is a huge element to the sub-culture and other mediums like comics,books and even video games keeps the larger horror pulse throbbing. I think aside from vampires and zombies, occult studies, bdsm lifestyle and even forensics / true crime would have been welcomes additions.
For me mission was accomplished in supporting the horror community and getting to see friends, I looke forward to the growth in this cons future
