My 2024 Flashback Weekend Recap

 by Patrick Bromley

The biggest Flashback to date!

This was my fourth year hosting Flashback Weekend, the annual horror convention that takes place in Rosemont, IL, (just outside of Chicago) every August for the last 22 years. I started out as a post-COVID fill-in moderator because my Horror BFF Heather Wixson couldn't come out from LA to host and I wanted to do the Friday the 13th: A New Beginning panel and have since become a full-fledged co-host of the weekend. Getting the chance to talk about some of my favorite horror movies with the people who helped create them, getting to spend the weekend surrounded by like-minded horror fans, getting to hang out with Erika and Rosie and Adam Riske and Mike -- all of it makes for some of the most fun I have all year.

With a massive lineup of guests and special events, this was the biggest Flashback I've ever attended both in terms of everything that was planned and in terms of the number of attendees. For the full lineup of everything that happened at this year's Flashback, check out the preview piece I posted a week or so back.

Friday kicked off with a live F This Movie! podcast recording, a first for us (though not for Flashback, which has been hosting live recordings of co-host Nick DiGilio's podcast for a few years). I asked Mike Pomaro to join me for this one because he's the biggest Halloween fan I know and our special guests for the live show were none other than Nick Castle and Nancy Stephens! I think I can speak for Mike when I say we were both super nervous but it all came out ok, mostly because Nick Castle and Nancy Stephens couldn't have been more gracious and kind. I kind of already knew that about Nick Castle because he's been to cons in the past, but Nancy Stephens was more of a wild card for me because I haven't had the chance to see her interviewed much. Turns out she's passionate and sharp-witted and extremely nice and humored all of our questions. It was a great experience.

Next up, Nick D. hosted an anniversary panel celebrating Svengoolie's (aka Rich Koz) 45 years on the air. Sven has been a staple of Flashback for many years and it was great to see him take the stage to joke around, play some song parody clips from the vault, and announce that he has no intention of retiring as long as he can still do the show and people are still watching (PHEW). Some of the weekend's other celebrity guests who are fans of Svengoolie even asked if they could drop by, so the hour-long panel also saw appearances from Jordan Ladd, Ted Raimi, and Tom Atkins. It was a very cool way to pay tribute to a horror icon and a Chicago legend. Svengoolie 4Eva.

Friday night was capped off with co-host Steve Prokopy moderating a Cabin Fever reunion featuring Eli Roth, Cerina Vincent, Jordan Ladd, Joey Kern, and James DeBello (sorry, no Rider Strong). As I expected, it was one of the highlights of the weekend. I'm a huge Cabin Fever fan and getting to hear the cast reminisce about the production was pretty wonderful. Joey Kern got the biggest laugh with a joke about an eye injury and the whole cast determined that, thanks to their chemistry together, no one actor stole the movie until James DeBello chimed in 20 seconds later to announce that Giuseppe Andrews did, in fact, steal the movie. Truth be told, the panel probably could have been split up so that the actors appeared together and Eli Roth appeared separately because he had so much to say and is such a good story teller that he tended to dominate the proceedings. That's ok. It was a great night. There was a Warriors cosplay party to attend late night but it had been a long day so I ate some pizza and went upstairs to bed.

My first panel on Saturday found me interviewing the legendary Alan Howarth, regular collaborator of John Carpenter and composer of the score for my beloved Halloween 4, among many others. As someone who loves synth scores, it was cool to speak with one of the pioneers about his background and process. He's also a pretty chatty guy, which took the pressure off of me a little to keep coming up with new questions and topics. Nick D. did the live recording of The Nick D. Podcast next, and he and co-host Esmerelda Leon welcomed writer/director Don Coscarelli as their special guest. Nick is a Phantasm phanatic and goes way back with Coscarelli, so their conversation was relaxed and affable and Coscarelli continued to demonstrate that he's one of the sweetest and most likable directors both in and outside the horror genre.

I came back onstage to moderate a panel with James Jude Courtney (Michael Meyers from the three new David Gordon Green Halloween movies) and Rohan Campbell (Halloween Ends' Corey Cunningham). Of all the panels I did over the weekend, this one was my favorite because it was the loosest and the funniest and because the two actors were very honest about the divided response to this new trilogy. Quinn Lord, who played Sam in Michael Dougherty's Trick 'r Treat when he was just 7 years old, came up next to talk about being the youngest slasher icon in genre history and how he's way more into science fiction than horror. Very nice guy. A massive reunion of cast members from John Carpenter's The Thing, moderated by Nick and Steve, rounded out the day's panel discussions and packed the house as it should.

Saturday's daytime offerings wrapped up with the annual costume contest, sponsored by Sinister Visions and hosted as always by Svengoolie, for which Erika and Rosie were able to join me (and just in time, as it's their favorite thing all weekend). Mike and Mia Kerz, who operate Flashback, did things a little differently this year and required contest entrants to pre-register, capping the contest at 10 kids and 20 adults. That made for not only a much more manageably short show (the whole thing ran about 45 min.), but also improved the quality of the costumes overall. As always, it packed the room but at least I didn't have to stand outside and turn people away this year. Many of the costumes were genuinely incredible, from a perfect Darkman (complete with pink elephant) to a woman who built her own massive moving angel wings to an Atreyu riding an enormous Falcor (who took second) to the winner, a guy dressed as Arnie Cunningham sitting inside a replica Christine that played the Carpenter theme and had working headlights. He deserved to win.

Following a dinner break (I skipped this year's celebrity gala and instead opted to eat with my family) and soundcheck, Alan Howarth took the stage again to provide a live score accompaniment to Halloween III: Season of the Witch. The turnout was so huge for this event that I thought for sure some audience members were going to get shut out; thankfully, the ballroom was able to accommodate everyone who wanted to attend. Howarth didn't exactly play along with his score to the movie, instead "enhancing" the music already on the soundtrack with new compositions and musical interludes. It was a fascinating experiment. After that, attendees had the option of staying to watch Charles Band present the world premiere of Full Moon's latest offering Quadrant or to go upstairs for another party set to the music of Alan Howarth. I fell asleep pretty early and missed both.

I was nervous for my first panel Sunday morning with actor Brett Wagner, who played Leatherface in the 2003 Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake before suffering heatstroke and having to quit. I wasn't sure how much of that experience he'd want to talk about, and while he has had other genre roles (including John Dies at the End and the remake of The Crazies), much of his screen work is in TV and comedy. My anxiety was for nothing, because he couldn't have been cooler or more forthcoming about his career. Wagner is a true fan of the genre who got into acting because he wanted to be in horror movies, so it was great to just talk and laugh with him. His enthusiasm was infectious.

My work was done after that but the panels continued, with Nick D. interviewing Adrienne Barbeau (an angel), Steve talking to Halloween III's Tom Atkins and Stacy Nelkin, a huge Warriors reunion moderated by Nick that absolutely brought the house down, and Steve closing things out talking all things Tremors and Family Ties with Michael Gross, a conversation that made me want to go back and watch all 7 Tremors movies. That may or may not be a mistake.

And that was that! My favorite Flashback Weekend came to a close. There are so many people to thank for making it such a a special one! Thanks to the celebrity guests for being so generous with their time and talent and for all being so nice. Thanks to the amazing staff for being great and welcoming. Thanks to the Masters of Ceremonies Dann and Morgan Gire for all the cool videos you posted and for all the extra stuff you did all weekend long, including giving birth (Morgan)!! Thanks to Kat McGill for taking so many great pictures. Thanks to my Horror BFF Heather for first bringing me to Flashback all those years ago. Thanks to my co-hosts Nick and Steve for being so cool and keeping things running smoothly in the panel room. Thanks to Shawn, a great sound man and super nice guy, for recording our live podcast. Thanks to all the wonderful people I got to meet over the weekend, whether it was because they had a nice word to say about an interview they saw me do or we just struck up a conversation about a t-shirt or a movie. Horror fans really are the best. Thanks to Mike and Adam Riske for hanging out. Thanks to Erika and Rosie (and Charlie, who was attending a sleepover party with his friends) for the constant support and love.

Most of all, thanks to Mike and Mia Kerz for putting this weekend on every year and letting be a small part of their huge horror family. Every guest I spoke with, from the attendees to the celebrities, commented on how much they loved the vibe of Flashback: how relaxed it is, how well run it is, how much it feels like a family. And it does! Mia and Mike have cultivated that feeling over two decades and it has trickled down to everyone else. I'm very fortunate to have been a tiny part of the best horror convention in Chicago.

To stay up to date on all things Flashback for next year, check out the con's official website www.flashbackweekend.com. Those of you who are still on Facebook should join the official Flashback Weekend Facebook group, which is a great horror community and where the Flashback attendees are posting photos with celebrities from the weekend.

See you in less than a year, Flashback!