On the Beat at Days of the Dead Indy 2015

I spent last weekend at Days of the Dead in Indianapolis, IN. This was the fifth Days in Indy and it just keeps getting better.

Days started in Indianapolis five years ago and has expanded to also include Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta. Days holds a yearly event in each of those cities and I always attend the two midwest events.

This year, one of the co-headline celebrity guests was wrestling legend Ric Flair. “The Nature Boy” was an interesting choice for a “horror” con, but this is one of the things that make Days a great event. Adolfo and the Days crew are not afraid to stray from the specific horror genre for the enjoyment of the fans. From the looks of the several hundred fans that waited hours to meet Flair, I would say the addition of Flair was a major success.

Flair isn’t the first wrestler to appear at Days. Wrestle-turned-actor Rowdy Roddy Piper has made multiple appearances. Mick Foley and Diamond Dallas Page have also made appearances, but they have some sort of horror connection. On the other hand, Ron Simmons has appeared and he has no ties to horror, except for a short storyline when he was in the Ministry in the WWE many years ago.

Flair alone would be enough of a draw for me to attend the convention, but there were many other interesting guests. Big horror names like Angus Scrimm, Tobin Bell and John Kassir drew huge lines of fans. Some of my personal favorites included Felissa Rose, PJ Soles and Kristi Ray.

I met Felissa at a Days event years ago. Since then, we have become convention friends. Whenever we see each other at a Days con, we always spend a little time catching up with each other. Felissa is crazy and fun and a great con guest.

I met PJ Soles years ago, but it wasn’t until a Days con that I was able to really spend a little quality time with her. Since then, we have also become con friends. At this year’s Days, PJ was fighting a bit of laryngitis, but she was a trooper and did not let down her fans.

Kristi Ray is a young actress promoting “Pieces of Talent,” a really interesting horror movie. I met her and writer-director Joe Stauffer at Culture Shock (a new event from the Days crew) earlier this year. The movie so intrigued me that I kept in touch and reconnected with them at this Days.

The fun didn’t end there, though. Actress Jordan Ladd, documentary maker John Borowski, artist Terence Muncy and so many other talented guests filled the three rooms and delighted the fans.

I also hooked up with wrestling friends “Hardcore” Heather Owens, Ed Gonzales, Mad Man Pondo and Crazy Mary Dobson. Ed and Heather are involved in Days and they are also huge horror fans. Pondo and Crazy Mary were there as fans. There was plenty of wrestling talk, too! I got a real kick out of seeing all of them with Ric Flair. At heart, we are all kids meeting our idols.

For me, Days is about meeting the celebrities, but there are a ton of other great parts to the con. Vendors sell a lot of cool stuff. There are various costume and tattoo contests. Several panel discussions take place. There is a “scaryoke” night of fun. In short, it is a weekend crammed with all sorts of entertainment. Heck, even hanging around the fringe area watching the fans walk by is quite entertaining.

Days of the Dead is a “can’t miss” on my calendar. Adolfo and his crew go out of their way to make everything run smoothly. They pay attention to every detail. I only hope that they get as much fun out of the events as the fans do. Judging by the pictures that they have posted online, especially the Ric Flair ones), it looks like they do. I know my friends and I totally enjoyed this Days and are already looking forward to the next event in Chicago in November!