From the Desk of Ryan Reiter |  Creator, Owner and President of ZomBcon International.

The fate of ZomBcon International lies before all of you today. As the owner and president, I am writing you all today to ask you for your support and help to return this convention back to Seattle for good and solidify it’s future for this great community.

I am offering a new opportunity to return ZomBcon to the fans and revive this amazing experience that once made Seattle “The Zombie Capital of the World” once again next September 27th.

After four years, I have witnessed  the loyalty and hearts of our fan base; having met many of you at the convention and Red, White & Dead Zombie walk in Fremont. It has been a truly amazing experience to be part of this community of Zombie fans and I want to help to revive this amazing experience back to my hometown once and for all.

After two amazing years of building the world’s first true Zombie culture convention experience right here in Seattle, it now comes down to helping us finance this event by fans for fans. In years past, we have been honored to host top media guests like Bruce Campbell, George A. Romero, Max Brooks, Tom Savini, Norman Reedus, Ted Raimi, Bill Moseley, Sid Haig and so many others notable guests in Seattle.

Last year, our convention battled a lot of unforeseen obstacles and challenges, along with false accusations of ownership. Not only was it untimely, it severely hurt the conventions operation and financial support success, thus putting our plans for 2012 and beyond on hiatus.

Almost one year later, we have prevailed and proud to say that our team is ready to revive the convention; despite last year’s hardships one last time for the community that built this convention together.

I have decided that is was time to revisit the state of affairs after last year’s convention and with 2012 being absent of the convention. As most of you know, we were faced with a legal matter that forced the convention into a hybernation. Now that it is finished and we are clear to rebuild, we want to infect our Emerald City once and for all and we want your help bigger than ever!

As the President and Artistic Director, I have enlisted in a brand new team of talented individuals and staff for our 2013 plans that share the same invested interest as myself and the thousands of fans around the world that have joined us for ZomBcon International. Some are volunteers and others have been part of my team since the beginning like our amazing Festival Director, Jerry Brooks.

It’s time to band together as a community and celebrate the Zombie Apocalypse in true undead fashion once again. For those who can’t buy tickets, then we ask you volunteer your time and help us get the word out. For those who can, we are counting on you large and small this year to show your support and buy your tickets much earlier and encourage your friends to do the same

I have received countless emails, Facebook posts and met people on the streets day after day that cheer us on and hope that we find a way to bring this convention back to Seattle. It’s time to return form the dead and bring this community together.

Our plans for 2013 include a Apocalypse Survival Tech and Gadget Expo that will feature the latest products to keep you safe and sound when the horde rises and shambles your way.

2013 is our goal and we are calling each fan on Facebook, Twitter and around the world to share this and support our convention and buy tickets to show your support and commitment ahead of time. We don’t have sponsors and investors behind us, so if we are truly going to return this convention to the community, then we need the community to show us you want it back in Seattle.

So with that, we offer the opportunity to bring the convention back to the Northwest and keep the blood and braaaaaaains flowing on the streets; making Seattle the “Zombie Capital of the World” once again as we announce plans starting next week to release advance ticket sales and announce a date for the convention.

Our plans are to turn our attention to the ZomBcon and move our annual Red, White and Dead Zombie Walk around the same date to bring these two amazing events closer to together and unite for for one massive Zombie outbreak. Our goal is to bring the convention back to Seattle on September 27th through September 29th. We haven’t decided on a specific location for the convention, but are actively looking at sutiable venues to host our event event and will update you every step of the way.

BUY YOUR TICKETS ON TUESDAY, OCT. 16TH ONLINE

For our loyal supporters, we want to encourage your time and investment by offering you a great opportunity. So we put a limited amount of advance ticket sales on sale starting Tuesday, October 16th online.

Our first goal is to raise $25,000 before December 1st. In an attempt to reach this mark fast and set forth the next stage is to offer a (1,000) Three-Day Pass for just $25 each Admission for Single admission and $49 for two people. If we can manage to sell a combined amount of 2,500 tickets, we can actually set forth and produce the festival.

We have almost 8,000 fans on Facebook and if every Facebook fan donated or bought a ticket, we could be well on our way to announce our plans for 2013 and 2014. We will be offering VIP Packages upon reaching our first goal of $25,000 and upon that provide the opportunity to make plans. So one step at a time. As I say this and set forth the plans, this is not a guarantee that the convention will happen, but an opportunity.

This offer is limited and will not be offered again to fans and ticket holders, as ticket prices will go up on each round of ticket sales. It’s simple, in order for us to make this festival a great success; both operationally and to ensure a premier convention, we must raise the money to support the hard costs of the convention. I believe in this community and know we can reach our goals and make this an annual tradition once again for all of the horror fans in Northwest and the world.

What happens if we don’t reach our goal of $25,000 by the December 1st date? If we do not reach our goal of $25,000, then subsequently each ticket holder will receive a 100% refund and we will not go forward, unless we receive a substantial sponsorship or investment, but presently, we are on our own and can’t do this alone without your help. If we reach our goal of $25,000, then we announce a venue for the 2013 convention and begin working on media guests for the convention.

Thank you all for your time and the opportunity to bring this great festival together back to Seattle.

Sincerely,

Ryan Reiter

President and Artistic Director

source:ZomBCon

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Sean is as lively as ever sharing stories about his friend, Norman Reedus, speaking out about martial arts and the 'one strike death blow,' and many other thoughts.

Martial Arts and Austin Powers Impression

Boondocks Saints and Justice.

A Cigarette + Norman Reedus + Horse + Crane = ?

How did Boondock Saints become a cult classic?

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Unscripted and uncensored: this was by far the best panel EVER. A small room, a bar, Norman Reedus, and Sean Patrick Flannery. WOW! The room size made this a laid back almost cozy affair except the two Saints are so hilarious I couldn't stop laughing.

Discussions ranged from The Walking Dead, Powder, Young Indiana Jones, to condoms, music, martial arts, Grandpa stories, and the duo singing. Of course, the later it became, the louder and crazier things got. Nothing was off limits.
At one point the audience ran out of booze, so Norman shared what he had left. Then, he tried to buy 5 large bottles of Jack Daniels for the room, but the Hotel said they don't sell bottles, just indiviual drinks. Bummer, but he tried.

Can it get better? Watch the videos and find out.

Sean's view on sex and women's satisfaction

What's Sean's favorite drink and did Norman just say he swallowed and wiped his mouth?








See What happens when Sean takes his jacket off

Who will win the Thumb war?





Maybe the best segment. SPF & Sean Smithson sing Queen's "We Will Rock You" & Styx's "Renegade" while Norman keeps the drum beat.



Now For The Morning After (can't you tell?)

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We all know Sam Trammell from HBO’s True Blood, right? Well, I got to know him a little better during the True Blood Q&A at ZomBcon October 22nd. From his first horror film, New York Theater, nudity, to open-mouth kissing; you name it, he answered it. Well, no season 5 spoilers. Not that the audience didn’t try.

Sam started by saying he has a big appreciation for the Horror genre. Texas Chainsaw Massacre was the first horror film he saw at age 14. “That just, that hurt me, it destroyed me.” Other anecdotes from his younger days included being a musician and playing organized sports, to going to the same high school with Jennifer Gardner and her sister.

When he was cast as Sam Merlotte, Bon Temps’ shape-shifting bar owner, he wrote a paper on the theory of shape-shifting and gave it to Alan Ball. Sam wanted to delve into what it would be like for shifters and came up with the idea that they become addicted to the shifting. Even though he did give it to Alan, he doesn’t think he ever read it. Now he feels it was kind of stupid. He did say that the True Blood writers are open to hearing ideas, but not all of the ideas are used.

Then, of course, the moderators jumped right into the sex-scenes, wanting to know how uncomfortable it is shooting them with 20 people around watching. Sam replied that he’s gotten use to the nudity especially since he has done it for theater in front of a room full of strangers. “The toughest thing about nudity is staying in shape because the bar has been set so high (raising his hand above his head) by certain people in the show.” (everyone laughs) “There’s certain of us just trying to keep up. We’re trying to get more fit, (shaking his head) but it’s impossible.” The toughest, he added, was being shirtless with Ryan Kwanten.

There actually isn’t any animosity between anyone on set, especially because everyone has different storylines. Sam commented, “We really don’t see each other.” A week before an episode starts shooting; everyone gets together for a table read. Sam adds, “That becomes a big social event.” A moderator asked if they get drunk and Sam replied, “I can drink pretty well.” Another moderator chimed in that Alex (Skarsgard) is a professional at being able to handle his liquor. He continued with a story about the night ending with a light post, urinating, and being hung. That’s all I’m gonna tell you, but man, what a story. If you weren’t there, you missed out.

Next question by a moderator was whether he does the open-Hollywood kiss or a real kiss with tongue? Sam leaned back and said, “Wow…wow, we’re really getting into it.” During the hilarity another moderator tried to change the subject, “So, you get into some fights?” He did confess, during his career, he has had a love scene with someone he didn’t like. “Yes, but I won’t say who.” He went on to say that’s true for most people in the industry.

Sam continued answering most of our questions. He shared True Blood takes 15-20 days to shoot an episode, where the standard for television is 8 days. “It’s really like a feature schedule, more like shooting a feature. It’s nice to have that time.”

I asked since the characters evolve so much over the seasons and there are so many writers that have to write the different ARCs of the series, are the writers assigned a character and stay with that character? He said there are 5-6 writers and at the beginning of the season they talk about storylines for all the different characters. Once they get the generalities, each writer writes an episode (2 per writer). “Then the writers go off and write the episode. Then there’s a writer’s assistant who’s somebody that keeps what they call ‘The Bible’ and that’s kind of everything that’s happened in the show and the rules. That’s kinda how it works.”

A couple of interesting questions I will quote are:
Q: “Alex was in a Lady GaGa video where he got to throw her off a balcony and Norman Reedus pours beer on her ass. When are we gonna see you in a GaGa video and what will you be doing?”
A: “Perhaps licking the beer off her ass.” (laughter ensues) “I don’t know something raunchy for sure.”
Q: “The scene in season 3 with you and Bill Compton…sexiest scene ever! As a woman who likes men.”
A: “So the straight women like to see a couple of men, sometimes talking suggestively about taking a shower, without their shirts on. Wow, that’s good to know. “ Sam continued, “So if I want to pick up a girl, I should find a guy, bring her into the room, take our shirts off….and that works? Then after the scene, I could go off with the girl or would we both have to go off with her?” Entire female population in the audience yelled, “BOTH!”

We then switched topics and focused on his character, Sam Merlotte. Sam (Trammell) really likes the edgier stuff and thanked the writers. He really loved playing Tommy shifting into Sam and would love to do that type of shift again, maybe Eric.

He talked about other projects including “Long Time Gone” with Virginia Madsen. It’s a little Indie project that is almost done about a dysfunctional family. He plays a drug dealer/landscaper who befriends a kid and helps him out. “It’s a really sweet story and it’s really well written. One of the best written scripts I’ve had over my hiatus.” He hopes it will be a festival movie.
Another project he did last year, “Guns, Girls, Gambling,” he plays a corrupt sheriff. “When you put on a sheriff’s belt, you are a sheriff,” he jokes. The movie also stars Gary Oldman, Dane Cook, Christen Slater, and Megan Park.

His most favorite memorable moments were being nominated for a Tony Award, getting his big film break on True Blood, and the birth of his twin boys. “It’s another major part of life that I wanted to experience.” He continues, “Seeing other little kids thinking…I’m gonna have that in a little bit.” His favorite fanboy moment was meeting Denis O’Hare. Sam was a massive fan before he was on the show stating Denis ‘made’ “Michael Clayton.” He added that Denis owns every role he’s ever done.

Sam’s favorite romantic comedy is ‘Seems Like Old Times’ with Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn. The funniest movie he’s seen in a long time, ‘Bridesmaids.’ Sam closed by saying he would love his next project to be a romantic comedy. “I want to do something opposite of Sam (Merlotte).”

The next morning I met Sam for some pictures. He saw me and remarked, “You’re the one with that awesome question yesterday.” Which just proves how down-earth he is. He remembers the fans he meets, probably not next week, but he remembered the next day. Even though I was there as Press, I’m a big fan and seeing him interact with other fans just makes him that more admirable.

I really want to thank Sam Trammell for being so generous. The smaller Q&A sessions are more intimate and allow a lot of fans to relax and ask questions they normally wouldn’t be able to. I also thank ZonBcon, Hilton SeaTac, and the moderators from Fangoria, Thom Carnell and Sean Smithson, and from Badassdigest.com writer, Henri Mazza for their great questions and interactions with the audience.

Nude scenes, kissing, drinking, and Alexander Skarsgard. Nothing is offlimits

What would Sam do to Lady Gaga in a video?


Sam Trammell Talks about being a father, working with an alligator, and meeting Denis O'Hare.

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This past weekend (Oct 21-23) zombies invaded the Hilton in Seatac, WA for ZomBcon 2011.

Not only are these creatures still making more zombies by biting humans, Now they are actually giving birth to zombie babies.

I'm not sure if this similar to putting a dress on a dog or not, but it's damn cute.

The Hilton conference center was crawling with zombies, zombie hunters, and wannabes. Even this girl would not be satisfied until she got her zombie doll.

Defcon Z provides allows you to 'Live The Apocalypse' by offering you & your friends the ultimate zombie experience with make-up artists and location shoots. Perfect for birthday or bachelorette parties (so they say). Some booths applied zombie make-up while The Artful Dodger gave people tattoos.

Anyone one could be turned into a zombie by caricature artists, even the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Zombiland. This a great venue for little known artists to get there work noticed.


ZomBcon is still young, so it didn't go off without any hitches, but the staff, volunteers and moderators (thanks Fangoria) did a great job, notified attendees, and kept them entertained. Though many think only of zombies when they hear ZomBcon, not all the panels had to deal with zombies. They did, however, deal with death & mayhem. For example, there's just a death or two and a tiny bit of mayhem in The Boondock Saints, I think.

There was even a zombie walk in a small park by a cemetary. How creepy is that? Unfortunately, I missed it because I was at The Walking Dead panel. You can see zombie walk pictures at ZomBcon's facebook page.

ZomBcon is growing each year, but is still cozy enough that fans get one-on-one experiences with their favorite zombie/horror artists. Myself, I met Tom Savini (From Dusk til Dawn & SFX artist), John Amplas (Marvin), Michael Gornick (Creepshow), Bill Moseley & Sid Haig (The Devil's Rejects). Judith O'Dea (Barbara from Night of the Living Dead), Sam Trammell (True Blood), and Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead & Boondock Saints) and Sean Patrick Flannery (Powder, Young Indiana Jones, & Boondock Saints).

Wow! I was able to talk with all of them and will have posts throughout the week showcasing each talent. I'm still recovering from my favorite panel, Drinking with the Boondock Saints. Every Con should have that. They should also have a Biohazard Party. Open bar, what else can I say?

For more fun check out the following websites.

http://www.zombcon.com/

http://defcon-z.com/

http://artfuldodgertattoo.com/

http://www.biohazard-party.com/

http://www.facebook.com/#!/HiltonSeattleAirport

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ZomBcon 2011 is 1 week away. To help you get in the 'walking dead' mood for the October 21-23 event, I'm giving away signed copies of FEED and DEADLINE, the first two books in Mira Grant's Newsflesh Trilogy.

Newsflesh Trilogy:

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, a man-made virus taking over bodies and minds, filling them with one, unstoppable command...FEED.

Two experimental viruses—a genetically engineered flu strain designed by Dr. Alexander Kellis, intended to act as a cure for the common cold, and a cancer-killing strain of Marburg, known as "Marburg Amberlee"—escaped the lab and combined to form a single airborne pathogen that swept around the world in a matter of days. It cured cancer. It stopped a thousand cold and flu viruses in their tracks.
It raised the dead.

Millions died in the chaos that followed. The summer of 2014 was dubbed "The Rising," and only the lessons learned from a thousand zombie movies allowed mankind to survive. Even then, the world was changed forever. The mainstream media fell, Internet news acquired an undeniable new legitimacy, and the CDC rose to a new level of power.

Set twenty years after the Rising, the Newsflesh trilogy follows a team of bloggers, led by Georgia and Shaun Mason, as they search for the brutal truths behind the infection. Danger, deceit, and betrayal lurk around every corner, as does the hardest question of them all:
When will you rise?

TO ENTER:

(1) "Like" us AND leave a comment about Zombies on our facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/MuseLedBlog?sk=wall

AND/OR

(2) Leave a comment below. Please post using your facebook or Twitter name so we know who you are.

BONUS ENTRY: post the following on Twitter: @4wegies #ZomBcon2011 #Newsflesh.

Rules: All entries must be in by Thursday, October 20th 2011 at 11:58 pm PST! This contest is only open to blog or facebook followers. All entries are validated against follower list. Entries by non-followers will be disqualified. Contest is open in the United States and Canada only. Winner will be chosen randomly from valid entries and will be posted on the blog, and announced on twitterand facebook. So don't forget to check back, if I have not received notice from winner within 7 days I will announce a new winner. Void where prohibited.

Other books in the Newsflesh Trilogy:
COUNTDOWN, a novella set prior to the Rising, available in electronic format
BLACKOUT, 3rd in the trilogy, release is scheduled for May 2012

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“Deadliest Warrior: Zombies vs. Vampires.” Spike TV is premiering this special episode as part of a 2.5 hour “Deadliest Warrior” LIVE season 3 finale event on Wednesday, September 14 from 9:00-11:30PM ET/PT on Spike TV.

Who do you think will win? Tell us below.

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...opened the 2010 Seattle ZomBCon. He was dressed in his finest Red and black suit because he was ‘performing Zombie weddings later in the day.’ He never really needs to explain his wardrobe to me. He can pull off anything.



The entire cast of The Evil Dead was there led, of course, by Bruce. As you can see in the video, his sarcastic humor sometimes leaves you wondering if he really isn’t joking and thinks we’re all weirdos.


It took me 3 hours, but I finally got to the man, Bruce. He asked me, “What are you doing? And I replied, “I’m getting your autograph.” How dumb can I be? Pretty dumb it appears. I should have stayed a redhead for 1 more week. Then, I might not have felt like a dumb blonde when he replied, “Uh, no. What are you doing for a living?” That’s right, I don’t even have to try, embarrassment follows me where ever I go.













Luckily, the conversation could only get better from there. He asked what I did for a living and his eyes widened when I told him I worked in veterinary critical care and internal medicine. He asked about the animals I help and thanked me because he felt my profession rarely gets thanked.





At the end, I asked if he had heard his name was mentioned during the True Blood panel at Comic Con. He hadn’t and asked what happened. I told about a character, Bubba, that the fans want on the show, but Alan Ball doesn’t want an Elvis impersonator and didn’t know of an actor that could play Bubba. Then someone suggested Bruce Campbell and the entire room cheered for him. He seemed flattered, but hadn’t heard anything from Alan Ball yet. I think we need to make this a reality.


They announced at the signing that Bruce was going back on stage after autographs to show us “10 Ways to Kill a Zombie.” Unfortunately, I could only stay a short time because I had to work, so I missed that.

ZomBCon was the most disorganized event I’ve been to. The events started out with lines, but when the ushers left, everyone just rushed for the front. There were no chains or barriers for the lines to weave through so the rude people in back just pushed their way through the line. Even though I started in the second line, I ended up in the sixth line.

Overall, I enjoyed my brief 3 minutes with Bruce and chatting with all the crazies in line with me. I was disappointed to find that everyone charges for autographs at ZomBcon. I had just been at Comic Con a few months prior and the autographs were free. Since I was short on time and funds, I wasn’t able get the entire cast to sign my Evil Dead poster, so that bites (no pun intended). I definitely don’t regret going because, I’ll tell you again...I met Bruce Campbell.

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