New Horror Con and Film Fest Rocky Mountain Nightmares Brings Big Names to Denver

Despite its ravenous horror-fan community, Denver has had relatively few outlets for gathering to celebrate the genre. Until recently, local ghouls have mostly subsisted on some (admittedly tasty) scraps from FAN EXPO. But that will change this Mother's Day weekend with the addition of Rocky Mountain Nightmares, which debuts in the Mile High on Friday, May 12, and runs through Sunday, May 14, at the Grand Hyatt downtown. Billing itself as a "horror expo and film festival," it will combine elements of both types of gatherings. There will be a full slate of convention activities for fans to enjoy, with an impressive collection of genre greats in person, a vendor floor, panels and a cosplay costume contest. All of that will be complemented by a curated screening festival of local and independent films and repertory selections from the celebrity guests' filmography.

The event comes from Tommy Brunswick, a producer in L.A. as well as a founder of the horror con Motor City Nightmares, which celebrates its fifteenth anniversary this July. In that time, she's fostered substantial genre connections, amply demonstrated in the list of guests she's bringing to Denver. Rocky Mountain Nightmares will host the most noteworthy concentration of horror-movie notables the Mile High City has seen in recent memory, with such big names as Malcolm McDowell, Dee Wallace and Kane Hodder topping the bill. The relationships Brunswick developed running Motor City Nightmares have allowed her to assemble something of a dream cast. "Almost all of the celebrities at this show are some of my favorite people," she says. "That's why I had them come, because they've all been to my show before, [and] that's why they all signed on so quickly."

Brunswick, who has family in the area, was looking for a new venture and found that Denver had some untapped potential for the horror-con scene. "Denver's a new place for almost all of these guests," she notes. "A lot of them haven't been here before unless it's with a bigger show."

Beyond the big draws, she’s especially proud of the number of talented women and behind-the-scenes craftspeople who will be attending, particularly legendary actress Wallace, with whom Brunswick became close after casting her as a mom in an independent feature. “She and I just became really fast friends,” Brunswick says. “When I started doing conventions after that, she was one of the first people I called.”

Panels will be a good way to experience some of the top-drawer attendees without plunking down big bucks for a photo or autograph. One example is Clockwork Orange and Halloween star Malcolm McDowell. "He'll have his own," Brunswick says, "because he has so much to talk about, so much to give to everybody." Other panels will focus on a particular film franchise or theme. "There will be a lot of Halloween panels, like [one for] Rob Zombie's Halloween. There will be women-of-horror panels, because we do have Cerina Vincent, Eileen Dietz, Linnea Quigley," she continues.
For those with cash to burn, there will be many photo opportunities. Brunswick provides a crash course, detailing the two ways to get a memorable shot with your favorite personality. The first is to approach their designated table, where "you can go get an autograph and selfies with your phone," she says. Each guest will have their own pricing sheets and options. "Usually you can buy a combo [of picture and autograph] at their table."

If you're seeking a more polished memento, the convention also offers timed photo ops, which are currently for sale on the Rocky Mountain Nightmares website. Photo ops are separate from the autographs, [with] set prices, because we bring in professional photographers. They'll have a whole room, they'll set up their backdrop, and then they bring in the celebrity and boom, kick out the photo ops, then print them out professionally for you," explains Brunswick. "You can either...order digital prints or take it back to the table and get it signed by that person." The biggest sellers so far are the director-and-star duo from the creepy clown saga Terrifier.

Also still available are VIP passes for the weekend, which provide early entry to all festival spaces as well as priority seating at celebrity panels. They also include a swag bag — always one of the most coveted items at any festival — containing festival-themed merchandise and some surprises. "A lot of times vendors or other sponsors will put other stuff in there, so it just depends," Brunswick says.

For fans on a budget who are skipping the flashier perks, fear not: Most of the action is included in the daily admission, including the vendor floor and film festival. The civic-minded Brunswick has been hard at work sourcing a significant amount of talent from Colorado, so both areas will be heavily stocked with the familiar faces of Mile High creatives in addition to the nationally known ones. "I'm very excited that there are, like, artists, and not just selling Funko Pops," Brunswick says. "There are really good artists creating sculptures and paintings. I want everyone to support all the local stuff there, too, as well as coming to see their favorite people."

The screening room is also locally sourced, staffed by the Horrible Things Film Club. The Denver group will be programming the festival as well as handling operations. "They have all of the film stuff to bring in, and they work with local filmmakers," says Brunswick. "You guys have got a good community there, and I do want them to program as many local movies out of Colorado as possible. Wherever I go, I try to use as much local [as possible], because I like to promote indie filmmaking wherever the show is." For night owls, the film festival will likely spill over posted convention hours, she adds: "The programming that they're doing is going to be great. They're horror fans, so they know what to do."

For costume creators, she's also invited a professional dress-up specialist from Denver, HeatherAfter Cosplay, to attend and run the cosplay costume contest, which will be held Saturday, May 13, at 8 p.m. That connection brought children's charity Cap for Kids on board, which Brunswick was happy to welcome. "I like to have a good local charity to do stuff with," she says. "Heather gave me the information for them, because she's worked with them a lot. They work with big conventions, and they're doing this as a favor to her, I think. There's just a lot of great people that are excited, so they're bringing stuff [to the mix]."

Brunswick intends to forge relationships in the area that will ensure that this new venture becomes a true Denver event and not just a transplant. She's already connected with the Colorado Festival of Horrors, which celebrates its third installment in September. "We're supporting COFOH; I'm helping them with whatever they need, because to grow our shows would be great. They're really nice people, just good guys," she says. "I flew out there before I decided to do this convention to meet them, just to make sure it would be viable and that we could work together. I would rather work with people than work against them."

Sharing camaraderie and a love of the spooky stuff with fellow convention-goers is as important to Brunswick's events as spotting the celebs. Friday and Saturday night will wrap up with parties offering opportunities to do both. "That's the beauty of a small show like the ones I do; they're more like family," Brunswick says. "That's why I like to do it in a hotel rather than a big convention center, because a convention center is kind of cold. This is more like we're all in a little hotel and then we hang out afterwards — everyone is still connected and having fun."

Rocky Mountain Nightmares, Friday, May 12, through Sunday, May 14, Grand Hyatt Denver, 1750 Welton Street. Buy packages and tickets ($5-$700) at eventbrite.com.