Horror Realm, Pittsburgh’s modern horror convention, was held last weekend and garnered favorable reviews from fans, guests and vendors.

Highlights of the weekend included film panel discussions with Bill Moseley, Ken Foree, Leslie Easterbrook, Jeff Lieberman, Joe Knetter, Scarlett Salem and Brenna Lee Roth; an impromptu jam session with Robert Zdar on the guitar and Tiffany Shepis singing; the US premiere of Zone of the Dead starring Ken Foree; author discussion panels featuring SG Browne, Jonathan Maberry, Dr. Kim Paffenroth, JL Bourne, Travis Adkins, Rhiannon Frater and other horror writers represented by Library of the Living Dead and Permuted Press.

Horror Realm also featured a number of fan contests. Winners are:

  • Film Competition – First place in the film competition went to the zombie movie Welcome to Deer Creek, written and directed by Jim Roberts. Honorable mention went to Blood Siblings, a thriller directed by John Delsi. The grand prize awarded to Roberts was a film distribution package provided by R Squared Films.
  • Flash Fiction Contest – Aspiring horror writers gave their vision of the end of the world in a short story essay contest sponsored by Permuted Press, and judged by Permuted authors who were guests of the convention. Winners of the contest were Dave Schuler (first place), Jessica Brown (second place) and Charlie Fleming (third place). Permuted furnished the prizes, which were autographed copies of their authors’ books.
  • Tattoo Contest – A crowd pleaser, the tattoo contest featured men and women showing off their finest horror-themed ink. Ultimately, the Best Tattoo award went to Ryan Causey and his Nightbreed tattoo. The contest was judged by Ben Merrell, co-founder of The Human Production Gallery, and fellow tattoo artists Zane and Jason. The winner received a $250 gift certificate to Human Production Gallery.
  • Hockey Mask Art Contest – The hockey mask contest was inspired by The Vader Project, in which artists used a Darth Vader mask to express their creativity. Horror Realm’s version used the iconic hockey mask from the Friday the 13th film series. The winner was William Kremer III, who took home a Friday the 13th collectible figures prize package. The contest was sponsored by Art Institute of Pittsburgh and was judged by artist Billy Tackett along with faculty and students of AIP.
  • Trivia Contest – Nine brave souls faced quizmaster Tim Gross of Gross Movie Reviews and Bastards of Horror in the trivia contest. Rick Fusselman emerged as the winner and he received a Zombies prize package provided by Twilight Creations.

Next year’s convention is scheduled for September 17-19, 2010 at the Crowne Plaza Pittsburgh South. The organizers of Horror Realm anticipate guest announcements to begin by December 2009. Horror Realm is produced by The It’s Alive Show Fan Club, LLC – also known as The Lifeless – and Horrorrealmonline.com.

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