Creep I.E. Con Aftermath 2026 has mroe room to grow
Attending this con since the very beginning has been an experience to see how the growth from a day 1 convention to year 5 shows that the organizers of Creep I.E. con are not stopping anytime soon.
The vendor hall was filled with new artists, haunters, prop makers, and big names like Fangoria, Bloody Disgusting, and The Mystic Museum. There were a few hiccups with some AI “artists” who were selling their generated “art” to unsuspecting horror fans who don’t know the difference yet. A horror streaming service that “creates” short-form horror content sent right to your phone is not something you want to see next to a booth that has been handcrafted into a giant pumpkin or to look like Lock, Shock, and Barrel from ‘A Nightmare Before Christmas’
This is frustrating to see at a convention that has strived to be the biggest in the Inland Empire, who hire artists to create their logos, merch, flyers, etc. This can be seen as a greedy option. I hope that the team at Creep I.E., learns from their mistakes and will say NO to AI “artists” for their upcoming February convention.
With those gripes aside, the convention as a whole was a wonderful time to explore new vendors, meet celebrity guests like Jamie Campbell Bower (Stranger Things) or fan favorites from the ‘Scary Movie’ franchise, Danny Trejo, Christopher Lloyd and many many more. I’m not a big celebrity person, but I do love experiencing the activations and halls, Creep I.E. set up this year including the haunted house, Creep I.E. records, video and comics room as well as Art’s Sideshow putting on a walkthrough.
Our friends at Fear Farm had their haunt set up for some good scares with new actors and a new theme that was centered around vampires! No matter how small the room is or how short the maze is, they know how to pack scares into any setting. Fear Farm is based in Hesperia, California and while they haven’t announced their opening dates just yet we will be sure to update you when they go live!
Right next door to Fear Farm was our friends at Art’s Sideshow, who had an Exorcist-themed walkthrough with LIVE actors and you had to guess who or when they would jump out at you for the perfect scare. It also made for a great photo opportunity! Short and sweet but so worth it.
Naturally the vendor hall was next and while I shockingly didn’t buy anything this year I was enamored with how much I was able to see from different artists, and friends I made during the weekend. Bloody Disgusting had a photo-op with Pinocchio from the new horror film ‘Pinocchio Unstrung’ starring Robert Englund, Richard Brake and many more. Fangoria was also there promoting ‘Passenger’ which is out now on streaming and they gave guests a chance to enjoy a scavenger hunt to find passenger before he found them.
The panels were in abundance as well during the weekend and while I was only able to make two of them they were well worth it. ‘Scary Movie’ had Jon Abrahams, Lochlyn Munro and Simon Rex who not only recounted their time on the Scary Movie franchise but also cracked a lot of jokes that had the audience dying for more! The final panel and the final day of the convention for me was the ‘Child’s Play’ Q&A and screening with Brad & Fiona Dourif as well as Alex Vincent. This was a seperately ticketed event but well worth the money. We learned that a new film is in the works from Don Mancini, Fiona talked about her time on ‘The Pitt’ and Alex recounted his childhood growing up with chucky.
Creep I.E. Con Aftermath may have it’s flaws like most conventions but you cannot doubt them on the insane guests they are able to curate, the vendor hall that is packed with so many talented artists and panels that will leave you wanting more. Announcements for Creep I.E. Con 2027 have already surfaced and from what we have been teased with already, it’s going to be a GREAT year for Creep I.E. Stay tuned…
