GUESTS.
​DAN YEAGER
Dan was born in Cleveland and grew up in the area until his late teenage years. He is the modern day Leatherface having stared in 2013's Texas Chainsaw 3D which was the first movie to bring back the original cast. He had a small part in Sharknado 4 and he owns the movie production company BADanger Pictures.
FELISSA ROSE​
Felissa is the star of the cult slasher movie Sleepaway Camp. She played the killer Angela and reprises her role in the sequel Return to Sleepaway Camp. She was also in the sequel to Hatchet III called Victor Crowley with Kane Hodder and she's in the new horror film Death House which was written by the late Gunnar Hansen (the original Leatherface).
JONATHAN TIERSTEN
Jonathan is the co-star of the cult slasher movie Sleepaway Camp. He played Ricky and reprises his role in the sequel Return to Sleepaway Camp. He also stars with Felissa Rose in the horror flick's The Perfect House and Terror Tales. He was in the Slayer music video You Against You with Sean Whalen and produced by Felissa Rose.
​ALYSSA BROOKE LEVINE
1st Convention Appearance
Alyssa plays the terrifying Zelda in the new version of Stephen Kings Pet Sematary. She also appears on the cover of the Pet Sematary movie poster. We are very excited to have her as this will be her first appearance at a convention ever!
​BILL JOHNSON
Bill plays the iconic Bubba Sawyer aka Leatherface in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Before that he played in the cult classic Future-Kill with fellow TCM alumni Marilyn Burns and Edwin Neal. Bill also has a video game following for voicing villains in computer fantasy RPG games, he is voice of the notorious Guardian of the Black Gate in Origin Systems "ULTIMA" series.
​JOHN DUGAN
John is the original Grandpa Sawyer in the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This year we celebrate the 45th anniversary of one of the greatest horror films ever made as he joins us for our Texas Chainsaw movie franchise reunion at Dark X Fest. He reprises his role as Grandpa Sawyer in 2013's Texas Chainsaw 3D. He also appeared in The Butcher Boys and Stephen King's The Boogeyman.
​SEAN WHALEN
Sean is best known for playing Roach in Wes Craven's The People Under The Stairs and as Allan Sanders in the blockbuster Twister. Recently he's been a recurring character named Sal Kazlauskas in NBC's popular comedy series Superstore. Before that he had a recurring role in the hit TV show Lost playing Neil "Frogurt." He was Becks in Rob Zombie's Halloween 2 and is currently cast in The Devil's Reject's sequel 3 From Hell. He's also appeared as a guest star in TV episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Constantine, Castle, Criminal Minds, Cold Case, Scrubs, NYPD Blue, Friends, and tons more. He's also been in the movies Batman Returns with Michael Keaton, Revenge of the Nerds III, Waterworld, Idle Hands, Python, Hatchet 3, and more. Kids would know him from Bunk'd, Wizards of Waverly Place, Hanna Montanna, Unfabulous, and more!
​PAUL T TAYLOR
Paul T Taylor took over the iconic role of Pinhead in 2018's Hellraiser Judgment. Paul can also be seen in the movies Sin City and the super hero comedy by James Gunn called Super with Rainn Wilson.
​JOE SHELBY
Joe plays Martinez in George Romero's Dawn of the Dead and he also plays a one of the mall raiders in the movie. He was also Tom Savini's Second Assistant Makeup Artist in the movie. He was also in George Romero's Knightriders. He wrote and directed the movie The Greenman starring Clayton Hill of Dawn of the Dead and Hellraiser III, Sharon Hill of Dawn of the Dead and Hellraiser III, and Kyra Schon of the classic Night of the Living Dead. The Greenman will be playing at Dark X Fest!
​DUSTY HORNE
Dusty has played various zombies in AMC's The Walking Dead including Season 6 episode 1 as the Green Balloon Zombie. In real life he is a retired Army veteran.
ERIC BURRESS​
Eric is the owner of Disillusion 74 Studios. He is responsible for creating The Saw is Family Memorial Bench last year that now sits on display at the original gas station used in the 1974 TCM movie. He has made several TCM replicas over the years including the Excalibur Chainsaw from Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3!
FRANK NICOSIA​
Frank is an actor and makeup effects artist. He appeared in the horror films Fang, Death House, and many other indie horror films. He also appeared in Troma's Return to Nuke Em' High 2.
DAN GORMAN​
Dan is a licensed illustrator for The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Star Trek, Star Wars, Marvel, and DC. Dan started as a sketch card artist in 2010 and has sense worked on over 150 licensed trading card sets. With comic books his work has been published by Dark Horse (Grindhouse), AC Comics (FemForce), Empire Comics Lab (Cemetery Plots), and Source Point Press. His work can be seen in the upcoming horror anthology "Kringle" by Source Point Press. He is also a member in good standing with the National Cartoonists Society and he contributes cartoons to his local hometown newspaper, The Akron Devil Strip Magazine.
JOSH MALDONADO​
Josh Maldonado, an authentic curandero. He is the former Owner of Doorway Productions. Best known for over a dozen erotic horror titles such as Goth Girls and Island of Torture. Other work includes the weekly CW Channel television show The Interviewers and the Vamperotica Soundtrack from BrainStorm Media.
NUBBINS SAWYER​
Nubbins is the authenic prop from Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 owned by Jason Guy. Nubbins has since made news headlines due to an airport incident and has even appeared on the David Letterman show! Jason is currently working on a documentary film called Nubbins.
​CHRIS HAHN AKA JOHNNY PARADISE
Chris was originally known as Johnny Paradise, a professional WWE wrestler. He wrestled the best of them, including the Undertaker and other WWE stars. After wrestling he became an actor and live personality. He plays the killer Axe Giant in the movie of the same name and a clown face killer in Clown Town.
SHERI FAIRCHILD
Sheri is an actress and makeup artist. She appeared in Troma's original Return to Nuke Em' High and the sequel Return to Nuke Em' High 2. She also appeared in the new horror film Fang and has been in almost 50 independent movie productions.
MIDNIGHT MONSTERS​
Ray Gardner is a boots on the ground field researcher, dedicated to the discovery of the North American Primate called Sasquatch. His group Midnight Monsters is dedicated to the discovery and protection of these elusive creatures. He will not only have a table all weekend but he will also be holding a one hour presentation in the events room about the Ohio Sasquatch known as Grassman.
​THE MUMMY AND THE MONKEY
The Mummy And The Monkey aka Janet Decay and Grimm Gorri are Cleveland horror hosts. Their show is called the Hairy Scary Hangout which you can watch on Roku and online. They're a fun bunch putting a unique spin on horror hosting and are influenced by the iconic Cleveland horror host Ghoulardi as well as Superhost and Big Chuck & Lil' John.
JASON LICCARDI​
Jason is a horror and pop culture artist. He is the creator of the Dark X Fest logo and the Cleveland Toy Show logo. He makes appearances mainly in NE Ohio from the Youngstown to Cleveland area selling his artwork. You can check out his latest work on Instagram at @jasonliccardiart.
​LAMIA - QUEEN OF THE DARK
Host of the nationally syndicated TV show "Horror Hotel" and the Host of the International Horror Hotel Film Festival & Convention. Her show Horror Hotel can be found on Roku on Retro TV or channel 16.1 in Cleveland. It airs Saturdays at Midnight EST.
​RAY SZUCH
Ray is the founder of The International Indie Gathering and The REEL TV Network. He is the Executive producer of "Horror Hotel"& four time Emmy nominated, three time Emmy winning producer, and three time Telly Award winner.
POLESTAR PRODUCTIONS​
Polestar Productions is an independent movie production company located in western Pennsylvania. John Reign - President, and Tom Stoops - Vice President, are the masterminds behind Polestar’s movies such as; “Diary of a Serial Killer”, “Blood Woods”, and “Broke Down”, to name a few. Their newest Movie, “Finding Purpose” will have its premiere on June 14th, 2019. Polestar’s next production, “Banks” will begin production this summer with a 7 digit budget and will be filmed locally as well as in New York State. You can checkout Polestar Productions on their website: www.polestar.prod.com as well as on Facebook.
​THE MIDNIGHT MOVIE
The Midnight Movie are horror hosts from Cleveland Ohio and feature Dr. Midnight. Other than Dr. Midnight the rest of the gang are unusual in the sense that they don't dress up, kind of Marilyn of the Munsters. The group consists of Ritchie, Triv, Denny, and Don. They host indie movies along with oldies and can be seen on Roku and online.
​WILL O'SHIRE
Will creates action-packed urban fantasy stories, weaving myth and legend into his worlds. His current
series, The Fae Awakening, follows Hunter and several Fae creatures—bigfoot, gargoyles, brownies,
ogres, and more—as they fight unicorns, leprechauns, and themselves.
​CLAIRE 'FLUFF' LLEWELLYN
Claire was born in Worcester, England and is a professional writer, actress, and director. She can be seen in various episodes of the new TV series The Exorcist as a Nun. Her production company is called Bloddy Brit Productions and she has made such movies as Visitation, Hobo With a Trash Can, and Conscience.
JIM KUHN​
Appearing Saturday Only
Jim Kuhn has appeared on Return To Amish, MindHunter Season 1, She's Out Of My League, West Wing, Blood Woods, Engineering Tragedy just to name a few..
FLOYD JACKSON
Appearing Saturday Only
Floyd has appeared in Fast & Furious 8, Mindhunter season 1 & 2, Fences, and Polestar Production's Brokedown.
DEB RINALDO
Pennywise Massages
Deb will be dressed as Pennywise from Stephen King's IT and will be giving massages at Dark X Fest. She is a licensed massage therapist. She is also a Reiki Master Teacher, wellness adviser, and an access bars practitioner.
BROADEN TORTURE PRODUTIONS
Broaden Torture Productions will be playing their first film Obsessive at Dark X Fest, it's a found footage film about a horror obsessed serial killer who wants to make horror films real.
MIKE WALTON
Mike Walton has been active in the comic book industry for over thirty years - either as an avid collector or a comic store owner. He currently operates Mike's House of Horrors, an online comic book and collectible store specializing in horror comics. He recently published his first book, "The Horror Comic Never Dies - A Grisly History". Published by McFarland Publishing, it is a non-fiction work which details the history of the horror comic book genre.
GORILLASKULL PRODUCTIONS
Chris Dillon is the owner of Gorillaskull Productions, he molds and creates his own masks.
VILE CONSUMPTION
Corey Holliday of Vile Consumption will be appearing at Dark X Fest.
JR BOOKWALTER
JR is perhaps the most famous director living in Northeastern Ohio. He created Tempe Entertainment which offers countless titles of indie films. He directed The Dead Next Door which was financed by Sam Raimi and many pictures for Full Moon Entertainment including Witchouse II & III.
LEGION OF TERROR
The Legion of Terror was formed in 1985 as a fraternal organization specifically to promote haunted attraction acting and excellence in special effects makeup. Partnered with the Broadview Heights Lion's Club, the organization's volunteer members have used their peculiarly twisted artistic talents to make Bloodview Haunted House one of the scariest and most creative haunted attractions anywhere
GARY JONES
Gary is the director of Boogeyman 3, Ghouls, Axe Giant, Mosquito, Crocodile 2, Spiders, and many more He also directed episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules. He's currently directing the movie Escape from Death Block 13. If all that wasn't enough he was also the hand in Evil Dead II.
BRAD TWIGG & FUZZY MONKEY FILMS
Brad is the director of Fuzzy Monkey Films, he has directed over 20 projects including the movie's Killer Campout and WrestleMassacre both playing at Dark X Fest. He also directed the segment Wraparound in the movie project Brutality.
PHANTOM PAIN FILMS
Phantom Pain Films LLC is an independent production, distribution and sales company, focused on genre and cult cinema.
Founded in 2013, the company began as a side project to release genre titles in special limited editions on a format close to our hearts, VHS. Since 2014 we have brought films to theaters, DVD and VOD platforms. From there we have expanded into production, creating documentary special features for Blu-Ray and DVD releases, as well as developing our own in-house productions.
​RA MIHAILOFF
RA is best known as Leatherface in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 also known as Leatherface. He's been in Pumpkinhead 2, Trancers 3, Hatchet 2, and the new horror film Death House. Before he became a horror icon he played in the 1980's hit License to Drive with Corey Feldman and Corey Haim. In his free time he sometimes can be found ghost hunting with the group Hollywood Ghost Hunters founded by Kane Hodder.
​JEREMY AMBLER
Jeremy was a featured zombie in The Walking Dead season's 1 & 2. He has also appeared in tons of The Walking Dead merchandise and advertising. He appeared in the remake of the cult horror classic The Town That Dreaded Sundown. He also played George Robinson in Killing Lincoln and he was in the HBO mini-series John Adams.
ALAN TUSKES​
Alan is a make up effects artist for movies and also an actor. He did John Dugan's makeup for Texas Chainsaw 3D. He's done makeup effects for other movies like The Green Mile, From Dusk Till Dawn, and he was on Syfy's reality show Face Off. He was an actor in The Rage, Axe Gieat, and played a killer clown in Clown Town.
​EERIE FREQUENCY
Eerie Frequency was established in 2003 by Travis Bowen, Joe Mohn, and Justin Lamar. It is the production company for the campy slasher movie The Girl and has also released the horror films The Sickness, Night of The Cannibals, and is releasing Midnight Massacre fall of 2019. It is also a sponsor for Dark X Fest, Dark Xmas, and the Cleveland Toy Show.
BROOKE BOWEN​
Brooke is an established music artist having two music video's released, she's an artist, and has appeared as an actress in low budget films and the big budget movie The Last Summer starring KJ Apa of Riverdale. Her new music video Good Life can be found on Youtube. Good Life was produced by 90s rap star Rufus Blaq.
THE SATURDAY
NIGHT SLASHER
S. Louis King is the writer, inker, and colorist of The Saturday Night Slasher. Set in Ohio, The Saturday Night Slasher is a blood splattered, broken knuckle tale of horror that will come to you as a full color webcomic! Taking its cues from the heyday of slasher films of the 1980’s this comic is an affectionate yet modern take on the genre.
BC HEPNER​
BC Hepner AKA tattoo Bob started doing professional artwork in 2010 after presenting a piece at a show for iconic actress Linda Blair is hyper realism Style took off with many celebrities at events today Bob has done more than 200 pictures 4 celebrities including Gene Simmons Ozzy Osbourne's family Lita Ford and so many more he's also worked for nearly every card company including the Topps Corporation in Bowman baseball cards we can come in the 2017 Bowman baseball artist. You can see Bob's exclusive work live on his Facebook or on his website at www.therealbchepner sart.com .
​CALEB THUSAT
Creator and writer of Alter-Life, ZED, and Nook. Caleb Thusat is former Chicago indie filmmaker turned comic book creator, he recently relocated to Hudson with his wife and son. Three years ago, he dove into the indie comic scene with his science-fiction comic series, Alter-Life, a dark and twisted sci-fi mystery exploring alternate realities and death. He is also know for his zombie-superhero mashup series, ZED, and most recently for his WWII ghost story, Nook.
​JV JOHNSON
JV Johnson is a long time radio personality, radio station owner, paranormal investigator and paranormal journalist. He is currently Co-host of the popular syndicated radio show – Beyond Reality Radio – as heard on over 60 radio stations around the country, as well, as live streaming on YouTube and other platforms. He is former Publisher and Editor of the world’s leading paranormal magazine, TAPS ParaMagazine, as well as frequent guest at many conventions and conferences.
KC KUHN​
Appearing Saturday Only
KC Kuhn is known for Blood Woods, Brokedown, Engineering Tragedy, Mafia Ties..
PAUL WORLEY
Appearing Sunday Only
Paul is best known nationwide for his regular work on CBS All Access's TV series One Dollar filmed in Pittsburgh. When he's not on that show he's working for Polestar Productions in their films and he is a big supporter of indie films. He also owns a popular comic book store in the Sharon PA area called Bennie's Comics.
MARCUS CALVERT
Marcus V. Calvert is a native of Detroit who grew up with an addiction to sci-fi that just wouldn't go away.
His goal’s to tell unique, twisted stories that people will be reading long after he’s gone. For him, the name and the fame aren’t important. Only the stories matter.
His books are available on Amazon.com and Kindle.
You can also follow him on:
* Facebook: @MarcusCalvertAuthor
* Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IVillain
DANIEL BLAIN CLICk
Daniel Blain Click is an American special effects artist and actor, who is known for special effects in movies such as American Poltergeist the Curse of Lilith Ratchet, Scarred, Night of the living dead Rebirth, Urban Cannibal Massacre, Chill the killing games, The Dawson War, and many more independent horror films.. He also has acting scenes in a few of the films he's worked on. He started his interest in fx makeup at a young age, inspired by the works of Dick Smith and Tom Savini. Daniel is known for work with Fright Teck Pictures and many local productions.
JAY E FIFE
Jay Fife is a pin-up and portrait artist from the upper Ohio Valley. His work is mostly fully rendered pencil drawings of characters from all aspects of horror, fantasy, sci-fi and comics. Specializing in customized pinups realistically depicting famous characters or compositions of favorite personalities from TV and movies, Jay brings personality to his images.
42ND STREET PETE
Appearing Saturday Only
42nd Street Pete is considered the king of Grindhouse movie knowledge. He has produced his own DVD series and is also an author, he will have his new book available for sale on Saturday at Dark X Fest. He'll be appearing from 1 pm to 6:30 pm.