The Eerie Horror Fest turns 10, Oct. 17-19

[Event preview by Charles Cassady, Jr.]

There's supposed to be a spirit of optimism in Cleveland right now. LeBron is back with the Cavs. The GOP Convention is coming. The Browns won a game or two. Well, if you want to know the truth, those couple of Browns games were really just FBI sting operations; once they got the opposing teams on the field, the other players were all arrested en masse for domestic violence. Browns only won by default. So there will have to be that asterisk in the sports record books.

The point is, that one should be properly skeptical whenever the spirit of "optimism" prevails in Cleveland. Commonly it's a setup for things just going bad again. So why not this weekend escape when, I dunno, "EbolaFest" downtown turns out to be one of the city's less better ideas, and set your destination on a place a safe distance from the North Coast.

How about Erie, Pennsylvania? Right over the border, the Keystone State Metropolis is the site of the Eerie Horror Fest, a Halloween happening that, in 2014, marks its milestone 10th anniversary.




Guests at the Eerie Horror Fest include Oscar-caliber actor Eric Roberts (who recently acted in LUX IN TENEBRIS, an indie shot-in-Cleveland picture), Australian-born villain specialist Vernon Wells (THE ROAD WARRIOR, CIRCUITRY MAN, INNERSPACE), Richard Hatch (PRISONERS OF THE LOST UNIVERSE, TV's original Battlestar Galactica), and cast mini-reunions from DAWN OF THE DEAD and CREEPSHOW II.

There will also be a Friday-night concert from an all-mummy band, memorabilia vendors, a horror-genre screenplay contest, and an abundance of screenings of macabre shorts and features from all over the world (including animation), and, for VIP pass-holders, an acting workshop with Richard Hatch. Suddenly LeBron coming back doesn't sound like such a big deal anymore.

The Eerie Horror Fest happens at the lovely Warner Theater, 811 State St. in Erie, on Friday from 3:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to  1:30 a.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission ranges from a $30 all-access pass (not counting workshops and the mummies concert), to individual one-day admissions of $20 to $15. It also incorporates workshops and screenwriting contests.

For full information about the Eerie Horror Fest, go online to the new URL www.eeriehorrfilmfestival.com