Attendees explore the many vendors within the exhibit hall. Some of the photo ops, vendors, and the official Galaxycon booth can be seen. Photo by Cecil Dupree.
By Cecil Dupree
Overview
It was a moderately bright, stormy afternoon, with rain thundering against the windows and wind howling as a horde, not unlike zombies, surged down the stairs to the convention floor. Threats of tornadoes are no match for dedicated horror fans as they explore the vendor hall of Nightmare Weekend Raleigh, presented by Galaxycon.
Oct. 10-11, 2026, Raleigh will see its first-ever horror convention of this size, bringing together classic and modern horror and performances that showcase iconic characters in a new light through cosplay, burlesque, and drag shows. I think the highlight of Galaxycon conventions is the shows and performances, it’s what sets them apart from smaller, local conventions.
Exhibit Hall
One of the biggest draws of conventions is celebrity presence, especially at Galaxycon events, because they’re large, well-known, and can attract a ton of amazing celebrities. They also offered photo ops with many actors available for purchase. This convention featured guests such as:
- Cassandra Peterson, Elvira in “Elvira: Mistress of the Dark”
- David Howard Thornton, Art the Clown in “Terrifier 1 & 2”
- Derek Mears, Jason Voorhees in “Friday the 13th (2009)”
- C.J. Graham, Jason Voorhees in “Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives”
- Brad Loree, Michael Myers in “Halloween: Resurrection”
- Roger L. Jackson, Ghostface in the “Scream” franchise
In addition to the celebrities, the exhibit hall offers photo shoots and themed cosplay meet-ups. I absolutely loved the photo shoots set up for “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Beetlejuice.” While this horror-themed convention isn’t necessarily geared toward kids, it still offers events like coloring, crafts, and drawing so kids can enjoy the convention too.
There’s also a large gaming space supplied with board games, card games, and video games. They offer tutorials for how to play games like “13 Omens” and also host RPG sessions for games like “Pathfinder” and “Starfinder. They also offer events for trading card games like Pokémon, Lorcana, and Magic: The Gathering.
Last but not least, several vendors can be found in the exhibit hall, though not as many as other Galaxycon events, which I do believe will change as Nightmare Weekend plants its roots. The vendors offer everything from fan merchandise to official merchandise, art prints, creators, and more. There’s also a smaller, secluded section dedicated to adult merchandise.
Panels
Panels are where convention staff and fans alike can host their own event, which can really be about almost anything. Popular panel themes include exploring or explaining media, game shows, cosplay tutorials, and other interactive/crowd driven panels. Nightmare Weekend featured panels from each of these categories as well as others.
A panel I attended and enjoyed was “The Price is Wrong,” like “The Price is Right,” except it’s whatever the host found online, and most of it is outrageously priced. Since it was a horror convention, they had a ton of artwork from John Wayne Gacy, a serial killer also known as Pogo the Clown.
I also went to “Lipsync for Your Afterlife” where preselected contestants had been given a list of songs to create lip-sync performances to, and the songs were selected randomly at the event. There were two brackets set up, ultimately culminating in an epic lip-sync duel between two contestants so good the judges had to call for a sudden death match to decide who was the champion. Ultimately, Toni the Tiger won, which certainly wasn’t on my bingo card for the convention.
The last panel I’ll mention is “Conkiller,” a choose-your-own-adventure created by panelist Elgin David using Twine (which coincidentally is a program we learn to use in SGD 111). Audience members volunteered to play and tried to survive without following anyone else’s path.
Other panels and themes included, but aren’t limited to:
- Media centric
- Retro games
- Cartoons
- Creepy dolls of film & TV
- Low budget and indie horror
- Public domain and horror (what’s next)
- Worst horror movies
- The rise of monster romance
- Other content
- Creepiest internet stories
- Reddit RPG horror stories
- Gameshows
- Goth trivia
- In-character dating game
- Jeopardy
- Cosplay
- Costumes for fighting/wrestling
- Cosplay 101 (a general introduction)
- Foamcrafting 101
- Second skin (using special effects makeup to create grotesque and gory costumes)
- Performance
- How to be a scare actor
- Karaoke
- Crowd driven
- Would you rather
- Smash or pass
- Horror icon fights
- Horror fights
- Cryptid showdown
- Open mic ghost stories
- Speed friending
- Twerk showdown
- Educational
- Horror and scale models
- Lore of the backrooms
- Cartoon academy (hosted by Joe Wos)
- How to survive the apocalypse (these were actual life skills)
- Vampire Folklore and vampiric representation in fandom
- Research Triangle Ghost Busters (a non-profit fandom organization here in Raleigh)
- Taboo topics
- Misconceptions about nudity and sexuality in art
- Polyamory and non-traditional relationships
- BDSM
- Safety in kink and sex
The Craftsmanship Cosplay contest winners pose on stage. Photo by Cecil Dupree.
Main Events
Panels are a nice appetizer to the bigger events Nightmare Weekend hosts, like Q&As, Night of the Living Drag, cosplay wrestling, costume contests, raves, burlesque shows, and, in this case, tea & cookies with Elvira’s actress.
Drag shows are one of my favorite parts of conventions. The performers (in this case Medusa Chaos, Emory Starr, Missy V Sour, Bloody Mary, and Gouda Judy) bring high energy, gorgeous costumes, and thoughtfully crafted performances that evoke whatever character they’re portraying. At conventions, drag queens more often cosplay specific characters rather than just a persona, and at this convention, they portrayed Art the Clown, Leatherface, the Queen of Hearts, Elvira, and more.
Galaxycon events are generally known for burlesque shows that mix nerdy, sexy and in this case, gory. They have widely known burlesque performers, such as:
- Ginger Oh Snap (known as “The Shapeshifting Showgirl” and also the host for many burlesque events)
- Chère Noble (known as the “Local Targaryen”, the “Foreign Catastrophy”, and “The Atomic Bombshell”)
- Redrum (known as the “Queen of Halloween” and the “Lon Chaney of Burlesque”)
- Sin Silva (known as “The Ass of South Florida”)
- Gunsahimbo
This convention featured two shows: “Videonastease” (a more traditional burlesque performance) and “Wrestle-A-Gogo Season of the Witch” (a mix between burlesque and wrestling). Beyond the burlesque performers, “Wrestle-A-Gogo” also features actual wrestlers, including Gangrel, C.W. Anderson, and The Sinister Minister (James Mitchell), among others.
Last but certainly not least, the cosplay contests are the blood and bone of conventions. Nightmare Weekend offered two: the runway contest and the craftsmanship contest. The runway contest lets people sign up, strut their stuff across the stage, pose, and generally show off.
The craftsmanship contest is less about presentation and more about the creation process and the final look of the costume. For this, contestants document their creation process with photos in a “build book” and attend prejudging before the show, where judges review the book, ask questions, and look at the finished product. They’re looking at seam cleanliness, stitching straightness, which processes were used, and how successfully they were executed.
Final Thoughts
To conclude, I thoroughly enjoyed myself at this convention, even though I’m not personally a huge horror fan myself. The convention featured a wide variety of content, from kids-themed ghosts and ghouls to classic slashers to modern horror media. I also enjoyed that there were significantly fewer children at this convention than at many conventions in the area, which created a slightly more mature environment where people don’t have to worry about sending a kid home with nightmares because their costume involves body horror and gore.
This convention wasn’t really one I expected to enjoy much, and I certainly didn’t think I’d consider going back, but I’m absolutely planning to go back next year… And maybe, just maybe, this convention has convinced me to dive further into the realm of horror.