BILLINGS— Hundreds of visitors and 45 vendors came to the MetraPark Expo Center Saturday and Sunday for the first Billings Horror Con.
Fred Moormeier, owner of Dragon Egg Games in Billings, told MTN he organized the convention in just over four months.
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“I'm very happy with the numbers we have here,” said Moormeier. “It is a smaller convention this year. Four and a half months— you're not going to be huge.”
Moormeier has organized other conventions, such as Billings Fun Con. He told MTN he wanted to give more options to Montana horror fans.
“It's a fandom out there that is just underserved in my opinion,” he said. “So, the goal is to get more things for people in Montana to do.”
Visitors at the convention met recognizable actors from some of their favorite horror movies.
C.J. Graham, who plays Jason Voorhees in “Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives” happens to be a Billings local. He said he still gets recognized in public, even though he is famous for playing a masked character.
“I've had people in the Albertsons over here on Grand Avenue and... they get to me go, 'Aren't you the guy that played Jason?'” said Graham.
Graham told MTN he is a horror fan himself.
“You know, I haven't seen a lot of my own movie, but I'm a horror fan going all the way back to Universal, old black and white: “Frankenstein” ... “Dracula” those are the ones I get into,” said Graham.
He was one of several actors meeting fans and signing autographs Sunday morning.
“You meet people because these movies have longevity,” said Kari Keegan, who stars as Jessica Kimble in “Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday”.
Keegan traveled to Billings from Los Angeles for the convention.
“I just started doing conventions again,” she said. “I've been out of this little circuit for a long time because I thought, ‘This was a movie that was made like 30 some years ago.’ Then you realize what fans of horror films are really like... and people are really excited and they're really animated.”
Another actor from Los Angeles, Douglas Tait, was signing autographs too. He appears in “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” and plays Jason Voorhees in the final scene of “Freddy vs. Jason”
“Jason and Michael Myers, I mean, they go back generations,” said Tait. “Now with ‘Five Nights at Freddy's’, it's really hit a younger demographic.”
Tait met fans of all ages, including 10-year-old Rosalie Olsen.
“I've been getting these autographs,” Olsen told MTN. “I think the ‘Five Nights at Freddy's 2’ one is probably my favorite.”
Visitors at the convention also enjoyed local food trucks and businesses, such as Legendary Tattoo Studio.
“I met with Jay with Legendary Tattoo and he did a really awesome Michael Myers piece on my leg,” said visitor Aimery Richard, showing off his new tattoo of Myers.
Richard told MTN he is excited to see the horror genre getting attention.
“I think things like these are really good for Billings,” said Richard. “It gives those of us that are into the horror genre something to do, something to experience.”
Plans are already in the works for next year’s horror con.
Moormeier told MTN he wants to bring more vendors and activities to the event, such as a haunted house.
“We've already started signing actors for 2027,” said Moormeier. “We already have some bigger things planned for 2027. We just have more time.”
