Sep 27 2008
From The Land Beyond
Greetings from your friendly neighborhood Searnold [Shár- Nŭhld]. Welcome to my comic book review blog - thanks for tuning in. Today is Saturday, September 27th, 2008.
Today’s Issue:
Is not a comic book at all but a convention - From The Land Beyond.
Premise:
From The Land Beyond is Sacramento’s first Horror and Sci-Fi convention. It was a 2 day event held Friday September 26th and Saturday September 27th at the Scottish Rite Center in downtown Sacramento, CA. Like all cons, it had vendors, panels, and special guests - including C. Andrew Nelson (Lucasfilm), Sid Haig (House of 1,000 Corpses), Doug Jones (Hellboy II), Richard Hatch (Battlestar Galactica), and Wil Wheaton (Star Trek The Next Generation). From The Land Beyond also had a few sci-fi/ horror themed concerts including performances by Captain A-Hole and Warp 11.
The Awesome Parts:
If you haven’t been to a convention you simply don’t know what you’re missing. There are no better places for fans. I’m part of the hardest hitting news show in the universe - SCCG TV (check us out at http://www.myspace.com/SCCGTV ). We do news coverage of all the conventions, so I know what I’m talking about when I say that From The Land Beyond was a very well put together convention. The guests were hands down the nicest guests that I have ever had a chance to talk to. They took their time to not just do an interview but to talk to us about the show and their personal lives - it was an incredible experience. And there were plenty of opportunities for fans to have similar experiences with these icons of horror and sci-fi culture. There were also plenty of vendors available where attendees could spend their excess cash on sci-fi and horror memorabilia.
The Less-Than-Awesome Parts:
One of the great aspects was also one of the unfortunate aspects - From The Land Beyond was fairly small. There were only a few panels. This was the first con I’ve been to where the vendor floor - already not the largest vendor floor I’ve seen - was not even full. There also weren’t very many attendees. While this provided ample opportunity to spend time with celebrities, it often gave the con a dead feeling. The lack of attendees was most likely due to the fact that this was the first From The Land Beyond - so it hasn’t had a lot of time to gain notoiety. Also unfortunate - Wil Wheaton was only available on Saturday. Finally - I felt that the price for admission ($15 for both days) was a little steep for the small size of the convention. But what am I complaining about - I got in free! (Being press has some GREAT advantages.)
My Recommendation:
I absolutely recommend going to as many conventions as you can afford. As I don’t have a lot of spare cash for buying awesome merchandise, the primary reason that I go to cons is to meet the special guests - so I recommend checking out the guest list before deciding which cons to go to. But if you’re a fan of the sci-fi and horror genres (and you live anywhere near Sacramento) then definitely check out From The Land Beyond next year on September 25-27, 2009. Their website is http://www.fromthelandbeyond.com
And don’t forget that if you missed any conventions, you can check out SCCG’s news coverage at http://www.myspace.com/SCCGTV
That’s it for today. As always - thanks for reading - see you next time.
-Searnold
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