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Animazement 2026: The State of Fandom in my State
I love Animazement. It’s a non-profit convention that has a fair bit of its programming focused on traditional Japanese culture as well as anime and manga. Historically, it’s drawn about 10,000 to 13,000 attendees. With many other conventions gathering over 60,000 fans, this makes Animazement approachable without being overwhelming. This year in particular felt like a…
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Howl-O-Scream: The Year of the Wolf
After an amazing first trip out to Howl-O-Scream last year, H3 and I made the trip back out to Busch Gardens Williamsburg again. The marketing and early reviews seemed a bit subdued, so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. But, any Halloween event is a good time, right? Generally, yes. The good of Howl-O-Scream was…
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Animazement: Community Matters
Every Memorial Day weekend for longer than H3 and I can remember, we’ve attended Animazement, Covid excluded. Animazement is a 3-day anime and Japanese culture convention in Raleigh that puts a focus on the animators, as well as the history and traditions, to better help audiences understand the media they are consuming. This is in…
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Mad Monster Party 2025: Review and Recap
I don’t go to a lot of conventions—something I’d like to change this year—but Mad Monster has been a twice-a -year event for us for a while now. I covered Mad Monster Expo last August. Does Mad Monster Party offer a different enough experience to justify two shows in one year? Yes and no, and both answers are why I…
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Adventures in Wilmington and the Ghost Walk of Old Wilmington – Event Review
The idea to attend the Ghost Walk of Old Wilmington was one of the most spur-of-the-moment plans I’ve ever put together. At breakfast that morning, I decided to try to make that night’s tour. Which may not sound like much, but since Wilmington, NC is not the town I live in, it was a bit…
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Review: Howl-O-Scream Williamsburg
For a lot of reasons, I had never been able to attend a haunt event. This year, I was determined to make it to my very first. Busch Gardens Williamsburg is just a short hop up the road, so I talked Horror Hating Husband into a quick road trip to find out if Howl-O-Scream would…
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Event Review: Mad Monster Expo 2024
Did headliner cancelations, a more-pop-culture-than-horror guest line-up and a smaller dealer’s room make this usually packed show feel less monstrous?
