Sci-fi and cosplay fans attend the 8th annual Winter Con in South Ozone Park – QNS.com

Winter Con returned for its eighth year to Resorts World NYC at South Ozone Park on March 12-13.

The event featured two days of sci-fi stars from today and yesterday; panels with question and answer sessions; cosplay; Famous; and vendors.

Fiction fans, many dressed as their favorite characters, had the chance to chat with some of the artists, illustrators and writers who prominently displayed their work in Wintercon Artist Alley or meet their favorite sci-fi actors. .

New York City native Paul Varrachi owned a replica of a revolver from the movie “Tombstone” signed by Michael Biehn, who played Johnny Ringo in the 1993 western.

He thought it was “pretty amazing” to talk to an actor who starred in what many believe to be the greatest western ever made.

“He [Michael Biehn] He plays one of the biggest bad guys in history in this movie,” Varrachi said. “So it’s a pretty iconic role, a pretty iconic movie, and then having a replica gun that was in his collection for him to sign, and then having him immediately recognize the gun was also great.”

Mykal McCulloch and his brother Eric came from Pennsylvania. Despite the treacherous weather conditions, they had left early in the morning to meet their childhood hero.

“We grew up with these characters and these actors. And it had to be here,” said Mykal McCulloch. “I had never met them before, and childhood wouldn’t be complete if I hadn’t met him first.”

Legendary Nick Castle, who played everyone’s favorite slasher Michael Myers in John Carpenter’s 1978 horror film “Halloween,” said it was great to be back and greet fans, something he had missed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Castle shared that no one expected the film to become a box office hit. Originally, “Halloween” was supposed to be called “Baby Sitter Murders.”

“And that’s really as deep as it really started,” Castle laughed. “John struck lightning in a bottle, and he and Deborah came up with a script that resonated. Tommy Wallace, the production designer, found the mask, a William Shatner mask, and turned it into this crazy iconic character. So sometimes you have to be lucky.”

When asked why he thinks the horror classic continues to attract such a huge fanbase more than 40 years later, he said it was mind-boggling that the film was still receiving so much adulation.

“For some people, it’s the first time they’ve been scared, really scared,” he explained. “It becomes a primary link to your mortality in some way. And then some people just have fun with this kind of stuff, you know, so it’s mind-boggling, really.”

Michael Monsanto of Bayshore, Long Island, said he tried to go to all the local shows and meet the “heroes of the past.” He had a bunch of photos signed by the legend.

“It’s always nice to talk to them and it’s nice to see the people you see on screen,” Monsanto said.

Friends Steven Barbato and Felix Bones III were dressed from head to toe in “Halloween” style. Barbato was around 4 or 5 years old when he first saw “Halloween” and said that Michael Meyers had been his “favorite” slasher ever since.

“The ’97 original is my all-time favorite,” Barbato said. “I must have seen it over 1000 times. Every time I see it, it’s like I’m seeing it for the first time.”

Bones said he was 13 years old when he saw “Halloween” for the first time.

“It just gets better the more I see it,” Bones said. Because every time I see it, there are little things I don’t notice. [before]and then I do.”

Shinnequa Clemente from Sheek Visual Arts was one of the artists who showed her work in the event’s Artists Alley.

The high school art teacher and Hofstra graduate shared that her stories tend to deal with children and that she is currently working on a children’s comic about a boy.

“I am inspired by them,” said the cartoon illustrator. “The tenderness of them, like the story of this little boy. I have a whole story.

In addition to producing in recent years, “Alien’s” Ricco Ross also stars in the film “Do Something,” about three generations of black activists. The movie has already won multiple awards and was shot during the pandemic.

“Half of it was done with cell phones, but that’s history. So it works,” Ross explained. “And during the time when they were doing all the marches and everything, we were capitalizing on that, so we got a big production for that. So it’s a good thing.”

Denise Crosby, who, among others, played Lt. Tasha on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and Mary on “The Walking Dead,” said it was great to see people coming back together. The actress had just returned from a seven-day “Star Trek” cruise in the Caribbean.

“It was so much fun, and people were so upbeat and happy to be together and it was great,” Crosby said.

He thought it was wonderful that the sci-fi classic was still popular with all ages.

“It’s such a profound message that people are getting from this show: that there will be a future, the future will be better, not dystopian like many are, and that we will actually improve as a species,” Crosby said. “That’s an inherently positive message.”

See more photos below from the eighth annual Winter Con event.