Jim O'Rear's SCARS MAGAZINE Blog: FULL MOON Over Nashville!!

Hello, SCARS Readers...

Once again the FULL MOON TATTOO AND HORROR FESTIVAL invaded Music City (Nashville, TN) this past weekend and, as usual, it was a SMASH! I was fortunate enough to be invited to be a guest at this great 3-day event for the fourth year in a row... an event that brings together some of the biggest names in horror and the biggest names in tattoo artists.

ABOVE: Jim O'Rear with the gang from TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE; Gunnar "Leatherface" Hansen, Ed "The Hitchhiker" Neal, and John "Grandapa" Dugan.

The event began for me on Thursday night when I met Gunnar Hansen for our traditional trip to Waffle House. Whenever Gunnar and I are in the same city for a film or event, cheese grits and chili hashbrowns suddenly begin to vanish! After a couple of hours of socializing we headed back to the hotel to say hello to Ken Foree (DAWN OF THE DEAD), Kane Hodder (FRIDAY THE 13TH, HATCHET), and William Forsythe (DEVIL'S REJECTS, HALLOWEEN) before crashing for some much needed pre-show rest.

ABOVE: Jim O'Rear and William Forsythe.

Friday afternoon began with a bang as guests and attendees rolled in when the doors opened. The day consisted of tattoo contests, filmmaking seminars, screenings of films (including THE EVIL DEAD, FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 6, and TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 3) hosted by the celebrities who starred in them, and a stage act by Sideshow Bennie (who almost set the hotel on fire while stapling things to certain "naughty parts" on his body).

ABOVE: A massive tattoo is applied!

ABOVE: Horror artist Billy and Heather Tackett talk to fans at their booth.

There were vendors and guests galore. Including artists Billy Tackett, Joel Robinson, and Cypocryphy and actors from classic and modern horror. There was even an appearance by Jason "Jay" Mewes, from the Kevin Smith comedic duo "Jay and Silent Bob."

ABOVE: Jason Mewes and Jim O'Rear.

A great surprise arrived in the form of my friends at MACABRE MANSION (www.macabremansion.com). They came to cover the event and score some new interviews for their internet radio program. I even sat in as a guest interviewer, conducting interviews with Kane Hodder and Jason Mewes (where we learned what part of Mewes' anatomy fits inside a can cozy!). You can check out all of MACABRE MANSION's coverage and recorded interviews on their website very soon!

ABOVE: Jim O'Rear interviews Kane Hodder and Jason Mewes for MACABRE MANSION.

Friday night I had the pleasure of eating dinner and unwinding with Billy and Heather Tackett, Daniel Taylor (RETURN OF THE SWAMP THING) and his "lickable" wife Ami (don't ask about the "licking"), and Dawn Lyn (OLD HABITS DIE HARD). With bellies full, we all headed over to the hotel bar to meet up for some laughs with Derek Mears (FRIDAY THE 13TH remake), Sid Haig (DEVIL'S REJECTS), Kevin and Farrah from MACABRE MANSION, and John Dugan (TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE)... who always brings the conversation around to focus on my ass, for some reason.

ABOVE: William Forsythe, Sid Haig, Ken Foree.

Although Saturday was SWAMPED with people and events, there was still time to catch up with old friends and fans during the scheduled 12-hour day. I was able to spend a bit of time with Chris Sarandon (FRIGHT NIGHT, CHILDS PLAY) and discuss a film that we worked on together with Robert Englund about 13 years ago called THE VAMPYRE WARS. Although it had been many years since we worked on this flick, we both still had very vivid memories of the experience. It's too bad that Universal is never going to release this flick, that was way ahead of it's time, to the public.

ABOVE: Chris Sarandon and Jim O'Rear.

I received another surprise when a fan, Trey, came to the show on Saturday with a painting he had done of my face. What a great honor to have someone want to take the time to paint my ugly mug!

ABOVE: Jim O'Rear painting.

WOW, this blog is getting long! There's so much to talk about... more film screenings, seminars, tattoos! I'll speed it up. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I think I'll post a few more pics to help tell my story.

ABOVE: Derek "Jason" Mears (FRIDAY THE 13TH remake), SCARS calendar girl Monique Dupree, and Jim O'Rear.

ABOVE: Kayla Perkins (HELL-EPHONE) re-enacts a scene from HATCHET with the help of Kane Hodder.

ABOVE: The lovely Danielle Harris and Jim O'Rear.

ABOVE: Daniel Emery Taylor Tries To Hide.

So, back to our story. A HUGE Saturday wrapped up and it was time to unwind. The Taylors, Tacketts, Macabre Mansion crew, Ken Daniels (FRIGHT NIGHT FILM FEST), and others got together for some silliness. We were occassionaly joined by others, throughout the evening... such as Kane Hodder, Jason Mewes, Ben & Stacey Dixon... for even more silliness. During the evening several hilarious phrases were spoken that could easily end up as quotes on T-Shirts (such as "Vaginal African American" - yes, a politically correct relation to a popular song)... but most can't be repeated in a public forum! Unfortunately, I had to cut the evening short on my end because I was scheduled to shoot a movie with Lloyd Kaufman (TOXIC AVENGER) the following morning before the show opened.

ABOVE: Kayla Perkins (HELL-EPHONE), Lloyd Kaufman, and Jim O'Rear.

Sunday, usually the slow day for every convention, was still hopping. A nice steady stream of fans kept the energy high as more autographs were obtained and more seminars and film screenings were attended. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end as everyone says their goodbyes.

ABOVE: SCARS calendar girl Stacey Dixon (OLD HABITS DIE HARD) and Jim O'Rear.

A big THANK YOU goes out to Ben and Stacey Dixon (BLOODY MOON FILMS) for inviting me to appear at this super-fun event, once again. It's a first class show... one of my favorites every year... and I can't wait until it's time to do it again! I'll leave you now with a few more pictures. Enjoy!