By: Mike Lera
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s… Wonder Con!
Swooping down from the skies in its bright red cape and boots and into the Anaheim Convention Center March 27-29, Wonder Con 2026 once again provided an elaborate spectacle for thousands of pop culture comic book, superhero and horror fans, equipped with a stadium-sized showroom that featured anything from artists’ booths and anime to vintage collectibles and celeb signings.
Horror and goth groupies were especially stoked about the assortment of macabre panels, scary merch and, oh yes – spooky cosplay.
Actress Lin Shaye (Insidious franchise), director Paul Boyd (We Are Gathered Here Today) and other cast and crew members assembled at a panel to discuss their new film “Scared To Death”, set to stream in May. Co-starring veteran actor of horror films Bill Mosely, Scared To Death is a low budget horror-comedy about a film production crew who attend a live séance to try and capture footage of spirits to make their movie more… authentic. Unfortunately, they end up in a situation that’s just a liiittle above their pay grade.
Shaye, who has been in over a hundred different films throughout her illustrious 50-year acting career (many of them within the horror genre), touched on the art of making a successful horror-thriller.
“It’s not about a director or writer being bossy,” stated Shaye, who served as an executive producer on STD. “The best result is through collaboration. To be able to feel comfortable and offer up your thoughts – in an elegant and a comradery way. Because (as an actor) you’re inside your own character in a different way than the writer, director or any of the other actors.”
At another panel, Vampire Hunter D fans were delighted to see previews of a new graphic novel of their dhampir (half-human/half-vampire) hero, “Message From Mars”, a five-issue anthology from its creative team Ryan Benjamin (artist), Anton Pardoe (writer), Kurt Rauer (producer) and Brandon Easton (writer). On that graphic novel note, readers of Legendary Comics’ art book versions of Godzilla X Kong, Dune and Pacific Rim were shown behind-the-scenes glimpses of upcoming graphic novels from these famed titles.
Other panelists included WWE’s Hall of Fame masked wrestler, Rey Mysterio, discussing a new comic book based on the popular animated series, “Rey Mysterio Vs. The Darkness”. Joining him were the series’ animators, The Calavera Hermanos, the panel moderated by writer, director and animator Jorge Gutierrez.
Asked what his favorite horror movies were, Mysterio had a list!
“On the American side, The Shining, Friday the 13th, and a lot of documentaries on serial killers have always intrigued me,” stated Mysterio. “Also… does Scary Movie count?”
