Danny Trejo headlines Mad Monster Party Arizona. Here's what else horror fans can expect

For horror and sci-fi fans, getting a chance to meet others with shared interests to talk about their favorite movies or TV shows can be exhilarating.

Mad Monster Party Arizona, an annual horror and sci-fi convention, provides a space where like-minded individuals can get together. This year's convention is July 8-10 at the Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel and Spa in Glendale.

The convention was started in North Carolina in 2010 by Eben McGarr and Kevin Blanchfield. McGarr has directed movies such as "Sick Girl," "Hanukkah" and "House of the Wolf Man." Blanchfield has owned Halloween-themed attractions and superstores.

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What to expect at Mad Monster Party Arizona

Mad Monster Party Arizona will have a similar format as previous years. Highlights include:

• Celebrity Q&As moderated by Levi Tinker from TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood.

• A market with over 100 vendors.

• "Scaraoke" on Friday and Saturday night.

• MADame Monster showcase curated by Janie Slash.

• Scavenger hunt.

• Charity auction.

McGarr says the event provides a safe space where horror and sci-fi fans can socialize.

“The horror community is one of the most welcoming communities. It’s a group of misfits that by and large have always felt like outsiders. That’s why these shows are so popular,” McGarr says. “You realize that you aren’t alone.”

Fans are encouraged to attend dressed as their favorite characters. There will be costume contests with adult and children's categories.

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Fans can meet and take photos with TV and film celebrities. Guests include Neve Campbell, famous for playing Sidney Prescott in the "Scream" franchise. She has also appeared in "The Craft" and "Party of Five."

There will be a reunion of cast members from the "Revenge of the Nerds" film series, including Curtis Armstrong, Robert Carradine, Donald Gibb and Brian Tochi. And Kane Hodder, who has appeared as Jason in multiple "Friday the 13th" films, will be back.

Meet special guest Danny Trejo

Fans also can meet and take photos with actor Danny Trejo. He has more than 400 credits and is best known for films such as "Machete," "Heat" and "From Dusk Till Dawn." He has appeared and voiced characters in TV, film, video games and animated projects, including a recent episode of "The Book of Boba Fett."

Trejo’s movie career started by accident when he appeared as a boxer in the 1985 film "Runaway Train." He was hired to train another actor to box when he went down to the set to help a friend.

“I went from being ‘Hey you’ to being ‘Mr. Trejo,’ and that literally changed my life. Acting changed my life,” Trejo says.

Trejo said he grew up in an abusive home and turned to drugs at an early age. He was in and out of prison multiple times before he got clean and became a drug counselor, which he still does.

He works with people who were sentenced as juveniles and have spent most of their lives in prison. Often, he tries to find roles for them on his films.

'I skipped 15 days of school when we got our TV'

Trejo didn’t have the chance to watch many TV shows or movies growing up, although he did admire Charles Bronson. He remembers binge-watching Sheriff John, a Los Angeles TV host who would show cartoons.

“I skipped 15 days of school when we got our TV. My mom went to work. My dad went to work, and I stayed home and watched Sheriff John. He was on at 12. I got caught for cutting 15 days of school. My mom ran into the principal at the market,” Trejo says.

In his 2021 book "Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption and Hollywood," he talks about his journey. He co-wrote the book with Donal Logue.

Trejo said he had been asked to write a book for eight years. He had started working with other writers but found that they would use words such as “prolific,” which aren’t part of his normal vocabulary.

Trejo had served as Logue’s drug sponsor. When the fellow actor approached Trejo to write a book, he thought he would give it another try, and the partnership worked out.

“So, here we are writing this book. I showed it to my kids’ mom. She said, ‘Wow, Danny, I feel like you are talking. I can hear you talking.’ So, we went ahead and wrote the book. It took us two and a half years, and we just palled around all the time. Every time we would get together, we would write a little,” Trejo says.

'Can I get you some coffee, Mr. De Niro?'

Trejo is known for playing bad guys and for his death scenes. He has been killed on screen over 100 times in every way imaginable, including being hanged, stabbed, decapitated and melted to death.

He remembers getting advice from Robert De Niro when filming his death scene in "Heat." The actor told him, “Danny, I think you’re almost dead. You have just enough breath to beg me to kill you.”

He worked with De Niro again on "Machete."

“There was two call sheets (on 'Heat'). There was one for the good guys and one for the bad guys. He was number one on the call sheet, which means he was the lead. So, when I asked him to do 'Machete' with me, he came and I met him in between the trailers.

"Bob said, ‘Hey, you’re number one, huh?’ It’s hard to call yourself number one when Robert De Niro is in the movie,” Trejo says. “I said, ‘Can I get you some coffee, Mr. De Niro.’ We just laughed and got coffee.”

Trejo says acting has been like therapy. It helped him let go of his sense of machismo pride and be more vulnerable.

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'This was not a manly cry'

Recently, he worked with his son Gilbert, named after his uncle and mentor, on the film "From a Son." As the director, Gilbert helped prepare his dad for an emotional scene by showing him his baby pictures and recounting stories of when he was growing up.

“I lost it. I couldn’t believe it. This was not a manly cry. This was a booger cry. I couldn’t stop,” Trejo says. “I cried for all the times I didn’t cry at my mom’s funeral, my dad’s funeral. You didn’t cry for anything. Men don’t cry. God, he got me.”

For the first few years of his career, Trejo’s characters were so minor that they didn’t have names. The first time he played a character with a name was when he was See Veer in the 1987 film Penitentiary III.

“I played inmate number one, bad guy, Mexican guy, tattooed guy… I learned that no matter what you’ve got to do, put your heart in it. Be the best cowboy you can be. Be the best monster chaser you can be. I’ve played a drag queen in a movie with Jason Mewes,” Trejo says.

For that role, he practiced walking in heels at home.

Trejo's key to building a long-lasting career

Trejo says for him, every film and TV project is important.

“There’s no such thing as a bad movie. You’re supporting 80 people. That’s what I love about movies,” Trejo says.

Trejo has found that the key to building a long-lasting career is to be humble.

“You have to make sure that everyone you work with wants to work with you again. The whole world can think you’re a movie star, but you can’t,” Trejo says.

Trejo has won generations of fans with his diversity of projects. Through video games, animated films and children’s movies such as the Spy Kids franchise, he has developed a loyal fanbase.

“Video games and children’s movies give you an audience forever because they grow up with you,” Trejo says.

Mad Monster Party Arizona

When: July 8-10. Exhibitor Hall hours are 6-11 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Q&As and activities go later into the evening on Friday and Saturday.

Where: Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel and Spa, 9495 W. Coyotes Blvd., Glendale.

Admission: $35-$40 for general admission Friday and Sunday. $45-$50 for general admission Saturday. $80-$90 for three-day pass.

Details: https://madmonster.com/madmonsterpartyarizona2022.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mad Monster Party 2022 brings Danny Trejo to Arizona