ECCC 2025: Freaks, Geeks, Furries, & Fannibals
It’s 5 AM on a Saturday, and there’s blood dripping from a huge gash in my throat. Of course, the blood is a coagulated gel from Mehron makeup. The base wound is a mix of a Ben Nye palette and rigid collodion. Special effects (SFX) has been a hobby of mine since college, where I’d play around with “bruise wheels” to create black eyes and fresh scratches just to turn heads. I learned some skills from a theater professor, others from YouTube, and then taught myself the rest from looking at inspiration pictures and actual injuries.
Barring that there’s really no such thing as normal, you wouldn’t exactly call creating fake wounds typical behavior—or browsing scar photographs a standard interest. But I’d loved all things creepy and macabre since I first picked up those Emily the Strange books in my youth. And in high school, I discovered the truest intersection of my love of both art and horror: NBC’s Hannibal, created by Bryan Fuller and based on Thomas Harris’ novels.
Hannibal blends gruesome murders and crime drama with an almost couture aesthetic. The creators filled every scene with sumptuous sets, theatrical dialogue, and gore elevated to an actual art form. I mean, where else have you seen a man folded into a life-size origami heart? Or a woman separated into resin-soaked slices? It’s distasteful in the most tasteful way.
I say this all quite affectionately, while also knowing it’s incomprehensible to most people. Because Hannibal and the horror genre in general have such a unique flavor, an acquired taste if you will, I don’t always realize how many other people share my affection for such work. So imagine my surprise when I went to Emerald City Comic Con 2025 (ECCC) and found myself in a convention center with literally thousands of other Fannibals.
The cut throat I described was part of my costume for ECCC. I’ve attended comic cons for over a decade, always dressing up to meet celebrities for photo ops and autographs. This year, I flew to Seattle, Washington to meet two Hannibal cast members: the leads, Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal Lecter) and Hugh Dancy (Will Graham). I woke up early to do my hair and makeup and get to the Seattle Convention Center way before opening. The rain outside didn’t matter if it meant securing my spot in the first few rows.
For readers who attend K-pop concerts, a comic con is pretty much the same deal. Even though we have tickets and reservations that guarantee us spots and meet-and-greets, we line up well in advance to see our faves up close or snag exclusive merchandise. We dress on theme, find new friends, and hand out freebies to pass the queue time. I absolutely adore making line friends because we all know we’re here for the exact same thing. We’re willing to suffer the grueling hours of SFX makeup and standing in line to get there. That commitment unites us like nothing else. We share our passion across cultures, languages, identities, and beliefs. Forget my three-hour plane ride to the city; lots of people come from different countries.
But knowing this isn’t the same as experiencing it. At 10 AM, five hours after my rude awakening from an overly insistent alarm tone, I sat on the dusty convention center floor with one other person. That made sense. But by the time the panel rolled around at 12:45 PM, the queue lanes were flooded with so many people that the staff had to add a standby aisle.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. After all, I watched Hannibal when it was airing from 2013–2015. Somehow, this decade-old cannibal show managed to capture the hearts and minds of thousands of people, and I was both honored and privileged to be fast-walking among them as we entered the main stage for Mads’ and Hugh’s reunion/finale anniversary panel . . . which the actors kicked off with Mads pretending to strangle his co-star.
So, 10 years after the series ended, I’m sitting shoulder to shoulder with strangers while Mads and Hugh explain just how badly they want a fourth season. Celebrities—they’re just like us! After the panel, I grab my new friends’ socials and go on to another line (photo op) and another (autographs). Thankfully, my singular day stuck in stationary or slow-moving crowds didn’t detract from the rest of my experience. I was still able to spend Sunday on the show floor and in Artist’s Alley, always the main attraction in my opinion. Within Artist’s Alley, you will find comic creators, industry professionals, fanart extraordinaires, and even Emmy Award-winning artists. Generally, these people are just as eager to discuss their work as you are. They revel in your enthusiasm, and you get a micro dosage of the same starstruck feeling that the TV stars gave you.
Comic cons also give you a certain level of character interaction experience. What I mean is: cosplay is an art, and, when executed professionally, leaves fans thinking they’ve come close to meeting their favorite characters in the flesh. Additionally, the cosplay scene allows total freedom for people to express themselves. Queer people make up a significant portion of comic con attendees; here, they can wear rainbow colors and ostentatious costumes with pride and without fear of harassment or prejudice. Furries, too. I admit I know very little about the community, but seeing those massive fursuits and the positive attention they draw always invigorates and inspires me.
This community reminds me to be authentic to myself. What conventions—and later K-pop—taught me is that community is the most vital part of being human. Thankfully, my community is full of freaks, geeks, furries, and Fannibals. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Photos courtesy of Emerald City Comic Con.