The horror community and attending horror related events

I live in Southern California.  I can't speak for the rest of the world, but I believe the horror community here is comprised of a small, but devoted group of people.  These are the people that watch indie horror movies, go to horror conventions, attend horror film festivals, etc.

I would guestimate the number in the Southern California area to be around 1,000.  That is a pretty small number for such a populated geographical region.  I tend to see the same people at horror events here.  Maybe we should all carpool to these things.

At general conventions, the horror panels don't seem to draw a large attendance.  Horror-related panels at the popular San Diego Comic Con are always easy to get into. 

We know that we are a small group, and most of us do our best to support horror in various ways.  With the horror community being as small as it is, I think it is important for people who put on horror events to listen to feedback from horror fans.

 I think what happened with the Weekend of Horrors convention is a good example of this.  The people who ran it did 80% of things right.  The frustrating part was that they would not do the small things to take care of the 20% of things that they did wrong.  They had a tiered ticketing system and screwed over the people who paid for the more expensive ticket types.  For example, they sold reserved seats for the panels at double the normal price and then did not enforce the reserved seat rule.  People that bought reserved seats felt like idiots for paying more and had to kick out people that were sitting in their reserved seats, themselves.  The people who ran the convention ignored suggestions on how to fix the convention.  Unhappy attendees means lower attendance numbers for future conventions.  As a result, the Weekend of Horrors convention is no more.  I think there is a lesson here.

A frustrating thing is happening regarding horror events this year.  There aren't many major horror events that occur in the Southern California area, and yet The Days of the Dead Horror Convention, The Long Beach Comic and Horror Con, and the HP Lovecraft Film Festival are all taking place on the same weekend this year, September 27th and 28th.  It is maddening as hell!  Why!?