A wicked brew of music and the macabre.

Byline: Scott McLennan

Because of its month-ending holiday that celebrates all things ghoulish, October tends to be a busy few weeks for any type of horrific entertainment. Conventions given over to spooky movies dot the country this time of year, and bands playing all sorts of bloodstained music can count on gigs from coast to coast.

In Worcester, though, horror mavens Gina Migliozzi and Kevin Barbare have masterfully brought it all together under one umbrella known as Rock & Shock, a combination convention and concert series given over to the macabre.

"Having the convention and the concerts totally works. The two coincide. A lot of conventions don't get it that the concerts are another form of entertainment this audience likes," said Johnny Butane, one of the founders of horror Web site www.dreadcentral.com.

And Butane knows of what he speaks. He will be at Rock & Shock not only as a featured convention guest but also a musical guest, as his band Viper Rash is set to perform tomorrow at The Palladium, 261 Main St., Worcester.

The Rock & Shock convention opens at 5 p.m. tomorrow at the DCU Center, 50 Foster St., Worcester The convention consists of a dealers room, celebrity room and movie room, all of which operate again at 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Cast members from "Saw III," "Halloween 07," "The Hills Have Eyes," "Texas Chainsaw Massacre II" and "Hatchet" will be on hand for various Q&A panels. Writers Jack Ketchum and Joe Knetter, plus film-industry vets will also be conducting panels and discussions. Screamkings.com is handling the movies and showing a wide assortment of independent films amounting to Rock & Shock's first independent film festival. Throughout the weekend, the horror celebs will be meeting and greeting fans, and there will be plenty of fiendish fiends among the merchants showing up at the event. The convention runs until 10 p.m. tomorrow, 9 p.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday (with the celeb room closing an hour earlier each night).

At The Palladium, Bury Your Dead and Wednesday 13 top the bill tomorrow, with other performances by Creature Feature, First Jason, Anti Product, Bring Me the Horizon, Bad Ash and Viper Rash. That show begins at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Type O Negative finally makes it to Rock & Shock after having to cancel an appearance last year, and will be joined by Lordi, Mushroomhead, Dark Funeral, Daath and Naglfa, with the music cranking up at 6 p.m.

The Web site www.rockandshock.com has the schedule of appearance times and full list of actors

who will be at the convention. Tickets for just the convention are $15 per day or $35 for all three days and are available through Ticketmaster. Tickets for just the concerts at The Palladium are $20 for tomorrow and $30 for Saturday, which include admission to the convention. A $45 pass allows admission to both concerts and all three days of the convention. Concert and convention packages are available through tickets.com

Migliozzi and Barbare began Rock & Shock in 2004 and now are netting some of the truly big names of gore.

"The coup this year was getting Shawnee Smith and Greg Nicotero," Migliozzi said. "Everybody wants to see them."

Smith plays Amanda in all three "Saw" films (making her one of the few characters to survive the bloody storyline) and Nicotero is from K.N.B. Effects Group, which handled special effects of such movies as "Transformers," "Grindhouse" and "Hostel."

Migliozzi, who also manages The Palladium, let loose a "finally" when talking about the booking of goth-metal titans Type O Negative, a quintessential example of a band wrapped up in themes commonly found in horror flicks.

Butane, who has traveled to previous Rock & Shocks, credited Migliozzi's extensive work with touring rock bands for making her the queen of the horror circuit.

"Gina is used to working with bands. She knows how to treat everyone like a rock star. At the other conventions I go to, I see guests show up, sign autographs for however long they are supposed to and leave. Here, the guests like to hang around. They are having fun, and they interact with people all weekend," Butane said.

And that simply enhances the experience for the fan.

Butane's partner at dreadcentral.com, Steve "Uncle Creepy" Barton, concurred that Rock & Shock has blossomed into a premier horror event. As he did last year, Uncle Creepy will be the host of various panels happening at the convention.

"I've been to a lot of shows, and what makes Rock & Shock different is that a lot of people who do these types of events think it's about them, but Rock & Shock is all about the fans," Uncle Creepy said. "It may not be the biggest convention in the world, but every year it is the most fun. It just has a very cool vibe, like an island-of-misfit-toys aspect."

From Migliozzi to Butane to Creepy, the experts agreed that we are living in good times for horror. The amount of new horror movies coming out is staggering, both as theatrical releases and as solely DVD titles, which the horror fans like because those do not have to abide by the tenets of the film industry's rating system.

"R-rated horror is doing better box office, so the genre itself is getting more respect," Creepy said. "But the horror fans want to see every minute of a director's cut. People used to call DVD-only releases `direct-to-DVD hell,' but that has grown into big business for horror."

Butane said horror movies have also simply gotten better.

"It's become a big cultural thing. Horror movies are no longer just for 14-year-old boys who want to see blood and boobs. A lot of those kids grew up and started making movies, and they are putting out good stuff that the demographic enjoys," Butane said.

To that end, Migliozzi pointed to Rob Zombie's remake of "Halloween" as a classic example of the fan growing up and making a well-received and commercially successful horror film.

And Rock & Shock is the place to be for weighing in on the debate over which "Halloween" is better, the original 1978 version (which will be represented at the convention by actress PJ Soles) or Zombie's '07 version (whose William Forsythe and others will be on hand to discuss).

"Rock & Shock is a communal experience," Creepy said. "If you're a horror fan, you put up with a lot of (crap) for liking what you like. But we come out there and are surrounded by our peers and have a good (horrible word deleted) time."

Scott McLennan can bee reached at [e-mail]

Rock & Shock

When: Friday through Sunday

Where: The DCU Center and The Palladium, Worcester

How much: $15 to $45, based on number of days and events

ART: PHOTOS

CUTLINE: (1) Shawnee Smith, left, who plays Amanda in all the "Saw" films, will be at the convention. (2) Gina Migliozzi and Kevin Barbere, organizers of the "Rock & Shock" convention and concert series.

PHOTOG: (2) T&G Staff/MARK C. IDE