Looking back at FACTS Fall edition 2024

We arrived somewhere between 9 and 10 a.m. and first thing we did was walk around the Dealer Hall to have a look at one some of the merchandise. We decided to get over to the haunted maze (House of Hysteria) before the big crowd would enter at 10 a.m. The haunted maze was by Haunted Maze Belgium and for me it wasn't the first time in one of their creations. They let people in, in small groups of about 5 people. Before we could go inside, we had to put a sack over our heads and hold on to a rope. Once inside an eerie looking guy took the sacks of our heads and let us go into the maze. We went through the multiple areas of the maze and there were some pretty good jump scares. The make up of the scare actors was awesome and they were great in their scary roles. We had a great time in the House of Hysteria, at least I had ...  Nicole was not so happy.

After this adrenaline boost it was time to relax a little bit and we walk into the board game area. The first stand we saw was a stand of Goliath Games and they had a whole bunch of tables set up with their newest board games. One of the games they had was "Scream The Game". We decided to give it a try, only to find out you needed at least 3 players. Luckily, two of the guys from Goliath games were more than happy to play it with us and we had a blast. After the game (we beat Ghostface....yeah!) we went over to the stand and I bought the game. We walked around some more until it was time for our first guest signing.

Next up we had to get in queue for a book signing. The new fantasy novel "The Great Library of Tomorrow" by Mexican writer Rosalia Aguilar Solace. It is the first installment in the Tomorrowland trilogy and it was unveiled at FACTS, with a special appearance by the author. It was in fact the theme for the whole convention. The novel revolves around a group of heroes as they battle a dark force that is set out to destroy openness, creativity and love. We both bought the book and got in queue at the booth. There was a small house with a curtain and behind the curtain the secret signing session took place. The queue was huge and there was somewhat of time pressure, because I also had the photo op with David Boreanaz soon. Time went by, we got closer and the mystery grew bigger. Finally, 2 minutes before the starting time of the photo op we could go in. The interior of the house was beautiful and Rosalia sat behind a desk, with a veil over her face. We talked a little it about fantasy novels and I asked her if I could take a picture of her signing. The add to the mystery, I was only allowed to take a picture of her hands. Can't wait to start reading!

After this mysterious encounter it was time for action. We quickly made our way to the photoBOOTH (see what I did there?) for my photo op with David Boreanaz, who is mostly known for his roles as Angel in the "Angel"/"Buffy" verse and Agent Booth (there it is!) in "Bones". When I checked the program beforehand, I already saw that the panel of Dominic Sherwood would start at the same time as the photo op. I hate it when that happens, because I really wanted to see that one. When we arrived at the photobooth, there was a huge queue. This gave me the opportunity to run over to mainstage, take some pictures of the panel and listen for a few minutes, before running back and get in the queue. When we finally  got at the booth, it all went very fast (as always). David, however, was very nice! Afterwards we ran back to the mainstage and we were just in time for the start of the panel of the legendary John Noble.

After this busy schedule it was time to take care of the inner geek, because we were extremely thirsty. We decided to go for lunch at the Skylounge restaurant, that looks out over the dealer hall. Somewhat recuperated, we met up with our buddy Guy and his little girl. First we took a peek in the Kid You Not Zone (which was not really our cup of tea). Instead we visited the Nintendo stand and after that we decided to look around at the Fanvillage. We loved the Mandalorian set up. We were just enjoying the stand of the Belgian Potterheads, when we saw it was time for the panel of Potter actor Devon Murray. In between this panel and the next one (Felicia Day), we browsed the merchandise. 

After the Felicia Day panel, we went over to the guest hall. We decided to do a selfie with Devon Murray, before the panel with David Boreanaz. Devon was late and time was ticking away. Less than 10 minutes before the start of the panel, Devon was finally at his table. When it was our turn, we got a big smile and Devon complimented my shirt. We had a little talk and took the selfie, before moving on to the next panel of the day. We had a blast at the David Boreanaz panel and afterwards we walked around some more. I bought some caps (at Legend Icon ... what else is new?) and eventually we really had to leave, because it was closing time.

We had an amazing time again at the Fall edition of FACTS, but one day is not enough to do everything! We hope we gave you a good overview of our adventure and see you next edition...with Carola!