Carrie Fisher, George Romero Headline Monster Mania Con

Monster Mania Con lives and breathes on a modified mantra from Field of Dreams:

If you bring the stars, they will come.

It’s the reason Dave Hagan and his sons invest the bulk of a year finding the biggest names and the next up-and-comers, giving people the chance to meet their heroes—and maybe a few they don’t even know yet.

“The big thing with us is always the guest list,” Hagan said in an interview earlier this year. “We want to be the show everybody wants to come to.”

Then it’s hard to argue with how they’ll close out the convention’s 10th anniversary year locally, with Carrie Fisher, George Romero, Christopher Lloyd, Malcolm McDowell, Gary Busey and Danny Glover arriving this weekend at the Crowne Plaza.

And if stars with three decades’ worth of hit films aren’t what you’re looking for, the next batch of big names, from everything from The Walking Dead to Under the Dome, will be right there alongside them.

Though they always try to get the characters fans most identify with, having Princesss Leia on hand is something else.

Fisher, who had to pull out after originally planning to appear at the Cherry Hill convention earlier this year, takes the show “to a whole other level,” Hagan said.

There are, of course, a smattering of actors from cult classics—this show has Jerry Kiser, perhaps best known for spending nearly three hours of screen as the world’s most active dead guy in the Weekend at Bernie’s movies, plus what they’re billing as the Ladies of The Evil Dead—Betsy Baker and Theresa Tilly—who starred in Sam Raimi’s first big hit.

The convention will also feature screenings of nearly two dozen films—including the theatrical release of Star Wars—and the Sinister Shorts film festival screening on Sunday afternoon.

About Monster Mania Con:

Aug. 16-18 at the Crowne Plaza Cherry Hill, 2349 Marlton Pike West

Friday, 5 p.m.-2 a.m.

Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 a.m.

Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Online ticket sales are closed; tickets will be available at the door.

For more information, visit monstermania.net, facebook.com/pages/Monster-Mania-Convention or twitter.com/monstermaniacon