WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — A local comic shop in West Columbia hosted Halloweenfest Saturday afternoon.
The business gave away free Halloween-themed comic books and candy, had photo ops with characters in costume, and had a costume contest. The shop also had local comic artists stop by.
"I think it's fun seeing so many different pieces of pop culture all come together and shared love of all these things, these characters, the movies and games and toys," Florence comic book artist Joshua Adams said. "It's just really cool seeing that there's so many people that have so much in common that they're passionate about."
Adams and his regional counterpart, Dan Evans, recently released two comic books, Kolga and Apollyon 20XX.
Scratch N' Spin Records owner Eric Woodard said they've been hosting Halloweenfest for nearly 10 years.
Woodard said that Halloweenfest is a spinoff of Free Comic Book Day, which happens the first Saturday in May. He said Halloweenfest promotes comic books as a true American art form and exposes comics to a wide variety of people by giving out free special edition comics from major publishers like DC and Marvel.
"Now, of course, Halloween's always one of the -- I guess, in my opinion -- one of the best holidays throughout the year," Woodard said. "It's so fun to be able to dress up, and it's something that kids, adults -- everybody -- can do. And so, in other words, going and taking and incorporating the Halloween elements into the event really makes it, I think, even more fun and brings even more people out, I think, even more than Free Comic Book Day in some ways."
Woodard said about 50 people showed up for the event, with 20 contestants participating in the costume contest.
He said Scratch N' Spin has been in business for 21 years and has carried comics since 2010. The store started celebrating Halloweenfest about 10 years ago.
Woodard said it's always celebrated the weekend before Halloween.
