Guys there’s no bombshell here: I love horror movies. In the era of ultimate geekdom, where comic book and science fiction seem to be at mass capacity and quality, the horror genre continues to remain the odd and recluse cousin (who has a body stashed in the attic) of the fantasy medium. I take pride in the fact that I went from a frightened child, too scared of my own shadow, too afraid to even try to trick-or-treat or venture down the Horror section of Blockbuster, to an obsessive nerd who could bore you to tears about the history of the Halloween series and why Halloween 5* is the worst of the lot.  So when my co-workers introduced me to the Burbank based convention, Monsterpalooza, there was absolutely nothing from stopping me from blowing my paycheck.

There were two Monsterpaloozas this year, the first one held back in April, and a September one, dubbed “Son of Monsterpalooza“.  Both times I could only attend for one day, and today worked out in my favor as I have just returned from visiting my family this past week to see that this was still going on. While I was only there for the back half of Day 3, I had a great time and felt like a little kid in a candy shop. The immediate highlight of this trip that was different from my last trip, was that the special guests were not secluded in the adjacent hotel side of the Marriott Convention Center, but were spread throughout the halls of the convention blended in with the make-up artists and the vendors.

Here’s a list of all the great people I saw today: William Forsythe, William Katt, Ken Foree (who spent his time entertaining a mother and her wheelchair bound daughter), Ken Kirzinger, Sid Haig, Tom Atkins, Eileen Dietz, Felicia Rose, Doug Jones (who I actually didn’t recognize in person but he was on the floor taking pictures with everyone and I walked by him like ten times), fucking Lance Henrikson, and Charles Cyphers. I had a brief talk with Cyphers; he asked me about my necklace and then I couldn’t think of what to say after that, so I just told him how much I loved The Fog (that soundtrack though) and waved goodbye. On the drive home I kicked myself for not going back and just gushing about John Carpenter, but still not as embarrassing as my encounter with PJ Soles. Unfortunately David Naughton and Dario Argento cancelled.

Throughout Monsterpalooza you’ll also note the numerous booths that house FX artists and their models. Each time you return to those booths you’ll be amazed by how different the makeup and prosthetics looks after just half an hour. These people are genuine artists and the monsters they create are all very different and unique. It’s something I would love to take a class on if I had the money to do so. As is the case with any convention, you’ll also see cosplayers. The immediate costume that comes to mind is a very intricate Spawn costume, the zombie from Hocus Pocus, along with a regal lizard man, a zombie bellydancer, a Micheal Myers and Leatherface duo, and some other obscure creatures done to the hilt.

But that swag though. That’s what I came for. I bought significantly more this time than I did in April, where I only bought a Psycho t-shirt (that I’m wearing right now! It’s super comfy!) and an “authentic cabin number” keychain from Camp Crystal Lake. However, I was on a mission for an An American Werewolf in London poster (or anything really), so I sought out my favorite vendor at these conventions, Oddball Books. The bad news, no Werewolf in London anything. Good news is that I got their email. Amazing news, I walked away with a reprint of this:

1. I’ve never seen this poster before.
2. I asked if this was a teaser poster, since it’s not foreign and clearly wasn’t used in the capacity that the original Friday the 13th image was. It’s just an alternative.
3. This poster is actually fucking scary.
4. Friday the 13th is apparently my go-to memorabilia. Even though I’m a huge Elm Street fan, I have way more Friday the 13th stuff.
5. Yeah no, this is not going to be hung anywhere near my bed. Thanks to Inglorious Basterds I already believe that I’ll be stabbed to death through a pillow when I go to sleep.

Also, being a huge fan of the band Goblin, I snatched up the soundtrack for Dawn of the Dead. I’ve had the extreme pleasure of seeing Goblin live back in 2013 so I will buy anything that has their music. Also, it’s Dawn of the Dead. At the same booth, Monsters in Motion, I found a NECA figurine of the Xenomorph from the Nintendo Entertainment System game Alien 3. While he would have been a great addition with my NES NECAs of Freddy and Jason, I actually bought him as a birthday present (and I got five dollars off on it!).

And speaking of reprints, I concluded my shopping spree with an Yvonne Craig Batgirl shirt and a small poster of the recalled teaser poster for Return of the Jedi. The reason for its recall was due to the title, which during pre-production was briefly titled, Revenge of the Jedi. That’s going to my brother and nephew, being the big Star Wars fans that they are.

Regrets: An Italian print of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge. It was just slightly over my budget, but I do honestly love that poster to pieces. There was also a two-hundred dollar original poster of The Phantom of the Paradise, which like the two-hundred dollar Creepshow poster, I couldn’t justify buying.

So as we enter the month of October, I’m happy I got to indulge in my nerdiness just in time for the Halloween season to kick in. I strongly encourage anyone to try to go to a convention some time because it’s fun, you’ll never know what to expect, and you’re gonna see so much cool stuff. Currently the background on my phone is a picture of a real-life replica of the Creepshow booth from the poster. There’s a very unique excitement when something you admire on film or television becomes tangible and stands right in front of you. Thank you so much for a great experience Son of Monsterpalooza, I’ll see you next year!

Forty-seven days til’ Hall-o-ween, Sil-ver Shamrock.

*That movie is boring as shit. Resurrection might be worse for existing when it absolutely didn’t need to exist after H20‘s excellent conclusion, but at least it’s watchable. Halloween 5 is an absolute miserable sit and more importantly, you watch a little girl be terrorized from first frame to the last, never letting up on how hopeless and completely helpless she is.