The second day of Flashback Weekend began before the convention doors opened, with my friends, Don and Bunny, waiting for me downstairs to discuss the previous day. While heading towards the elevators, a group of people wearing Svengoolie shirts began yelling at me from the opposite end of the hotel; seeing my own Sven shirt as a beacon of camaraderie. The most vocal of them was a tall, tattooed redhead who goes by the handle “Catbat.” This group was none other than Svengoolie’s faithful blog commentators; fans who transform his weekly posts into their own communications platform. Although I had no idea what they looked like in real life, I was quite familiar with their Saturday morning banter.
After reaching street level, I spotted my friends lounging amid a comfy cluster of chairs near the hotel’s main entrance. On one side was the corridor leading to the main convention hall and a small, overpriced eatery on the other. This proved the perfect rendezvous point as we were quickly joined by Warner Huston who brought along his homemade rubber chicken blaster.
Warner is an enormous fan of commercial television horror hosts and the previous evening we compared notes on how many we’d each met in person. Thanks to this blog, I was the clear winner having met (in addition to Svengoolie and Joe Bob Briggs) Elvira, Count Gore de Vol, Son of Ghoul, Chilly Billy, Big Chuck and Lil’ John, Stella Desire, Sammy Terry (Junior not Senior), Doctor Shocker, Wolfman Mac, Dr. Gangrene, Cinema Insomnia’s Mister Lobo, Mr. Mephisto, and Fritz the Night Owl – not to mention a plethora of Public Access hosts from across the country. However, when it came to collectibles, Warner had me beat hands down; boasting an impressive array of horror host antiquities, some discussed on his recent appearance on the Mr. C Dives In YouTube channel. Lucky for me, Huston’s not a selfish man and graciously gifted me one of his rare 3D glasses from when Svengoolie (then the “Son of Svengoolie”) aired Revenge of the Creature back in the ‘80s.
Our small group steadily grew as we were joined by Nanette Keir followed by Chris Connollly, Sarah Rhodes (dressed in her signature “Sarah Goolie” attire complete with Jerry G. Bishop-inspired striped pants), and Drew Love a.k.a. the Svenards man.
I also spotted the talented Mitch O’Connell (not to be confused with the politician of the same name) and his latest costume creation for his son – the Tabanga monster from 1957’s From Hell It Came! I have this campy flick on Blu-ray and thought the costume was sheer genius.
When the MeTV crew arrived, I asked Chris if he was willing to accompany me on my Sven duties and guard my yet-to-be-signed Svengoolie mask. Thankfully, he agreed and we made our way to the basement photo-op room where Svengoolie’s Director, Chris Faulkner, was already waiting. Unfortunately, that coffin backdrop kept wanting to topple over and, after Svengoolie arrived and the pictures got underway, his Producer, Jim Roche, had to physically hold it up off camera.
Jim Roche – literally behind the scene!
I sheepishly asked Jim if it was okay to take a picture with them. To my surprise, he agreed and asked Joe Bob if he minded which, thankfully, he didn’t.
This was a fantastic development because I really wanted to buy the $90 Photo Op but decided against it fearing it would clash with my responsibilities to Svengoolie. Case in point, last year I was asked to set up his merchandise table during the time he was doing his Photo ops so it was ready in time for his signing autographs.
Thankfully, this year, that duty was bestowed upon Svengoolie’s Associate Producer, Jane Borim. She would end up handling all T-shirt/hat/button sales while I could do what I enjoy doing the most – taking pictures of fans with Svengoolie using their own cameras. As someone who’d once been a volunteer docent at Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo, it’s something I’ve had plenty of practice with
Jane brought in the bucks!
As pre-arranged, the Catbat and company received their picture with Svengoolie first.
As usual, this Svengoolie Flashback Weekend signing attracted a colorful bunch of fans and handmade gifts.
One unexpectedly warmhearted moment came when greeted by a deaf fan who used sign language. His verbal companion explained that he had created his own sign for the name “Svengoolie” and then demonstrated it for him. It was an extraordinary moment that I have to admit, brought a tear to my eye.
Later in the signing, Charles Band showed up for a brief cha. Back in the early ‘2000s, and before he was able to show the Universal Classics, Svengoolie had Band’s Full Moon package of films. Though nowhere near the quality of the Universal classics, I have plenty of fond memories of his showing such off-beat flicks as Ragdoll, Head of the Family, The Creeps, and many more. They attempted to work out an on-camera interview for Svengoolie’s show but it was not to be. This was the crew’s biggest dilemma at Flashback Weekend. Whereas C2E2 (Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo) poses the challenge of finding willing interviewees available when the crew is, Flashback has an abundance of willing guests but not enough time to get to them thanks to Sven’s busy schedule and the now colossal costume contest.
After the signing, we went up to Sven’s designated hotel room which, as mentioned in my last post, was where Sven could rest up when possible. It was here where Svengoolie signed my mask and took some fun pictures with it.
Radio Misfits podcaster, Nick Digilio, from the Nick D podcast, arrived soon after. Nick convinced Sven to make interviewing Dick Warlock a priority by sharing how great his panel went the night before and encouraging him to visit the Christine car.
Soon Svengoolie and crew descended back to the main hall with Christine his first stop along with an interview with its owner, Bill Gibson. It’s been forty years since the Stephen King adaptation, directed by John Carpenter, hit theaters and Flashback Weekend offered a reunion of sorts. In addition to the car, the film’s three bullies, Buddy (William Ostrander), Moochie (Malcolm Danare), and Rich (Steven Tash) were also featured guests and signing nearby.
While Svengoolie was talking with Gibson, Steven Tash left his table and came up next to me while I was shooting photos. “Is that Svengoolie?” he asked. After confirming that it was, he replied incredulously, “Wait…isn’t he supposed to be an old guy? Man, he looks great for his age. I need to start wearing makeup!” When Svengoolie left Christine, I shared what Tash had told me and he laughed and went over to him. I didn’t hear the full conversation, just Tash saying, “I was just admiring your makeup.”
The next interview Svengoolie conducted was with Dick Warlock. This one I am really looking forward to seeing this on a future “Svengoolie-on-the-Road” segment as I couldn’t hear anything they were saying but saw that Sven was very pleased with the results.
The last interview was with Trick or Treat Studios’ Monster Matt and a discussion on the Svengoolie mask.
As we were leaving, Svengoolie received a warm greeting from “Charmed” actress, Holly Marie Combs. Combs was willing to do an interview but the crew was already preparing for the annual costume contest that was fast approaching.
My original plan was to do a single blog on Flashback Weekend Saturday but the costume contest and Alan Howarth concert are going to require posts of their own.
And so I shall end this chapter with the Svengoolie crew and I heading down the escalator to the Hyatt Regency’s basement level, where the big costume contest was about to begin…
Dave~