The Vault of Horror: convention

Showing posts with label convention. Show all posts

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Chiller Theatre Strikes Again!

Those of you who have been following my exploits here in The Vault of Horror for some years now have come to expect my (somewhat) annual report from Chiller Theatre, the Northeast's premier horror/genre convention. And I'm proud to say that I made it once again this year, progeny in tow as usual, prepared to bestow upon them all the wonders of geek culture. And this time we really outdid ourselves, because we were joined by the other half of the Terror Team, the one and only Captain Cruella of the Carnivorous Cadavers!

So there we were, the Terror Team along with Zombelina and Skeleton Jack (a.k.a. Wee-Sol), taking in what had to be the best thing happening in Parsippany, New Jersey on this particular day. Getting into the spirit as always, Zombelina was resplendent in Bride of Frankenstein white streaks. The boy simply had to get in on the act as well, and a quick on-site makeup job made him such a dead ringer for Zacherley that when we once again crossed paths with the Cool Ghoul himself, he couldn't help but be impressed and bestow a free autographed pic (not to mention agree to an interview--but more on that later, dear Vault dwellers...)

As for the Captain--well, it's not every day that one gets to attend a horror convention with a real-life zombie. As we plastered the place with VoH cards and took in all the sights, Cruella became one of the sights all to herself, attracting the usual attention and adoration with her unique, undead regalia.

Just as it is every year, Chiller was jam-packed with the kind of celebrities that make the average fanboy quiver with anticipation. So, of course, it was no surprise that we would run into the likes of Susan "Cindy Brady" Olsen and Butch "Eddie Munster" Patrick. However, imagine my shock and bliss when the Captain stopped and pointed out to me that none other than Ernest Borgnine, one of Hollywood's greatest living legends, was seated just a few feet away. Now I'm not one to lose it for just anyone, but this was indeed a treat--to meet the man who won an Oscar for Marty, starred alongside Sinatra in From Here to Eternity and survived The Poseidon Adventure. Not to mention, as I pointed out to the kiddies, is the voice of Mermaid Man on Spongebob Squarepants.

But in terms of photo opps, it got no cooler than P.J. Soles, my very favorite slasher movie victim of all time. We all took turns having our picture taken with this unforgettable scream queen, who once met her bitter end at the hands of Michael Myers in the original Halloween.

And of course, Chiller would be nothing without oceans of wondrous stuff on display, to tempt the hearts and empty the wallets of the faithful. This year, we walked away with a complete DVD collection of the ultra-rare Tales from the Cryptkeeper animated series (I didn't even know the show existed), as well as a vintage (OK, vintage reprint) issue of The Vault of Horror comic book--picked out by Zombelina herself (what can I say, she's proud of the old man.)

We all enjo

yed a leisurely outdoor lunch, as the little ones took turns reading macabre stories from our VoH comic book. After the Captain and I did a little networking with artists and other creative types, and we enjoyed a few other celeb run-ins (Jack took pleasure in scowling at the evil Johnny from The Karate Kid), it soon became clear that the spawn were hitting the wall and it was time to make an exit.

But it didn't end there, because thanks to the resourcefulness and sense of adventure of my zombified counterpart, we soon found ourselves continuing the excursion in a most appropriate place--the supposedly haunted Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, situated about halfway between Chiller and Vault headquarters in idyllic Connecticut. Slipping in just before the gates closed, we wandered the graves with fascination, and even managed to stumble upon (well not literally, that would be disrespectful) the grave stone of Samuel Gompers, noted founder of the American Federation of Labor, and hero to the working class.

All in all, our Sleepy Hollow stopover was a perfect capper to the annual Chiller Theatre outing. And as always, it is one of the unique joys of my life to pass along all the nerdy goodness to my children, just as my parents did with me. This year, that experience was made even more thrilling by being able to share it with my lovely consort. It marked the first time that the Terror Team took Chiller Theatre by storm, and I look forward to many more such incursions to come.

Chiller will be returning in October, and we will certainly be making our best efforts to make it once again, or at least to return by next year's spring installment. I've been coming now for over a decade, and I've been privileged to share it with those special to me. It's a must-have experience for any genre fan, and even if it's gotten just a little smaller and maybe not quite as grandiose as in previous years, it still remains a pilgrimage that any Northeast horror fan worth his or her salt must make.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

VAULTCAST: Conversations in the Dark... w/BC

It's a thrill this week to be joined by the one and only BC of Horror-Movie-a-Day and Bloody-Disgusting, one of my true blogging inspirations. He had an opportunity to attend Comic Con last weekend, and now that the geek explosion has come and gone, I figured I'd have him on to talk about all the stuff that went down in San Diego. While I had his attention, we also went off on random tangents about M. Night Shyamalan's downward spiral, and our cautious expectations for Matt Reeves' Let Me In.

So take a listen to the embedded player below if you dare, or head on over to the new Vaultcast home page, where you can download this installment directly...

Horror-Movie-a-Day: http://horrormovieaday.com
Bloody Disgusting: http://bloody-disgusting.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BrianWCollins

Monday, April 19, 2010

Chiller Theatre: The Best Time You Can Have in New Jersey Without Being in the Mafia

I can always count on the venerable Chiller Theatre Expo, the Northeast's coolest horror convention, to be an absolute blast. And it didn't let me down this time, either. I had the distinct pleasure of immersing myself in the joys of genre fandom once again last Saturday in Parisippany, New Jersey--and just as I did for the October 2008 edition, I brought the brood along. No, not Cronenberg's Brood (although that would've been awesome, all those mutant dwarfs running around the Hilton...), but my brood.

Are there drawbacks to taking my kids along? Sure, I won't lie, of course there are. For instance, the Italian horror panel, featuring cast and crew from Cannibal Holocaust, I Spit on Your Grave, etc.? Yeah, kind of off-limits. Nevertheless, all that was made up for by the kick of spreading the geek to the next generation, passing it down as it was passed down to me. Seeing their expressions as I introduce them to "The Incredible Hulk" Lou Ferrigno (even though he was kind of a jerk, but that went over their sweet little heads...) Letting the boy have his pick of the Godzilla models; letting the girl pick out her fave issue of Creepy Magazine. Watching them get them their first official autograph, from none other than Sharon "Nurse Zombie" Ceccatti (who was anything but a jerk, happy to report):

But of course, it isn't just about the kiddies. Daddy's got to have some fun, too, after all! Which is why I did manage to slip into the Italian horror room juuuust long enough for this to happen:

Yep, that's Camille Keaton herself, looking positively unreal for 59 YEARS OF AGE. Partly because of ISOYG, partly because of the Buster Keaton connection, and partly because I've never heard of her doing a con before, she was the one I was most interested in meeting. And of course, I also couldn't resist snagging an autograph for BJ-C, owner of the Vault's sister blog Day of the Woman (the alternate title of I Spit on Your Grave, of course.) "We make a great couple!" Ms. Keaton said to me as the picture was snapped. I don't know, Camille, I saw that movie--forgive me if I'm trepidatious!

As always, Chiller was a treasure trove of goodies--and yes, even though the era of the internet makes everything easier to acquire these days, there's nothing that beats that certain feeling you get hunting down and finding stuff, and coming across miscellaneous pop culture detritus you may have completely forgotten about. I managed to get my hands on a few things, including a bootleg UK DVD of a certain film not even released yet officially in the U.S. (shhh), the last of the 28 Toho Godzilla flicks I didn't own yet (Tokyo S.O.S. if you're wondering), and this sweet Frankenstein T-shirt (currently discontinued) emblazoned with a vintage 193os poster for the Universal movie, by French artist Jacques Faria:

Not to mention that where else but a horror convention will you see something like this:

Yes, it's cutesy Dr. Herbert West and Conquistador Zombie buddies!

I even had the distinct pleasure of meeting up with other blogging peoples, such as Doug Plomitallo of the horror web series Scared Stiff; as well as one of my very favorite bloggers of them all, Tenebrous Kate of Love Train for the Tenebrous Empire, along with her ever-faithful Baron:

Needless to say, my daughter was highly excited to meet another female blogger (she is Zombelina of Book-Town fame, after all). But alas, the aforementioned Italian horror panel meant it was time for us to part ways, which turned out for the best anyway, as it allowed the kids the opportunity to hand out Vault of Horror calling cards to hapless passersby, drawn in by their irresistible cuteness to become new recruits to the VoH cause!

Then finally, after six and a half glorious hours of rummaging through crates of '70s cartoon bootleg box sets, shaking hands with Frankie "Go Home and Get Your Shinebox" Vincent, literally bumping into Sherilyn Fenn, trying in vain to keep count of how many people were trying (with varying degrees of success) to rock the whole "vintage '50s kustom kulture" look, and other such activities, lil' Zombelina and Wee-Sol did finally hit the proverbial wall, and it was time to bid farewell to Chiller Theatre.

In the end, a splendid time was had by all, even if we lost the bag containing his Justice League mini-buttons, her Universal monster mini-buttons and my Return of the Living Dead refrigerator magnet. I've loved Chiller for more than a decade now. It reminds me of all the things that are great about being a fan, surrounds me with wonderful like-minded people, and takes me back to a simpler time, when the most important thing in life was getting the next issue of Starlog.

Can't wait to go back in October.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Two More Reasons to Feel Like a Loser for Not Being at Comic Con...

When it comes to the Saw franchise, it's been a love/hate relationship with me for some time now. Loved the first one to death, but each sequel has been a disappointment to me, with varying degrees of suckitude. However, that said, none of them have been so bad as to completely put me off the series, and so I keep coming back, plunking down my hard-earned cash, like a sad, middle-aged bachelor at a strip club, who knows he's never going to get his money's worth, but keeps finding himself drawn back for more...

And so, today's news that the San Diego Comic Con will be chock-full of Saw-ness has given me just a couple more reasons to be depressed for not being there. Here it is, the center of the geek universe, the nerd equivalent of that Central Park street gang confab at the beginning of The Warriors, and I'm stuck on the other side of the country yet again. Oh well, there's always the New York Comic Con, which I have on good authority is poised to become a bigger deal than the SD one in the next couple years...

Anyway, the news I have to bring to you today is two-fold. Firstly, Horror-Movies.ca is reporting that the much-anticipated Saw video game, which seems to have been in development since forever, will finally be unveiled by Lionsgate this week at Comic Con. You can check it out at the Lionsgate booth (#3729). The game gets its official release on October 6 from Lionsgate and Konami. X Box and PlayStation 3 versions will be available (how did I guess that there's be no Wii version??).

Also, and even more importantly, the very first teaser trailer for Saw 857, er, I mean, Saw VI, will be introduced by none other than Jigsaw himself, Mr. Tobin Bell. Shock Till You Drop reported yesterday that the world's creepiest actor will be premiering the trailer to fans on Thursday as part of an autograph signing. Talk about sweet deals--that guy somehow continues to be involved in this franchise, despite the fact that his character has been dead for, what, the last two installments in the series??

The Saw series may not be my favorite, but it always manages to somehow keep me mildly interested. I don't know, maybe it's Mrs. B-Sol's continued, inexplicable enthusiasm for it. Anyway, I hope all you lucky bastids enjoy your Comic Con weekend! Anyone itching to do an official Vault of Horror Comic Con report, feel free to hit me up!

* * * * * * * * * *

For those of you wondering what's been going on over at Day of the Woman, rest assured that BJ-C is alive and well. The online Mistress of the Macabre, as most of you know, is a champion baton twirler, and it just so happens that at the moment, her team is competing at Notre Dame University for the National Championship once again. It's a week-long event, hence the relative quiet on the DotW front. But rest assured, BJ has some cool things in store once she returns in triumph. In the meantime, the Vault's best wishes go out to Zion, Illinois' Razzle Dazzles, who have even cooked up a suitably horror-themed twirling routine. Good luck, ladies--show those prehistoric bitches how they do things downtown...