This month has been a complete whirlwind, from conventions, a 24-hour movie marathon, 4 library lectures, as well as with all the regular real-life BS that everyone has to deal with. Trying to find to time to actually enjoy the month’s festivities can be a bit tough, while also trying to squeeze some movies whenever you can get a free 90-minutes! I always say at the end of each October, as tired and stressed as I might be, I have had an absolute blast and wouldn’t change a thing.
These are the choices we make. The choices may put extra work on our already full plate, but we do it anyway because it feeds our soul. We know we’re doing it for the right reasons and no matter how much work goes into it, when we look back and see all that we’ve done at the end of the month, you do get that sense of accomplishment.
The first part of the month, we made our way to Strongsville, Ohio, for the Cinema Wasteland show, which we had already posted about earlier this month, so no reason to repeat anything, other than that show remains a staple to myself and a lot of other fans.
A week after that, we headed out to PA for the Monster Bash Conference and, as always, had an absolute blast. Strange thing at this show though. Most likely due to with all that’s going on in the world, but at every show we’ve done this year, our sales were down quite a bit. So, it wasn’t just one show but across the board. And yeah, I know, I sell reference books, so I know my audience is small to begin with. But at this Bash, we not only did better than last year’s show, but even better than last month’s HorrorHound Weekend, which had probably 20 times the number of people. I guess more fans at that show are more interested in paying for overpriced autographs and photo ops than at the Bash. In fact, I had the chance to meet one of the Bash’s guests, Barbara Wilson, who was in 1959 Swedish film Terror in the Midnight Son, who was so nice and pleasant to talk to. I got a signed photo and a picture with her, and it cost me a whopping $20 total for both. This is the same old story that never seems to change, which is why I think we might be making some changes next year in our World Tour. Need to maybe find shows where I’ll have a better audience for what we’re selling.
I’m not sure when exactly happened, but like any addiction, you never realize when your “habit” starts to increase more than you thought. Usually set up at the Bash is Mike Orlando from Hollywood Canteen in Toronto and always has an amazing selection of posters there. While browsing his tables, I found a few things that I was interested in, one of which was a half-sheet for Bert I. Gordon’s King Dinosaur (1955). It was a bit high in what I normally would spend on a piece, not that it wasn’t worth it. But Mike also buys some books from us, so it’s not like I’m really “spending” that much as much as trading, right??? Not only did I come home with the King Dinosaur but also found a one-sheet for William Girdler’s Day of the Animals (1977) and a poster for Funeral Home (1980) under the original title Cries in the Night. Hard to pass up.
One of the things that I love about the Bash is their Mexican Movie Night every Friday night at the shows. Usually, I am way too tired to attempt to stay up for it, but since they were screening The Bloody Vampire (1962), I knew I had to try and attempt it. This one was the 2nd Mexican horror film I had seen, thanks to my friend Monster Mark who forced a few of these movies onto me about 30 years ago, and I have been forever indebted to him for it. Pretty sure I dozed off once or twice during the screening, but it was still pretty cool. This show still is one of our favorites because not only are we “working” but we are having just as much fun as every fan coming through the door.
The following week, we only had to travel to Chicago for this year’s Music Box of Horrors, which would be our last vending event of the year. We’ve only missed a couple of these over the years but always have such a blast here. This year’s event had sold out a little over 24 hours after tickets went on sale, which just insane. We got there a little before 9am to get set up, and there was already a line. Apparently, the line started about 5am!?!?! But just like the last few years, before the doors opened, the line was all the way down the block and around the corner. It just thrills me that the Music Box continues to not only support the horror genre but does events like these to really bring fans together.
I know I’ve mentioned this many times before, but I’ve been coming to the Music Box for over 30 years and it is amazing what they have done over the last decade, really bringing the horror community together. It’s one thing to play a horror film every now and then to make money, but the Music Box and staff continuing promote all genres of movies because it’s what we love. And for them to show the same love and support to horror, and more importantly, the fans of the genre, means the world to this old man. So anytime you can support them, or if you have a local theater in your part of the world, do the same. They need to hear what they are doing is important.
While we were setting up, I was sporting my Jess Franco shirt that indie director Tim Ritter had given me at Wasteland, only to see Will Morris, the programmer for the marathon, sporting our Franco shirt that we had made. And we all know, every day is “Jess Franco Day” to some people!
They had another incredible lineup of films, a couple of which I actually got to sit in on to watch! The one I was excited to see the most was Matango (1963) aka Attack of the Mushroom People. Hard to believe this was directed by the same guy who gave us the original Gojira (1954), but along with director of special effects, Eiji Tsuburaya, it is one of the most unusual and highly memorable films from Toho. And the 35mm print they had made me think it was actually from a 4K DCP! It looked incredible, with the colors just popping right off the screen. Just amazing. But right before that, I did sit in for the 16mm print of Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural (1973) which is a great little low budget classic. More people need to see that one!
This show made our year go out on a huge high, selling a ton of books. I guess it really does show that you need to have the right audience when you’re selling books. And I definitely found them here at the Music Box. This event draws in real film lovers, and ones that love exploring the genre and learning more. And we love to be there to help them do just that.
We lasted until about 2-3am before we decided to pack up. Sales were pretty much done by then and we were beat as it was. But what a way to end our 2025 World Tour, huh? We got to hang out with a ton of other like-minded horror fans, talk movies, have some incredible food from Roger & Rose that were set up outside, even in the pouring rain, they made some damn tasty burgers! Can’t wait to do it all over again next year!
Along with my partner-in-horror, Aaron Christensen, we gave 4 more lectures in our Terror Tuesday series at the Sulzer branch of the Chicago Public Library. This year, we covered International Horrors, hitting Italy, Canada, Spain, and Japan, and had the biggest audience we’ve had since we started doing them, like 5 years ago!?!?! So, a huge thanks to those that came out, and to Eric from Sulzer who makes it happen!
Now we wait until events start happening next year, which will be nice to have a little break. But I know we’ll be ready to go come next March! Thanks again for everyone’s support through this season and the rest of the year. You’re the reason we keep doing what we do!
