I’ve been vendor at movie conventions for well over three decades. I’ve never done this for a living, meaning I have a regular day job, so whether I do good or not at a show isn’t going to break me. I know plenty of vendors where that is there day job, so it is pretty important that they make money. But for me, and a lot of other venders, it’s a little different. Some might think that being a vendor is pretty simple. Just getting a table and some stuff to sell and you’re good to go. But what they don’t tend to realize is the expenses. Let’s say the table costs you $300 and the hotel for two nights is another $300, that means you need to sell $600 worth of merchandise before you even cover those costs. Not to mention the cost of getting there, and food for the weekend. And that still doesn’t include the cost of your product. And if you are making whatever you sell, then there is your time/cost spent doing that. So, if you only made $600, that means you basically gave away $600 of product for free. And if you’re okay with it, that’s fine, just makes it harder to substain.
So, there are times when I look at how we’ve done and wonder if it is all worth the trouble. And honestly, I’ve been thinking of that more and more as of late. I love having the opportunity to pass on horror reference books to eager fans, that are excited to dive into some history about our favorite genre. It’s one of the reasons I chose to deal in these books as opposed to just being another toy dealer or T-shirt vendor. But when you compare how I do at some shows compared to others, it makes me think. Am I wasting my time? Or am I just set up at the wrong shows?
But one thing we tend to forget, which is really important, especially these days… are we having fun? Because if were not, then we really need to take a look at why we are doing it. But if we are, then there really is a value that should be accounted for. Yes, business wise, that’s not going to pay the bills. But for me, if I have a really great time, even when I didn’t really sell enough to cover all my cost, that needs to be considered. Plus, when you have friendly faces like below, who want to make sure you sell all the copies you have of one particular book, then how can you go wrong???
Two weekends ago, we made our first trip to Atlanta for the Monsterama Con, which has been running for over a decade. I’ve known Anthony Taylor, one of the guys behind the show, for years and have always had interests in going, but because Atlanta is 12 hours away, it makes it a little harder to get there, timewise. But this year, we decided to give it a try and just had a great time there. We did okay moneywise, not great, but okay. But it was during the show is when I really started to put some thought into how much fun I was having and that really should be counted as something important, even if the money wasn’t there. As we get older, you start to realize that money comes and goes. Whatever you save money up for, eventually it’s gone. But memories stay with you forever. I have found that is becoming more and more important as I get older. And going to conventions for close to four decades, those memories are still there and something I treasure. Continuing to make more of them, that will continue to last, seems more important these days.
We started our Atlanta trip Thursday morning, with the intention of making a stop in Indianapolis, maybe hit a couple of bookstores, but also to stop by Jockamos Pizza for a late lunch. We were first clued onto this place back in November of 2012 by our good friend Ken Johnson and have been making it a regular stop anytime we are in the area. And it never disappoints. After we had our bellies full, we headed back on the road again, hoping to get to Chattanooga, which would put us about 2 hours outside of Atlanta, which we could finish up the next morning.
We rolled into Chattanooga about 11:30pm, tired as hell. Driving in those mountainous areas, especially at night, and especially when you’re from the Midwest, can be a little challenging. And again, when you’ve been on the road most of the day. The first hotel we stopped at was going to charge us $286 for one night. I didn’t care how tired I was, I’m not paying that much for a night. We drove about 2 minutes away and found a Clarin Inn for $96. Much better, and not a bad place either. We’ll be remembering that place when we come through here next year.
On Friday morning, we made the last couple of hours to make it to the hotel with no problem, found our tables and started to get unloaded, and set up. The dealer isn’t huge, compared to those huge autograph shows, but sometimes smaller is better. They still have a nice variety of vendors to tempt not only people coming through the door, but myself as well!
But one of the great things about this show, which you’d think would be a standard for conventions, but is not, is the amount of programming going on throughout the weekend. They have 3 different rooms dedicated to nothing but panels throughout the day. One of the rooms is just on Kaiju sub-genre, such as one on the DaiMajin series, suit performer Haruo Nakamima who was inside the Godzilla suit for a dozen films, a panel on Kaiju posters, Mothra, Rodan, and many more. One of the other panel rooms had subjects like films from 1956, Richard Matheson’s westerns, Automotive Terrors in Cinema, Trash or Treasure, and so many more interesting subjects. Then there is a room for exhibits and makers, such as how to make your own Necromonicon, as well as introductions to mold-making, resin 3D printing, and so on.
Plus, they also have another room where they are screening a variety of films on 16mm. On Friday, we had the wonderful chance to see a gorgeous looking uncut print of Paul Naschy’s Werewolf and the Yeti, aka Night of the Howling Beast (1975), which is one of my favorites of his work. It was such a treat to get to see this on film. A special shout-out to Hugh, who not only runs the film room here, but also puts on his own film fest, called The World’s Worst Film Festival. He screens films from 3pm to 6am the next morning, and it’s FREE! This year, it’s taking place on Oct. 17th, and at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites, in West Stockbridge, Georgia.
Yet another cool thing this show does is make these photo op displays for you to take advantage of. Last year, they made a little set from The Twilight Zone episode Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. They had 2 airline seats with a window there with the monster looking in. And they brought it back this year too! Since this year’s theme was the 100 Years of Richard Matheson, they made a set with oversized items from The Incredible Shrinking Man, even with a giant spider! And again, the cost was free! That is what a show should be about.
Speaking of free, I got 5 books signed, all for free. Some I bought from the author, but most I brought from my own library. But there was no charge. Author and Dan Curtis expert Jeff Thompson was there, so I had brought along my first edition hardcover copy of The Television Horrors of Dan Curtis to have him sign. I ended up getting copies of Nights of Dan Curtis: The Television Epics of the Dark Shadows Auteur and House of Dan Curtis: The Television Mysteries of the Dark Shadows Auteur. Growing up in the ’70s, Dan Curtis had a big impact on my life, though it would take at least a decade before I knew who the guy behind these movies and TV shows was.
The other author there was Chris Alexander, who has one hell of a career, from working at Rue Morgue, moving to Fangoria and making it a magazine that was worth buying again, even for a short time, before now running his own magazine, the highly entertaining Delirium. He signed my copy of his Corman / Poe book, which is just essential reading, as well as his latest one, Art! Trash! Terror: Adventures in Strange Cinema. I had a nice time chatting with him for a bit about the magazine business, Jess Franco, and a variety of other topics. And again, zero charge for the autographs.
It was also great to see and chat with Daniel Griffith from Ballyhoo Pictures, who I haven’t seen in probably over a decade. I first met him when he was working on a documentary on K. Gordon Murray, which I understand still might be coming! But we shared a love for the strange and the weird. Daniel’s company produces a lot of features and featurettes on Blu-ray releases, which are always enlightening and entertaining. The work he’s done for Film Masters is so much fun. If you’re browsing some new release, and see a feature from Ballyhoo Pictures, then you may just want to invest in that title!
We also had a blast hanging out and chatting with some old friends and new ones alike. Being this was our first time that far south, I’m hoping we’ve made some new connections to booklovers, and they’ll be back to see us next year. But we had a blast and already told Anthony we would be back next year. As I mentioned in the beginning of this little rambling, the amount of fun we had is something you have to put a value to, as well as appreciate it!
On Saturday night, our good friends James and Elle took us, along with Severin ambassador Matt Harding, to some dive of a bar/restaurant, tempting us of a Pad Thai Burrito?!?! But I have to say, that was one damn tasty burrito! And we didn’t get murdered so that’s a bonus too! Honestly though, it’s one of those diamonds in the rough you have to take a chance on and never know the gold you’ll find there!
Overall, the weekend went by way too quickly and next thing you know, it’s time to start packing up. The 12-hour drive home was not something I was looking forward to. We hit the road around 5pm. If we drove straight through, we would have made it home by 3am. I openly debating on it, thinking I could probably make it in one trip. That idea was quickly shut down by the misses, which is definitely the smarter way to go. Sometimes guys, you have to listen to the boss!
After a few hours on the road, we decided to try and find a place to stop for dinner. While in the mountainous area of Tennessee, we passed a billboard for a place called Riverdance and decided to give it a try. I guess we should have looked at the menu before driving up a mountain to get there. While some of the entrees, like the steaks, ran from $40 to $120, we were able to get some salads and a 10” pizza and got out of there for about $50. Sure, a bit pricy, but I have to say, the view from that place is incredible. Yes, you have to drive up a wavy road uphill that looks like one of your lower intestines to get there, and riding your brakes as you go back down, but the view alone is just stunning. Not sure we’d go back, but for a one-time stop, it was worth it.
We stopped somewhere just south of Illinois, and we were up early to make the last trek home. For some reason, the GPS was taking us the backroads way, which made it seem like it was taking forever. But we finally made it, exhausted, but thrilled to be home, and early enough where we had time to relax a bit before unloading the van.
So yes, we will be back at Monsterama next year, for another great weekend of fun! They put on one hell of a show. The way they used to be, filled with fun, a ton of stuff to do, and one that isn’t going to cost you an arm and a leg to just walk into the place.
