The Kryptic World Tour 2017

Yes, 2016 is just a few weeks away from being in the history books. Some might consider it a bad year, some a good one, but it definitely has been an interesting on. So as we all look to 2017, with hopes of a much better world, what better way to do that by announcing the dates for our 2017 Tour! And yes, we can call it our World Tour, even though we are not leaving the states. I mean, they do call it the World Series and they never leave the country, so why can’t we, right? Then again, maybe if that lotto ticket finally hits, maybe we will make it across the pond. Stranger things have happened!

But none the less, we’ve updated our Tour list on the top menu that shows the conventions that we are planning to be at this year, or at least the ones closest to the first part of the year. There might be some additions to that, but we’ll update those as we go. We also have them listed below.

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The Tale of Two 24-Hour Horror Movie Marathons…Part 2

Massacre 2016 sign.jpgThe very following Saturday, on the 22nd of October, was when the other 24-hour marathon, called simply The Massacre, was being held at the Patio Theater. This is another old Chicago theater that is just beautiful. The lobby is just incredible, like stepping back in time. It thrills me to no end  that someone is trying to keep this place open and alive. The theater itself is just huge, with plenty of seating for all the fans coming out to enjoy these movies. In the past, there had been issues with heat, either not having any or in the summer being just way too warm. Lucky for all of us, there weren’t any of those issues now, which was a great relief. Plus, I was not working this event, but was there just to sit back and enjoy the films, which was going to be a nice change of pace after the previous week. Since this time of year tends to be pretty busy for me, it’s tough for me to actually have time to sit and watch a flick every now and then. So this was going to be a great opportunity to do just that.

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The Tale of Two 24-Hour Horror Movie Marathons…Part 1

When I tell some of my non-horror friends that I am going to a 24-hour horror movie marathon, a few might be slightly intrigued, while most give me that strange look of “why in the hell would you want to do that?” If you are a horror fan, then you know exactly why we’d do it. If you’re not, then I’m not sure I could explain it. It is something that each year I tell myself I’m getting too old to do them, but then the next year, I’m right back there for more madness.

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2016 Tour Continues….

With our time of year starting to show itself, with decorations popping up in the stores, we seem just a little less strange than we normally do. It also gives us the opportunity to pick up plenty of stuff for our home decor that we used all year round! But it also does mean that the weekend’s are getting booked with different conventions, movie events, marathons, and all sorts of stuff to celebrate this genre we love so much. We posted a days ago about the upcoming movie events and marathons coming up, so here is the last 3 actual conventions that we will be attending before this year’s tour is over.

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Monster Bash 2016 Report…The Final Chapter

Sunday July 10th

Sundays at a convention tend to be a sobering wake-up call. And that has nothing to do with alcohol, but just the fact that the weekend is almost over and soon we’ll be packing up, loading the van back up, and hitting the road. And when you have an eight our ride looming over you, it makes it even more daunting. Plus, it also means that we’ll all soon have to go back to reality, leaving our monstrous weekend behind. What makes it even more difficult is when you’ve had such a great time these last few days at a show like Monster Bash. It really does make you start counting the days until the next one.

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Monster Bash Report Part 4 – “Where are you going now?”

For our second day at the Bash, when I wasn’t running around hanging out with authors and getting my books signed, I was working behind our table. Well…most of the time. Lucky for me, my partner-in-crime/wife Dawn was there to take charge. In fact, the way her tote bags and pillows were flying off the table, I was starting to think that the Krypt might soon to be a subsidiary of her business Horror Slave! Everyone seems to love our poster prints that we’ve come up with, and seeing a bunch of people walking around the show with one of her tote bags is pretty cool.

Setting up at a con for three days can sometimes throw you a variety of…challenges. Sometimes your table might not be in the best spot in the dealer room. But even in choice spots, one thing that can really drag down the show is your dealer neighbors. Since you’ll be spending the next three days next to them, it can make those drag like weeks if your neighbors might be…shall we say…”difficult”. But lucky for us, we had none of that here. In fact, we had great neighbors! To the right of us was Steve “the t-shirt guy”, which we’ve known for years from doing shows. I can’t think of another guy that has the selection that he does. You can always find something cool in his t-shirt cave!

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Monster Bash 2016 Report Part 3: Authors, Authors and More Authors!

I Talked to a Zombie book.jpgOne of the great things I loved about Monster Bash is the presence of not only books but authors as well. Last year, I got over dozen books signed by a few different authors that were there. And it didn’t cost a penny! It would have been a lot more books but author Tom Weaver wasn’t able to make it to the show. But this year he was, and I was prepared for his return to the Bash, bringing well over a dozen of his books alone for him to sign. Weaver is a deity when it comes to horror history, spending his time seeking out and interviewing stars of the movies we love, both bigger names and not-so-bigger names, and getting their stories and memories down in print for us monster fans to read and learn even more about them.

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Flashback Approaches

In about two weeks, we’ll be hitting our next stop on our 2016 Kryptic World Tour, at the annual Flashback Weekend in Rosemont, IL, taking place on Aug. 5th-7th. We’ve been to everyone of these shows since they started way back in 2002, and this one will be no different. They’ve got a huge list of guests as always, plenty of great dealers, and is just always a fun time. If you’re coming out to the show, make sure you stop by our table and say hello!

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Monster Bash 2016 Report Part 2: Need More Cash

Friday, July 8th

After dealing with our auto repair issues and while my traveling companions struggle to get out of bed, I head downstairs to start getting our table set up. At first, getting it organized by myself seems a daunting task, since I usually have my wife Dawn and my son Nick there to help, but I seem to manage pretty well on my own. Or at least I didn’t destroy anything, or get injured. Always a plus.

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