NOTES FROM THE CONVENTION FLOOR

A couple of things have been brewing here in the Mysterious Mansion:

On the weekend of April 12-14 I attended my very first MONSTERPALOOZA at the Burbank Marriott in the heart of L.A.’s TV Land. If I had only one word to describe it (and “awesome” doesn’t count), I would have to say it was “overwhelming”.

Two-and-a-half days are hardly enough to experience this way huge event – an endless expanse of dealer’s tables; display after display of sculpture, models, artwork and all other kinds of monsterabilia; a star-studded room holding such luminaries as Danny Glover, Martin Landau, Tom Noonan, Barbara Steele and Angie Everhart; a line-up of interesting talks and presentations from folks like Tom Savini and a King Kong 80^th birthday celebration – all contributed to an experience that I will find hard to forget any time soon.

Amping up the cool was the opportunity to meet up with “Hall of Flame” Doug, my friend of about a half-a-century, who I haven’t seen in well more than a half-a-dozen years. To share this event with a fellow monsterologist only added to the cumulative “wow” factor.

I was also fortunate to meet a number of fellow bloggers and correspondents, such as Pete “Yellow Phantom” Infelise at the NIGHT OWL mask table, monster movie marketeer Scott Essman, and storyboardist extraordinaire Pete Von Sholly. Not only that, but I also had the deep honor of meeting monster luminaries such as Sara Karloff, the Ron Chaney’s, the still-gorgeous Julie Adams, Jessie Lilly, Daniel Horne, and the last of the classic Universal monster players, Carla Laemmle.

Attending this event was worth every penny and every bit of energy to get there. I waded for 3 days through a crowd of ink and hair dye, as well as a fair share of “old dudes” like myself. It was satisfying to see a cross-section of people interested in this most wondrous of subjects. One thing I can say is that, with shows like MONSTERPALOOZA, monsterdom is in good claws – er, hands for years to come.

On another note, MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD celebrated its 1,500^th post this week. I never thought I had this much to say about monster magazines and memorabilia, but here I am, just a few days past a 3-year anniversary, still gabbing about ghouls! I hope that you are enjoying my efforts and continue to visit on a regular basis. In return, I intend to give you back my enthusiasm for all things monsters, along with a few surprises along the way.