Mad Monster Party Dispatch #2

The Dealer's Room. Notice the plush face-huggers on the far right.

Saturday was another fantastic day at The Mad Monster Party con in uptown Charlotte.  I met a lot of cool people, and caught up with some great friends and authors.

In the morning, Joel and Kathryn visited the show, and we toured the vendor's room.  Joel was in a state of nirvana looking at all the monster toys and costumes.  He had his eye on a plush face-hugger (!) and a Boris Karloff Mummy figure, but what finally got the nod from my monster-loving five-year old was a cool collectible he found at the Rebel Base table.  

Specifically, Joel saw a Mad Scientist "Dissect an Alien" Kit (Mattel; 1986), and that was absolutely the thing.  After we purchased it for him, Joel was ready to go home and start dissecting aliens with the kit's (plastic) scalpel.  I'll do a full "collectible of the week" feature on this neat toy in the days ahead, but for Joel, it was certainly the find of the day.  As I walked Kathryn and Joel out (following their tour of the horror vehicles on display...) we ran into Dee Wallace, and she was so sweet to Joel. 

Here's the thing about Dee Wallace, in case you haven't met her in person.  She has absolutely not aged a day since 1982.  Seriously.  I'm not exaggerating.  I'm not being nice or polite.  She is as beautiful and youthful and vivacious as she was in E.T. (1982), The Howling (1981) and Cujo (1983).  I kept looking for some sign that three decades had taken a toll -- any toll -- and it was impossible.  I told her she must have a picture aging in an attic somewhere.

Joel also got to meet Camden Toy, the "gentleman" who played some of the absolute creepiest characters on Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  He's a great guy, and put Joel at ease immediately, despite the huge banner of ghoulish demons behind him...

Kenny Caperton, of N.C.'s Myers House.

After Joel and Kathryn headed home, I caught up with my friend Kenny Caperton, the young gent I met in 2010 when we both appeared in the Biography Channel's Halloween movie special.

Kenny had his house in Hillsborough built to the plans and specifications of Michael Myers' famous house in the original Halloween (1978), and it is an amazing sight and a great horror enthusiast destination.

There are so many cool things about the N.C. Myers House, including Kenny's extensive collection of Halloween memorabilia, but I also love the details of the property itself.  The Myers House is out there alone, at the end of a long, isolated dirt road, on this vast parcel of land, with a great view of fields and farmland beyond.   It's...perfectly scary. As I gear up for my next web series, I'm hoping to shoot an episode at The Myers House.

Zachary Kelley and your truly, at our booth.

Another great joy yesterday was that I got to meet up and talk with Zachary Kelley, the blogger extraordinaire of The Lightning Bug's Lair.

He is such a great guy (in addition to being a great writer), and he was extremely patient with me as I tried to shoot a brief video with him.  I'm hoping to catch up with Zachary again soon, since I had forgotten we're practically neighbors here in the South.  That happens when you get to be middle-aged like me...

Today is the last day of the Con, and I'm hoping to sell a few more copies of Horror Films of the 1990s or The Unseen Force: The Films of Sam Raimi.

If you come  to Mad Monster Party, come visit me at our booth!