Monster-Mania August 2022

 August 13, 2022 marked my return to Monster-Mania after not having been there since 2019. I went there with my friend and Master's Minion, Freddie. It was a packed show, both in terms of guests and attendees. A lot came for the Scream reunion, especially for David Arquette and Matthew Lillard, both who had insane lines (Arquette's line looked like absolute nightmare!). But, since I like but am not the biggest fan of that franchise and figured the horrors the Arquette line would be, it really wasn't any loss to me. 

To me, as a ridiculously HUGE Aliens fan, the person I was most pumped to meet was Carrie Henn. She was a little girl when she played Newt in James Cameron's superior, classic sci-fi/ action/ horror sequel. She is rare to cons, in fact, this might only be her second one. Anywho, she is a teacher, nowadays and was so sweet and friendly in person. It was a great way for our day to start. 

Up next for me was Lynn Eastman- Rossi, who played Sally in Don Coscarelli's classic Phantasm. That's one of my favorite movies, and she really doesn't do a lot of cons, if any, either. As such, she was another actress I was excited to meet. The wife of Leo (Halloween II, Maniac Cop 2) Rossi (who was signing autographs right next to her), she's appeared in many other movies, like Night of the Demon (1983) and the underrated Unlawful Entry. She was incredibly amicable and down to earth, in person. We talked about how nice the Tall Man, himself, Angus Scrimm was. I told that he was the first celeb that I ever met, when I was about 13 or so. She also told me that she and her hubby were gonna take a vacation after the weekend of the con was over. Like, I said incredibly sweet and humble in person.

The next celeb I met was dying to do so was Debra S. Hayes, AKA Claudette, the girl of the couple to get killed first in the classic opening to slasher masterpiece Friday the 13th (1980). The fact that she is one of the first two victims in one of horror's most prolific franchise made her a must meet! And, as I have said before, to me the first remains, easily the best in the series and one of the greatest slashers ever made. Anywho, she was very sweet and all smiles in person.  

This cosplay of Spikey from Killer Klowns from Outer Space was probably my favorite cosplay that I saw at the con!

After getting some lunch (which we had to walk to Dunkin Donuts for cause there was a half hour wait for food on top of the half hour we had already waited to get to the front of the line...), we went back to meeting celebs. And, we met the absolutely gorgeous Julie (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dexter) Benz. She has long been one of my favorite actresses and my actual favorite on Buffy/ Angel, where she played vampire hottie and Angel's sire, Darla. I actually met her years ago at a Chiller, where I only got her autograph and not a pic with her. This time, I did the opposite and finally got a pic with her! 

She is absolutely AMAZING in person, as she talked to us for a good amount of time. We even talked about doggies, including hers and the loss of mine. She was so sweet and friendly. Not only does she look amazing, and clearly doesn't age (maybe she is really a vampire!), but also one of the nicest celebs I've ever met at a con. I did mention that I had met her at a Chiller ages ago. She thought about it for a bit and then was like she was in her 20s when she did that con!

The last person that I went up to was Zach (Gremlins 1&2, Waxwork 1&2) Galligan. Despite the fact that the two Gremlins movies are two of my favorite movies of all time, I had never gone up to him. I finally did and got a great pic with him!

These are the autographs that I got on that day. All are my discs from my collection:
Aliens: Carrie Henn

Friday the 13th: Debra S. Hayes

Phantasm: Lynn Eastman-Rossi

This is all the swag that I bought:

Phummy plush by Kid Robot of King Ghidorah

Thundarr the Barbarian: The Complete Series on Blu-Ray (which I bought of Diabolik DVD's booth)

Universal Monsters Creature from the Black Lagoon Gill-Man from Jada Toys

The Evil Dead and Maniac T-shirts from Fright-Rags.

I had a great time, and all of the celebs that we met were so nice. That being said, we were exhausted by the end of the day. 

Before I go I felt it would be wrong of me to not bring up that Gary Busey was kicked out of Monster-Mania on Sunday for alleged sexual offense charges. These is obviously disgusting and abhorrent behavior. You can read more about it here.