By: Jamie Lee Cortese

The evil Martian robot, Torg!  Hmmm… If he’s so evil, then why did he agree to take a picture with me?  A perplexing puzzle indeed…

I’m pretty sure it was at this point that I stopped over at the Chiller Drive-In table.  Having not seen Wolfman Mac around yet (but seeing many of his fellow cast members, including Professor M. Balmer and Torg), I began to talk to the woman at the table (whom I later found out is Wolfman Mac’s assistant) while perusing the merchandise.

She said that she thought she remembered him mentioning the e-mail to them, but informed me that he actually wouldn’t be able to make it to the convention this year, and was “really bummed about it”.  Nevertheless, she handed me one of their promotion cards and asked me to write down my e-mail address on it.  I promptly got down on my knees and proceeded to do so.  When I stood up again to hand it to her, I suddenly saw that she was on the phone.  Not wanting to interrupt her conversation, I stood there silently and waited patiently.

“Hey, Mac?” I heard her say.  Huh?!  My heart skipped a beat.

But I didn’t have very much time to wonder if it was really Wolfman Mac on the phone with her, because she immediately followed up with:

“Yeah, I’ve got someone here who wants to talk to you!”  Without hesitating, she held the cell phone out to me.  I probably looked really silly as I took it and stared at it wide-eyed as if it were a foreign object, asking her incredulously, “Really?”

She nodded, and I finally put the phone to my ear.

“Hello?” I asked anxiously, as if I had never used such a device as a cell phone before (which, for the record, I have).

The voice that responded instantly and so enthusiastically was undeniably that of Wolfman Mac himself.  My own voice shook as I nervously began to introduce myself to him.  Before I could get too far, however, he jumped in, saying, “Yeah, you know what, Jamie?  I think I remember seeing your e-mail!”

Who, me?

As the conversation went on, he said that he’d love to be a part of my project, and instructed me to ask his assistant for his cell phone number so I could call him later in the week for an interview!  After we hung up, she happily did so, and I couldn’t stop staring at it as I carefully slipped it into one of the page protectors in my binder.  By the end of the convention, I ended up buying a very cool Chiller Drive-In pin, and three DVDs from the show:  Island of Lost Content:  Skits That We’ll Never Show Again.  EVER!  Volume 1, Evil Brain From Outer Space, and HorrorHound Special:  Hercules Against the Moon Men!
I went on to meet even more members of the cast of Chiller Drive-In during the convention, including Son of Froggy and Morbid Melvin!

 (Maxwell Smart voice) That’s the second tallest mustachioed frog in a suit I’ve ever seen! (My voice) Just kidding.  It’s Son of Froggy!

I called Wolfman Mac on Sunday night, and after a couple of more brief phone conversations, we succeeded in setting up a phone interview later on in the week.  Like all of the other horror hosts I was fortunate enough to meet, he really impressed me with his enthusiasm and willingness to be a part of my project, especially since I had never actually met him “in the fur”.  However, I hope that I will have the chance someday soon, so I can thank him in person!

Anyway, back at the convention, there was still no sign of Ms. Monster or Count Gregula, but who was that over at the Midnite Mausoleum booth?

Coming up in Part 6: The Daves!  Yes, it’s finally time to find out just why I’m here writing this (kind of long, come to think of it) blog series in the first place!