I hadn’t seen Horror Host, Svengoolie, descend upon Berwyn (a town he’s helped make famous) since he Grand Marshalled their “Houby Parade” last October (story HERE). I can’t recall the last time I’d seen him at their local treasure, “Horrorbles,” but I DO know that it was some time before I became a “Terror Dave.”  It couldn’t happen too much for me, as the two seem made for each other. Not only because the Horror themed store is the official supplier of Sven’s rubber chickens but because they are both hallowed horror institutions of Chicagoland.

This would not be the usual Svengoolie/Horrorbles appearance. Horrorbles was unveiling its new comic, “Haunting Tales of Horrorbles” which features a special introduction by Svengoolie, himself! The spectacular 48 page extravaganza sells at the low price of $5.99 and contains five different stories. Created by Rafael Nieves and Dan Dougherty, it perfectly captures the essence of those fantastic EC Comic stories (e.g. “Tales from the Crypt”) that many of us have fond memories of. As the title implies, all five of these fictional stories revolve around the very real store, “Horrorbles,” and is narrated by the store’s owner, John Aranza.

Excerpt from “Haunting Tails of Horrorbles”

Anybody who follows this blog knows that I’ve done a fair share of my own following regarding Svengoolie this summer.  “Horrorbles” would mark my fourth Svengoolie visit in less than a month. I had lofty plans regarding this one. We’d won the Rondo for “Best Blog” this past April and, ever since the statue arrived,  I wanted Svengoolie to sign it. After all, if it hadn’t been for Svengoolie fandom the Terror Daves would never have met and there’ would be no blog. My vision was to bring the statue and have this warm moment of me explaining that to him while also expressing how much we appreciated him. I’d walk out of “Horrorbles” with my statue finally completed along with a nice photo capturing the moment. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite go as I had planned.

Fans await Svengoolie

Anticipating a long line, I arrived 90 minutes early. At that time it was humid as hell and there are two things you can  guarantee regarding me and humidity; I will sweat like a beast and what’s left of my hair will immediately kink up. By the time Sven arrived I looked like I’d been carving gyros in back of a Greek restaurant all day. I was joined by my friends, Ron and Angela Urban (whom I’ve written about before) and talking to them, helped keep my mind off the fact that I was really uncomfortable. Before the signing started, I walked down the line looking for my friend, Joan Yingst, who said she was coming too. One thing I’ve learned from this past month…Svengoolie appearances are to a fanboy what cocktail parties are to rich folks; great social events! I couldn’t find Joan but came across a guy named Chuk Barsick from CarnEvil Filmz who showed off  his awesome Sven tattoo.

Chuk Barsick: The art work on this Chucky’s arm is far from “Child’s Play”

Chuck had grown up watching Svengoolie thanks to his mother who was a huge fan. When she passed away, he had the tattoo created (in Berwyn) as a tribute to her memory.

While waiting, fans could get their copies of “The Haunting Tales of Horrorbles” courtesy of a shop gal selling them on foot.

I didn’t get to see Joan until after we were leaving but she did make good on her promise to show up! I would have loved to have stayed and chatted but I needed to get to any place that had an air-conditioning unit. Hey Joan, tell your husband to bring you to one of Sven’s October appearances and we can try and work out an autograph line coffee clutch!

Svengoolie & Joan Yingst!

When we finally saw Sven I had my award and was in the middle of my speech when the fan who saw him before me jumped in saying the picture they took didn’t take. The speech was ruined but, since I see Svengoolie a lot, I can’t begrudge another fan who is under the crazy belief that seeing him 3 times in a two week period might be a bit excessive. I looked like a sweat-hog anyway and I’m not sure Sven had any idea what I was doing nor why he was being asked to sign my award. I could just have heard Sven & Jim on the ride home. JIM: “Wasn’t that nice of Dave to bring his Rondo?” SVEN: “Yeah…and what the hell was that about anyway?”

Oh well….what can you do?  Its always great seeing him and I had him sign a few copies of the comic book for myself as well as some out of state pals.

Bottom of the Rondo statue

I’m not much of a video guy, but you can see a “Living” version of this Sven’s appearance below…

For more information on how you can get your own copy of “Haunted Tails of Horrorbles,” visit their site by clicking HERE!

Dave Fuentes~