Saturday, August 3, 2019, 4:15 PM: I enter Ballroom 1 at the Crowne Plaza in Rosemont and quickly take a seat next to my friend’s, Ron and Angela Urban. Those two always show up to panels and events early and get the best seats. The participants in this year’s costume parade were all lined up against the wall. The first thing I notice is how many kids there are. Usually, the Flashback Weekend costume contest kids division is lucky to have three or four entries. This year, however, they were a force to be reckoned with. But I’m getting ahead of myself here…
4:20 PM: WGN Radio’s Nick Digilio takes the stage as he does every year to introduce Svengoolie. Nick has made no secret that the costume contest is his favorite part of Flashback Weekend and I can tell by his enthusiasm he knows this will be one of the best ever.
4:25 PM: The costume contest kicks off with the kids!
You can tell which twin takes her role the most seriously
Every year it seems like artist Mitch O’Connell’s son steals the show with his campy/fun costumes and this year he outdid himself! Dressed as the furry “Ro-Man” from Robot Monster (1953) this adorable contestant even brought along his own bubble machine!
I didn’t care for the new “Pet Sematary” but this “Ellie” was spot on!
Don Johnston literally helped cart out the next contestant dressed as Hannibal Lector. She’d been rehearsing her lines offstage and when Svengoolie put the microphone in front of her she yelled, “Fava beans!!!” It was really funny!
I always get a kick out of seeing Svengoolie with the Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) because it reminds me of when he presented the film years back and did that hilarious parody of Jim Croche’s “Bad Bad Leroy Brown” (Bad Bad Killer Klowns). Here we had two Killer Klowns who not only looked the part but stopped for a bloody refreshment courtesy of their cotton-candied victim!
And the Ro-Man Wins!!! (and should probably avoid Ellie)
With the kids’ division over, it was time for the adults…
Svengoolie: Why, you look like Hell, boy!
Svengoolie: “It’s Ripley…Believe it or not!”
And the winner is…
4:55 PM: With a brief window of time before Svengoolie’s big 40th Anniversary VIP party, we all head to the main convention hall. It’s time for Sven to do his annual walk through while snagging as many interviews for his show he can.
And who will he get this year? Stay tuned for the FINAL chapter of my Flashback Weekend Diaries series to find out!
Dave~
Terror from Beyond the Dave 
Greetings, David!
I enjoyed reading your latest edition of the “Terror From Beyond the Dave” “Flashback Weekend Diaries” series on Svengoolie’s “Flashback Weekend 2019” appearance at the “Sinister Visions Costume Contest!”
Awesome, neat & cool that you experienced Sven’s host appearance with WGN Radio’s Nick Digilio and his introduction to Sven at the costume contest! I also enjoyed seeing the eyewitness snapshots of the various horror-TV film costume participants with Sven! Glad to hear you enjoyed the “Sinister Visions Costume Contest” with Sven, Nick and the many costume contest participants at “Flashback Weekend 2019!”
Congratulations and two thumbs up from the entire crowd of fellow coast-to-coast super SvenPals everywhere! Looking forward to the finale of your Sven/”Flashback Weekend 2019” highlights on your blog!
See you and all fellow super SvenPals everywhere in the airlanes this Sat. for Svengoolie’s big coast-to-coast broadcast of the classic Jack H. Harris-Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. sci-fi thriller, “4-D Man” (1959) with Robert Lansing, Lee Meriwether, young Patty Duke and James Congdon onMe-TV! Peace, kudos, “Hi-Keeba” and again, keep up the excellent work; David!
-All the best,
Chris Hamby
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