Unlike last year, I was physically and mentally prepared for Svengoolie’s annual October appearance at the Volo Auto Museum. This involved getting plenty of exercise during the week leading up to it, adequate sleep the night before, and a big bowl of Wheaties the morning of. For those unfamiliar, this is the only Svengoolie appearance that consistently puts him into overtime and I knew I’d be on my feet selling Svengoolie t-shirts, hats, and buttons for the better part of four hours. When I met up with MeTV’s national horror host and his executive producer, Jim Roche, they were as well-rested and ready to go as I was. Svengoolie even danced a sort of jig for Volo’s Marketing Director, Jim Wojdyla, for a video he was working on. It was soon time for him to take on the crowd…

Fans cheered at the sight of Sven as we were escorted to his signing area. Per usual, his line zig-zagged throughout Volo’s main showroom with even more fans lined up outside and waiting their chance to come in. I no sooner set up the merch table before the sales immediately kicked off. My setup was about fifteen feet in front of Svengoolie and right up against the autograph line. This worked out great as it encouraged sales while providing an ideal vantage point for snapping photos – definitely a better angle than the one I had the previous weekend at Nightmare on Chicago Street.

Working between us was a professional photographer who wasn’t afraid to push people out of her way – including Volo employees and me on several occasions. In an effort to accommodate all of Svengoolie’s fans and keep the line moving, Volo doesn’t allow people to take pictures of themselves with Sven using their own cameras like his other appearances but has their own photographer take them all and then post online for free downloads. Although some people weren’t happy about it, everyone agreed it was for the best.

It wasn’t long before I saw a few familiar faces, including Chris Connolly from the YouTube Channel, Mr. C Dives-In. Chris was accompanied by his pal, Edward K. a.k.a. Junkyard the T-Shirt Guy, whom I’d met once before. A couple of months ago, I joined him and Mr. C’s other friends, Chi Star G and Fanboy G (the latter who operates an excellent YouTube Channel called Fanboy Cantina) on a tour of some tremendous Chicago horror-related locales. One of the great things about hanging out with Chris and his peeps is that they all have these fun code names. Consequently, hanging out with these guys feels like you’re on a field trip with The X-Men. As a side note, Junkyard the T-shirt guy gets his moniker from creating cool shirts like the one I bought from him featuring The Flatwoods Monster – a creature I’ve discussed before. He’s a super nice guy and you can (and should) visit his store HERE.

While awaiting their turn to meet Svengoolie, they were approached by Jim. “I start recognizing faces after a while,” he said. Chris gestured over to me and replied, “Well, on occasion I cross paths with that guy over there.” Jim jokingly pretended he didn’t know my name and referred to me as “Dan Martinez” which was pretty funny. I should probably mention that despite my Mexican last name, I’m actually something of a mutt, and the only Spanish I understand is whatever I learned on Sesame Street. Still, “Dan Martinez” could be a useful alias, and perhaps if Chris ever asks me to join his X-Men, I’ll use it.

When it was  Chris and Ed’s turn to meet Svengoolie, they mentioned how the last time the two of them saw him together “live” was when he hosted the 1987 to 1988 New Year’s Eve Party for Chicago’s WFLD-TV Channel 32. The man we now simply call “Svengoolie” had presented horror films on that station as the Son of Svengoolie from 1979-1985 – before it was taken over by FOX. Rich Koz’s Son of Svengoolie would still make appearances here and there until 1995 when he’d return to commercial TV horror hosting, this time simply as “Svengoolie” with the original’s blessing.

They weren’t the only ones with Son of Svengoolie on their minds as a talented artist brought his ‘Son of’ sketch to be signed.

Another familiar face was Warner Huston – this time sans his Jerry G. Bishop costume from last week.

It had been a long time since I’d seen Jamie Lee Cortese and her family but she’s apparently been quite busy. Jamie told me she’s written her own musical and that it will soon be professionally recorded. Knowing Jamie, I’m quite sure it will be unforgettable, and I congratulated her. I also pitched her as a guest for Mr. C’s show and am looking forward to seeing that happen so she can share her Svengoolie fandom and give more details about her project. 

One fan brought a tiny rubber chicken to have signed. I really wanted to see Sven’s reaction and whether or not he was able to actually fit his name on there but was in the middle of making a t-shirt sale and missed it.

The same goes for a clever couple who had him sign their map of Berwyn. I wanted to get a shot of them holding it up but Sven’s customers dictated otherwise. It turns out Volo patrons have deep pockets and by the end of the first hour, we ran out of his $10 button sets. Attention future me reading this post – tell Jim to pack a LOT more buttons for 2024!

Yes, this has definitely been another stellar year for the Svengoolie merchandise machine, In fact, I was in awe of all the new comic books, t-shirt styles, and Svengoolie action figures that have been released since last year’s Volo appearance. A couple weeks ago, they even released 650 blow-up lawn Svengoolie decorations for about $100 a pop and they ALL sold out within 7 hours! To quote Jim Roche, “Sven’s an overnight sensation, 40+ years in the making!” 

There were also a few unique items fans brought in, such as high school photos of Rich Koz and Doug Scharf (Graves). 

Universal’s 1992 Dracula and Creature from the Back Lagoon “motionettes” also made an appearance. I gave Svengoolie the Creature from the Black Lagoon one years back at a holiday “Sventa Claus” appearance. It’s always a pleasure seeing him display it on his desk whenever he airs any of the Universal ‘Creature’ films.

One creative fan made two Svengoolie pumpkins (one for Svengoolie and one for himself) that looked amazing. On Sven’s pumpkin, he wrote the host a nice message.

This same fan also created a “Tom Skillet” – a cast iron skillet painted with the image of legendary Chicago weatherman, Tom Skilling, who recently announced his retirement.

I saw my friend, Jim Currie, and his family dressed as “Zom-Bee Keepers.” Jim used to live near Brookfield Zoo where he organized his neighbors to deck their houses in Halloween decor and scary scenes. Every year I’d bring my four kids and walk along his street; checking out all the amazing set-ups. Jim has since moved to a more rural locale which directly inspired his family’s costume choices this year as they are now proud and successful beekeepers. They graciously gave Svengoolie, Jim Roche, and me some of their homespun honey which was delicious!

One guy sported a Svengoolie tattoo on his right calf and requested that Svengoolie sign it – presumably so he could have a tattoo artist trace over the signature with permanent ink later on.

This was a great experience overall, and, with no upcoming appearances slated in 2023 as of yet, I sure hope I get to see him sometime before C2E2! I don’t think he’s even doing a holiday appearance this year which is probably just as well. I mean, with all this Svengoolie commercialism, it’s a good bet people have forgotten the true meaning of Sventa Claus!

Until next time… 

~Dave