I found a comfortable chair by the Hyatt’s main entrance and settled in among other Flashback attendees. Fortunately, I had plenty of friends to talk to, both new and old. Around 3 pm, when the main convention doors opened, I met up with one of the old ones, “Mayor” Don Johnston, who is no stranger to this blog. Don is synonymous with Flashback Weekend and an all-around awesome guy. He’s always in constant motion for this event while working hard for Svengoolie and his crew when they’re here as well. In my humble opinion, Don is an unsung hero, and for the last fifteen years, has always gone out of his way to make things easier for this glorified fanboy whenever I’m around…and God knows he certainly never has to.

I picked up mine and the rest of the crew’s wristbands from Registration, and Don gave me the keys to a room on the third floor. This would serve as a cooling and rest area for Svengoolie and company, and I was tasked with making sure the air-conditioning was running at full power before they arrived. I had just made it back downstairs when Svengoolie’s producer, Jim Roche, shot me a text saying they were just leaving the station. I took the free time I had left to do some shopping.

This event is tailor-made for physical media collectors like myself. Every year in attendance are boutique labels such as Vinegar Syndrome, Severin, Full Moon, and Synapse. Often, if one of their limited-edition items sells out online, they’ll have some extra stock available for sale here. Thankfully, this was the case with their recent heavy metal horror release, Trick or Treat (1985) box set, which I grabbed along with their brand-new 4K limited box edition of The Deadly Spawn (1983), which was so new it hasn’t been officially announced yet.

From Synapse’s table, I stopped at Severin’s, which was being helmed by my friend, Rafael Diaz. I last saw him at the Nightmare Weekend convention in May, but he didn’t have the movie I was looking for. He made good on his promise to restock for Flashback, and I finally got my 4K/6 Disc set of Dario Argento’s Opera (1987).

With my shoulder bag already brimming with 4K/Blu-rays, it was time to check out the rest of the vendors.

Despite Flashback Weekend taking place less than two weeks after the death of Ozzy Osbourne, some dealers were ready to strike while the iron was hot.

One of the vendors had a box of vintage horror paperbacks, so I was happy to add one of those to my collection. I usually pepper my reading year with a few good old “Paperbacks from Hell,” and this looks like a fun one.

While doing my initial walk-through, I ran into several familiar faces, including Chris Connolly from the Mr. C Dives In YouTube channel. Chris was visiting with his family, but took some time to chat. Chris often visits the Aw Yeah Comics store in Skokie, Illinois, and surprised me with an original sketch of The Hobgoblin (my favorite Spider-Man villain when I was a teen, which is why he’s featured in the upper right of this blog’s banner) from the store by artist Art Balthazar.

I grabbed a bite to eat and was just finishing up when I received an email from the Svengoolie camp specifying which Flashback Weekend guests they’d like lined up for interviews for upcoming “Svengoolie on the Road” segments. Don and I were asked to speak to everyone on the list and see if any of them were willing, but Don was already frazzled with his regular Flashback duties, so I took it on myself. The first person on the list was Billy Zane, who was rumored to be a fan of Svengoolie. This worked out well for me because I intented to have Zane sign the back of my Tombstone (1993) Steelbook anyway.

Zane was indeed a Svengoolie fan and happily agreed to the interview. Both Billy and his sister (Lisa Zane – who was signing next to him) grew up in Chicago watching the original Svengoolie, Jerry G. Bishop, on Screaming Yellow Theatre (1970-1973). They were, however, unaware that Son of Svengoolie and the current Svengoolie are both Rich Koz. While Billy Zane signed my Steelbook, I explained to them the loss of the “Son of” moniker.

Everyone else on Sven’s list also agreed, and while passing Charles Band’s table, I purchased his three Blu-ray set of Primevals (2023). I paid him directly, and it wasn’t until I was driving home that night that it hit me I forgot to have him sign it (Doh!). This movie was filmed thirty years ago, but only recently finalized and released. In fact, Band gave a sneak peek during Flashback Weekend 2023 during Svengoolie and Joe Bob Briggs’ panel. I saw the movie not long after, and if you’re a fan of the old Harryhausen stop-motion Sinbad movies (like me), you will love this throwback monster movie.

After running late due to the Lollapalooza festival in Grant Park, we were alerted that the crew was finally near. Don and I stood by the one-way doors adjoining the private executive lot where they’d be parking. From here on out, my Flashback Weekend experience (and subsequent blogs) will be all about Svengoolie.

Coming up…Freddy Toasts Svengoolie!

~Dave