I noticed Chicago filmmaker, David ‘the Rock’ Nelson, lingering there as well. Nelson’s been referred to as “the Ed Wood of the 21st Century,” and the boutique Blu-ray label, Vinegar Syndrome, even released a collection of his work. In the earlier days of this blog, I used to see him at Chicago area horror events all the time but not so much these last several years. Nelson did not end up waiting for Svengoolie and I never saw him again after this. 

Another familiar face was Warner Todd Huston who wore a custom Son of Svengoolie shirt while pulling a wheeled tribute to the man (now simply Svengoolie) himself. I’d seen his “Kerwyn Kart” last year, but he’s made a few adjustments since.

The Svengoolie crew arrived with the same folks as Friday with the exception of a new camera person, Andres Aurelio. Once again, everyone immediately split up to attend to their tasks, Don and I escorting Svengoolie to Nick Digilio’s podcast show. Since the panel was already underway, Nick began introducing Sven as soon as he saw him. He was joined by his Nick D Podcast co-host, Esmeralda Leon. She used Svengoolie’s scheduled airing of The Black Scorpion (1957) that night as an opportunity to tell a hilarious story of her visiting Mexico and encountering a real one (albeit normal-sized).

Sven’s podcast visit was brief, but entertaining. On his way off-stage, we bumped into actress, Dee Wallace. Wallace was Nick’s main guest, and she gave Svengoolie a hug, agreeing to interview with him later. I should mention that unless it took place after I left for the evening, I don’t think it ever happened. It’s too bad because I adore that woman and had a great discussion with her the day before regarding her own podcast, Conscious Creation. I was grateful, once again, to be able to watch her interview with Digilio on YouTube courtesy of the channel Kenman81. As he was recording LIVE, you can also hear his entire panel (including with Sven) on The Nick D podcast website as well.

We took a break before entering the main convention hall to tape interviews. Rather than travel through public areas, Don took us through the Hyatt’s catacombs for a quicker journey. At this point we knew which guests were willing to be filmed but not if they were available.

Fortunately, his first target, Billy Zane, was ready. The interview went flawlessly and, speaking of flawlessness, the 59-year-old actor didn’t look like he’d aged a day since he played The Phantom (1996). Later that day, Svengoolie’s Producer, Jim Roche, would ponder what the man’s skin care routine was.

I continued playing Silver Surfer to Sven’s Galactus; preparing the Flashback Weekend guests for his arrival (yes, I recently saw The Fantastic Four). And next on the list was one of the Friday the 13ths most renowned “Jasons,” Kane Hodder.  Hodder has been interviewed by Svengoolie before and the two had an excellent rapport. Their chemistry continued to shine in this one.

A last-minute addition to Flashback Weekend’s guest list was Joel Murray. I recognized him as “Freddy Rumsen” from the old AMC series, MAD MEN (2007-2015) which I watched religiously. Somehow, during that time, I never realized he was also one of actor, Bill Murray’s, brothers. He was signing across from Hodder and became Svengoolie’s next, albeit unplanned, visits.

One difference between this Flashback Weekend and previous ones was Sven making a point to pose with the guests so I could capture a nice photo. Usually at these things I’m just snapping away like paparazzi in the hopes of capturing a good shot for the blog. I’d use my trusty Canon SLR, while Jim would have his professional grade Nikon. A few years back, Jim ditched his camera in favor of mobility while I share all my stuff after the event. Consequently, Sven’s been relying more on my pictures for his newsletter. It was nice having that cooperation and, of course, it’s nice that he’s able to make use of them.

Other interviews included Tuesday Knight from A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988). You’ll recall her singing the night before at Svengoolie’s Flashback talk show.

Amanda Wyss from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) was taking a selfie with fans when Sven photobombed them. Her fans were overjoyed to walk away with two Wyss photos, one with and without Svengoolie.

While Sven was interviewing Wyss, Tuesday Knight’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 co-star, Andras Jones (“Rick Johnson”) called me over to him. “Hey!” he said. “How come Svengoolie never asks to interview me when I’m here?” I brought it to their attention, so Svengoolie and crew could rectify the situation. I’ll be honest, the last time I saw any Nightmare on Elm Street movies after Part 3 was when I saw them in theaters back in my teens/early ’20s. I’m definitely going to have to revisit these films during my 2025 October horror movie marathon. It appears that Jones is more a musician than actor these days as he was selling vinyl at his table and no doubt could benefit from some national TV exposure.

The final interview was with Ken Kirzinger (“Jason” from Freddy vs Jason 2003). He was signing for fans when we arrived and, to his credit, took his time with them despite our hanging nearby.

From the interviews, it was off to Sven’s Saturday photo op. Since Robert Englund wasn’t present this time around, things were more relaxed with using my camera.

From here, it was off to the signing.

To be continued…

~Dave