I left my hotel in Cleveland around 7:30 am on Friday, May 29^th, and began my seven-hour trek to Iselin, New Jersey. As with every other day of this trip, the weather was perfect, and I was pleased that the majority of the drive would be through Pennsylvania. I’ve journeyed end to end through this state several times before, and, unlike Ohio, which has endless construction and a hypervigilant cop stationed every 10 to 20 miles, Pennsylvania is quiet, with less traffic, and stunningly beautiful. I saw countless green mountains while occasionally getting to drive right through them.

I knew I was getting close to the New Jersey border when I started seeing Wawa gas station signs.  In my humble opinion (and I think many others out east will agree), this is home to the absolute best grab-n’-go coffee and creamers. The last time I had Wawa (a Wawa is a bird, btw) was probably about ten years ago. I decided this warranted a special pit stop despite having already pumped a full tank of gas in Pennsylvania and rarely drinking coffee in the afternoon. I even picked up a couple of their signature creamers to pack in the cooler for the trip home. 

While inside, an older man started making a scene. “I want my coffee!” he kept barking. From what I could see, there was plenty of self-serve coffee (I had no trouble getting mine), so the only explanation I could think of for this tirade was that perhaps they were out of decaf or some flavored variety(?). Hopefully, it was the former, as this old coot was kicking up such a fuss that the manager had to come out to placate him. Honestly, I know people joke about “needing” their coffee, but I’ve never seen anyone actually get this upset over it before (especially at 3 pm). He reminded me of the corpse in the “Father’s Day” segment of Creepshow (1982). Every time he yelled “I want my coffee!” all I heard was Bedelia…I want my cake!!!”  I quickly paid the clerk and couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Although, in hindsight, I suppose there are worse ways of kicking off a horror convention than having Creepshow on your mind.

Jason arrived at the hotel before I did, and we met up in the back lot, which was huge and offered plenty of FREE parking. Thank God! Try finding free parking at a Chicago con.

A luggage cart was available, so we managed to get all our stuff inside in one trip. I checked us in, and we had over an hour to kill before convention registration. We caught up a bit in the room while Jason shared his treasures. Every time Jason and I get together, it feels like Christmas morning as he invariably brings me a stack of movies and posters. Jason is a true Cinephile and fan of the drive-in/ theater-going experience. Despite having a full-time job, his love of film inspired him to work at local theaters in his free time, which garners him LOTS of official 27” x 41” double-sided posters. He’s generously given me many of these over the years, resulting in my having most of the MARVEL and DC posters and so much more. For a while, I was stashing so many of them around my apartment that every time I opened a closet, poster tubes would rain down on me. Earlier this year, I made the wise choice to ditch the tubes in favor of Baroque Portfolios, which, although pricey, were well worth it. Now I can keep them safely in a binder that conveniently slides right under the bed.

As it neared 5 pm, we went back downstairs to get in line for our wristbands. Jason had bought our weekend passes, and I had additional ones for meeting Peter Criss (more on that in my next post). Once fitted, we made our way through the adjoining dealer rooms. The first one was tight and reminiscent of a flea market.

Not surprisingly, many folks were selling KISS related merchandise.

There were also many booths selling physical media at surprisingly good prices. This was especially true for one dealer who had an abundance of 4K Australian Imprint titles at fair rates (especially when you factor in not having to pay overseas shipping). Vintage VHS tapes were also in abundance. I didn’t buy any and can’t recall if Jason did, though he spent a lot of time going through them.

I did purchase a retro NECA “Spaceman” (Ace Frehley) from their Ben Cooper Costume Kids collection. The dolls are basically young ‘70s/’80s kids dressed in those popular Ben Cooper Halloween costumes most of us wore back in the day. Fellow Gen X’ers will recall them lining the shelves of Zayre in cardboard boxes with plastic masks and sleeveless smocks inside. I distinctly remember being Spider-Man one year.

Whether motivated by nostalgia or just finding them so darn cute, I bought the other three KISS figures at my local comic book shop back in October. Tragically, this was also around the time their original lead guitarist (and ONLY true “Spaceman” so far as I’m concerned) Ace Frehley passed away. This led to the “Spaceman” figure fast becoming obsolete and only available via the secondary market. I’d gone online these past months searching for one to complete my set, and the cheapest I ever came across was $50 with shipping. So, when I asked the vendor at this event how much she was selling hers for, I held my breath, expecting the worst. “Twenty dollars,” she replied. Jason would later say this was the fastest he’d ever seen someone agree to buy something.

Jason and I met independent filmmaker Newt Wallen, whose booth featured props and photos of his work. He also had 11×17 posters of his feature, Amityville Pool Toy Massacre, featuring “Darcy” (Diana Prince) from the recently canceled Joe Bob’s Last Drive-in. We chatted a while, lamenting the end of Briggs’ show and, although the decision to end his tenure on SHUDDER was presented as amicable (he still has a couple of specials scheduled on the horror-themed streaming service this year), Kerr seemed to hint that there were shadier goings-on behind the scenes. Unfortunately, he refused to elaborate despite Jason and me trying to needle him for information.

Guitarist Lita Ford was also in attendance. Unlike most of the other celebrity guests, who were in a separate room, she occupied a large corner among the dealers. My friend, Russ Wrangler, and I met her at the Indianapolis Days of the Dead convention back in 2013, but I wanted to see her again as I’d recently read her autobiography, “Living Like a Runaway,” and had an album for her to sign. I didn’t have it with me during my initial walk-through, but that’s not to say we didn’t interact.

In Ford’s book, she discussed dating Ritchie Blackmore from the band Deep Purple and how he’d given her an owl ring. Blackmore was apparently obsessed with the animal, as it was a symbol of “wisdom” (Side Note: this is an incorrect pop-culture myth; if you’re looking for birdies with brains, look to the raven/crow family instead). Unfortunately, the ring was stolen in Chicago while Ford was touring with The Runaways. I bring this up because while perusing the dealer room, I saw a woman selling rings, one of which was an owl ring.

It was inexpensive, so I picked it up and brought it over to Lita. I told her I’d read her book and, since I was from Chicago, I felt obligated to replace the one that was stolen from her. She thought it was hilarious and immediately put it on for a photo.

Seeing as there weren’t a lot of people waiting at Ford’s table at the time, I decided to go back upstairs and retrieve the album. When I came back down, Ford asked if I’d mind her taking a quick break first, and, of course, I agreed. Unfortunately, this gave me too much time to peruse what she was offering at her booth, which is how I ended up with a second mini guitar in as many days (the first one discussed in my last post on The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum). Ford offered three different replicas, including a double-necked guitar, which is what she uses onstage when she performs the power ballad “Close My Eyes Forever” – her 1988 duet with Ozzy Osbourne. I was leaning towards the red one, but decided to go with the double-neck instead. If you’re going to have a mini guitar collection, you may as well opt for something unusual.

Lita’s break didn’t seem to help put her in a good headspace. I took a photo of her signing my album, and she snips, “I don’t like it when people take pictures of the top of my head.” I explained I wasn’t getting her head, just her hands signing the record, and she snapped back, “I don’t like the back of my hands getting photographed, either!” It was obvious that any goodwill I’d garnered from the owl ring had quickly evaporated. I was taken aback and suppressed the urge to mention that she had no problem with the backs of her hands being photographed 20 minutes earlier while she was showing off her rings. Instead, I lowered my phone and apologized. It never occurred to me that I was being obtrusive, and I wondered if it was more about money. If so, she’d probably die if she knew that while she was on break, her handler agreed to forgo her $40 table-selfie fee since I bought the guitar.

(This is the spot I’d have posted that ‘offensive’ picture of her signing if I weren’t such a nice guy)

One thing to note: if you’re getting something signed by Lita Ford, she signs LARGE and insists on personalizing. I don’t have a problem with the latter, as I’ve always preferred getting my stuff personalized; I’m not a reseller and don’t give a hoot about what happens to it or what it’s worth after I’m dead. But BOY did she make use of that album’s negative space!

Because of her signature size, there wasn’t enough room for her to personalize the guitar (and I picked the one with the most surface area!). She stopped and looked at me, side-eyed. “You aren’t planning to sell this, are you?” she asked accusingly. I responded in total honesty, “NO.” Meanwhile, I’m thinking, “YOU’RE the one selling these guitars, lady. Did it not occur to you to buy thinner Sharpies and practice writing smaller to accommodate them?” Honestly, how is this predicament my fault? With an air of reluctance, she signed the guitar. Now, I do understand the concern about resellers hocking celebrity autographs at inflated prices, but Ford was charging $150 for these guitars with a signature. I’m thinking even if I did sell the damned thing, she’d still come out okay.

Despite some tense moments and feeling like I’d just taken a ride on the Bipolar Express, Ford did take the time to talk with me. We discussed her book and Ozzy Osbourne. She said that Sharon Osbourne tried to tank her career and that, towards the end, Ozzy was “just a total waste” due to a lifetime of heavy partying. In her book, she says the last time he saw her, he asked, “Do I know you?” and she replied, “Well, we did have a Top Ten hit together.” Ozzy being spaced out in his later years was reiterated by his former Black Sabbath bandmate, Tony Iommi (ironically, a former fiancé of Lita Ford). I just finished reading his autobiography, “Iron Man,” and he also discussed how hard it was to keep Osbourne’s attention the last time they worked together.

Ford will be doing some shows with KISS’ Gene Simmons later this year. I asked if she’d be performing anywhere near Chicago, but she said she wasn’t. Ford said that she and Simmons go way back and are good friends. While discussing him, her assistant joined in the conversation, mentioning, “With Gene, you always know where you stand.” I agreed with him. When a group of fans and I sat and talked with Simmons for an hour in Louisville back in 2013, he’d talk with you the same whether you were a celebrity or not. I don’t apologize for enjoying his music and finding him amusing. It doesn’t bother me when people glare at me for being a fan and, as one of my favorite songs of his goes, “It’s My Life.” The Svengoolie shirt he drew a batwing on in Louisville is still a prized possession, prominently displayed in one of my shadowboxes. 

That being said, I do wish he and Paul Stanley would stop making backhanded comments and snipes at Peter Criss and the late Ace Frehley. This topic will come up again in my next blog concerning Peter Criss.

As for Lita Ford, we posed for a photo and left on good terms – though it seemed like it was touch-and-go there for a while. Between her and that man at Wawa earlier, I started wondering if there was a full moon that day. I looked it up on my phone and, lo and behold, there was! Scientists say there’s no correlation between a full moon and human behavior, but after this day, I beg to differ.

After reaching a safe distance, Jason pulled me aside. “I thought things were going to get ugly there for a minute,” he said.  Thankfully, it didn’t. If I learned anything from that autobiography of hers, it’s that Lita Ford can go from 0-10 in mere seconds and is not afraid of coming to blows. If things had gone further south, it’s a good bet I’d have spent the rest of this convention with a black eye!

We did another walkthrough before calling it a night. Jason was noticeably keen on a group of independent filmmakers from Mad Angel Films. He spoke with them for a while and purchased three of their movies: Savage Christmas (2023), Graveyard Shark (2024), and Blood Red Beach (2025). We watched two of these flicks in our room over the weekend, but I’ve decided to remain friends with Jason anyway 😉.

Our first day at the New Jersey Horror Con ended, and we spent the remainder of the evening watching some old movies that Jason brought. He hooked up his Blu-ray player to the hotel TV, which was awesome. We crashed out by 10 pm as old horror fans are wont to do. It was just as well. Tomorrow was going to be a BUSY day.

~Dave

Coming Up…Peter Criss: The Unlikely Elder Statesman of KISS!