As with any popular event, parking and entry can be tricky, and my knees are still throbbing from the Chicago Fan Expo. Elizabeth Haney from Acme Design was kind enough to express-ship my Media pass. The doors opened to the public at 6, so I arrived around 4:30 to make sure I had a spot. I was prepared to take advantage of Nightmare on Chicago Street’s free shuttle service from their local high school, but I found a spot. From there, I used the Elgin Tower Building to guide me to the event.

The pass allowed me to enter the “Safe Zone” effortlessly. I passed by some nautical vignettes, including tentacles grasping a baby carriage. I wondered if this was an homage to the 1977 Italian JAWS ripoff, Tentacles. In the opening scene, a mother leaves her baby carriage to run across the street and say ‘hello’ to a friend. When she turns around, the carriage is gone, snatched from shore by a giant killer octopus. As I walked on, more tentacles were jutting out, and there was a really ornate pirate ship. When you’ve got Acme Design in your backyard, the sky’s the limit.

Once inside and past one of several stages to accommodate the numerous live bands NOCS featured throughout the event (now both Friday and Saturday instead of just Saturday), I spotted the spider section. I love spiders and see them more as helpful to humans than harmful, so I wasn’t necessarily thrilled to see them stereotyped as menacing monsters here, but it was still pretty awesome.

Killer spiders gave way to carnivorous plants as I landed in front of Mushnik’s Flower Shop, made famous in Little Shop of Horrors. Audrey II’s vines had already crashed out of the store’s window and coiled around the neighboring light posts.

I spotted my pal, Nanette Keir, which could mean only one thing: I had reached Svengoolie Headquarters. Once again, Svengoolie would be signing inside Elgin’s historic Burrit Building on South Grove Avenue. Nanette and another fan (a nice lady dressed as a witch) were the beginnings of Sven’s line, which would soon grow like those aforementioned vines.

This year, Svengoolie’s influence would extend outside the building and into the street. They’d call this location “Svengoolie Boulevard,” with a couple of large mock vintage TV sets, one with a couple of ghouls sitting on top and chilling out before the show started. According to NOCS’s social media, fans can “Encounter undead musicians, a decaying pep rally, live graffiti,” and much more at this location.

According to Svengoolie’s producer, Jim Roche, the crew wasn’t going to leave the station until 5:30 pm, so I wasn’t ready to settle inside his headquarters just yet. Instead, I took advantage of the remaining sunlight and checked out the other streets designated as part of the Safe Zone.

As the sky grew darker, I made my way back to Svengoolie Blvd, but a group of people in Mesoamerican costumes cut me off. Eligin has a thriving Latino population and incorporated an ancient Aztec theme into its festivities. I followed them to an area designated for their performance on the opposite side of the street from where Svengoolie would be signing.

It was difficult to get a good view with all the spectators, especially one familiar-looking guy wearing a Svengoolie sweatshirt. It was my old friend, Elliott Serrano. Elliott has emceed Nightmare on Chicago Street’s costume contest for years, and he and Svengoolie play well off each other. Elliott was also kind enough to emcee a Trivia Night fundraiser I held via Brookfield Zoo to raise money for elephants. He’s a talented and all-around great guy.

Elliott was with his new girlfriend, Danielle, and we walked across the street together to Svengoolie headquarters. Once, once inside, we met up with Elizabeth Haney and Alice Moring. We all caught up while making sure no unauthorized people entered the building. Fortunately, that wasn’t an issue.

Svengoolie and Jim walked in about 30 minutes before his scheduled 7 pm signing. His Director, Chris Faulkner, and his associate producer, Ella Larscheid, were out getting footage for the show but made it back in time for the signing.

At first I was told my job for the next hour was to sell merchandise (which tonight would be limited to cards, buttons, and hats – no shirts) but that responsibility ending up going to Ella.

Just before the fans started walking in, Jim changed his mind and asked me to take photos of them using their own phone cameras. This freed him up to do what he does best at  Svengoolie’s appearances, work the crowd.

Managing the line is important because Svengoolie signings at Nightmare on Chicago Street are shorter than his other appearances (hence why Nanette and the witch lady were wise showing up early). He only signs for an hour before being whisked off to stage to join up with Elliott for the final moments of the costume contest. For the lucky folks who made it in before the cut it off, everyone had a great time.

One group even brought along their prop skeleton for signing.

The hour flew by and Sven had a little bit of time to take a picture with me and another with Elizabeth and Alice. Before he took off for the stage he signed my media pass.

I could barely move on the streets with all the people and skipped the contest and was surprised when I pulled out there were folks vying for my space even at that late juncture. It was great returning to Nightmare on Chicago Street and seeing the Svengoolie crew again. Although today is officially Halloween, it seems downright anticlimactic in comparison.

~ Dave