It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Krampus: Elgin Celebrates Krampuslauf!

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It was a chilly December evening when I headed up to Elgin, Illinois to experience their annual “Krampus Krawl.” After seeing it advertised during the city’s Nightmare on Chicago Street, I knew it was something I had to experience first hand, and I’m so glad that I did! I mean, seriously, just because Halloween is over doesn’t mean we still can’t enjoy a few more sinister events before the year is out. This particular one was brought to Elgin by John LaFleur and sponsored by Side Street Studios whom I’ve mentioned before. Their shop served as Svengoolie’s headquarters during the last “Nightmare” and I swear if I lived anywhere near Elgin, I’d be signing up for just about every workshop and art class they have to offer! Though the celebration of Krampuslauf is relatively new to American culture, the recent success of the film, Krampus, along with other events popping up around the country show that it’s quickly gaining its own spot on our busy December calendars. The festival originated in the Alpine regions of Europe and honors the darker version of St. Nicholas; a horned creature named Krampus whose job isn’t to reward the good kids but punish the naughty ones. With our culture’s shift towards more self-entitled and less, shall we say, respectful children, one can’t help but wonder if the sudden rise of Krampus over the past decade is much of a coincidence.  Regardless of whatever possible sociological commentary it may carry (if any) it’s definitely proving to be a lot of fun for us naughty adults!

Here’s how the night unfolded…

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Ace Frehley’s Q&A at the 2015 “Days of the Dead” Chicago!

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Despite his elusive reputation, legendary KISS guitarist, Ace Frehley, has been a guest of Days of the Dead several times. In fact, it was their first event in Indianapolis back in 2011 that I was finally able to add his signature to my KISS Marvel Comic (Story HERE). The fact that this event is able to feature him so consistently is pretty amazing in and of itself. But getting him to do a Q&A panel? Now THAT was really impressive. Regardless of the odds, it took place at Days of the Dead Chicago on Saturday November 21st, 2015; a date I’d later learn was already an important one in KISStory. What follows below are highlights from that experience, courtesy of my trusty digital recorder…

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“Days of the Dead” Chicago Women in Film Panel!

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On the afternoon of Saturday November 21st,  Days of the Dead Chicago treated fans to a special “Women in Film” panel featuring guests PJ Soles, Rae Dawn Chong, and Sandahl Bergman. Below are excerpts taken from that experience which, despite the event tent being freezing cold, was a lot of fun! These ladies were both informative and entertaining; dishing on their film’s leading men and experiences while holding nothing back.   So, without further adieu…

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Jay Langley and those Bloody Amazing Scarebears!

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While checking out the vendors at this year’s Days of the Dead Chicago, I was pleased to see that Jay Langley and his signature Scarebears were among them! I love sinister toys and particularly enjoy gruesome Teddy Bears which a few amazing artists out there have been crafting; and each with their own unique touches. We’ve featured a few of them on this site but, after spotting Jay and his latest batch, I realized (to my great shame) that the Scarebears had yet to be one of them. That’s pretty surprising since I was an instant fan when I first saw them a few years back; enamored with their EC Comics’ style gore and signature skulls with eyeballs! They’re also affordable by convention standards and obviously a big hit with many of my fellow horror buffs who I often see walking around with one at events. I own two of them myself and look forward to adding more of them before my Terror Dave days are over.

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Cassandra Peterson (Elvira) Q&A at “Days of the Dead!”

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After the great autograph signing experience, I had with Cassandra Peterson, a.k.a. Elvira Mistress of the Dark, I was anxious to attend her special Days of the Dead Q&A panel later that same night. We walked through the hotel, past an indoor swimming pool, and outside to an enclosed tent set up for panels and events. This wasn’t the most ideal situation considering the snowstorm and frigid temps made the tent pretty cold despite additional space heaters. I felt particularly bad for a couple of attendees dressed as Frank n’ Furter and the half-naked “Rocky” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  It wasn’t long after we took our seats that Cassandra made her way on stage. Below is taken from an audio recording that night…

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Svengoolie’s Ambassador to the Mistress of the Dark!

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For me, one of the biggest draws for this year’s Days of the Dead Chicago was the appearance of Cassandra Peterson a.k.a. Elvira: Mistress of the Dark! I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her a few times before (the first of which I discussed HERE) and later enjoyed her brief reboot of Elvira’s Movie Macabre on our local Chicago station WCIU; the same channel as Svengoolie before he’d go national via MeTV a few months later. That was an exciting time since they were the two hosts I’d grown up with. From age eight to fourteen, I idolized Rich Koz’s Son of Svengoolie (now simply “Svengoolie” with the blessing of his predecessor) before our local WFLD 32 station got swallowed up by the corporate FOX. It was also around that time when I discovered Elvira after renting some of her “Thriller Video” hosted films from my local mom & pop video store. I also remember making frequent road trips in my ’20s to all neighboring Illinois and Indiana Suncoast Video stores in an effort to collect all of her Midnight Madness VHS tapes. That’s one thing we collectors have lost in our modern Internet world; that good old fashioned thrill of the hunt!

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