Elgin Celebrates Five Years of “Nightmare on Chicago Street!”

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I no sooner said goodbye to the ladies of Midnite Mausoleum  before earning myself a speeding ticket trying to zoom back east for Elgin’s Nightmare on Chicago Street. If you’ve ever attended one of these in the past than you’d understand my exuberance as well as all the hyperbole I’ve used to describe it over the years; both on this site as well as in the latest issue of Scary Monsters Magazine.

Picture several city blocks created to look like a zombie apocalypse; complete with militia roaming an undead “Safe Zone” while garnering inspiration from their own macabre Uncle Sam; national TV horror host, Svengoolie.  You can’t blame me for making this my favorite stop during the Halloween season, nor for having a led foot while trying to get there.

In this regard, I’m far from alone. Now celebrating its fifth year, Nightmare on Chicago Street has fast become Chicagoland’s premiere Halloween experience with last year’s attendance reaching over 12,000 people!

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“Boo at the Zoo” with Midnite Mausoleum!

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It was a brisk day this past Saturday when I headed out to the Niabi Zoo in Coal Valley, Illinois to see their local horror hostesses, Midnite Mausoleum! For over the past year the unforgettable Marlena Midnite and her effervescent co-host, Robyn Graves, have been entertaining monster fans in the Quad Cities (Northwest Illinois and Southeaster Iowa) via WQAD TV. I hadn’t seen them since back in their Public Access days and wanted to give a quick Terror Dave “Hello” before zooming back to my neck of the woods for another event which I’ll be covering in my next post.

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Svengoolie Goes Full Tilt for “Pinball Life!”

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So far as fall days go, you couldn’t ask for anything better than Friday October 16th in Illinois. The sun was shining with temps hovering in the ‘60s and it was one of those rare weekdays I was scheduled off. Best of all, it was on a day when national commercial TV horror host, Svengoolie, was making one of his Halloween season appearances! This one was about 90 minutes northwest from my place in the village of Huntley, Illinois.  I was familiar with the rural town as my sister used to teach school there several years back and this had been our favorite time of year to visit her. It meant postcard perfect fall leaves and a visit to one of the numerous apple orchards and pumpkin patches found in that region. Today would be a lot different.

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A Mad Monster Party with Svengoolie!

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This year’s Flashback Weekend offered something different from previous years and specifically geared towards younger horror fans; a screening of the 1967 Rankin/Bass Mad Monster Party hosted by national commercial TV horror host, Svengoolie! Though not as popular as the animation team’s Christmas TV specials (Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, The Year without a Santa Claus, etc.) this full-length film featured the voice work of the legendary Karlos Borloff as well as Phyllis Diller!

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Svengoolie at Flashback Weekend!

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There’s a whole room reserved for national commercial TV horror host, Svengoolie, to his fans at Flashback Weekend. I was informed by my friend, Don Johnston that he and his crew arrived and headed straight there from the main ballroom. Don manages the event’s hotel, the Crown Plaza in Rosemont, and is a great guy who often grants me event and parking passes in exchange for helping out where needed. In this instance it was to direct fans into the room he was in while seeing to it the line stayed moving. Lucky for these folks, waiting in line involved sitting in chairs that wrapped around the room’s perimeter. After fans got up to meet him, the rest would simply move down the corresponding number of chairs until it was their turn. It may sound goofy but, trust me, as someone who has stood in line for hours to meet a convention guest before, being able to sit in a comfortable seat for the duration was worth its weight in gold!

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The Weekend HE Came to Chicago: Flashback Weekend Celebrates “Halloween!”

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Thanks to the 2015 Flashback Weekend, I was able to add two more signatures to my Halloween (1978) poster; Charles Cyphers (Sheriff Leigh Brackett) and Nick Castle (Michael Myers or, as billed, “the Shape”). If you walked into the main ballroom, the vendors took up the bulk of the space while celebrity guests could be seen along the room’s perimeter and in a row of booths located on the far left side. After checking out all the merchandise, we found ourselves exactly where we needed to be and at a good time as well. There was Nick Castle, Michael Myers, sitting there all by himself and ready for us to meet!

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