Last Sunday morning, I made my way to the seaside town of Fall River, Massachusetts for my first visit to the MonstahXpo Halfway to Halloween horror event. Billed as the Ladies of Horror, it did not disappoint. This was their 4th event at this location, and I was excited to finally experience it!
Recently, I finally had the courage to do something I’ve wanted to do for years – delete my Facebook and Twitter accounts. It wasn’t to curb any addiction, since my posts were sporadic at best, and any “mindless” scrolling I indulged in scant achieved any dopamine hits psychologists speak of. Rather, I hung on because I didn’t want anyone to think I’d blocked them (hurt their feelings) when they couldn’t find me and I had this blog. As any content creator will tell you, social media is an important tool for getting your work out there. Although the number of folks who “Liked” my page was rather sparse (under 2,000), I appreciated each and every one of them because they were organic. I never have, nor ever will, pay for “likes” or “views.”
Terror from Beyond the Dave will start its lucky thirteenth year of existence this July. With over a decade of content floating around, I’m fortunate to obtain a steady number of views without having to write anything for months at a time. The ad revenue these views generate pays for my annual WordPress fees along with a little extra for a few Blu-rays if I’m lucky. However, with my social media accounts gone, and the pressure of getting people to “Like,” Subscribe,” and “Share” my content no longer of concern, I’m hoping to post more often and be more conversational while I’m at it. Hopefully, people will still manage to find me and stick around after they have.
Dave~
9:00 am: As soon as I walked onto the train station platform, I was greeted by a woman dressed as Princess Leia on Endor (holding a toddler dressed as an Ewok) and a sixty-something-year-old Brony. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one heading up to the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo (C2E2). I was also happy to see my son’s girlfriend, Rachel, who’d be taking the train a little further than McCormick Place to her job at the John G. Shed aquarium. There’s nothing like good conversation to make a ride go faster.
On the morning of Friday, March, 31st, I hopped a train to McCormick Place to attend the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) armed with my camera and a printout schedule for MeTV’s National horror host, Svengoolie. In the past, I’ve covered this event, the cosplay, and celebrity guests but this year it was exclusively about Sven as his team graciously brought me in as a volunteer member of the crew. These next two blogs are a diary of that experience.
I was never interested in attending a book signing until I learned Grady Hendrix was coming to Chicago. It was five years ago that his book, “Paperbacks from Hell,” rekindled my love of ’80s pulp and has had me scouring the shelves of local thrift stores and used bookstores ever since. I’ve also enjoyed his own works of horror fiction which include “My Best Friend’s Exorcism,” “The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires,” and “The Final Girls Support Group.” Hendrix’s books are often more humourous than frightening but his knowledge of horror tropes is undeniable and makes for a fun read nonetheless. I had heard that his promotional book tours were every bit as colorful as he was and quickly reserved a space on the Exile in Bookville website.
Last October, I covered Svengoolie’s appearance at the Volo Auto Museum having no idea it’d lead to me taking a walk down memory lane via YouTube. One of the folks I photographed during that event, Chris Connolly, had been posing next to a Mego-style Svengoolie bat cave and reached out for permission to use the photos on his YouTube Channel, Mr. C. Dives In with his best buddy, Fanboy G. Our exchange led to his invitation to be interviewed on his show concerning my journey as a Son of Svengoolie & Svengoolie fan along with my experiences getting close to him and his crew over the course of my thirteen years as a blogger. This was to be in celebration of Rich Koz’s birthday which is the date I’m posting – March 12th. Although I’ve been doing a lot less content creation these days, it was nice having the opportunity to relive these amazing experiences. The following four videos were taped on two separate occasions. I’m no entertainer, but I do hope you enjoy them while supporting Mr. Connolly’s channel. Happy Birthday, Svengoolie!
Terror from Beyond the Dave 