“The Conjuring” Summons the Scares!

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Terror from Beyond the Daves is pleased to welcome guest writer, Elizabeth Ocon!

If a spirit asked you to give it permission to inhabit a creepy old doll of yours, would you say yes?

If you heard furiously loud pounding on your front door in the middle of the night after getting rid of that creepy old possessed doll, would you get up and open the door without checking the peephole?

The new James Wan film The Conjuring doesn’t waste any time getting to the scary stuff. The opening shot of a doll’s eye leads us into the history of a haunted doll called Annabelle that will appear to great effect later in the film. It also introduces the secondary main characters, Ed and Lorraine Warren (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga). This isn’t your typical haunted house story; it focuses on the investigators as well as the victims of the haunting.

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What I’ve Learned from 35 Svengoolie Appearances!

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Last weekend I went to see national horror host, Svengoolie, at a Chicago store called Cook Brothers (“We stack em Deep and Sell em Cheap!”). Though not as remarkable as his previous appearance at The Squared Circle, it did represent a bit of a milestone for me. Since discovering that he’d return to the airwaves in 2003, this would mark my 35th time seeing him (either as Svengoolie or Rich Koz) at a public event.

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2013 “Days of Dead” Indianapolis: Creative Dealers and their Ghastly Goods!

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Like most conventions, the 2013 Indianapolis Days of the Dead was spread across several large rooms at the hotel. Russ and I left the beautiful Jordan Ladd (a meeting covered in my last chapter) and embarked on what was to be the first of many walk throughs (which is why you’ll see us wearing different clothes in this post) of the dealer’s room. There were actually two main rooms designated for dealers, with some located out in the adjoining hallways. Although there were other guests we planned on meeting, they were located in one of these areas as opposed to the one exclusive to celebs

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Pacific Rim: Big Godzilla-like Thrills for an even Bigger Screen!

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Since I was a kid I have been a fan of kaiju films. Every Saturday afternoon I would sit in front of the television set watching that week’s installment of the Creature Double Feature, as they showed such great films as Rodan, War Of The Gargantuas, Frankenstein Conquers The World and a whole variety of Godzilla and Gamera films. Yes they were cheesy but they were also a lot of fun and they are one of my fondest memories growing up.

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New Svengoolie Burger enters the ring at Chicago’s “Squared Circle” Restaurant!

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This past Saturday was a day I both dreaded and anticipated with a flurry of events (none of which I wanted to miss) all converging at once. For starters, it was the weekend of G-FEST (Godzilla Festival) which I’ve attended faithfully with my kids since 2004. In fact, if you’re a Japanese monster fan, your entire calendar year pretty much revolves around it. Though it offers plenty of activities throughout the weekend, Saturday evenings are known for being the show’s climax with their highly anticipated costume contest.

The earlier portion of my day was spent covering an event hosted by my Brookfield Zoo AAZK (American Association of Zoo Keepers) Chapter and, after that, a Svengoolie appearance.

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Jordan Ladd “Death Proof” but not above rescuing!

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We’d just stepped away from Lita Ford’s table before stumbling into an argument between a Days of the Dead volunteer and an attractive blond. The dedicated staffer was giving the woman a hard time about entering the celebrity room without a convention badge. While frantically digging through her handbag, she pleaded that she was a scheduled guest and needed to get in. It was at that moment we noticed she was Jordan Ladd,from Death Proof, Hostel II, and Cabin Fever. and daughter of Charlie’s Angels, Cheryl Ladd. Needless to say, we wasted no time intervening on her behalf.

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