Halloween masks. Some people hate them, some people love them and others just don’t understand the attraction. Growing up I always had to have some kind of Halloween mask with my costume. When I was young I started with those Ben Cooper costumes with the vinyl body suit and plastic mask with the rubber band that held it to your face. As I got older I graduated to rubber monster masks, most of which had little to no resemblance to what they were supposed to be. Times certainly have changed!
One of the great celebrities we were privileged to meet at The Indianapolis Horrorhound Weekend last March, was the legendary Barbara Steele! The 72 year old actress, most notable for her role in Maria Bava’s BLACK SUNDAY (THE MASK OF SATAN), was one we had flagged as a “must see.”
The next two celebrities I would like to cover are Tim Burton regular Lisa Marie and the one and only Sid Haig. I have always been a fan of both stars, but for different reasons, had never met them. For Lisa Marie she had not been at any previous conventions that I attended. I always found Lisa Marie to be beautiful and found her portrayal of Vampira in the movie ED WOOD to be wonderful. I also enjoyed her alien performance in MARS ATTACKS! and found it to be fun and quirky and I was very much looking forward to meeting her! For Sid Haig, I was actually too nervous to meet him in the past! For some reason, I always associated Sid with his character Captain Spaulding and for some reason, thought he was like that in real life! I know it’s a silly way to think, but I found him genuinely creepy in THE DEVIL’S REJECTS and HOUSE OF 1,000 CORPSES and for the life of me couldn’t believe that he was actually a nice guy! Boy was I in for a surprise with both stars!
One of the highlights of any convention is of course meeting the actors and actresses that starred in so many of our favorite films. Though my priority for HorrorHound was the horror hosts, there were a handful of celebrities that I also wanted to meet. Two of them starred in one of my favorite cult films of the 1980’s, KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE.
It’s hard to believe that it has been over 20 years since this cult classic was released. I still vividly remember seeing it for the first time on VHS with some friends. We were of course drinking beer at the time and we just had the best time. I remember wondering to myself if the reason I enjoyed this film so much was because of the beer, or because it was a genuinely good film. Thankfully, at the time, my uncle owned the only video store in Jamestown so I was able to see what ever movies I wanted, when ever I wanted. I re-watched this movie without the aid of alcohol and to my pleasant surprise, it was just as good the second time!
Hall of Fame Logo design created by Basement Boy*
This year’s Indianapolis HorrorHound Weekend was noteworthy for featuring multiple events centered around the art of horror hosting. Perhaps the most significant of these was the addition of horror hosts to an actual “Hall of Fame” sponsored by “Ripley’s Believe It or Not.”
Terror from Beyond the Dave 