Who, Me? Part 1: A Little “Superstition” Leads To Elvira And Svengoolie, Inspiring A Late-Blooming Monster Kid! by Jamie Lee Cortese

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The Daves would like to welcome our latest guest blogger, Jamie Lee Cortese. We met Jamie recently at HorrorHound Weekend in Indianapolis and were immediately impressed with her, especially with her horror host knowledge! We think she has a huge future ahead of her and we are honored to have her writing on our site!

Let me start off by admitting that I have not been a real “Monster Kid” for very long.  In fact, the first full-blown horror movie I ever saw all the way through was Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd:  The Demon Barber of Fleet Street when it was in theaters.  However, as I began my “monster” journey, I quickly realized that from the very beginning, all signs pointed to my eventual transformation into one.  For one thing, I’ve always been drawn to offbeat, “weird” things:  I am a huge fan of Tim Burton (hence my seeing Sweeney Todd), and a consistent highlight of any October is my family’s annual visit to Fright Fest at Six Flags.

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The Horror Hosts of Horrorhound Weekend 2011!

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img_4823Karlos Borloff, Dr. Destruction, & The Bone Jangler!

 DAVE F: If you attended the 2011 Indianapolis Horrorhound Weekend, with the intention of finding the many horror hosts in attendance, you should have had no trouble in doing so. Occupying their own room this year, most were together in a single spot (with the exception of Sammy Terry & Joe Bob Briggs).

We had passed this section on our way to the celebrity rooms and noted a few familiar faces. As we entered, we immediately saw Roxsy Tyler, Midnite Mausoleum, and Dr. Calamari. Dr Calamari (easy to recognize as the guy with the tentacles coming out of his face) is part of a troop of performers called DARK CARNIVAL.

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Finally getting to meet Svengoolie!

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It’s been awhile since I have had fun…I mean fun like a kid. As adults we become pre-occupied with things such as working, paying bills, raising a family, etc. Not that these are bad things but in the process, we forget how to have fun like we did when we were kids. I think that is why I like being a monster fan so much…you can do all of the important and responsible things in life and yet still be a kid! Who can forget the excitement as a child on Christmas Eve. Family get-togethers that then led to a sleepless night, in anticipation of Santa’s annual visit. This followed by the nervous excitement of walking down the stairs to see if the big guy brought us everything that we had asked for. These times were magical and that is the first thing to go in adults…the magic.

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Roxsy Tyler, Midnite Mausoleum, & Monster Mania!

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The Daves would like to welcome and thank guest blogger Roxsy Tyler for this piece!

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The Monster Mania Convention in Cherry Hill, NJ takes place twice a year at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. There is one in March and always there’s another in August. Monster Mania also started popping up in Baltimore Maryland aswell. Monster Mania happens to be the first ever Horror convention I attended back in 2008 before I started running my Carnival of Horrors. Easily, the convention became a place where every horror fan in the tri-state area could congregate, get dressed up, get photos with celebs, and meet their Facebook friends! In this amazing place where I met Adam West, Malcom McDowell, Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, and yes, even a fellow horror host by the name of Karlos Borloff… never did I ever imagine that someday people might come to get their picture taken with me. So, for those who didn’t have the opportunity to go to Monster Mania 17 here’s a recap for you where you can see it through the black drippy eyes of your favorite horror carnival proprietor.

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Horror Hosts Building the Better Monster: Karlos Borloff!

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There are few horror hosts operating today that can boast the mettle and determination of Virginia’s Karlos Borloff with regard to costume and prop creation. A life long fan of movie monsters (particularly the Japanese variety), Karlos began making masks in the 1970’s – when he was just 12 years old! “I used to shoot my own Super 8 Monster Movies and fight scenes,” says Karlos. “I was obsessed with rubber masks.”

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