John Russo Reminisces on George Romero & “Night of the Living Dead”

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I know I speak for many of my fellow horror fans when I say how saddened we Daves were at the news regarding George Romero’s passing. I had the honor of meeting him twice; once in Indianapolis in 2010 and then the following year with the other Dave in Massachusetts. When the news broke, I wrote on our Facebook page how he was one of the most fan-friendly celebrities you could ever meet; spending as much time as he could with you despite the prodding of his handlers. Romero had been scheduled to attend the convention we’ve been in the midst of covering, Days of the Dead Indianapolis, but his declining health forced his cancellation. The “godfather of zombies” had been slated to do a Q&A panel that Saturday afternoon and many of us wondered how DOTD planned on filling the space. It wasn’t until that morning when we learned there would, indeed, be another panel and that it would feature Romero’s dear friend and Night of the Living Dead co-writer, John A. Russo. The following dialogue is based off the audio recordings taken during that hour…

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Saying Goodbye to our dear fellow “Goolie,” Joan

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Not long ago I posted a list of things I’d learned from attending so many Svengoolie public appearances; listing “making new friends” as Number Seven. Today I’ve been given a painful  reminder that this should actually have been number one.  I received a call from my friend, Bill Yingst, informing me that his beautiful wife, Joan (far right in the above photo) had died, suddenly, this morning.  Joan was not only a contributor to this blog but had become a dear friend and I felt as if I’d been hit with a baseball bat.

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Rest in Peace Good ole Uncle Lars…

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It was the evening of Saturday March 27th, 2010,  the peak of  the 2010 Horrorhound Convention in Indianapolis, when I first met “Uncle Lar.” My friend and I had just eaten dinner at a terrible nearby Mexican restaurant (which has since been condemned) with our heads swimming in a pool of Margaritas. While stumbling into the Marriott, I bumped into a man wearing a Colonial hat and holding a handful of DVD’s. Needless to say, the DVD’s loosened from his grip and became a scattered mess on the pavement below. I immediately apologized and helped him gather them back up before noticing familiar names on the discs such as The Bone Jangler, Jebediah Buzzard, and Monster Madhouse. “Oh, I see you’re a fan of horror hosts!” I said. It would was a gross understatement.

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Farewell Charles Durning: DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW villain nothing like his alter ego

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Anybody that knows me will tell you that one of my all-time favorite movies is Dark Night of the Scarecrow. Both David and I have written about it many times on this blog, I did a piece on it in Scary Monsters Magazine #81, and also contributed a chapter on it for an upcoming sequel to the book Horror 101: The A List of Horror Films & Monster Movies presented by A.C. Christensen.  Despite featuring a killer scarecrow, the film’s true villain was Otis P. Hazelrigg brilliantly and devilishly played by Charles Durning and I was saddened to hear that yesterday, Christmas Eve, Mr. Durning died at the age of 89.

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Horror Host Memoriam: Barry Hobart’s Dr. Creep

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Last Friday, the Horror Hosting world was rocked with the news that their beloved friend, and fellow host, Barry Hobart a.k.a. Dr. Creep had passed away. As neither of  The Daves had the privilege of meeting Dr. Creep nor had any familiarity with his show, we did not feel qualified to present our own tribute piece. Instead we felt it would be more appropriate to hear from his peers, as well as those whom had met and worked alongside him. Before his death we felt it unfortunate that we never me Mr. Hobart. After reading some of the amazing tributes below, it is even more regretful.

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