Flashback Weekend 2026 Costume Contest: A fun ride that went off the rails!

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Flashback Weekend 2026 Coverage Continues…

I awoke refreshed and straightened up the hotel room for Svengoolie & crew. Both they and Mayor Don were kind enough to let me stay there that night, which was great considering I’d been without power due to a tornado (see my last post). With a larger event in my near future, all my available cash for Flashback Weekend was reserved for autographs – no Hyatt breakfast buffet today. With the Svengoolie crew slated to arrive at noon, I went downstairs as soon as the convention doors opened to get as many as I could before their arrival. I’ll discuss those interactions in my next post, as this blog will focus exclusively on Svengoolie’s appearance.

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2026 Flashback Weekend Svengoolie Talk Show!

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Less than two weeks after G-FEST, Flashback Weekend, a.k.a. my favorite horror con, set up shop in the very same hotel. Despite the short time between these events, however, it felt like a lifetime. Just that previous Monday, strong tornado-producing storms plowed through the Midwest, and my humble town of Homewood, Illinois got slammed by an F-1. My entire neighborhood was strewn with busted trees and electric wires. Nobody was hurt, thank God, but despite ComEd’s best efforts, we had no power all week and still hadn’t when I arrived at Flashback Weekend on Friday. This made for one rotten week! The heat was so unbearable that at one point I attempted to sleep outside on my deck (until two raccoons got into a dispute below me). Fortunately, my friend Jason Lucas, whose power returned that Wednesday, invited me to stay with him for a couple of days. Regardless, I had very little sleep that week and admit to being a bit ill-tempered at the beginning of this event.

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Svengoolie’s Friday at C2E2 was all about the Fans!

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Svengoolie greets his fans at C2E2

Svengoolie’s executive producer, Jim Roche, reached out to me in early February regarding the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2). Anticipating his request to assist the crew, I’d already cleared my calendar and quickly agreed. As the conversation continued, he casually mentioned that this year’s event would also feature the Svengoolie Squad – Gwengoolie, Imp, and Nostalgiaferatoo. Even more exciting, unlike their appearance at last year’s San Diego Comic Con, they’d all be in costume. My excitement level reached a fever pitch, as did my dread. After all, keeping things moving in Svengoolie’s autograph line while photographing fans can be challenging enough when serving just him, let alone three other cast members. These concerns, however, were for Saturday. Friday at C2E2 would feature a solo Svengoolie, albeit with a heavier schedule – two signings and a photo op. And this experience is what I’ll be sharing today.

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Robert Englund Toasts Svengoolie at Flashback Weekend!

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(Continued  from my last post) 

Don Johnston and I greeted the crew as they pulled into the hotel’s private parking lot. Accompanying Svengoolie were his Executive Producer, Jim Roche; Associate Producer, Ella Larschield; camera person, Korey McElligot; and social media specialist, Jennifer Vlad. After being stuck in near-standstill traffic for 90 minutes (due to the Lollapalooza Festival taking place in Chicago’s Grant Park),  they looked as if they were ready to kiss the ground upon exiting their cars.

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The Art of a Svengoolie Public Appearance

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I  arrived at Chicago’s McCormick Place around ten o’clock Friday morning. Once again, my job was to assist the national MeTV horror host, Svengoolie, as he tackled the pop culture extravaganza C2E2 (Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo). This year’s entourage included Executive Producer Jim Roche, Director Chris Faulkner, Cameraman Patrick Payne, and MeTV crew members Briana Janczy and Bill Rieck handling social media. In addition to meeting and interacting with his fans, Svengoolie’s objective was to gather interviews and footage for upcoming shows. The event organizers do not assist with these latter objectives, making all his C2E2 appearances unpredictable. To help strategize, Jim compiled a list of interview hopefuls, and then it was a matter of whether they’d be willing to talk on camera and if their schedules clashed with ours. Tracking them down was another matter, but more on that later.

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“Godzilla vs Music Box Theater”… with Svengoolie!

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If you were casually perusing this blog, you’d be hard-pressed to decide if my focus was on Godzilla or Svengoolie. I’d argue that, like a Reesus Peanut Butter Cup, they’re also “two great tastes that go great together” which was recently proven when they harmoniously merged like peanut butter and chocolate at Music Box Theater . This historic Chicago site caters to independent, cult, and classic movies as well as the occasional film festival such as Noir City Chicago – something I’ve always wanted to attend. This month they featured a marathon of Godzilla flicks which they affectionately referred to as “Godzilla vs Music Box” and on Monday, June 10th, MeTV‘s national TV horror host, Svengoole, arrived to present Destroy All Monsters (1968) in addition to signing for fans. 

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