When Flashback Weekend reconvened in 2021, the number of contestants in its annual costume contest surged. I understood with all the extra time some folks had in lockdown why that year went nuts, but there’s been no letup in the two years that’s followed. In fact, the 2023 event had so many adult contestants they couldn’t fit everyone on stage for judging. In the end, three separate groups were judged before a fourth round would be dedicated to the finalists.
The second day of Flashback Weekend began before the convention doors opened, with my friends, Don and Bunny, waiting for me downstairs to discuss the previous day. While heading towards the elevators, a group of people wearing Svengoolie shirts began yelling at me from the opposite end of the hotel; seeing my own Sven shirt as a beacon of camaraderie. The most vocal of them was a tall, tattooed redhead who goes by the handle “Catbat.” This group was none other than Svengoolie’s faithful blog commentators; fans who transform his weekly posts into their own communications platform. Although I had no idea what they looked like in real life, I was quite familiar with their Saturday morning banter.
For the second time in about as many weeks, I headed up to the Hyatt Regency in Rosemont, Illinois for a convention. Whereas the previously covered G-FEST was a family affair, however, Flashback Weekend for me is all about friends and celebrating our mutual love of horror films and/or MeTV’s national horror host (and Flashback Weekend regular), Svengoolie. This year was even more momentous as it would feature my other favorite host, Shudder TV’s Joe Bob Briggs from The Last Drive-in show. This team-up alone sent my anticipation levels soaring while making the protracted journey to Flashback (courtesy of Illinois road construction) akin to torture.
9:00 am: As soon as I walked onto the train station platform, I was greeted by a woman dressed as Princess Leia on Endor (holding a toddler dressed as an Ewok) and a sixty-something-year-old Brony. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one heading up to the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo (C2E2). I was also happy to see my son’s girlfriend, Rachel, who’d be taking the train a little further than McCormick Place to her job at the John G. Shed aquarium. There’s nothing like good conversation to make a ride go faster.
On the morning of Friday, March, 31st, I hopped a train to McCormick Place to attend the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) armed with my camera and a printout schedule for MeTV’s National horror host, Svengoolie. In the past, I’ve covered this event, the cosplay, and celebrity guests but this year it was exclusively about Sven as his team graciously brought me in as a volunteer member of the crew. These next two blogs are a diary of that experience.
Last October, I covered Svengoolie’s appearance at the Volo Auto Museum having no idea it’d lead to me taking a walk down memory lane via YouTube. One of the folks I photographed during that event, Chris Connolly, had been posing next to a Mego-style Svengoolie bat cave and reached out for permission to use the photos on his YouTube Channel, Mr. C. Dives In with his best buddy, Fanboy G. Our exchange led to his invitation to be interviewed on his show concerning my journey as a Son of Svengoolie & Svengoolie fan along with my experiences getting close to him and his crew over the course of my thirteen years as a blogger. This was to be in celebration of Rich Koz’s birthday which is the date I’m posting – March 12th. Although I’ve been doing a lot less content creation these days, it was nice having the opportunity to relive these amazing experiences. The following four videos were taped on two separate occasions. I’m no entertainer, but I do hope you enjoy them while supporting Mr. Connolly’s channel. Happy Birthday, Svengoolie!
Terror from Beyond the Dave 