On the chilly first day of October, I made my way to Valparaiso, Indiana to catch National Horror Host, Svengoolie, during his annual appearance at the Amhurst Asylum Haunted Attraction! Turning off a busy main highway, I soon found myself on rural country roads which, for a horror fan, isn’t always a good thing. For awhile I started worrying that I was lost, until a small sign appeared near a cross-way pointing to the venue.
By: Jamie Lee Cortese
Horror hosts can truly pop up anywhere. A fan of horror hosts would probably expect to see them on the guest list for a convention, would not be too shocked to see them appearing at a haunted house or other horror-themed attraction, and would only be mildly surprised to see one in another’s show.
Last year, I must admit that I was very surprised when I found out that Svengoolie would be appearing at a western-themed event: The Little Boots Rodeo in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.
Upon Sven’s arrival that day, he and the mayor of Elk Grove Village faced off in a mechanical bull-riding contest. Some rooted for Sven, some for the mayor, but all were definitely having fun! The mayor ended up falling off of his bucking bronco, and for a moment it looked like Svengoolie was the winner; then, however, some good-natured “protests” began, with the mayor pointing out that Sven had held onto the bull with both hands, instead of just one, but the validity of Mr. Goolie’s extra “edge” being questioned by the fact that he was holding a rubber chicken in that hand. The eventual “final call” was hard to discern (I remember someone calling it a tie), but according to Mr. Goolie himself, the mayor apparently won.
The Windy City Goolie faces off against the Midwest Mayor!
The Internet had been buzzing for weeks at the news of National horror host, Svengoolie, making a public appearance at JJ Blinkers – a costume/trick shop located in Antioch, Illinois. The “Rubber Chicken, Whoopee cushion kinda store” was an obvious perfect fit for Sven, while its location (north of Chicago) made it an ideal spot for his Wisconsin fans to see him as well.
I had heard of this event almost from the moment it was booked courtesy of my friend, Dr. Destruction. Dr. Destruction is an avid fan of both Svengoolies and was honored by the Chicago icon when he participated in his Kenosha based “Big Top Radio Show” (for which I was also honored to be a part of) a few weeks back. Unable to contain his excitement of seeing Svengoolie again, and at one of his favorite stores, Destruction began his own one-man media campaign.
EXCERPT FROM SVENGOOLIE NEWSLETTER 7/29/11
Our “Photo of the Month” is actually an autographed picture this time, thanks to our pal Dave Fuentes of the “Terror from beyond the Daves” website that he does along with Dave Albaugh. Dave went to a convention, where he met David Naughton- star of “An American Werewolf in London” – and those “I’m a Pepper/You’re a Pepper” TV commercials from the 70s. He told David about the old commercial parody we did years ago at WFLD where I combined the soft drink commercial with his werewolf transformation from the movie. Mr. Naughton said he had indeed heard of me, and thought the parody idea was “genius” (oh, now, you’re making me blush!). He also signed the below autographed picture for me, indicating that he drinks Dr. Rabies, too! He also told Dave to give me his congratulations on our program going national!
By Shaun “Genghis” Kangas
“Nothing says America like Svengoolie and Pro-Wrestling!”
Last week Saturday , June 18th, I drove 2 hours and 45 minutes from Lake Mills, WI to Oak Lawn, IL .When I heard that Svengoolie and Pro-Wrestling legends Bret Hart and Mick Foley were all gonna be at the same Pro-wrestling event, I had to go! I want to publicly say who ever hooked up Pro-wrestling event with a Svengoolie appearance is a GENIUS!
I have been a wrestling fan for years, since I was five. Later on in life, after my days of playing in my band, I got involved with wrestling promotion. I did it for 2 1/2 years helping the NAWF and NWA Wisconsin wrestling promotions in Green Bay, Madison, Milwaukee and Rockford areas. I have been a Svengoolie fan for years, also since age five. Not a week goes by when I don’t watch his show, even if it is a replay, I don’t care, I love horror films….and Svengoolie!
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.
Terror from Beyond the Dave 
