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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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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DINNER WITH SVENGOOLIE!

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TERROR FROM BEYOND THE DAVES is pleased to welcome Mary a.k.a “BlueCat” as our guest writer for today’s post! Blue Cat has been essential to Svengoolie fandom by spending the last several years moderating the official Svengoolie YAHOO group, without which David Albaugh and I would never have met (story HERE).  Blue Cat was also present during White Castle’s special “Dinner with Svengoolie” contest that took place last month and delighted both Daves by agreeing to share her story. So grab a “slider,” and get cozy or, if you won the contest…Kozy.

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10 Questions with Horror Host, Svengoolie!

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Getting an interview with Chicago’s classic (and modern) horror host, Svengoolie, isn’t easy. Aside from his numerous responsibilities to his station, WCIU, he is also a local celebrity and active in his city. Worse, I had the nerve to make this request amid one of his busiest months of public appearances (last October) that I had seen to date. I was, therefore, surprised when he agreed and answered my questions within a few short weeks. Rather than ask the usual biographical questions I, as a lifelong fan, already knew the answers to, I decided to go a different route. I asked myself, “If I was ever locked in an elevator with Rich Koz for an hour, what would I ask him?” Below are the questions I, as a devoted Svengoolie fan, really wanted to know. For anyone less familiar and interested in some you can check out his site HERE and my memories of Svengoolie HERE.

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Svengoolie and Elvira: Together again?

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Back in July of 2008, the Crown Plaza Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois saw the meeting of two legendary horror hosts. Chicago icon, Svengoolie, was joined on stage by national sensation – Elvira the Mistress of the Dark. This was part of the annual Flashback Weekend Convention, an event that Svengoolie had attended faithfully for years, often acting as MC of their popular costume contest. I was unable to attend this convention and, upon discovering that the two hosts had not only met but actually performed together, became literally sick for missing it.

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