Flashback Weekend 2026 Costume Contest: A fun ride that flew 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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Sharing my Svengoolie Story on YouTube’s “Mr. C. Dives In!”

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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!

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“An Evening with Rich Koz – 40 Years of Svengoolie” at Flashback Weekend!

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The Following highlights were “transcrammed” from the 2019 Flashback Weekend panel celebrating 40 years of Rich Koz’s Svengoolie. The event began with a video presentation narrated by the original Svengoolie – the late Jerry G. Bishop. The panel was moderated by WGN Radio’s Nick Digilio and proved an entertaining 90 minutes – with a few surprises! 

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My 40 Years of Rich Koz Svengoolie Fandom

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Do you remember what you were doing on the night of Saturday, June 16, 1979? I sure do. Here in Chicagoland there was a bit of fanfare regarding a new horror host hitting the airwaves via our favorite UHF station, WFLD Channel 32. For a young monster movie fan like myself, the idea of watching them on prime time was a gift in and of itself. Having them presented along with hilarious parody songs, skits, and sound effects took it to an even higher level. Even before the big night, I recall my parents discussing the new talent at the dinner table. “Oh, you’ll probably love this Son of Svengoolie,” my mom said, looking up from the Chicago Tribune’s entertainment section. “Your father used to watch his dad back when he was on TV.”

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Accolades for Rich Koz & the 35th Anniversary of Svengoolie!

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We’d no sooner taken our seats in a special area located on the second floor of The Museum of Broadcast Communication, when we were back up on our feet cheering the arrival of Svengoolie. The man of the hour, Rich Koz, was celebrating his 35th anniversary as Chicago’s (and now the majority of this country’s) TV horror host and the room was chock full of devout fans and prominent citizens eager to participate in this one of a kind event.  It was a serious affair that might otherwise seem in direct contrast to a career built on never taking himself too seriously though, in this case, well-deserved.

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