We had Dream Warriors,Dream Masters, and the Original Ladies of Elm Street, Amanda Wyss and Heather Langenkamp to just name a few.Oh and yes, the gloved one , himself was there, calling random strangers "Bitch"( a popular request,apparently) and cackling all the way to the bank.
Sadly , this event fell just days shy of the passing of the man who started it all :Wes Craven. While spirits were high, and fun was to be had, there were moments of solemness . Robert Englund signed a Wes Tribute poster : "My Dr. Frankenstein, Thanks for creating me,giving me life-Freddy". Wes was in the hearts and minds of many a movie goer over this weekend, with favorite stories shared and tears shed.
The Original A Nightmare On Elm Street has always been a big part of my movie watching life. So my attendance at this event was a given the moment the first wave of guests were announced.
A personal goal for the weekend was to have my complete collection of original Elm Street movie scripts signed, by,of course, the gloved one , and any star in attendance.
Mission accomplished! A time consuming task ,as Robert was only signing two items per person and in order to even get that you had to claim a ticket to get in that line in the first place.This required getting in a line at 8 am to beat the crowd. A very special thanks to Robert and his assistant,Jessica, at his table who allowed me to slip in a third and final item on the very last day during Roberts last hour.Thus completing my collection of Nightmare On Elm Street scripts signed, sealed, and delivered to my bookshelf.
An amusing aspect of the weekend was the number of times one of the stars remarked at the uniqueness of my script.Many didn't even still have a copy of their own. Several gave me their addresses and asked if I would send them a copy. A request I was able to fulfill by finding a late night place to make copies and then present them the gift the very next day. For offering to do this in the first place ,they even signed my items for free.
Robert Englund, a man who always seems to have a story to tell from his career , shared a fascinating story about one of his fellow "actors" who was in fact a MI-5 agent working undercover as an actor, who had appeared in Mr Englund's retelling of Phantom of the Opera.This story was sparked by my request for Robert to sign my POTO script.Robert even kindly gave me a signed Phantom photo for free.
This being the second time I have had the pleasure of meeting Robert,Amanda and Heather , I was excited to have a whole new selection of actors from the Original Cast to not only sign my special items, but to thank them personally for the hours upon hours of entertainment and inspiration to my imagination their work has been.
This event allowed me to add the signatures of Nick Corri(Rod Lane), Ronee Blakely(Nancy's Mom,Marge) to my script, original movie poster, and the Never Sleep Again book that I had a hand in Kickstarting to life. To have the Dream Warriors reunite for one last group on the cover of my NOES 3 script.From Dream Master to Freddys Dead, I was able to acquire many a sig.,shake hands and say a personal thanks for the years of entertainment.
I had the honor of presenting both Amanda and Heather a small token of appreciation in the form of a gift bag of goodies which included : A bottle of red wine,a bag of Godiva chocolate,variety of colored pens for signing(as they go through them fast at these events), A favorite hardcover book( to return, in a small way, the entertainment they have provided), Icy Hot( for those tired hands and shoulders that are made weary from a full day of signing) , A mini "hotel sized" Zen garden kit ( for relaxing after a day with the unwashed masses),a personal letter to each of the Ladies, and what turned out to be my Horrorhound Weekend Mixtape.
Inspired by my now annual Halloween seasonal mixtapes(good grief this year will mark #11), I put together a sort of best of in celebration of the Horrorhound weekend.A last minute thought as I put them together a few days before the event, I selected random songs from each previous Halloween mixtape.There were thoughts about picking a song connected to each movie , but that would have ended up as being mostly score tracks.
The thought behind the Horrorhound Mixtape was for it to be handed out to random strangers throughout the weekend. I ended up giving most of them to anyone who was kind enough to assist me in taking pictures of myself with a guest as a Thank You.
Below is the tracklist :
1) Homer Simpson warns us that the following show is very scary....in this Treehouse of Horrors soundbite
2)Golden Tusk add lyrics to the iconic John Carpenter Halloween theme to tell the tale of Michael and Laurie
3) Celldweller-add some rock to John Carpenter's Halloween theme
4)Where Wolf?...There...There Wolf,There Castle-Young Frankenstein Soundbite
5)"Midnight Moon"- Like when peanut butter meets chocolate,LeeDM101 Mashsups together M83 vs CCR
6)NIGHT OF THE LEPUS! trailer AHHHHHH Bunnies!! RUN AWAY...RUN AWAY!!!
7)"Mr Splitfoot"-Paris Motel's devil of a tune
8)Pennywise the dancing clown is an eater of worlds ...and of children.And you're NEXT!
9)"Can't Sleep ,Clowns Will Eat Me" -Alice Cooper knows personally what terror hides behind those shiny red noses.No-Doz anyone?
10)Riff Raff invites you to the Rocky Horror Picture Show in this radio commercial.Don't forget to wear your finest garter belts and stockings.
11)"R U Gonna be my TV?" - It's Jet vs Tim Curry in this Sweet Transvestive of a mashup
12)Ghostface wants to see what your insides look like
13)"Sneakyville" -Secession sing of scary white faced creatures in the night
14)Linus knows three things never to discuss with people :religion ,politics and the Great Pumpkin
15)"All Hallows Eve"- Incubus Sukkubus sing a spirited song of the season
16)All Johnette Naplolitano needs tonight is one "Full Moon".Halloween and Trick or treat, the night is dark and sweet.
17)The Editors cover the Cure with this "Lullaby" to Spiders
18)Sharaon Needles knows that "Everyday is Halloween"
19)Alice Cooper has an important Halloween message in this PSA
20)The Ghosts sing a song of "Trick or Treat" to Donald Duck
21)Elvira, Mistress of the Dark Knows a thing or two about "Trick or Treat".Have you seen her two big pumpkins?
22)Elvira knows the proper way to carve a pumpkin....with a chainsaw!!
23)The Greenskeepers tell you what to do with that bottle of "Lotion". Yes,Precious.
24)Chicken Lips calls the Student Bodies Principal....*click*
25)"Too Bad You're Crazy"- Jerry Whitman ,You're looney as hell
26)You are a bold and courageous person to enter the haunted house
27)The Rifftones know what waits you inside "The House on Haunted Hill"
28)Stephen Lynch thinks the kiddies on "Halloween" are just delicious
29)The Kids of Elm Street dont know it yet ,but they are in for a NIGHTMARE in this film trailer
30)"Do the Freddy"....or not.....really....Let's just pretend this never happened
31) Whew , that was terrible.Principal Skinner saves the day with a sprinkle of some amnesia dust.
32)Vincent Price gives good advice on how to clean your bath laboratory
33)Christopher Walken reads us "Poe's The Raven" for a little bedtime story
34)"Rise up Ye Buried Gentlemen" it's almost Halloween -so say Sindy Skinless and the Decomposers
35) "I...AM.....Dracula" ..and you're not
36) Jason Segal knows the pain of "Dracula's Lament
37)Klaato...... Barrada ....necktie
