Mad Monster Expo

It has become a tradition for my family to attend the Mad Monster Expo in NC each year. We have been now three years in a row. For those that don’t know, these are events where fans can interact with actors, wrestlers, and many other celebrities. As the name suggests, this one is generally horror themed, but this is not always the case. My wife and I have been collecting signatures now for a while and we have some great memories and cool fan memorabilia as tokens of our adventures together. We went to the Mad Monster Expo primarily for Halloween franchise related signatures this year but, we met some other unique people as well. Let’s talk about Mad Monster Expo hosted in Charlotte, NC.

First off, let’s get into the main reason we went – Mad Monster Expo had several Halloween franchise guests this year. The convention featured Tommy Lee Wallace, Sandy Johnson, Dick Warlock, Tom Atkins, and Stacy Nelkin. No offense here, but we were after the Halloween and Halloween II guests, so we focused efforts on Tommy Lee Wallce, Sandy Johnson, and Dick Warlock.  Tommy Lee Wallace was credited as a coeditor to the original Halloween movie from 1978, he was the designer of the famous mask, and played Michael Myers in the closet scene (Fandom.com, 2022). Check out this cool YouTube video by Malfuncsean from 2020 where Tommy talks about the Michael Myers mask design at this link, Rebuilding The Shape/Halloween Michael Myers Mask with Tommy Lee Wallace & Sean Clark – YouTube. Our original poster wouldn’t be complete without the designer of this iconic mask’s signature on it.

Next up for us was Sandy Johnson. She played the original Judith Myers in the 1978 film. For those unfamiliar with the Halloween story, Judith was a sister to Michael Myers and is his first victim. Our poster wouldn’t be complete without her signature either. From her and Tommy, we learned and interesting piece of trivia about celebrities signing movie posters. They all have their “spot” on a poster. Sandy’s was the tip of the knife. She explained, “I was his first victim so, I like to sign the tip of the knife” (S. Johnson, personal communication, August 27 ,2022). Tommy Lee Wallace explained that he liked to sign down the back of the blade, which he did. His signature was a very long linear one so, it fit well along the back edge of the knife. I recalled Tom Savini mentioning that he liked to sign the knife on the Friday the 13^th poster. Signing actors/actresses “having spots” clicked for me when Sandy commented on her signature’s intentional placement.

We really enjoyed talking with Sandy and did for about 10 minutes. She was a very kind person, and the conversation was informing and entertaining. I was curious how many original Halloween movie posters she had signed. She answered that to her knowledge, she had “…only signed about 4-5 original movie posters” (S. Johnson, personal communication, August 27 ,2022). This was great for me because it adds value of a personal nature to our poster. My wife and I have never seen anyone else getting an original poster autographed and when we unroll ours, folks’ attention is always on it. She also mentioned that she often interacts with fans on her Facebook page @SandyJohnson. I plan to follow and try to stay in touch.

Now, let’s talk about Dick Warlock. This guy was a fascinating older fellow who reminded me of my grandfather and probably the headliner for the Mad Monster Expo this year. He was very personable. My wife had some questions about an original Halloween II mask we purchased from Facebook Marketplace a while back (yes, it got some ink on it too). He answered our questions, signed our original Halloween II poster and mask, took a photo with my family, and talked to us for several minutes. Dick was credited as Stunt Director for Friday the 13^th Part 5 so, I had to get my (unoriginal) copy of this poster signed by him too (IMDB, 2022). Last year at this same festival, I got Tom Morga to sign it. Now, my Friday the 13^th Part 5 poster includes the actor who played Jason and the Stunt Director’s signatures. Since Warlock has now signed my Halloween II poster, I guess we’re going to have to look for Halloween II cast to get it stacked out with autographs. Oh well, that just means more adventures for me and my beautiful wife.  

So, it’s time now for a story form my childhood. Let’s go back in time to somewhere around 1988 or 1989. My parents are out of town for the weekend and my brother and I are staying with our grandparents. Our parents didn’t have HBO and wouldn’t let us watch a lot of stuff but, everyone knows that grandparents don’t care what grandchildren do. Ours were no different, had HBO, and went to bed early. I remember that weekend like it was yesterday. There was a back-to-back repeat marathon of Killer Klowns from Outer Space playing on this “off limits” channel. We probably watched that movie 6 times that weekend.

When I got older, I found it in a bin and bought it. I love this movie! It’s a perfect mix of creepy and silly. This is a thought I shared with all three of the Chiodo brothers who wrote, produced, directed, and starred in the movie (Marnell, 2018). I learned from the trio that that when the movie hit HBO is when it took off. The brothers loved hearing my story about their now classic cult film. We also met the lead male and female roles from this classic clown movie, Grant Cramer and Suzanne Snyder. Two the men that played members of the Klown troop were there as well, Mike Martinez and Harrod Blank. All these cast members were great to conversate with. They all signed a piece of art that came with a recent release of the film that I own and took photos with me and my family. This displayed blue ray insert, complete with 7 signatures, is  now in our collection. 

Finally, we met John Kassir who did the voice of the Crypt Keeper from Tales from the Crypt. He had to be one of our favorites from Mad Monster Expo this year, not that we didn’t enjoy everyone. He was a very personable man and took all the time with each fan that he could. I found it funny that he had on his sign a price for voicemails on your phone. I had this idea and was sure he got asked that question all the time. Obviously, I was right. We got to hear him do his iconic voice though for free when my daughter approached his table and for the fans in front of us too. Anyway, I painted a picture of the Crypt Keeper in 2019 as a commissioned work. I was able to bring this painting along and have it signed for the owner. It was great to see someone I had painted, or a character anyway, holding and autographing my art. I appreciated hearing his enthusiasm about my craft too.

I cannot say enough about how exciting and fun these events are. Anyone who is interested in films should keep their eyes open for these conventions. They are becoming increasingly popular. There are conventions or “cons” for all sorts of genres and topics out there. We plan to attend this event every year if we are able, given there is a signature we need to collect. The event supports charity so, your ticket sales are well used. As an addition, the expo featured some WWE wrestlers this year – like I said, it’s not always 100% horror themed. One of the men in attendance from this sport was Matt Hardy, of whom my wife is a fan. Meeting Matt and getting a photo op was a highlight for her. Matt was a very friendly fellow. Keep your eyes open and support these conventions. You can find more information on this convention on their website at madmonster.com.

Reference List

Marnell. (2018 July, 1). Killer klowns from outer space punching puppets are finally a thing. Nerdist. KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE Punching Puppets Are Finally a Thing – Nerdist

Halloween Fandom. (2022). Tommy lee wallace. Fandom.com. Tommy Lee Wallace | Halloween Series Wiki | Fandom

IMDB. (2022). Dick warlock. IMDB.com. Dick Warlock – IMD