Wild Weekend! Part One: Tonight, We Did
Aug. 25th, 2010 08:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
japanesedream_72I have been going almost non-stop for 6 days.
Please bear with me; this will take a while to document, because SO much has happened!!
I'll go day by day, starting with Friday, when I went to my mom's to pick up her & my brother, Johnathan, for Monster-Mania (http://www.monstermania.net/MMC15_Guests.html). He was still working, so she & I went out shopping, 'cuz she had to pick up some stuff. We also looked around, hoping to find a card or something with a grey cat on it. She'd had the idea of maybe giving it to Dale Midkiff, one of the stars of Pet Sematary (whom she really, really likes), since a grey cat was the family pet in the film. Sadly, there were very few cat items, cards or otherwise, to be found, & of those, no grey cats. Ah well. I did manage to find a little goodie for myself, tho', a cute metal Hello Kitty pursey-thing.
Once my brother came home & got ready, we all packed up & headed down to Cherry Hill. For those who don't know, that's in southern NJ, not too far from Philadelphia...which is why my GPS decided to take us THROUGH Philly!! XP But first, we went past exits for Valley Forge, Conshohocken, & some other places, & got stuck in work traffic!! It was a mess there for a while, & I was feeling really rough. I'd been sick the whole week, & at that moment, despite having taken aspirin at my mom's, I had a raging headache that was making me terribly nauseous. If my head didn't explode, I thought my guts might. O.o
Driving through Philly - ugh, I never want to do that again as long as I live!! The drivers there are SCARY!! They don't want to let you in when you're trying to switch lanes!! And, of course, I have no idea exactly where I'm going. We went to Monster-Mania last year, but I'd driven to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
charaxinae's house & she drove the rest of the way. This year, it was just me, all teary & panicking, but Philly really is a nice city, with a beautiful skyline, & we went over the Ben Franklin Bridge, which is also pretty neat. And though it took a lot longer than it should have under normal circumstances, we finally arrived at the Crowne Plaza.
We drive around for a bit looking for a parking place, & end up finding one not too far from the hotel, which was a bit of luck. So we go to the main entrance (which I thought was where we entered last year, but we only went for 1 day; this year was the whole 3), & there's this huge line, but the staff guy who checked our passes (they're actually wristbands, so we put them on right there, & kept them on for the whole 3 days) said it was only for John Carpenter. Much like Adam West last year, they had Carpenter in a room by himself, sequestered from the other stars. We were indecisive about what to do: I'd wanted to get to see Carpenter, but with that long line & the fact that they said he was charging $30 for an autograph (most of the stars only charge $20), it seemed a bit much. And tho' the staff guy teased us for our indecisiveness, we decided to skip Carpenter, & go straight in to enjoy the rest of the convention.
I must tell you that, at first, Monster-Mania is kind of overwhelming. There are lots & lots of dealer tables, & it's hard to know what to do or buy or where to even start. You kind of have to have a system - look at everything first, then decide what you might like to get & investigate that specifically. Plus, if you have the schedule handy (we did), you want to make sure you know where the events are & get there in time to get a good seat. There are also interesting-looking people attending, which makes people-watching a must, not to mention the people who work with the convention who walk around in costume. I got a couple of pics last year, but only went & talked to Katharine Isabelle, so this year I was determined to go all out! So we scoped out a couple of things in the dealer room. Johnathan got a copy of Night of the Demons 3, & I found Nekromantik 2 & Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill. Then we went to check out the signing rooms & find out who was situated where. We wanted to make sure we had enough time also to snag some dinner, before catching the screening of Pet Sematary at 10:00.
There are 2 main signing rooms; there was another for the Boondock Saints, & I dunno where they stuck John Carpenter. Somewhere upstairs, I think. There wasn’t really anyone I desperately needed to speak to in the first room (tho’ seeing Friday the 13th pt. 2 star Amy Steel was pretty cool; she hasn’t changed much); rather, it was in the 2nd signing room where we had our best luck. As soon as we walked in, there was Felissa Rose!! She's the girl from Sleepaway Camp (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepaway_Camp), the only horror movie that freaks me out!! Next to her were tables for each of the Pet Sematary (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet_Sematary_(film)) stars. Beside them were Julian Sands (who is a lot bigger than on tv, & he’s a big guy on tv!! But he didn’t look in the best of moods, & Johnathan said he wasn’t really talking to anyone much), & Barbara Steele (you will hear more about her later). There were other stars, as well (Udo Kier was supposed to be there, but ended up having to cancel), including William Forsythe (the sheriff from The Devil’s Rejects), plus people promoting movies & books, as well as other horror things. Sometimes, in the dealer's rooms, they'll try to get your attention to promote their merchandise (they did that to us a couple times), but it's not like that in the signing rooms. The stars just sit there & wait for you to come to them. Sometimes, tho', they'll take breaks, so you'll see a "Back in 5 minutes" sign on their table. Dale Midkiff was on a break, but Felissa was there, & ever since we'd found out she was gonna be there, my mom said I should go tell her my story. I was a bit nervous, but then my mom spotted Dale coming back in! He walked past us & she pointed him out (I hadn't noticed him enter). She didn't want to be the 1st to go up to him, or to go alone, so she took me up to Felissa (saying hi in the meantime to some of the Pet Sematary cast, including Miko Hughes, Brad Greenquist, & Andrew Hubastek, who played Zelda - the only horror character that freaks Johnathan out, & she told him so!! He smiled at that).
However terrifying she may be in the film, Felissa is a total sweetheart in person!! I walked up to her after the guy in front of us was finished, & she looks up at me & asks, with that cute, perky attitude of hers, "How are you?" It just sort of came out, but I said, "Fantastic," & she was, like, "Really? Tell me!" So I told her how I'm a card-carrying, life-long gore-hound who can watch anything getting ripped out of anybody, but I cannot watch (or even listen to) the end of her movie 'cuz it disturbs me so badly!! (If you wanna see why, check out the scene that gets me, on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdNKR1j6l90 - but I warn you, it's VERY disturbing!!!) Eyes wide, she said, "OMG, really? Tell me, why?" I explained it was her face (which they freeze on), her snarling, the music, the whole thing. She said she thought I was "so cute" & said she was fascinated by people telling her how disturbing they find it, since, even tho' she's seen the film, she doesn't have that outside perspective. I said her perspective would no doubt be different, since she was the one standing there, then I asked her if it was a suit or what, "How did they do that?" She said they made a mold of her head & put it on a male actor, so that's a real boy's body. I hadn't known that. She did say that it was her voice, tho'. I told her I get so unnerved by that final moment, if I were to watch it I'd start looking for her character around dark corners!! She turned to my mom & said, "I love her!" I'd picked out a photo of her from the film, & she signed it.
When she asked my name, I told her, & it turned out her manager or whoever that was with her (pretty much all the stars have a person with them) was named Marlene, too! I asked if I could take a pic with her, & she was happy to do it. Johnathan took the shot, & I thanked her.
Then I started to walk away, & realised I forgot to pay her! :P I went back & was, like, "Did I pay you?" So I did, & it turned out her husband had come back in, & she said she was telling him my story; she said they'd met because he was a fan of the film! I talked to him for a bit about it (he agreed it is very disturbing), then said bye to her again, & she said I'd made her night. ^_^
Next, it was my mom's turn. And she was NERVOUS! I went up with her to Dale Midkiff's table, & she was picking out a photo (I helped her choose a nice one from Pet Sematary, tho' the stars have shots from other things they've done, or even non-film shots), then said hi to Dale, & he said hi. But I didn't think she could say much more, so I thought I'd help her out. "My mother just loves you," I said, & he said, "Aww, Mom, that's so sweet!" & clasped her hand in both of his. I told him that her favourite line in the film was after the scene where Denise Crosby (who plays his wife) talks about her sister that died (Zelda), & gets upset, & he says he's giving her a Valium. She says she doesn't take Valium, & he turns around, "channeling Elvis," as I put it (he did play Elvis in a TV movie once), & says, "Tonight, you do." I said we've had whole evenings of in-jokes that have cropped up around that scene, & he giggled a bit, then whips himself into character for a split second, looks at my mom, & launches into a perfect, "Tonight, you do." OMG!! :D Then, he says to my mom, "You're gonna get a hug," & asks her name & if she wants anything special written when he signs her photo. She didn't really give him an answer, & he writes, "To Grace, Tonight you do! Love, Dale Midkiff."
She thanked him, & I asked if he'd mind if I got a photo of him & my mom. He said sure, then comes out from behind his table, arms spread wide, & gave my mom a big hug!! I took a photo of him with his arms around her, & he said, "Take another." So I got a 2nd one!!
We asked if he were gonna be there all weekend, & he said yes, 'cuz I'd wanted to get his autograph, too, but I was hoping to get my Pet Sematary novel signed, but I'd left it in the car. So we said we'd be back, & he was cool with that. I think we mentioned at that point that we'd be there all 3 days. "See you this weekend," he said.
I went to 60s film-making pioneer Herschell Gordon Lewis next. The Godfather of Gore, himself!! I was kind of discombobulated with him, tho’, so I mostly said it was a pleasure to meet him & I admired his films. He took my hand in both of his (not as tightly as Dale did to my mom, tho’), & I think I said something about Blood Feast being the first of his films that I’d watched, long ago, which started me getting into his movies, but I don’t think he heard me, ‘cuz I said it quietly, knowing if I did it any louder, I’d be making a damn fool of myself. XD He asked my name & signed a photo of himself.
He was so nice!! I thanked him & made my happy way back to my waiting family members.
After that, it was dinner at Embers, the hotel restaurant. My brother & I both had wraps (his was chicken, mine was veggie), & my mom got a burger. We gushed about our autographs, & how we'd touched the hearts of the stars we'd talked to, namely Dale & Felissa. Johnathan was funny, 'cuz he said, "I wanna touch somebody." LOL!! XD (He would get his chance, don't worry, but let's not get ahead of the story.) The food was pretty good, tho' we had to hunt down the waiter when we were gonna pay. He'd been nice enough, tho'. The real highlight of dinner was seeing this tall woman in a black suit, with a little pillbox hat & sunglasses, who we'd seen at least once previously that evening walking through the place), & tho' we'd thought she was just an attendee, I later realised she was 60s European horror film star BARBARA STEELE!!! She was sitting with a bunch of guys (her entourage, I guess) in the back of the restaurant. We said she looked very old-Hollywood, sort of Bette Davis-esque. Seemed a little stern, & I was kind of afraid of her. There's more to the Barbara Steele story, but that will come later.
We had a bit of time after dinner before the movie screening, so my mom wanted to go out for a smoke break, which gave me the opportunity to go to the car & get my book. This pleased my mom, since it gave her the chance to talk to Dale again. So we get back to the signing room & go up to his table, & I told him I went & got my book, & gave it to him. "Should I make this out to Grace, too?" he asked. I said, with a bit of a giggle, "No, this one's mine." XD
My mom gushed a bit 'cuz he remembered her name, & said something to that effect, to which he said, "Grace is one of my favourite names." He said he'd known "a lot of wonderful women over the years" named Grace. He asked my name, & if signing on the title page was okay, & I said fine. Then he asked if pen was okay or if I needed him to use marker. I said it didn't really matter, as long as it was his hand that wrote it, but yes, pen was fine. So he signed my book, & then we asked him some questions. My mom had noticed one of his photos earlier & didn't know which of his projects it was from, so he told us: it was a series he'd done, I guess in the mid-90s, called Time Trax. He said he played a cop from the future who came back in time "& beat up a bad guy every week". My mom said she may have actually seen that (at least one episode), & also made mention of his role as Elvis, saying she'd liked him in that. He thanked her, & we said our good-byes, tho' we were taking a last look around quickly...& who should come up but the staff guy from the John Carpenter line! :P He pointed at us, asked us if we'd seen Carpenter (we never did), & said we'd have to be leaving 'cuz the signing rooms were gonna close down soon.
We asked another staffer where the movies were being shown, he said upstairs. We went upstairs, but none of the rooms tell you which films are where. Turned out we were in the wrong room! They said Pet Sematary was downstairs, so we find it, & go in. Johnathan nipped off to snag a couple of snacks & buy some sheet protectors for our photos, & one last item before the dealer tables closed (a fairly realistic-looking rubber mask of a severed human face). The film was even cooler to watch now, having met Dale & seen in passing the other stars. The audience laughed at the funny bits, & the guy in front of us (same dude who'd been in front of us at Felissa Rose) giggled when my mom & I made a humourous comment. We also sang & bopped along with the Ramones songs. XD During dinner, we'd quipped that someone ought to go up to Miko Hughes & have him sign something with his famous (& very cute) film line, "No fair." Turns out the guy in front of us had a poster for the movie, & had done just that!! He also had Brad Greenquist (who played Pascow) sign it with his line, "The ground is sour." Pretty cool, ne?
We left after Pet Sematary to go back to my house, which was only about an hour's drive. They were screening Carpenter's The Thing next, but I didn't feel like driving home @ 2 am. I was already anticipating a late stay on Sat., 'cuz they were doing Rocky Horror, & I'd gotten us a good deal at the Holiday Inn down the street for Sat. night. Back at my place, we were tired but still buzzed from the night's excitement. So we watched Night of the Demons 3, which is pretty good & sometimes funny - esp. the scene where the demon, played by Amelia Kinkade (who was scheduled to be at the convention, but we hadn't seen her there on Fri. - she does, however, come into play later on), is threatened with a gun, which she promptly takes in her mouth &...um...sucks out the bullets!! XD
We passed out, pretty much, after that, but rose early on Sat., for our full-day adventure!! Check it out here: http://japanesedream.livejournal.com/382836.html
Please bear with me; this will take a while to document, because SO much has happened!!
I'll go day by day, starting with Friday, when I went to my mom's to pick up her & my brother, Johnathan, for Monster-Mania (http://www.monstermania.net/MMC15_Guests.html). He was still working, so she & I went out shopping, 'cuz she had to pick up some stuff. We also looked around, hoping to find a card or something with a grey cat on it. She'd had the idea of maybe giving it to Dale Midkiff, one of the stars of Pet Sematary (whom she really, really likes), since a grey cat was the family pet in the film. Sadly, there were very few cat items, cards or otherwise, to be found, & of those, no grey cats. Ah well. I did manage to find a little goodie for myself, tho', a cute metal Hello Kitty pursey-thing.
Once my brother came home & got ready, we all packed up & headed down to Cherry Hill. For those who don't know, that's in southern NJ, not too far from Philadelphia...which is why my GPS decided to take us THROUGH Philly!! XP But first, we went past exits for Valley Forge, Conshohocken, & some other places, & got stuck in work traffic!! It was a mess there for a while, & I was feeling really rough. I'd been sick the whole week, & at that moment, despite having taken aspirin at my mom's, I had a raging headache that was making me terribly nauseous. If my head didn't explode, I thought my guts might. O.o
Driving through Philly - ugh, I never want to do that again as long as I live!! The drivers there are SCARY!! They don't want to let you in when you're trying to switch lanes!! And, of course, I have no idea exactly where I'm going. We went to Monster-Mania last year, but I'd driven to
charaxinae's house & she drove the rest of the way. This year, it was just me, all teary & panicking, but Philly really is a nice city, with a beautiful skyline, & we went over the Ben Franklin Bridge, which is also pretty neat. And though it took a lot longer than it should have under normal circumstances, we finally arrived at the Crowne Plaza.We drive around for a bit looking for a parking place, & end up finding one not too far from the hotel, which was a bit of luck. So we go to the main entrance (which I thought was where we entered last year, but we only went for 1 day; this year was the whole 3), & there's this huge line, but the staff guy who checked our passes (they're actually wristbands, so we put them on right there, & kept them on for the whole 3 days) said it was only for John Carpenter. Much like Adam West last year, they had Carpenter in a room by himself, sequestered from the other stars. We were indecisive about what to do: I'd wanted to get to see Carpenter, but with that long line & the fact that they said he was charging $30 for an autograph (most of the stars only charge $20), it seemed a bit much. And tho' the staff guy teased us for our indecisiveness, we decided to skip Carpenter, & go straight in to enjoy the rest of the convention.
I must tell you that, at first, Monster-Mania is kind of overwhelming. There are lots & lots of dealer tables, & it's hard to know what to do or buy or where to even start. You kind of have to have a system - look at everything first, then decide what you might like to get & investigate that specifically. Plus, if you have the schedule handy (we did), you want to make sure you know where the events are & get there in time to get a good seat. There are also interesting-looking people attending, which makes people-watching a must, not to mention the people who work with the convention who walk around in costume. I got a couple of pics last year, but only went & talked to Katharine Isabelle, so this year I was determined to go all out! So we scoped out a couple of things in the dealer room. Johnathan got a copy of Night of the Demons 3, & I found Nekromantik 2 & Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill. Then we went to check out the signing rooms & find out who was situated where. We wanted to make sure we had enough time also to snag some dinner, before catching the screening of Pet Sematary at 10:00.
There are 2 main signing rooms; there was another for the Boondock Saints, & I dunno where they stuck John Carpenter. Somewhere upstairs, I think. There wasn’t really anyone I desperately needed to speak to in the first room (tho’ seeing Friday the 13th pt. 2 star Amy Steel was pretty cool; she hasn’t changed much); rather, it was in the 2nd signing room where we had our best luck. As soon as we walked in, there was Felissa Rose!! She's the girl from Sleepaway Camp (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepaway_Camp), the only horror movie that freaks me out!! Next to her were tables for each of the Pet Sematary (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet_Sematary_(film)) stars. Beside them were Julian Sands (who is a lot bigger than on tv, & he’s a big guy on tv!! But he didn’t look in the best of moods, & Johnathan said he wasn’t really talking to anyone much), & Barbara Steele (you will hear more about her later). There were other stars, as well (Udo Kier was supposed to be there, but ended up having to cancel), including William Forsythe (the sheriff from The Devil’s Rejects), plus people promoting movies & books, as well as other horror things. Sometimes, in the dealer's rooms, they'll try to get your attention to promote their merchandise (they did that to us a couple times), but it's not like that in the signing rooms. The stars just sit there & wait for you to come to them. Sometimes, tho', they'll take breaks, so you'll see a "Back in 5 minutes" sign on their table. Dale Midkiff was on a break, but Felissa was there, & ever since we'd found out she was gonna be there, my mom said I should go tell her my story. I was a bit nervous, but then my mom spotted Dale coming back in! He walked past us & she pointed him out (I hadn't noticed him enter). She didn't want to be the 1st to go up to him, or to go alone, so she took me up to Felissa (saying hi in the meantime to some of the Pet Sematary cast, including Miko Hughes, Brad Greenquist, & Andrew Hubastek, who played Zelda - the only horror character that freaks Johnathan out, & she told him so!! He smiled at that).
However terrifying she may be in the film, Felissa is a total sweetheart in person!! I walked up to her after the guy in front of us was finished, & she looks up at me & asks, with that cute, perky attitude of hers, "How are you?" It just sort of came out, but I said, "Fantastic," & she was, like, "Really? Tell me!" So I told her how I'm a card-carrying, life-long gore-hound who can watch anything getting ripped out of anybody, but I cannot watch (or even listen to) the end of her movie 'cuz it disturbs me so badly!! (If you wanna see why, check out the scene that gets me, on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdNKR1j6l90 - but I warn you, it's VERY disturbing!!!) Eyes wide, she said, "OMG, really? Tell me, why?" I explained it was her face (which they freeze on), her snarling, the music, the whole thing. She said she thought I was "so cute" & said she was fascinated by people telling her how disturbing they find it, since, even tho' she's seen the film, she doesn't have that outside perspective. I said her perspective would no doubt be different, since she was the one standing there, then I asked her if it was a suit or what, "How did they do that?" She said they made a mold of her head & put it on a male actor, so that's a real boy's body. I hadn't known that. She did say that it was her voice, tho'. I told her I get so unnerved by that final moment, if I were to watch it I'd start looking for her character around dark corners!! She turned to my mom & said, "I love her!" I'd picked out a photo of her from the film, & she signed it.
When she asked my name, I told her, & it turned out her manager or whoever that was with her (pretty much all the stars have a person with them) was named Marlene, too! I asked if I could take a pic with her, & she was happy to do it. Johnathan took the shot, & I thanked her.
Then I started to walk away, & realised I forgot to pay her! :P I went back & was, like, "Did I pay you?" So I did, & it turned out her husband had come back in, & she said she was telling him my story; she said they'd met because he was a fan of the film! I talked to him for a bit about it (he agreed it is very disturbing), then said bye to her again, & she said I'd made her night. ^_^
Next, it was my mom's turn. And she was NERVOUS! I went up with her to Dale Midkiff's table, & she was picking out a photo (I helped her choose a nice one from Pet Sematary, tho' the stars have shots from other things they've done, or even non-film shots), then said hi to Dale, & he said hi. But I didn't think she could say much more, so I thought I'd help her out. "My mother just loves you," I said, & he said, "Aww, Mom, that's so sweet!" & clasped her hand in both of his. I told him that her favourite line in the film was after the scene where Denise Crosby (who plays his wife) talks about her sister that died (Zelda), & gets upset, & he says he's giving her a Valium. She says she doesn't take Valium, & he turns around, "channeling Elvis," as I put it (he did play Elvis in a TV movie once), & says, "Tonight, you do." I said we've had whole evenings of in-jokes that have cropped up around that scene, & he giggled a bit, then whips himself into character for a split second, looks at my mom, & launches into a perfect, "Tonight, you do." OMG!! :D Then, he says to my mom, "You're gonna get a hug," & asks her name & if she wants anything special written when he signs her photo. She didn't really give him an answer, & he writes, "To Grace, Tonight you do! Love, Dale Midkiff."
She thanked him, & I asked if he'd mind if I got a photo of him & my mom. He said sure, then comes out from behind his table, arms spread wide, & gave my mom a big hug!! I took a photo of him with his arms around her, & he said, "Take another." So I got a 2nd one!!
We asked if he were gonna be there all weekend, & he said yes, 'cuz I'd wanted to get his autograph, too, but I was hoping to get my Pet Sematary novel signed, but I'd left it in the car. So we said we'd be back, & he was cool with that. I think we mentioned at that point that we'd be there all 3 days. "See you this weekend," he said.
I went to 60s film-making pioneer Herschell Gordon Lewis next. The Godfather of Gore, himself!! I was kind of discombobulated with him, tho’, so I mostly said it was a pleasure to meet him & I admired his films. He took my hand in both of his (not as tightly as Dale did to my mom, tho’), & I think I said something about Blood Feast being the first of his films that I’d watched, long ago, which started me getting into his movies, but I don’t think he heard me, ‘cuz I said it quietly, knowing if I did it any louder, I’d be making a damn fool of myself. XD He asked my name & signed a photo of himself.
He was so nice!! I thanked him & made my happy way back to my waiting family members.
After that, it was dinner at Embers, the hotel restaurant. My brother & I both had wraps (his was chicken, mine was veggie), & my mom got a burger. We gushed about our autographs, & how we'd touched the hearts of the stars we'd talked to, namely Dale & Felissa. Johnathan was funny, 'cuz he said, "I wanna touch somebody." LOL!! XD (He would get his chance, don't worry, but let's not get ahead of the story.) The food was pretty good, tho' we had to hunt down the waiter when we were gonna pay. He'd been nice enough, tho'. The real highlight of dinner was seeing this tall woman in a black suit, with a little pillbox hat & sunglasses, who we'd seen at least once previously that evening walking through the place), & tho' we'd thought she was just an attendee, I later realised she was 60s European horror film star BARBARA STEELE!!! She was sitting with a bunch of guys (her entourage, I guess) in the back of the restaurant. We said she looked very old-Hollywood, sort of Bette Davis-esque. Seemed a little stern, & I was kind of afraid of her. There's more to the Barbara Steele story, but that will come later.
We had a bit of time after dinner before the movie screening, so my mom wanted to go out for a smoke break, which gave me the opportunity to go to the car & get my book. This pleased my mom, since it gave her the chance to talk to Dale again. So we get back to the signing room & go up to his table, & I told him I went & got my book, & gave it to him. "Should I make this out to Grace, too?" he asked. I said, with a bit of a giggle, "No, this one's mine." XD
My mom gushed a bit 'cuz he remembered her name, & said something to that effect, to which he said, "Grace is one of my favourite names." He said he'd known "a lot of wonderful women over the years" named Grace. He asked my name, & if signing on the title page was okay, & I said fine. Then he asked if pen was okay or if I needed him to use marker. I said it didn't really matter, as long as it was his hand that wrote it, but yes, pen was fine. So he signed my book, & then we asked him some questions. My mom had noticed one of his photos earlier & didn't know which of his projects it was from, so he told us: it was a series he'd done, I guess in the mid-90s, called Time Trax. He said he played a cop from the future who came back in time "& beat up a bad guy every week". My mom said she may have actually seen that (at least one episode), & also made mention of his role as Elvis, saying she'd liked him in that. He thanked her, & we said our good-byes, tho' we were taking a last look around quickly...& who should come up but the staff guy from the John Carpenter line! :P He pointed at us, asked us if we'd seen Carpenter (we never did), & said we'd have to be leaving 'cuz the signing rooms were gonna close down soon.
We asked another staffer where the movies were being shown, he said upstairs. We went upstairs, but none of the rooms tell you which films are where. Turned out we were in the wrong room! They said Pet Sematary was downstairs, so we find it, & go in. Johnathan nipped off to snag a couple of snacks & buy some sheet protectors for our photos, & one last item before the dealer tables closed (a fairly realistic-looking rubber mask of a severed human face). The film was even cooler to watch now, having met Dale & seen in passing the other stars. The audience laughed at the funny bits, & the guy in front of us (same dude who'd been in front of us at Felissa Rose) giggled when my mom & I made a humourous comment. We also sang & bopped along with the Ramones songs. XD During dinner, we'd quipped that someone ought to go up to Miko Hughes & have him sign something with his famous (& very cute) film line, "No fair." Turns out the guy in front of us had a poster for the movie, & had done just that!! He also had Brad Greenquist (who played Pascow) sign it with his line, "The ground is sour." Pretty cool, ne?
We left after Pet Sematary to go back to my house, which was only about an hour's drive. They were screening Carpenter's The Thing next, but I didn't feel like driving home @ 2 am. I was already anticipating a late stay on Sat., 'cuz they were doing Rocky Horror, & I'd gotten us a good deal at the Holiday Inn down the street for Sat. night. Back at my place, we were tired but still buzzed from the night's excitement. So we watched Night of the Demons 3, which is pretty good & sometimes funny - esp. the scene where the demon, played by Amelia Kinkade (who was scheduled to be at the convention, but we hadn't seen her there on Fri. - she does, however, come into play later on), is threatened with a gun, which she promptly takes in her mouth &...um...sucks out the bullets!! XD
We passed out, pretty much, after that, but rose early on Sat., for our full-day adventure!! Check it out here: http://japanesedream.livejournal.com/382836.html
