By Mike Lera
To my left stands the hideous Gorgon “Medusa”, complete with a full hive of snake hair and holding the decapitated head of “Perseus”! On my right is “Regan”, in a dirty vomit-stained gown with bright green, spellbound peepers fixed on mine! Taking our photo are “Dr. Zaius” and “Dr. Zira”, as though stepping straight out of Planet of the Apes and into our world. I try smiling for the camera but only grimace at the endless parade of creatures, ghosts and killers roaming or roaring about. Trapped in one of Freddy’s nightmares or the Overlook Hotel?
Close.
Invading the Pasadena Convention Center for its 14th year June 2-4 in Pasadena, CA, Monsterpalooza yet again served up an entree of creeps and ghouls for thousands of fright fans, appeasing their appetites for the macabre arts by providing a sort of “pre-Halloween” – five months in advance!
A “San Diego Comic Con” for horror devotees (though some “superheroes” were seen sauntering around as zombies), Monsterpalooza 2023 was lavished and laced with cosplay, vendor booths, celeb signing tables, Q&A panels and, as the event’s main attraction, a walk-thru museum entailing frightening life-size mannequins and creature and set designs made by top artists in show (and scare) biz.
A few of the event’s special guests included Barbara Hershey (Insidious franchise, Beaches), John Kassir (Tales From The Crypt), Kane “Jason” Hodder (Friday the 13th franchise), Ronee Blakely (A Nightmare on Elm Street), legendary makeup artist Tom Savini and many others. Also in attendance was actor Doug Jones (The Shape of Water, Pan’s Labyrinth), who paneled with his Hocus Pocus co-stars in commemoration of its 30th anniversary. Celebrating its 20th anniversary was Freddy vs Jason, actor Ken “Jason” Kirzinger sitting down for an interview/audience Q&A.
Nudging past the array of star groupies, I managed to capture a few conversations with celebs on my trusty iPhone (though I am sooo not TMZ), including Harry Hamlin (Clash of the Titans/L.A. Law) and Tom Holland (director of the original Fright Night and Child’s Play), asking poignant questions. And since actress Amanda “Tina” Wyss was the very first “Freddy victim” in one of my favorite franchises, I spared no expense in inviting her to share her “Robert Englund” tales from the Elm Street set (to view this and other interviews I did there, visit my YouTube page @MikeLera – and PLEASE subscribe!).
Renowned creature designer and special makeup artist Casey Wong, whose set display of Max Schreck as “Count Orlok” (Nosferatu) and Lon Chaney as “Erik” (Phantom of the Opera) won enormous praise and accolades at the show, was kind enough to share some insights about his extraordinary work. “Everything I do is really ‘character based’. What’s unique about my projects these days is that I cater more toward characters from the inception of film to the late 1960’s. That’s what has inspired me to start making stuff professionally as an eight-year-old, and making stuff even before that.”
Created by Eliot Brodsky on the east coast in 2008, Monsterpalooza was brought to the west coast in 2009 and has since been a horror hub for fright fans from all over, including such filmmaking legends as J.J. Abrams, Rick Baker and academy award winner Guillermo del Toro.
Feeling like a mutilated, dried-up corpse for missing Monsterpalooza? No worries – the show will arise from the grave October 13-15 as Son of Monsterpalooza in Burbank, CA, a smaller version of the Pasadena/June event, yet packed with just as much thrills, chills and kills!
