By Mike Lera
From its scores of gruesome costumes to its endless aisles of freaky merch, Monsterpalooza 2026 served as a “Halloween in Spring Time” retreat for its flurry of horror fans May 29th-31st, held at the Pasadena Convention Center (Pasadena, CA) where, just parked outside, was a bloodied, creepy ice cream truck selling “special treats” and promoting Eli Roth’s upcoming Ice Cream Man.
To no one’s surprise, the award-winning Weapons stood as a centerpiece at the event, “Aunt Gladys” roaming everywhere, and like the character on screen, cosplayers frazzled peeps with their crazy red hair/red lipstick/red coat ensemble. Makeup artist Jason Collins spoke at a Weapons panel on creating the look and aesthetic of Aunt Gladys, which greatly contributed to actress Amy Madigan earning her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the parasitic witch. Collins’ work also includes the recently released The Bride, which had also paneled at MP for him to discuss makeup and creature designs.
“For the [Gladys] character, Zack [Cregger] referenced a lot of photos of Cindy Sherman, Diane Arbus and other offbeat women trapped in the 60’s,” Collins explained. “The challenge with Gladys was keeping the veracity underneath her extreme outlandishness? So I came up with the idea of narrowing down her nose and her irises – like a bird always looking for its prey. And when she looked straight at you, she looked straight into your soul.”
Famous musicians within the horror genre also took center stage at Monsterpalooza, including the iconic “Godfather of Shock Rock” Alice Cooper, Slipknot’s Corey Taylor and legendary movie composer Paul Williams, who was a starting panelist at the event’s opening night.
Night of the Living Dead devotees were exceptionally excited to catch a behind-the-scenes look at an upcoming “second” remake of George Romero’s 1968 original. The 3D 2026 film will star Vivica A. Fox and Brittany Underwood, who attended a NOTLD panel at the show. It will also feature scream queen Dee Wallace and the late Robert Carradine in one of his final roles.
Other celeb guests at MP included Fairuza Balk, Katey Sagal, Lin Shaye, Thomas Jane, David Howard Thornton, Rachel True, William Malone, Bill Ward, Geezer Butler and Tom Woodruff, Jr., to name a few.
In paying tribute to classic horror films, a commemoration panel was held for the 95th anniversary of Dracula and Frankenstein, as well as a retro panel for the “Master of Menace”, Peter Lorre.
Ready to chain yourself to a rock and plunge into Crystal Lake because you missed out on Monsterpalooza? No need. Son of Monsterpalooza will take place October 9-11, held at the Marriott Burbank Convention Center (Burbank, CA). Miss it not!
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(All photos property of Mike Lera)
