chiller2008

The Most Amazing Show!!
Chiller Theater Con
Spring 2008 The Hallow'een 2007 edition of the Chiller Theater Expo exploded at its' new home at the Hilton Hotel in Parsippany, New Jersey, the second largest hotel complex in New Jersey which is easily accessible via train, bus and car. The hotel boasts large exhibit areas, ample of parking and a restaurant on premises with very good food at reasonable prices. Lurking the spacious hallways and various activity rooms were the usual assortment of ghouls, goblins, vampires, DVD dealers, ghosts, model makers and collectible magazine and picture hawkers. The convention program again sported a neat cartoon of veteran TV Shock Theater host Zacherley the Patriarch of TV horror film
hosts since 1956.

John Zacherle himself still going strong at 88 years ( that he'll admit to ). In 1957, Zacherley invaded New York and entertained a generation of horror fans on WABC-TV, WPIX-TV and WOR_TV before going to radio for many years on ABC. Now, many of the best times have been preserved on a new DVD which features a collection of program episodes produced by Zacherle, The Cool Ghoul, and features 3 hours of side-splitting, comedy made from the original kinescopes in the days before videotape. Included are Zach's zany experiments, operettas and other activities bestowed on a generation of horror film fans a blessing that will not pass this way again soon. Fortunately, there were kinescopes and here they are in spooky monochrome so we can all relive the good old days.

The hotel is packed with creatures of all types plus humans for all three days and the Celebrity Guest list included Sybil Danning, Sara Karloff, Eric Roberts, and many more. In all, there were more than 80 of your favorite 1950's and 60's horror flicks and TV series heros and heroines in attendance at any one time. Crowds of exhuberant fans lined up to see Val Kilmer, Henry Winkler, Laraine Newman, Frank Stallone, Elvira, Linda Blair, Mark Goddard, Seka, Butch Patrick and more.Whew!!

CHILLER-CON is a labor of love from producers Kevin and Susan Clement who pull two of these monster ( literally ) conventions together annually. The ChillerCon is the biggest horror and fantasy confab in the nation and the lines to get into the convention center sometimes wind around the block. Costumed attendees are standard and you may eat lunch sitting next to a celebrity, a ghoul, Freddy, Jason or a bloodsucker. Features this Hallow'een included the Friday Night Fantasy Film Festival, a Tribute to Bobby 'Boris' Pickett, the Saturday panels of famous directors, writers and actors followed by the awards for model making and original artworks. Saturday night saw the huge costume contest presented by Horror Business Magazine with bands like Masterburner, Lourds, The Deck Lizards and The Dead Elvi. There were some very interesting panels as well including the Lovely Ladies of Horror and Sci-Fi, one on independent filmmaking, plus Q&A sessions with Zachereley, A panel on Classic Television and all topped off with the Saturday Night Rock and Roll Monster Watusi Party.

In the Dealer's Rooms you could buy anything you wanted..almost. There were thousands of titles of DVD's from old TV horror, fantasy and comedy shows to newly released movies to classic films in newly restored versions and colorized to boot. Exquisite models of characters, spaceships, horror icons and creatures wherein plentiful supply as were T-Shirts of every description, replica movie props, action figures new and old, and lots of jewelry and personal adornments. Most of the major horror magazines were represented as were those archivers who make available the great reading of the past, THE MONSTER TIMES ( for which I used to be an editor ) and Forrest Ackerman's world reknown FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND.

Your host, entrepreneur Kevin Clement

DON'T MISS CHILLER-CON
Hallow'een 2008
October 24, 25, 26, 2008,
Hilton Hotel Parsippany, NJ.
Guests TBA
pick up a copy of Chiller Theater Magazine - it's BACK!!
WWW.CHILLERTHEATER.COM