One Day of Monster Mania XII

This is your roving field reporter for all things geek, Frank, coming to you from Cherry Hill , NJ, the site of this past weekend's Monster-Mania Con XII. This twice yearly gathering of the nostalgic, slightly twisted and the totally geeky got under way appropriately on what was the second of three Friday the 13th's in 2009. The show was a creative mixture of dealer tables, autograph guests and a shoulder to shoulder fan base greater than the average mind would ever imagine...or expect. Any attendee of these cons can expect a multitude of dealer tables selling everything from out of print DVD's to the newest McFarlane toys. The dealer room was immense, and on a first walk through I was able to purchase this vintage original 1964 Aurora Plastics King Kong model for a very good price. With a little paint stripper, some glue and a lots of time, this bad boy will be transformed into a work of art (stay tuned for that project in a later blog post).

I would say about 40% of the people there were dressed in costume with everybody from Rorschach to Jason Voorhees and Zombie Mary Jane to the Joker were on hand for the festivities. The guest list of autograph signers was as diverse as the people were in attendance. The show was billed as a Friday the 13th reunion but there were many guests from other films as well. The original king of shock rock, Alice Cooper, was on hand with his entire band from the Billionaire Babies album, signing for a long line of fans. Of course Alice's connection to Friday the 13th are the two songs the band contributed to the Friday the 13th Part VI soundtrack. I jumped on the Alice Cooper line where I remained for 5 (yep, five) hours.

So I finally met Alice and he was a real nice guy despite all the on stage beheadings, chicken murders and gallons of fake blood spilled. He took a moment to pose with me after signing my stuff and my mind was already on my next task at hand.

Next I got to meet Fairuza Balk, with whom I have always had a crush on since The Craft. She starred in movies like The Waterboy, American History X and Almost Famous. Fairuza was so personable and really hot too, so it made the day worthwhile already.


Next I met America Olivo, who played Amanda from the new Friday the 13th film. She played the girl from the opening scene who had no issues with losing her clothes and getting a little busy in a tent before being hung and burned by Mr. Voorhees. Also very nice, and also extremely hot. (Do you see a pattern forming here?)

Kristina Klebe, star of Rob Zombies Halloween was on hand. She's not only very beautiful, and really cool to talk to, but she has great taste, as she complimented me on my Total Skull jacket. (Rob Zombie's wife Sherri Moon Zombie's company).

Finally after that, being the Friday the 13th geek that I am, I met with each actor/actress (12 in total) of the Friday the 13th Reunion. Members from the casts from part 1 through part 8 were on hand to sign my poster and I was in my glory. You may have glimpsed this poster a few weeks back from the NY Comic Con coverage. It is comprised of over 70 signatures from characters from each of the Friday the 13th films.

With King Kong model and autographs in hand, it appears I am one step further on the geek-dom ladder.

For fans of everything horror, comic books and sci-fi I would definitely recommend a monster mania con. (The next one is in August so check out their site at www.monstermania.net) I had a great time and I'm looking forward to seeing you at the next one. For now, it's on to The Chiller Theatre Show in Parsippany, NJ In April. You can check them out at www.chillertheatre.com I'll be covering that show as well. So check back early and often and share your war stories with us.