October always brings a shiver of anticipation to my graveyard flesh. Not only is it the season of Halloween (and my wedding anniversary!) but every autumn Illustrator X and I always make a point to visit the annual Rock-n-Shock convention in Worcester, MA. For those who have never experienced the Rock-n-Shock, it’s the premiere convention for horror movie lovers in the Northeast. Greats of horror have been in attendance over the years, from the legendary George Romero, Julian Sands and Malcolm McDowell to some of today’s stars of indie horror, music, literature and comics.
This year was a big one for Rock-n-Shock. First heads on the chopping block were multiple members of the various “Nightmare On Elm Street” series, (be)headed up by Freddie Krueger himself: Robert Englund. The lines were long – and I mean longer than the fight in “They Live” – for Mr. Englund. X and I were fortunate enough to tickets at 11:30a for the 3pm signing and even then we stood in line for over an hour to get some signatures, a joke and a hearty handshake. I must say, despite the literal hundreds of people who he talked to, shook hands with and signed items for, Mr. Englund continued to be gracious and had a good sense of humor. And a bit of trivia: Mr. Englund let X know how much he loved our Brain in the Jar logo shirts!
As I said, there were several other NOES cast members (sorry ladies, no Johnny Depp) including the lovely and VERY friendly Amanda Wyss and Rodney Eastman from NOES 3 and 4. The lovely Heather Langenkamp – Nancy herself – was supposed to attend, but unfortunately had to cancel due to a family issue. It was posted on the site that she would be in the NE area next year.
The next major movie cast on the (death) list for X and I was from the wonderful vampire film directed by Oscar winning director Kathryn Bigelow, “Near Dark”. Lead science fiction/horror/action hero Lance Henriksen was at the top of the DeadRedhead’s “stars to meet” list and he didn’t disappoint. Mr. Henriksen – who just recently published a book of his memoires called “Not Bad for a Human” – was funny, entertaining and quite the gentleman! X and I are hoping to have Mr. Henriksen on the show in the fairly near future. Next to Mr. Henriksen was the pretty, blonde “Mae” of “Near Dark”, Ms. Jenny Wright. Ms. Wright may also be known to some of our more esoteric fans as the pretty blonde from Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” who asks Bob Geldof “do you want to take a bath?” Ms. Wright spoke to us for a while and gave me a big hug at the end.
Last, but far from the least treat for your Dead Redhead was getting to meet Sherman Howard, otherwise famous for being Bub the Zombie in George Romero’s 1986 version of “Day of the Dead” – the movie that made your Dead Redhead the star she is today! Bub is one of the most famous zombies in all of zombiedom and this was the amazing actor who brought him to life. Thank you, Mr. Howard, we salute you! (Hey, can you pass me my…never mind)
Perhaps the most welcome part of the convention was the energy and kindness shown by the celebrities. With only a few exceptions, these folks were polite, gracious – and in one case when out of his way to show his fans how much he appreciated their support (yes, I’m looking at you Rowdy Roddy Piper). Rock and Shock also had authors, movie vendors, t-shirt vendors, many DIY jewelry and clothing vendors and all sorts of things for the horror aficionado. Make it a POINT to get yourselves to next year’s Rock-n-Shock.
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