Well, what I wanted to do for this update was review 1940’s The Ape. You know, the Monogram poverty row opus that somehow starred Boris Karloff and subsequently became undeniably, indisputably public domain.
That’s what I intended to do, but apparently no one will let me. Y’see, I didn’t want to review just any copy of The Ape – I wanted to spotlight an old VHS copy because I’m insanely arbitrary. I had my heart set on the old Kartes Film Classics release; I’ve been looking to cover something by them for awhile now, and that would have taken care of two things at once.
Well, it never showed up for sale anywhere (one copy I thought might be it and ordered from a 3rd party on Amazon was later cancelled because it was “out of stock”), nor did any other standalone copies turn up, any of which I would have happily settled for. Compared to The Corpse Vanishes, releases of which you, yes YOU, practically trip over whilst walking down the street, stupid dumb The Ape was essentially nonexistent on videotape when I most needed it to, uh, not be nonexistant. Evidently the world has conspired against me in an effort to cause severe irritation.
(And to top it all off, a Kartes release of John Wayne favorite Blue Steel I ordered on eBay for cheap buck bills and intended to cover next month was also later cancelled, because it was “damaged or out of stock.” What, is there a sign on my back?)
Anyway, not wanting to mess with a newer DVD release, though I could have, I wound up with two options where VHS was concerned: buy a still-sealed two-pack VHS put out by Madacy back in the 1990s that paired The Ape with Doomed to Die, or crack open my still-minty-sealed fresh Grampa Presents copy (purchased for cheap well before, near as I can ascertain, I inadvertently caused prices of titles in the series to rise to ridiculous amounts through my writing, research and sharing of information on them). The Madacy edition was tempting but didn’t give full-props to the only movie I cared about in the set (that is, The Ape wasn’t front-and-center), and opening my Grampa version, well, that actually wasn’t a viable option at all, so what am I even talking about?
So da heck wit all it, I’m going to briefly talk about Ghoulardifest 2018 instead. Happy Halloween, by the way.
I didn’t intend on getting a post out of the convention, but I’ve got to get something up for not only today but the month of October as a whole. And since I didn’t even bother to talk about Ghoulardifest last year (though I did go), well, the time is right. I mean, it’s Halloween right now this very moment, and while I’ve got lotsa material, there’s been little fire, so this is the best I can do.
I held off on writing about the show last year because, frankly, I didn’t have all that much new to say about it. I didn’t want to just keep repeating myself year after year, but things were just different enough this time around that I think I can swing it. Maybe.
Ghoulardifest: the annual three-day convention held in honor of Cleveland’s legendary horror host Ernie “Ghoulardi” Anderson, Big Chuck & Hoolihan & Lil’ John, and all things related. You want to know the honest truth? Attending this has become my go-to fall event. It says “October” to me in a real, tangible way; Halloween comes and goes, maybe I’ll watch an appropriate movie, soak in the general vibes, but Ghoulardifest, that’s something I really do.
For the past several years, the show had been held at the LaVilla Party & Banquet Center, but this year, they moved back to the location of the first Ghoulardifest, the Cuyahoga Country Fairgrounds, which you’re kinda sorta seeing to the left here.
I was mildly apprehensive about this, because I generally have no idea where any of these places are located beforehand, but as it turned out, it’s always been in the same general vicinity since I started going back in 2011.
Don’t let the “fairgrounds” thing fool you; this was held indoors, as usual. Interestingly, it was spread over two buildings this time around. You walked in one, and that’s where most of the vendors and some of the guests were located. A walkway led out the back door of that building and directly into the other, which is where Big Chuck, Lil’ John, Hoolihan, Son of Ghoul, Jungle Bob etc. etc. etc. were located. (Plus, some more vendors, of course.)
I was happy to see Dick Goddard back in attendance this year; I don’t think he was there for the last show, maybe the last two shows even. It’s always a pleasure meeting him, and this gave me a chance to get one of his old almanacs I found at a thrift store signed. Dick Goddard is always a good guy and a class act.
(Some other WJW personalities were also supposed to be in attendance, and I brought my Dan Coughlin book in hopes of getting it signed, but if he was there, it was before I made it in.)
Truth be told, the visit to Ghoulardifest was a bit shorter than usual this year. I didn’t exactly make a quick pass-through and then call it a day, but there was only so much spare $$$ to spend, so the haul was somewhat smaller. Some DVDs, a vintage Big Chuck & Lil’ John shooting script, two old TV Guides with Lawrence Welk on the cover, a couple VHS tapes, that’s really all I bought. Still spent more than I should have, but whatever.
Most of my time was spent in the “Chuck & John room.” Fun moment: it came to my attention only a few weeks before that Lil’ John used to have his own pizza place back in the 1990s. This was something I was completely unaware of until I stumbled upon an old menu/coupon flyer. Naturally I had to ask him about it, and when I showed him a pic of the flyer on my phone, he got a huge kick out of it!
Loved catching up with Son of Ghoul and Jungle Bob, too. It’s always a pleasure chatting with them. SOG was in rare form; cracking jokes as usual, and hilariously ragging on my, as you can see here, “zig zag jacket.” I found it at a thrift store for, I think, $8, and when I informed SOG of this, he replied “I hope you got $9 change back!”
(I’ve taken plenty of pics with this guy over the years, but this one here, with his disgusted look regarding said jacket, is instantly one of my favorites. I wish it wasn’t slightly out of focus, but that won’t stop me from getting it tattooed on my face if I’m ever feeling particularly impulsive and/or insane.)
My buddy Pete G. made it to Ghoulardifest this year, but I apparently just missed him. I got there about 2 PM, he left at 2:30, so we were there at the same time, but, you know. Pete G. is a good dude and hopefully we can meet up at next year’s show. (Also, Pete picked me up the swanky Kino-Lorber Blu-ray of Invisible Ghost at Cinema Wasteland like the week prior, so huge props to him for that; thanks Pete!)
So yes, a good time was had at Ghoulardifest 2018, and as usual, I’m already looking forward to the next one.
You know what the biggest piece of worry was regarding the new location this year though? I didn’t know if the also-annual visit to Big Boy was going to happen this time around. No joke, I look forward to heading there after the show as much as, you know, actually going to the show.
Fortunately for me, it was only about 13 minutes away, which is good, because not only is the food and service always fantastic, but a Ghoulardifest trip just wouldn’t feel complete without a Super Big Boy sammich to top it all off.
So, that was that. Even though Ghoulardifest was a bit earlier this year (October 12-14), it still felt perfectly “Halloweeny” to me. Maybe it’s more “fall” than “Halloween,” but meh, they kinda go hand-in-hand anyway.
So Happy Halloween and all that. There, I got a post up in time. Maybe I won’t wait 6000 years between now and the next update?