One of the nicest surprises of the weekend were the shrunken head ornaments (above) created by Bob Fergeson, who did one for each Host! Aside from the 2 hour compilation tape, the mini ornaments were the biggest sellers of the convention for the Horror Host Underground, and proved to be quite the punch line for many, many, many obvious jokes all weekend.

"Sunday is my fun day...!" Yes, this is a quote from the original Mickey Mouse Club...it is also from the Prince scribed Bangles hit single, "Manic Monday," but (dang it) it is also the mantra of A. Ghastlee Ghoul while at conventions (pictured, holding... err...  water... yeah... sure), who was able to segue out of the business role of Friday and Saturday and devote Sunday to filming and having fun. Lots and lots of filming was done Sunday, as the Hosts never miss an opportunity to ham it up with each other.

Those of you lucky enough to receive "The Horror Host Underground Network" where you live, you will be seeing a couple of "Spooky Movie" episodes in your future filmed here, along with a very funny "Haunted Theatre" where there's a Bag O Bones on the lose ("Why, that little...!"), not to mention some wonderful material for "The Ghastlee Movie Show." If you DON'T get the HHU Network, then keep checking back to the site about information about how these (and other) Host episodes will become available to ye.

All of the HHU Hosts that were on hand are very, very lucky, in that they have a devoted cast and crew, that help direct, photograph, edit, produce and even sometimes co-star on their shows. As each Host and show is different, so is each producer and team equally suited and devoted to their shows.  The running joke (well, it's really my joke...and I keep running it into the ground...!) is that  if all of these producers formed a union...then..."Watch out!" Of course, no one has ever really asked me what to watch out for...ahem...anyway...

Pictured above, the crews for "The Haunted Theatre," "The Spooky Movie," "The Ghastlee Movie Show," and for "Shock Theatre." These are the men behind the men behind the make-up! Don't call them geeks, ok. No, I mean it...please don't...it might hurt their feelings, see.

Anyway, Halloween Jack's crew may be the most organized of the lot, in that he is fortunate enough to have a producer, director and camera man. An over-arcing thing they all have in common in the same wonderful comedic sensibilities, which help, in that they all help write the show as well.  First rule of all Horror Host shows...make a show that would make you laugh! (They say pictures don't lie, and this picture is no exception...for some reason, to me, the picture to the left has captured the cast and crew of "The Haunted Theatre" perfectly. Don't ask me why...I couldn't explain it...it just does...!)

All good things have to come to an end, and eventually the laughter got a little less "Coco Nutty" when John ("Dr. S") Dimes became the first of the HHU to be voted out of the convention, at around 1:00 on Sunday. It was sad, but in that sadness, something nice happened.

The day before Uncle John picked up a number to see Bruce Campbell (you got called in line only if you had a number) to get something signed, but as it turned out he (John) had to leave early Sunday and wouldn't be able to use said ticket.

I suggested at some point  that maybe he should give it to someone who came by the booth and bought one of his books, or maybe even someone who came by who might have missed out of getting a number themselves and could use it... which he ended up doing, right around noon, to a very lovely woman. (Pictured to the right: The hosts have decided to vote out the only member of the group who isn't wearing any make-up... John vows to have his vengeance one day, and threatens to actually watch one of his own shows to get back at them! Surprisingly, Bag O Bones is the last one left when the rest are voted out...)

Ok...not only didn't that happen, it just didn't make a damn bit of sense either.

I mention this lil' act of altruism only to segue in some time mid-Sunday, after John left, when things just seemed to get weird. Once all the filming was done, and the purchases and sales were being made, there was a small lull where everyone looked at each other with both relief that we had survived our first convention (together), and regret that we had to go back out to the real world.

Throughout the day, we would occasionally get these reports from the news, and it just seemed like the world was going right to hell. People getting killed at a funeral by lightning;  Nazi's marching in Washington; people getting shot at an anti-violence rally...all of that was waiting for us, and we didn't want any part of it.

We wanted to stay and be safe with all of the zombies and skeletons and ghouls and hosts and Tom Savinis! Maybe if we broke off from the union Bruce could be our President, and Count Gore could be our Secretary of State! We wanted to be safe from the grim realities with the un-realities of grimness.

The irony of that sentiment didn't escape any one of us. We know the context that we inhabit is an odd place to find comfort, but at the same time we all know something "they" don't. The world is the scary place; what is being celebrated here is fantasy--an escape from that world--a roller coaster that you never want to get off, but (thanks to a little thing called free will) you can at any time. Our neighbors at the convention were these wonderful people from "TheDeadShallRise.com" who sold videos and skulls and masks and all sorts of other cool stuff that every right-minded Horror fan must own. This was their first convention (like us), unfortunately our entrance back and forth to our table was behind them and their table, through their very cramped space. Obviously when you see something like this set-up when you arrive, you begin apologizing, immediately coming to mind Bugs Bunny at the movies ("Scuze me...pardon me...scuze me") and how annoying that could be to have five men (three in make-up!) shuffling by all weekend long. This wasn't the case at all with them.

Not only did "TheDeadShallRise.com" not mind us going back and forth all weekend, but they also let us use their skeleton as a lovely mannequin for the equally lovely HHU shirt (both pictured above in an annoying over exposed image) for most of the weekend, and at the end of the convention they even donated it to "The Haunted Theatre" as a prop. Everyone of the HHU and friends, from Host to crew, was speechless by this very, very generous act, and I know we all of look forward to seeing them again soon future conventions.

You just don't see that kind of kindness in the real world...I know...I've been there!

Anyway, the sha-bang finally ended around 5pm on Sunday. Your humble webmeister spent far too much money, considering he (ok..."I") only personally made $5.00 from the table, but it was never about the money or the fame (stop laughing). It was about friendships, old and new, and getting the word out, one person, one tape, one host and one convention, at a time. We did make a nice fist-load of money from the Compilation tape, and that money should go a long way to help out with some behind the scenes stuff with the website, but we also made some terrific contacts and had the kind of experience that you wish everyone, just once, could have.

We all consider the weekend a success.

"It's become like home," Ghastlee told me late on Sunday, before he left, as I asked if we should all put down HFW3 on our 2003 calendars. For me it's a no-brainer; I live in the area, and will always go, as long as they have it. I feel bad for those with the long trips to make. He, and the rest, have promised to come home again next year.

By then, this baby known as the HHU will be beginning to walk.