Cheers for Fear… Con

A memoir of Phoenix FearCon X: The tenth anniversary celebration of all things macabre in Phoenix Arizona at the [hopefully] tail-end of the pandemic of 2020–2021

When I was 11, I attended the first annual Famous Monsters of Filmland convention in NYC. This was an historic event. To my knowledge, it was the first of its kind. Odd to imagine such a thing by today’s standards, but there it was, and there I was, at the first-EVER horror film convention. And it was hosted by the first ever horror film magazine, Famous Monsters of Filmland. I met James Warren there. The publisher. Warren seemed like a regular guy, pleasant and looking busy. He was hoping to be the next Hugh Hefner, having published a knock-off of Playboy that flamed-out all too quickly. He made the remark that monsters were the gap between Westerns and Playboy so I guess he backpeddled his dreams a bit.

But then, I met the master himself. Forrest J Ackerman, the editor and founder. In his trademark tweedish blazer and Vincent Price mustache. I watched him hold court and quote chapter…