Flashback Weekend Chicago Horror Convention

Flashback Weekend

Chicago Horror Con

August 2-4, 2024

Hyatt Regency O'Hare Chicago
Rosemont, IL

CELEBRITY GUESTS FOR 2022

Unless otherwise noted, all celebrity guests will be appearing all three days.

Robert Englund

1… 2… Robert’s coming for YOU! Be sure to purchase “The Man of your Dreams” and get the very limited Robert Englund 8 inch retro figure at Flashback Weekend! Styled like the classic toys some of you grew up with, this figure will only have 200 pieces released worldwide and we’re down to our last 60 pieces! This item has Robert’s signature scream face sculpted and painted by the one and only Scott Fensterer of the hit TV show “Face Off”. We’ll be offering this figure at the show on Saturday, but only 24 pieces will be available for purchase. This extremely rare opportunity for a collectible SIGNED by Robert himself will sell for $240 cash. These will be available for purchase at Robert’s table on Sat. Aug. 6. Again, this price INCLUDES THE AUTOGRAPH FROM ROBERT ENGLUND!!! Robert will sign these IN PERSON at his table! ...Sweet Dreams!!

The Man of Your Dreams

Alex Winter

Steve Miner

Robert Carradine

Don Gibb

Kane Hodder

Ken Kirzinger

P.J. Soles & John Michael Graham

Brad Loree

Tom Jones Jr.

Heather Langenkamp

Amanda Wyss

JoAnn Willette

Ken Sagoes

Brooke Bundy

Lisa Wilcox

Brooke Theiss

Toy Newkirk

Melinda Clarke

Richard Brake

Jeff Daniel Phillips

Catherine Mary Stewart

Kelli Maroney

Ivan E. Roth

Lynn Lowry

Tom Devlin

Quinn Lord

The Manson Brothers

Nick Benson

LOCAL GUESTS FOR FLASHBACK WEEKEND 2022

SvengoolieSVENGOOLIE

Every year at Flashback Weekend we look forward to the annual visit from Chicago Television Legend "SVENGOOLIE". Rich Koz has portrayed the popular character since 1979, and is now seen nationally Saturday nights on the Me-TV network, as well as on CW26. Also featured are "Doug Graves" the laid back musical sidekick, Tombstone the talking skull, and Kerwyn the prehistoric rubber chicken , along with Sven’s popular musical numbers and commercial parodies wrapped around films from the classic Universal Studios library.

Svengoolie/Rich Koz has received 8 regional Emmy Awards, and was inducted into the prestigious Chicago Television Academy's 2004 "Silver Circle" for outstanding contributions to Chicago television. He has won the national Rondo Award as ‘favorite horror host’ numerous times. His original TV coffin is on display permanently in Chicago’s Museum of Broadcast Communications.

http://www.svengoolie.com


Dann GireDANN GIRE

Flashback Weekend Master of Ceremonies

Chicago Daily Herald film critic Dann Gire has been a member of the Flashback Weekend Horror Convention Cult from the very beginning. He has interviewed many of horrordom’s greats, including George Romero, David Cronenberg, Wes Craven, Stephen King, Clive Barker, William Friedkin, Stuart Gordon, Peter Medak, plus an encyclopedia of horror film cast members. Gire’s a founding director of the Chicago Film Critics Association and has served 22 years as its president. He also teaches cinema at Chicago’s Loyola University, and has won Chicago’s prestigious Peter Lisagor Award for Exemplary Journalism in Arts Criticism 10 times. In 2006, Gire teamed up with James Bond 007 novelist (and film historian) Raymond Benson to create "Dann and Raymond's Movie Club," a lively and popular monthly lecture/film clips series that has broken attendance records at suburban Chicago libraries. And it’s still.


Steve ProkopyNICK DIGILIO

Flashback Weekend Co-Host

The first thing you should know about Nick is that in early 1974, his dad took him to the Gateway Theater on Chicago's northwest side to see "The Exorcist"....Nick was 8 years old. Enough said.

Nick Digilio has been a professional Film Critic for over 35 years, and has written, talked, and ranted about movies for more years than that. His reviews were heard on WGN AM Radio for over 37 years, and he has written about film for Cinebooks, The Chicago Reader, New City and many other outlets. Nick hosted the #1 rated overnight talk show on WGN AM Radio for over 20 years, and currently he hosts the very popular pop culture/interview podcast: "The Nick D Podcast" for The Radio Misfits Podcast Network. He has been a part of the Flashback Weekend family since the very beginning, and loves horror movies more than any other genre.

Nick's Top 5 Horror Films of All Time:

  1. "John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN”
  2. George A. Romero's “DAWN OF THE DEAD”
  3. Dario Argento's “SUSPIRIA”
  4. Don Coscarelli's “PHANTASM”
  5. Tobe Hooper's “THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE”

Steve ProkopySTEVE PROKOPY

Flashback Weekend Co-Host

Steve Prokopy is the chief film critic for the Chicago-based arts outlet Third Coast Review. He is also a regular contributor to SlashFilm.com, Backstory magazine, and the Music Box Theatre's website. For nearly 20 years, he was the Chicago Editor for Ain???t It Cool News, where he contributed film reviews and filmmaker & actor interviews under the name ???Capone.???.

Top Five Horror Movies:

  1. Sam Raimi's THE EVIL DEAD
  2. George A Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD
  3. John Carpenter's THE THING
  4. Wes Craven's A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET
  5. Herschell Gordon Lewis' BLOOD FEAST

Heather WixsonHEATHER WIXSON

Flashback Weekend Co-Host

After falling in love with the horror genre at a very early age, Heather Wixson has spent over a decade carving out a name for herself in the genre world as a both a journalist, and as a proponent of independent horror cinema. Wixson is currently the Managing Editor for DailyDead.com, and was previously a featured writer at DreadCentral.com and TerrorTube.com where her online career began; she???s also been a contributor at FEARnet as well as a panelist for several of their online programs.

Wixson recently published her first book, Monster Squad: Celebrating the Artists Behind Cinema's Most Memorable Creatures, and is currently finishing Monster Squad Volume II, which is due out in early 2019. She calls Flashback Weekend her "home away from home," and is thrilled to be returning as a co-host this year.

Top Five Horror Movies:

  1. John Carpenter's The Thing
  2. Tom Holland's Fright Night
  3. Chuck Russell's A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
  4. Fred Walton's April Fool's Day
  5. Andrew Kuehn's Terror In the Aisles

Jason Paul CollumJASON PAUL COLLUM

Celebrating 27 years as a filmmaker and journalist, Jason Paul Collum is also one of the inaugural celebrities from Flashback Weekend 2002!  Among his 16 writing/directing credits are “SCREAMING IN HIGH HEELS” (which aired on NBC affiliates like SyFy and Chiller), “SOMETHING TO SCREAM ABOUT” (which aired on Showtime), “OCTOBER MOON” 1 & 2 (among the first On Demand titles to air), and “SLEEPLESS NIGHTS: REVISTING THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE” (for Rober Corman & Shout! Factory). He has published over 60 articles and three books, and was an assistant editor for FEMME FATALES magazine and a one-time editor of CINEFANTASTIQUE magazine.  He is currently in post-production on “MARK OF THE DEVIL 777” and the non-horror documentary “EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED FROM THE LETTER PEOPLE”.


John LaFlamboyJOHN LAFLAMBOY

THE MOLE MAN OF BELMONT AVENUE, SQUEAL, THE ART OF PAIN

John LaFlamboy, founder of Zombie Army Productions, has been producing award winning haunted houses, events, films, and theatre for the past 20 years in Chicagoland.  His theatre and film background give him the foundation to create massive interactive haunted attractions that leave the audience feeling like they had just walked through a live horror film.  His production of Statesville Haunted Prison has been a nationally ranked attraction and holds the distinction of being the most critically acclaimed haunted house in Chicago history.  His latest creation, HellsGate Haunted House, is his dream project and the culmination of 20 years of haunted house experience. “HellsGate, it’s not just a haunted house, it’s an adventure!” says John.  When he is not working in the halls of his haunted houses, he is on stage as an ensemble member of The Artistic Home Theatre and working on independent films in Chicago.  If you want to learn more, go behind the scenes of the haunted house industry with John and his Zombie Army crew with the reality web series DaysOfTheLivingDead.com - new episodes drop this Fall!


John BorowskiJOHN BOROWSKI

John Borowski is an award winning independent filmmaker and author whose film works have garnered international acclaim and are distributed internationally on numerous streaming platforms. Borowski's focus is the study of true crime, specifically serial killers, as well as the culture which has arisen from killer celebrities. Borowski has been called an investigative historian and a modern folklorist, documenting the world's worst criminals. With over 20 years of post graduate work experience in the field of filmmaking, writing, and studying true crime, Borowski has been featured on many television documentary programs as an expert in his field. John Wayne Gacy is the focus of Borowski's current documentary film which has been in production since 2019. Panzram at Leavenworth, Borowski's latest book details letters written between the incarcerated killer and his jail guard friend. Borowski is featured in an upcoming six-hour documentary series for A&E on five serial killers of the 1970’s to early 90’s. Filmmaker store site: store.johnborowski.com


JAMES AZRAEL

James AzraelJames Azrael is a musician, author, film producer, and actor...but most well known as the founder and head curator of The HSPPA; The Horror & SciFi Prop Preservation Association is a not-for-profit traveling museum of screen used props and wardrobes whose mission is to share and promote prop conservation so these treasures of filmic history can be enjoyed for generations to come.  James began his career in Chicagoland radio in 1996 and had left radio to pursue music with his band, Court Jester, fulltime by 2000.  Court Jester's first CD "Gina" in 2003 paved a strong footing for the band nationwide with a video for "Stand Up" on MTV2. The 2006 follow up, "Strangeland" honed the bands sounds, featured the addition of Dizzy Reed (Guns N Roses) on piano/keys and saw two charting singles, "Hollywood Girl" and "Needles To Say." Court Jester, while never officially disbanding, seemed to call it quits by 2010 after being unable to cope with the passing of drummer, Jon "JS" Stern.

In 2015 James launched The HSPPA and has been operating that full time since; while authoring 3 HSPPA books and producing/acting in film ["Farewell Darkness", "The Hospital 2", "It's Just A Game"]. James also currently owns and runs a movie prop museum in Las Vegas (Cineloggia) with SFX artist Nick J Benson [Society, ANOES 4, The Blob] and a horror themed gluten-free bakery (Spooky's Swirls) outside of Phoenix with three Curators of The HSPPA.


Jon KitleyJON KITLEY

Jon has written an amazing new Horror book "Discover the Horror: One Man's 50-Year Quest for Monsters, Maniacs, and the Meaning of it All"

While Jon Kitley continues to be a Cinematic Archeologist, he is also a staff writer for HorrorHound magazine, where you can read his Rondo Award-winning column, They Came from the Krypt. His work has also appeared in Evilspeak magazine, as well as in the books Horror 101: The A-List of Horror Films and Monster Movies, Hidden Horror, When Animals Attack, and Strange Blood. He has also appeared in several documentaries, such as Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film, Monster Madness: The Gothic Revival of Horror, and Fanex Files: Hammer Films, as well as in Shout Factory's Horror Hunters! When not attending multiple horror conventions, 24-hour marathons, and hitting the dirve-ins, he is hard at work on his website, Kitley's Krypt, which has been helping fans Discover the Horror since 1998. Visit this amazing Horror News site at www.kitleyskrypt.com.


Chad SavageCHAD SAVAGE

Chad Savage is a dark artist/designer and the owner of Sinister Visions inc., a dark visual design company that caters to the horror, Halloween & haunted attraction industries. Besides providing branding, art and websites for hundreds of haunted houses around the world, he manages a series of genre websites including PumpkinCult.com and the DarkChicago.com series of sites, and is the Art & Marketing Director for Flashback Weekend and The Zombie Army.

Sinister Visions inc. is an official sponsor of Flashback Weekend, and will host/sponsor the Costume Contest on Saturday - details HERE!

To learn more about Chad Savage and his work, visit SV23.com.


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  • Airon Armstrong had to cancel due to filming obligations.

Celebrity guests subject to change without notice
due to unforseeable filming/scheduling conflicts.