Waxworks Smackdown

Werewolf vs. vampire. Tooth and claw. Dig that Barnabas-style cane, and the pretty slick Van Heusen hipster shirt on the lycanthrope. Can't remember the name of the wax museum, but it was in New Orleans and this was taken during the '94 World Fantasy Convention. Somewhere in the French Quarter, nearly Halloween, and the Cramps were playing just up the street.

The Lockup on the Planet of the Apes

"Gettin' a drink of water, Boss."

Not.

Or to put it in more prosaic terms, here's another snap from my seventies visit to the (now defunct) Movieland Wax Museum. And if you missed my earlier Movieland posts, be sure to check out Dracula and Nancy, and Big Frank.

(And, yes, that gorilla is looking right at you.)

Drac's Back! Or: Undead from the Movieland Wax Museum

Personally, I think The Count picked the wrong blonde. He coulda taken himself a little walk and scored Nancy Sinatra... on a chopper, yet!

Live (well... almost) from the Movieland Wax Museum!

As a teenager in the mid-seventies, I made a trip with a buddy of mine to the San Diego Comic Con... which, in those days, didn't come anywhere near approaching the amazing colossal con it is today. It was friendly and fun, and small enough that you could pretty much buttonhole anyone you wanted to talk to for at least a minute or two. Mostly, we weren't that brave, though we did attend programming events featuring everyone from Jack Kirby to Ray Bradbury to Chuck Norris, which was quite a treat.

But that's a story for another day. While we were in the neighborhood, we made a side-trip to the Movieland Wax Museum, which was a Southern Cal institution. Looking around online, I see it's closed now. Anyway, I found some old photos from my visit circa 1974 or 1975, and I'll post them in the next couple of weeks. Here's Subject Number One, a gent who needs no introduction to readers of this blog: