10th Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards!!

Since 2002 the Rondos have been fandom's only true classic horror award. They are decided by fans, for fans. Every Rondo nominee is being recognized for a significant achievement in the genre during the year of 2011.

Click the link below and vote now!

Rondo Awards

The Rondo Winners

Here is a list of the winners of the Ninth Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards. Click here to see more details. Congratulations to all of the winners!

BEST FILM OF 2010 - THE BLACK SWAN
BEST TV PRESENTATION - THE WALKING DEAD: Days Gone Bye
BEST CLASSIC DVD - THE COMPLETE METROPOLIS
BEST CLASSIC HORROR COLLECTION - THRILLER: THE COMPLETE SERIES
BEST RESTORATION - THE COMPLETE METROPOLIS
BEST COMMENTARY - RAY HARRYHAUSEN, TONY DALTON (Jason and the Argonauts Blu-Ray)
BEST DVD EXTRA - THE WOLF MAN SPECIAL EDITION: 'Pure in Heart' documentary
BEST INDEPENDENT FILM OR DOCUMENTARY - Two winners: AURORA MONSTERS and LOST SKELETON RETURNS AGAIN/DARK AND STORMY NIGHT
BEST SHORT FILM - UNITED MONSTER TALENT AGENCY (Greg Nicotero)

FX Wizard Greg Nicotero's 'United Monster Talent Agency' - Watch more horror
BOOK OF THE YEAR - THE ART OF HAMMER:Posters from the Archives of Hammer Films, by Marcus Hearns
BEST MAGAZINE (mass market) - RUE MORGUE
BEST MAGAZINE (fan market) - MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT
BEST ARTICLE - 'THE WOLF MAN: 69 YEARS OF TERROR,' by Robert Aragon. HORROR HOUND #21
BEST INTERVIEW (Award goes to interviewer) - James Burrell interviews Christopher Lee, RUE MORGUE #100

BEST COVER - FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND #251 by Basil Gogos
BEST WEBSITE - DREAD CENTRAL
BEST BLOG - FRANKENSTEINIA
BEST CONVENTION - HORROR HOUND WEEKEND (Indianapolis, featuring horror host salute to Vampira)
BEST FAN EVENT - FEBRUARY AS WOMEN IN HORROR MONTH (conceived by Hannah Neurotica of Ax Wound Magazine)
FAVORITE HORROR HOST - Penny Dreadful
BEST HORROR AUDIO SITE - RUE MORGUE RADIO
BEST CD - DARK SHADOWS: The Night Whispers (Big Finish Productions); Jonathan Frid returns
BEST HORROR COMIC BOOK - THE WALKING DEAD, by Robert Kirkman and Charles Adlard

BEST TOY, MODEL OR COLLECTIBLE - Creature and Julie (Diamond Select)
RONDO AWARD SPECIAL RECOGNITION - 'The Tutor' project
FILM MOST IN NEED OF DVD RELEASE OR RESTORATION - ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (1932)
WRITER OF THE YEAR - BRUCE G. HALLENBECK (chronicler of the Hammer heritage)
ARTIST OF THE YEAR - DANIEL HORNE
LINDA MILLER AWARD FOR FAN ARTIST OF THE YEAR - SHANA BILBREY (Belle Dee)
DVD REVIEWER OF THE YEAR - KIM NEWMAN
MONSTER KIDS OF THE YEAR - Gary Gerani and Marc Scott Zicree
MONSTER KID HALL OF FAME - TIM and DONNA LUCAS, WILLIAM STOUT, RON BORST, GEORGE A. ROMERO, TOM WEAVER, VERNE LANGDON (1914-2011)

Reminder: Rondo Awards Voting Ends Soon

NINTH ANNUAL RONDO HATTON CLASSIC HORROR AWARDS!

I voted. Have you? Voting ends March 27.

The Ninth Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards

It's time to vote for the Rondo Awards!

The Rondos, now in their ninth year, are fandom's only classic horror award, decided by fans, for fans, and dedicated to preserving the undying spirit of monsters past.

Every Rondo nominee is being recognized for a significant achievement in the genre during the year of 2010.

Click here for the official rules and ballot. Voting ends March 27, 2011.

For the "Best Blog of 2010" I am endorsing Frankensteinia. Please read this post on The Drunken Severed Head blog on why you should vote for Frankensteinia.

I Scream, You Scream!!

I've been awarded the "You make me SCREAM!!" blog award by Paul from The Cobwebbed Room. Thanks Paul, you're blog is fangtastic also! Please visit The Cobwebbed Room for everything "monsters and horror in british popular culture." This award was originally created by JennyB from the blog Memoirs Of A Scream Queen....

The rules for the award are as follows: thank the person who gave you the award with a link to their blog, then give this award to 10 blogs that make you want to SCREAM!! for joy. The blogs that make you SCREAM!! with excitement every time you see that they updated their blog.

Here's 10 blogs that make me SCREAM!! --

Adventures in Nerdliness
Check The Cool Wax
Chuck Norris Ate My Baby
Frankensteinia
Highbury Cemetery
Moongem Comics
My Two Yen Worth
Neato Coolville
The Sexy Armpit
The Surfing Pizza

Zombie Rabbit Award

Woohoo! I gots me another blog award! The Zombie Rabbit Award was bestowed upon me by Mother Firefly's Faster Pussycats! Please check out her blog for a whole bunch of wonderful spooky stuff. She's also a participant in The Countdown to Halloween. Can't wait to see what she posts. Thanks for the award Mother Firefly, it's really appreciated!

As part of the award, I'm supposed to pass it on to 10 other blogs. Here's 10 that I currently enjoy --

The Aquaman Shrine
Electronic Cerebrectomy
Frog On The Pumpkin
G33K4L1F3
John Rozum.com
Magic Carpet Burn
Retrospace
ShellHawk's Nest
3-D Monster
Toyriffic

And The Rondo Goes To...

Here's the press release for this year's Rondo winners --

ARLINGTON, VA. -- District 9, the gritty Oscar-nominated science fiction film, Rue Morgue magazine, a bloody yet reverent compendium of horrors old and new, and Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, a revised history of the rivalry between two of Hollywood's greatest hissables, all shared top honors in the 8th Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards announced Monday night.

The fan-based Rondo awards, named after Rondo Hatton, an obscure B-movie villain of the 1940s, celebrate the best in classic horror research, creativity and film preservation. This year's e-mail vote, conducted by the Classic Horror Film Board, a 15-year old online community, drew a record 2,973 votes, the biggest in genre history.

Among other winners for work in 2009:

A deluxe version of 1981's An American Werewolf in London won as Best Classic DVD; the BBC import Doctor Who took Best TV Presentation, and an eight-film set by cult director William Castle, including The Tingler and 13 Ghosts, was voted the Best Classic Collection. The fourth season of Alfred Hitchcock Presents grabbed the prize for Best TV Collection.

The futuristic allegory, District 9, was the choice for Best Film honors, beating out Zombieland and greatly outpacing Avatar, which surprised some observers by coming in fifth among Rondo voters.

The classic-oriented electorate honored the 84-year old silent German film, Faust, by director F. W. Murnau, in the Best Restoration category. The 1926 film was extensively restored by the Murnau Foundation and released by Kino Films.

The year's best documentary award went to American Scary, a loving tribute to horror hosts past and present in a very tight contest with very strong independent films and documentaries.

And Rondo voters for the fifth year urged that Island of Lost Souls, the 1932 thriller starring Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi, be released on DVD, hopefully in a restored version.

Longtime horror researcher Gregory William Mank was voted Best Writer of 2009. Mank's book, Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff: The Expanded Story of a Haunting Collaboration, was voted Best Book in a tough field that also included works by fan favorites Bill Warren, Mike Malloy and David Skal.

Many of the awards signaled a turn to more modern horrors.

Rue Morgue, a Canada-based magazine that often features grue and terror along with looks at horrors past, continued to take home Rondos: It was again named Best Magazine and Best Audio Horror Site. And its former editor, Jovanka Vuckovic and Jason Lapeyre won Best Article for their piece on John Landis' An American Werewolf in London. In addition, Rue Morgue Art Director Gary Pullin was voted Artist of the Year.

The combination of Rue Morgue and HorrorHound, another more modern-based magazine, increasingly dominated the voting, although a very classic portrait of Karloff from his 1936 The Walking Dead garnered the Best Cover prize (and second Rondo), for artist Daniel Horne and Monsters from the Vault magazine.

An additional fan artist award was added this year, and has been named in honor of Linda Miller, a painter of classic horror icons who died suddenly last year. The first Linda Miller Award for Best Fan Artist went to Robert Scott, whose black and white portraits of fiends new and old capture menace and whimsy in stark presentations.

Among other winners:

-- Beware the Moon, a documentary about the Landis Werewolf film, took Best DVD Extra.

"To win is beyond amazing,'' said Paul Davis, director of the documentary. "Not only did it take us nearly three-years to make, but my father also, very unexpectedly, passed away in February and he was my biggest supporter. So the win is for him.''

-- Director Fred Dekker was cited for his Commentary on the newly restored Night of the Creeps.

-- Dread Central, a daily roundup of horror news, was named Best Website, and the absurdist yet earnest Drunken Severed Head was voted Best Blog.

-- Pittsburgh's Monster Bash was named Best Convention for the sixth time in eight annual Rondo votes.

-- And an all-star tribute to the late Forrest J Ackerman, organized by his friend and caregiver Joe Moe in March 2009 at Grauman's Egyptian Theater, was voted Best Fan Event.

In a statement, Joe Moe said the tribute marked "the fulfillment of my final promise to Forry, to hold a tribute so we could all come together to laugh, cry, celebrate and say goodbye. Forrest J Ackerman shall never die!''

-- Longtime horror host Count Gore De Vol was voted Favorite Horror Host, the third winner in a new category that has in the past honored Penny Dreadful and Svengoolie.

-- Two well-known comic book creators, Steve Niles and Kelley Jones, won Best Horror Comic for DC's Batman: Gotham After Midnight. And Talking Tina, a replica of the sinister doll in a Twilight Zone episode, won Best Toy, Model or Action Figure. James Horner's score for Star Trek II won the Best CD category.

-- Favorite DVD Reviewer went to Kim Newman, a frequent contributor to Video Watchdog.

Finally, the honorary categories, based on suggestions from Rondo voters, included:

-- Eliot Brodsky, a California fan and convention organizer, was named Monster Kid of the Year for his creation of the Monsterpalooza convention in Los Angeles.

-- Hall of Fame Inductees were also named. They are the late Bill Lemon and Ray Meyer, sculptors of the Aurora monster model kits of the 1960s; Dennis Druktenis, editor and publisher of Scary Monsters Magazine (The Only 'Real' Monster Magazine!); longtime scifi fan Bill Warren, author of the definitive 1950s film study, Keep Watching the Skies; Midwest horror hosting legend Sammy Terry; and the late Frederick S. Clarke, whose Cinefantastique revolutionized the magazine world with its in-depth coverage

Many of the Rondo winners will receive Rondo busts, sculpted by Kerry Gammill, at the Wonderfest convention in Louisville in May..

Further information, including runners-up and all the nominees, can be found at rondoaward.com.

Trivia Newton-John

I won a Trivia Newton-John Award over at  Retrospace. I answered some questions about old school Dungeons & Dragons. I haven't played D&D in about 20 years. I just happened to have all of the manuals packed in a box by my computer.

Content Acknowledgment Award

Jeremy from Olive Monkeys has given me the "Content Acknowledgment Award". I'm very honored. My blog doesn't have the most content, but I'm really glad some people enjoy it. The "CAA" is given out monthly and the Wonderful Wonderblog is only the third blog to receive it. The coolest thing about this award is that it's blog specific, which means I don't have to share it with anyone else :)

Make sure you visit Jeremy's other blogs, they're chock full of good stuff --

Two Thumbs, Eight Fingers
Black and White

The 8th Annual RONDO Awards

Click on the banner below for the official ballot for the EIGHTH Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror awards, recognizing the best in monster research, creativity and film preservation.

These awards are by fans, for fans. Every Rondo nominee is being recognized for a significant achievement in the genre during the year of 2009. So take a look at the ballot and please let the nominees know how much we appreciate their work by voting.

Voting ends April 3rd.

One Lovely Blog Award

I got my second blog award! I'm a little late in posting this, I was given this award a few weeks ago.

Joanna from the blog The Christmas TV Companion has graced me with the One Lovely Blog Award. Thank you for the award Joanna, it is much appreciated. You can read her original post here and check out all of the other cool blogs she gave the award to. Joanna is the author of the book The Christmas TV Companion: a Guide to Cult Classics, Strange Specials & Outrageous Oddities. The book can be purchased from her blog, the official book website or Amazon.com.

OK, so now I'm supposed to pass this on to 15 other blogs. But, I think that's too many. I'm only gonna choose seven. I'll pick different blogs than the 10 I gave my first blog award to. Just tryin' to spread the love a little. Of course none of these blogs are obligated to pass this award on. Here's seven blogs I enjoy (in alphabetical order) --

The Attack of the B-Movie Muzak
A Christmas Yuleblog
eclectorama
The Defenders Fansite
Me and You and a Blog Named Boo
plasticfetish
Yesterville Toy Room

I've Won A Major Award!

Well, it may not be "major", but it's still pretty cool.

I've been awarded the Honest Scrap Award by Max at The Drunken Severed Head blog. Thanks Max for the kind words about the Wonderful Wonderblog. I really appreciate it.

I'm not sure who originally started the Honest Scrap Award, but apparently it's been around for at least a year and has been passed around by blogs on several continents. The logo is a picture of an old chewing tobacco sign.

According to the rules of the award, I'm supposed to send it to 10 other blogs and list 10 true things about myself. That's gonna be tough. There are over 200 blogs in my blogroll and I like each one of them for different reasons. And I don't know if there are 10 things about me that anyone will find very interesting.

OK, so here are 10 blogs that I currently check out on a regular basis. Of course none of them are obligated to send this award on. This is really just a way to let others know about some other cool blogs. In alphabetical order --

Ernie (Not Bert)
Franklin Mint Blog
Geek Orthodox
Jon's Random Acts of Geekery
The Manchester Morgue
Monsterland Ohio
Music You (Possibly) Won't Hear Anyplace Else
Plaid Stallions
Ratchet's Hulk Collection
Vinnie Rattolle's

And here's 10 things about me you may or may not know --

1. I don't drive. I took driver's training and had my temps when I was in high school back in 1984. I just didn't care for it and never got a driver's license.
2. I met my wife through a personal ad I placed in a local singles paper in 1996. We married in 1998. She was the only one that answered my ad, so I had to marry her.
3. I like mushrooms. On pizza, in pasta, on my salad. They're my favorite fungus.
4. People don't like to play Trivial Pursuit with me. My brain is filled with tons of useless knowledge.
5. I make scrapbooks. There's nothing I enjoy more than going to the local scrapbook store on "crop night" and scrapping with the ladies.
6. I like to listen to movie soundtracks. When I was a kid I had the records of Star Wars, Superman: The Movie, CE3K, The Muppet Movie and others. I would listen to them along with my KISS records.
7. I've lived in Akron, OH my whole life, except for one year I lived in Kent with some friends.
8. I had perfect attendance my senior year of high school.
9. I played Dungeons & Dragons through most of the 80s with my brother and friends. My favorite characters were Brister Firethorn (a dwarf fighter) and Spry Brusque ( a human thief).
10. I blame my warped mind on my parents. They took me and my brother to age inappropriate movies when we were kids. We saw movies like Blazing Saddles and Andy Warhol's Frankenstein.

7th Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards

VOTE NOW FOR THE ...

7th Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards

Voting ends March 21, 2009

Recognizing the best in monster research, creativity and genre appreciation.

These awards are by fans, for fans. Every Rondo nominee is being recognized for a significant achievement in the genre -- great filmmaking, strong writing, significant scholarship or just plain fun. So please take a look at the ballot and let the nominees know how much we appreciate their work by voting.

Click on the link below to vote --

Rondo Awards Ballot

Megohead Of The Month

There is a new feature over at the Mego Museum Forums. It's called Megohead of the Month. Every month they will spotlight one member as a way to get to know them better. Guess who was picked to be the first Megohead? That's right. ME!

If you love classic action figures from the 70s, the Mego Museum is the place for you. The forums are more than just Megos though. They discuss other classic and modern toys, comic books, sci-fi, monster movies, repros, customs, auctions and much, much more. They even have an arcade and a marketplace. And don't forget about the Mego Museum trading cards! They are absolutely beautiful. Click on the picture below to join all the fun.

You can also buy the book World's Greatest Toys! by forum member Benjamin Holcomb. It features lots of great pictures and details about your favorite classic Mego figures.

2007 Rondo Awards

Here is the official ballot for the SIXTH Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror awards, recognizing the best in monster research, creativity and genre appreciation.

These awards are by fans, for fans. Every Rondo nominee is being recognized for a significant achievement in the genre.

Click on the banner below to vote --

And The Rondo Goes To...

PAN'S LABYRINTH, GODZILLA TAKE TOP HONORS IN FIFTH RONDO AWARDS

Basil Gogos retrospective is named Best Book; Dracula picked as Best Restoration;

Sci-Fi Boys takes Indie crown; Ray Castile is Monster Kid of the Year

March 11, 2007

ARLINGTON, VA -- The wartime fantasy of PAN'S LABYRINTH took top honors Sunday in the Fifth Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards, voted best film in a year dominated by nostalgia for monsters past.

The online survey of nearly 1,500 classic horror enthusiasts named GOJIRA, the original 1954 Japanese version of Godzilla, as the Best DVD of 2006, and Universal's brightening of the 1931 DRACULA with Bela Lugosi as the Best Restoration of the year.

In a showdown of TV monster comedies, the first season of THE ADDAMS FAMILY beat out THE MUNSTERS as Best Classic TV DVD of 2006. An episode of the British revival of DR. WHO was named Best TV Presentation, besting favorites such as HEROES and LOST.

Book of the Year went to FAMOUS MONSTER ART OF BASIL GOGOS by Kerry Gammill and J. David Spurlock, a color-splashed celebration of the artist who illustrated the covers of Famous Monsters of Filmland during the "horror boom" of the 1960s.

And toy collector Ray Castile was named "Monster Kid of the Year" for helping to create a museum-quality monster toy exhibit which toured horror conventions in the summer of 2006.

The Rondo award program, named after 1940s character actor Rondo Hatton, is an email survey of the classic horror fan community sponsored by the Classic Horror Film Board. Now in its fifth year, it is the biggest survey of its kind. By the final weekend, 1,480 classic horror fans and pros had emailed choices in 25 categories.

"The strength of this year's vote shows the classic horror community remains alive and well, and quite discerning when it comes to deciding which projects best capture the spirit of the black-and-white and Technicolor thrills we all grew up with,'' said David Colton, organizer of the event.

Click here for the full results.

The Rondo Awards

What are The Rondo Awards?

The official name is -- The 5th Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards.

If you're a fan of classic horror, you need to vote for these awards. These awards are by fans, for fans. Every Rondo nominee is being recognized for a significant achievement to keep our monstrous hobby alive and thriving. So take a look at the ballot and let the nominees know how much we all appreciate their work by voting.

You can vote in the following catagories --

1. BEST MOVIE OF 2006
2. BEST TELEVISION PRESENTATION
3. BEST CLASSIC DVD
4. BEST CLASSIC TV DVD
5. BEST RESTORATION
6. BEST DVD EXTRA
7. BEST COMMENTARY
8. BEST INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
9. BEST BOOK
10. BEST MAGAZINE
11. BEST ARTICLE
12. BEST COVER
13. BEST WEBSITE
14. BEST CONVENTION OF 2006
15. BEST FAN EVENT OF 2006
16. BEST CD
17. BEST HORROR COMIC BOOK
18. BEST MODEL OR COLLECTIBLE
19. COUNT ALUCARD'S CONTROVERSY OF THE YEAR
20. DVD COMPANY OF THE YEAR
21. CLASSIC MOST IN NEED OF DVD RELEASE
22. WRITER OF THE YEAR
23. ARTIST OF THE YEAR
24. MONSTER KID OF THE YEAR
25. MONSTER KID HALL OF FAME