From Horror-Thon to fan phenomenon: Chiller Theatre turns 35

 

Photo: Chiller Theatre 

by Tara Adams

Writer, Haunt Hunters App 

PARSIPPANY, N.J. – Monsters, misfits, music fans and movie buffs are gathering in New Jersey once again this weekend. And this time, they'll be wearing party hats. 

Chiller Theatre Expo in Parsippany is celebrating 35 years in business, a convention that's transformed a love of horror, sci-fi, and pop culture into a fan institution. The event runs from Oct. 24-26, 2025,at Hilton Parsippany.

Chiller owner Kevin Clement started the event in 1990 as a way for fans to celebrate nostalgia and connect with the celebrities they grew up watching, Eddie Mika, associate producer and guest coordinator, said. 

“We kind of recognized that they were longing for something,” Mika said.

The first Chiller convention, called Horror-thon ‘90, was held in an old movie theater in Rutherford, N.J. Mika said it featured 20 vendors and four celebrities:

• Zacherle, known as “The Cool Ghoul” 
• Johnathan Harris, who played Dr. Smith in “Lost in Space” 
• Dyanne Thorne, star of the “Ilsa” movie series 
• Tom Savini, an actor and special effects artist

That first convention also had a visit from Metallica Lead Guitarist Kirk Hammett, who filmed a segment of the documentary, "A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica," at the event. Hammett also wore an original Chiller Theatre promo t-shirt in the "Last Caress" video in the documentary, according to Chiller Theatre's website. 

"Our first convention tee shirt can be seen worn by Kirk in some Metallica promos and live videos and photos from the "Black" album sessions and tour," the website states.

Kirk Hammett of Metallica wearing a Chiller Theatre t-shirt. Photo: Chiller Theatre

Since 1990, the expo has expanded to two shows a year with approximately 100 celebrities and 200 vendors, Mika said. 

“I think we were one of the pioneers of the mixed venue,” Mika said, noting that Chiller Theatre features guests spanning all entertainment genres. “Kevin (Clement) always says, 'Chiller Theatre doesn't imitate, we innovate.’” 

Among this weekend's celebrity guests are Singer/Songwriter Huey Lewis, Randy Quaid, James Tolkan, Jerry “The King” Lawler, Reginald VelJohnson, Steven Weber, Steve Guttenburg, Ace Von Johnson of Faster Pussycat and L.A. Guns, Life of Agony bassist Alan Robert, and a Night of the Living Dead reunion, featuring nine cast members from the classic horror film.

The expo also features additional events such as live bands, Q&A panels, cosplay, and in October, a costume contest for adults and children. 

Mika believes a reason Chiller Theatre has been successful for so many years is because it's fan-focused.

“We try to focus on creating a good experience for the fans, rather than catering to our own interests,” Mika said. 

Chiller attendees range from new fans to those who have been going every year since the early days. 

"I remember going to Chiller in 2005, when it was in a parking lot with tents," Robert Mound of Lyndhurst, N.J., said. "I remember seeing a bat in a cage with a red light at the start, then the tables set up with all of the actors I grew up on, like Adam West from the original Batman - also the original Louis Lane from Superman, who was in her mid-80s at the time.”

Mika said Chiller Theatre gives fans an opportunity to revel in nostalgia, spend some time with their favorite celebrities, and enjoy time away from every day life. 

“Everybody knows that Chiller Theatre is the biggest show on the East Coast,” Mika said. “It gives people a chance to get away and escape for a few hours.” 

For more information about admission, guests, and photo ops, visit Chiller Theatre at http://www.chillertheatre.com.

Chiller Theatre's first program 
Photo: Chiller Theatre 

Rock Icon Gene Simmons Helps Kick Off New Jersey’s New Pop Culture Convention

 

by Tara Adams

Writer, Haunt Hunters App 

A new pop culture convention blending modern flair and retro vibes will kick off Friday in New Jersey, bringing with it star power from music, television, movies, sports, and pro-wrestling. 

Chill Out Expo is set for October 24-25, 2025, at Hanover Marriott in Whippany, N.J. Admission tickets are $10 online at chilloutnj.com through midnight Tuesday and $20 at the door.

The convention took shape after New York-based Promoter Tom Unger, who has more than 30 years experience in the business, wanted to create a pop culture expo with guests and vendors covering all genres and eras, said Eric Nyenhuis, whom Unger hired as marketing director. 

The lengthy celebrity lineup includes Gene Simmons of KISS, Alec Baldwin, William Shatner, Ann Margret, Ice-T and Coco, Kane, a CHiPs reunion, and Dennis Rodman. Many other celebrity guests and more than 100 vendors are scheduled for the weekend. 

Chill Out Expo aims to create an upbeat atmosphere where nostalgia is celebrated, its impact on pop culture is recognized, and all are welcome to be themselves, he said.

“I would like people to know that this is a safe space for everybody to be themselves,” he said. “Where else can I dress up like The Flash and not be made fun of?”

Whether patrons want to cosplay, shop for unique toys and merchandise from vendors, or meet their favorite celebrities, Nyenhuis is encouraging people to stop by the event. 

Not only has the event attracted big names, it's also generating buzz online. 

The convention's website reached more than 30,000 hits in a month, and its Instagram page has generated more than 80,000 views in 28 days, Nyenhuis said.

He credits a low admission cost, a celebrity lineup that appeals to a wide range of fans, and a positive marketing campaign as reasons for the interest in the expo.

“Tell me where there's anything else this cool to do in New Jersey for ten bucks,” Nyenhuis said. “Even if I could just walk by Gene Simmons and see him for ten dollars, I would do it.”

There are additional costs for autographs and photographs with celebrities. Prices are set by the stars, not the convention. 

Fans of KISS, one of the most recognizable and influential rock bands in history, will be able to meet Simmons, founding member of the band. 

The fire-breathing, blood-spitting, tongue wagging bassist, also known as the Demon, will be on hand both days of the convention for autographs and pictures.

Simmons is also offering his Dinner With The Demon event, in which 20 fans will attend an intimate VIP party with the God of Thunder on Saturday night. 

The dinner includes food and drinks for the ticketholder and a guest, three personalized autographs, photos and videos, and a metallic 11x14 limited edition print, according to the Chill Out Expo website. 

Chill Out Expo is sponsored by Progresso, The Big Event promotions, and Cafe Grumpy, which also sponsors organizations such as The Felix Organization, Starlight Children's Foundation, and Make-A-Wish Foundation. 

For the full guest lineup, tickets, photo op tickets, schedules and updates, visit chilloutnj.com. 

Pennhurst Asylum’s Fate Tied to Data Center Decision

 

Photo: Haunt Hunters App 

by Tara Adams

Writer, Haunt Hunters App 

EAST VINCENT TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Pennhurst Asylum will remain open for the “foreseeable future,” but that could change in the coming years if plans for a data center and tire-burning facility are approved, Owner Derek Strine said in a phone interview Tuesday. 

If approved, the remaining buildings on the site of the former Pennhurst State School and Hospital, now a nationally-recognized haunted house attraction and popular destination for the paranormal community, eventually would be razed, he said.

“Come this year. Come next year. Come in 2027,” Strine said. “At some point, it may be the last year.” 

Strine cautioned, however, that Pennhurst's fate depends on whether the data center plan is approved. 

“At this point, we don't have the approval, so it's going to stay Pennhurst,” Strine said. 

The development proposal includes a 10-year build-out plan with an estimated completion date of 2035, Strine said. The project is estimated to cost $5 billion to $6 billion dollars. 

According to the Data Center Coalition, “data centers are physical locations that organizations use to house their critical applications and data. Anything that takes place online ‘in the cloud’ is powered by a data center.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has supported the construction of data centers throughout the state and has implemented a fast-track permitting process for projects said to create jobs and drive economic growth. 

Pennhurst officials recently submitted sketch plans for the proposed project to East Vincent Township, prompting concerns from residents and township leaders.

The township is working on an ordinance that would regulate data centers, while residents are concerned about the impact of such facilities on their properties,the environment, utility rates, and on the landscape of the area.

“While we respect the rights of the property owner we believe this decision would bring lasting harm to our community and future generations,” a petition filed at change.org states. “Once the land is cleared and industrialized it can never be restored.”

The petition, which had more than 6,500 signatures as of Wednesday afternoon, asks community members, local leaders, and Pennhurst to work toward a solution that preserves the property, “honors its history and protects the environment and quality of life for all who live, work and visit here.”

Strine said there's no guarantee the data center proposal will be approved, adding that several studies still need to be completed, and it would have to go through the various stages of township approvals.

The power study alone would take two years, he said. 

“It's far from a done deal,” Strine said. 

Power studies are necessary to assess energy consumption from data centers, which it describes as “one of the most energy-intensive building types, consuming 10 to 50 times the energy per floor space of a typical commercial office building,” according to the U.S. Department of Energy's website. 

Advantages the Pennhurst site has for housing a data center are its proximity to the Limerick Generating Station and that it already has power throughout the property, Strine said.

Pennhurst opened in 1908 as the Eastern Pennsylvania Institution for the Feeble Minded and Epileptic. Later becoming known as Pennhurst State School and Hospital, it operated until 1987 as an institution for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. 

Overcrowding and understaffing, leading to neglect and abuse, was present throughout Pennhurst's decades in operation, conditions which resulted in the facility's closing.

The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008, according to the Pennhurst Memorial & Preservation Alliance. 

The haunted attraction, Pennhurst Asylum, opened in 2010 and has been recognized nationally as among the best in the country. It features four haunts: Pennhurst Asylum, The Morgue, The Tunnels, and The Catacombs. 

For more information about Pennhurst, visit pennhurstasylum.com. 

Photo: Haunt Hunters App 

Fear the Reaper … and the clowns: Scranton haunt delivers national-level scares

Photo courtesy of Reaper's Revenge 

By Tara Adams

Writer, Haunt Hunters App 

SCRANTON, PA – A rusted ferris wheel broods over the darkened wooded trail, squealing as its paint-chipped frame eerily rotates.

It's a piercing sound that stands out among the screams and warped outbursts of twisted clowns and ghouls stuck in a carnival gone terribly wrong.

“That's a real ferris wheel,” Reaper's Revenge Owner Paul Kotran said of the Wonder Wheel. “We do not grease the center bearings, so it sings auautomatically."

A short distance away, an abandoned roller coaster, “Coaster of Doom,” stretches high above a covered walk-through, with a cart stuck atop a hill carrying what's left of an unlucky rider.

A run-down carousel, draped in cobwebs and grit, slowly spins along the trail, a reminder to guests that they've wandered onto foreboding ground.

The eye-catching props are among several large carnival pieces in The Lost Carnival, one of five haunted attractions at Reaper's Revenge. 

Reaper's also features the Haunted Hayride; Delirium, a twisted 3D funhouse, Pitch Black, a high-intensity dark house that unleashes an assault on the senses; and Sector 13, which leads guests through an apocalyptic government science lab full of mutants and monsters.

“This is Sector 13 - often imitated, never duplicated anywhere in the United States,” Steve DeEsch, who manages Sector 13, said during a daytime media tour. “This is a big, metal compound. It looks harmless from the outside, from the inside during the day, but you guys will get your fright at night.” 

In its 17th-year, Reaper's Revenge has grown into a nationally-recognized and award-winning haunt known for its large, detailed, elaborate sets; atmosphere; effects; sound; quality of scares and entertainment; and its more than 170 talented actors.

Pitch Black takes guests through a shuttered light bulb factory, which closed in 1924 after an electrical accident claimed the life of the owner's wife and most of his employees.

“However, locals state that Pitch Black Inc. is still very much alive, even though the lights have been off for years,” the Reaper's Revenge website states.

Guests enter the high-intensity, lights-out attraction and must feel their way out, meandering through narrow passages and twists and turns, all while loud, disorienting music, noise, sensations, and unseen scare actors startle them.

The house confuses the senses and is known to be one of the scariest walk-throughs in the country, Kotran said. 

“So, it's brutal there,” Kotran said. “You can't see. You can't hear. It's claustrophobic. It's scary.”

Photo: Haunt Hunters App 

The disorienting sound is achieved by pumping noise through 48 speakers and 10 subwoofers, which make Pitch Black's bumpy walls vibrate. The walls are also wet in some places, which guests have to touch to feel their way out. 

“We tried Vaseline, we tried hand cream, we were looking for something … so we got a bug sprayer and we filled it with water, and I pay somebody every 10 minutes to wet the walls,” Kotran said. “And it took Pitch Black to a whole new level. So the stuff that's on the walls, when it's wet, just feels that much cooler.”

The Haunted Hayride features enormous Hollywood-level sets covering 66 acres, such as a 150-yard cemetery scene in which zombies emerge in fog from mausoleums and real tombstones. They climb aboard the wagon to scare guests, before stopping to perform a choreographed dance to Michael Jackson's “Thriller.” 

Another section of the hayride features an elaborate Alice in Wonderland scene, which begins when riders descend into the rabbit hole. To achieve this effect, the wagon travels underneath a large, $4,000 projection screen suspended from trees that lights up with lasers and colorful, warped patterns.

“I wanted to go higher and bigger. When you see this at night, it's unbelievable. It's better than any Christmas show,” Kotran said. 

Guests encounter the Queen of Hearts on another suspended projection screen, the Mad Hatter, Alice, and numerous detailed props, including a gigantic Ace of Spades, which towers high in the air and then suddenly drops down toward guests on the wagon, providing a rattling scare synced with pyrotechnics.

“Why didn't you listen when they warned you?” the Queen scolded guests as the wagon stops just below her projection. “Why have you come here at all? You think this is your way? No way! It's my way! ... The truth is whatever I make it. I could set fire to this world and call it rain!”

“Off with their heads!” she demanded. 

Reaper's Revenge runs Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through November 2, 2025. For more information, visit https://reapersrevenge.com/

Laughter, lube, and loud-ass noise: FNG takes the stage

Giggles and Jekyll, FNG, at Whisky A Go-Go
Photo: Haunt Hunters App 

by Tara Adams

Writer, Haunt Hunters App 

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – Masked in fresh clown paint and wearing greased and gritty, work-worn jumpsuits, FNG crashed the stage at Whisky A Go-Go last week, delivering a loud, crass, and hilariously unhinged debut performance of mostly Faith No More and GWAR songs. 

The five disgruntled clown car mechanics were led by the foul-mouthed and cranky, yet somehow endearing, Giggles on vocals, who interacted with the audience through storytelling and humorous banter throughout the show, which took place on June 25, 2025.

Giggles spoke in a rough and raspy Boston accent as he addressed the crowd, some of whom arrived in clown costumes. 

“It doesn't stand for fucking,” Giggles said of the band's name. “It doesn't stand for farting. It doesn't stand for Fuck Not Giggles. It stands for Faith No GWAR.”

Giggles and FNG are the satirical creation of Matt Montgomery, bass player for Marilyn Manson, also known as Piggy D. and Count D. 

Montgomery told Haunt Hunters App in a prior interview that his Giggles character is based on people he met while spending time in Massachusetts in his 20s. Songs by Faith No More and GWAR kept running through his head as he crafted the project, he said.

As the storyline goes, Giggles and his FNG crew, who are members of the Los Angeles-area band, The Lords of Sin, feel disenfranchised by and fed up with the government, society, the people around them, and a declining clown car mechanic business, Montgomery explained. 

So, they took to the stage to earn some extra money and vent their frustrations through music. 

“Business is down, so we gotta fucking come out here and wave our fucking dicks around and play some songs that you don't know to make money,” Giggles said. “Because like everybody, we're fucking starving!” 

At the start of the set, Giggles told the audience that the band would ease into the performance but then quickly tore into a roaring rendition of “People” by The 1975.

“Wake up, wake up, wake up!” Giggles shouted to start the song. 

Some of the songs in the set included “Krak Down,” “Salaminizer,” and “Americanized” by GWAR, and “The Gentle Art of Making Enemies,” “Land of Sunshine,” and “We Care a Lot” by Faith No More.  

FNG also debuted an original song called “Hank,” which tells the story of a nasty and now deceased man the band, clearly, does not miss.

“And thank God he's dead, too … fucking prick,” Giggles said during the song. 

Giggles, FNG, at Whisky A Go-Go 
Photo: Haunt Hunters App 

During “Land of Sunshine,” Giggles threw dozens of fortune cookies to the audience, along with red clown noses. 

“This next song was written entirely by fortune cookies,” Giggles said. “Bet you didn't know that, smart guy.”

He told a story that a (seemingly fictitious) restaurant called Land of Sunshine, with a tagline of “Hot and Spicy Takeaway,” sponsored fortune cookies for the show. The fortunes contained lyrics to the song, along with the band's website, fngisfun.com.

FNG also sold Land of Sunshine takeaway boxes filled with FNG merchandise. Each “Crappy Meal” came with five fortune cookies, a guitar pick, coaster, sticker, buttons, and a bottle opener. 

“We may never do this again. You're witnessing our own bullshit history. I don't know, we may start that OnlyFans page afterall, what do you guys think?” Giggles asked, receiving supportive cheers from the crowd.

FNG ended the night with “We Care a Lot,” and “Americanized.”

“We're all very Americanized here. We're going to have a good summer being Americans, right?” Giggles said with a scowl. “USA! USA! … Let's get fucking Americanized.”

After the show, fans made their way out of the venue, discussing what they had just seen on stage.

“That was fun,” one concertgoer said. “It was a lot better than I imagined it would be.”

“It's not something you normally see at a concert,” another fan said. “I'm glad I came.”

Just before the show ended, Giggles had some words for fans who turned out to watch the debut performance.

“I'm sorry we did this to your fucking faces and your ears,” Giggles said before pausing. “Actually, I'm not that sorry.” 

Giggles is pissed, and he's bringing the band

FNG
Giggles: Front left
Photo courtesy of Matt Montgomery

Clown band FNG to debut at Whisky A Go Go on June 25th

by Tara Adams

Writer, Haunt Hunters App

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – Fed up and grease-streaked, a cantankerous crew of clown car mechanics, led by Piggy D. as salty frontman Giggles, will soon unload their frustrations on stage through warped reinterpretations of Faith No More and GWAR songs. 

FNG's debut is set for June 25 in a one-night-only show at Whisky A Go Go. 

“You’re going to hear a bunch of angry-ass clowns venting their feelings through music you may or may not know,” said Matt Montgomery, Marilyn Manson bass player and the mastermind behind FNG, which stands for Faith No GWAR.

Montgomery, also known as Piggy D. and Count D., will sing lead vocals as Giggles the Greasecap. Los Angeles-area metal band, The Lords of Sin, make up the other members of the clown band. 

About six years in the making, and his idea for the band being around even longer, Montgomery said FNG is an outlet for the disgruntled clowns to express their frustrations with everyday life.

“The clown car mechanics represent a marginalized demographic of hard-working Americans males. They are living in our modern-day society and dealing with the issues we are all facing,” Montgomery said. “We would obviously draw a massive target on our backs if we used a more ‘realistic’ demographic of humans to tell this story.”

“The clowns allow us to display ourselves as a group of people who feel disenfranchised and let down by our state and federal governments, by the friends they have, by the women they try to date, by the bands they like,” he said.

And while the clowns might be disgruntled about the world they live in, they still have to pay the bills - not an easy task in a diminishing field. Performing live will help supplement their income as clown car mechanics, according to the storyline.

“The clown car business is a tough racket. You don’t see as many clown cars on the road like you used to. If you take the seat out of your stupid cyber truck, you can fit, like, 87 clowns in there,” Montgomery said. “But ya need someone who knows what they’re doing to pull that off. That’s what we do. We will transform your car into a functional clown car for today's world. It's a niche business that's slowly dwindling into obscurity, which is why we've turned to live performance, to pay bills. It was either this or we start stripping, and no one needs that!”

Photo courtesy of Matt Montgomery 

Faith No More and GWAR songs seemed to be a natural fit for FNG's story.

“As I was crafting the story of this band, the music I kept hearing in my head was those two bands,” Montgomery said. “Lyrically and thematically, they hold a broad range of subject matter.”

But FNG won't be acting as a tribute band. They’re putting their own interpretations on the songs - through their own artistic lens - as chaotic as that might be. 

“As much as we are accurately performing the music to the best of our ability, we aren’t playing them as a tribute or cover band, or claiming we wrote it,” Montgomery said. “It's a repurposing of the original intent of the songs. We are hanging our beliefs on what ‘WE’ believe is the interpretation of the lyrics - perhaps repurposing them from their original intent.”

FNG took shape after Montgomery watched The Lords of Sin rehearse several times. He approached the band with his idea, and they embraced it.

“It’s such a bizarre thing to try and pitch someone, let alone an already functioning band,” he said. “I actually went to watch the The Lords Of Sin band rehearse a few times, playing their own songs. I thought they were a really fantastic local metal band, and I wanted to give them any assistance that I could. At some point I got up the nerve to pitch them this idea, and they got excited about it, which gave me some validation that it was so insane it just might work!”

Montgomery, a former longtime member of Rob Zombie's band, performed as Giggles during Zombie's 2023 tour. The character is based on a cross section of people he knew in Boston, where he spent a good portion of his 20s.

While he might be a bit on the cranky side, Giggles resonated with audiences, Montgomery said.

“The audience seemed to connect with him, as did I! He seemed like a natural leader and spokesperson for FNG,” Montgomery said. “He's a little heavier on the salt than I would be!”

Aside from their twisted take on Faith No More and GWAR, concertgoers might hear an original song by FNG. The band didn't intend to create original music, but it developed as a “byproduct” as the group spent time together, Montgomery said. 

“That was not something I was looking to do with this project in any way,” he said. “But it happened, and now we’re kind of excited about it. So you might hear one of those songs. Maybe.”

But regardless of whether an original song makes the setlist, the audience will get a chaotic mix of metal, punk, satire and rage.

“We are honestly just looking to entertain and have fun,” Montgomery said. “As much as we take our performance seriously, we don't take ourselves seriously. This is an ‘Anti-Band’ doing everything opposite of what a normal working rock band would do. We aren't trying to succeed or ‘make it’ as a modern rock band. We have already succeeded by just being alive. If anyone shows up to party with us, it's a bonus!”

If You Go

When: Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Where: Whisky A Go Go, West Hollywood, CA

Lineup: Verona on Venus, also making its debut performance, joins FNG on the bill. 

Doors: 6 p.m.

Tickets: Available through TicketWeb here.

Photo courtesy of Matt Montgomery 

Books and Brews: Horror Book Club and Coffee Shop Host Chilling 45th Anniversary Tribute to “The Shining”

 

Taylor O'Brien and Mox Leonard of Bookmarked & Buried at Catfight Coffee 
Photo Courtesy of Bookmarked & Buried