by Tara Adams
Writer, Haunt Hunters App
ISELIN, NJ – For a dedicated KISS collector, a flight from Chicago to New Jersey is a small price to pay to cross a 25-year finish line.
That was the case for Alejandro Valdez at the New Jersey Horror Con amd Film Festival over the weekend, who made the trek with a singular mission: securing the final signature on a prized KISS poster.
The target was legendary drummer Peter Criss, the last remaining piece of a rock-and-roll puzzle that Valdez has been piecing together for a quarter of a century.
Collecting autographs from all four original members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band—Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, the late Ace Frehley, and Criss, a convention guest—requires an immense amount of patience, timing, and travel.
Because original members rarely appear under the same roof anymore, convention floors have become the de facto staging grounds for music history.
"I enjoy it," Valdez said of the chase. "I enjoy collecting and meeting them. They're amazing."
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| Valdez's poster pre-signature by Peter Criss |
Valdez also brought along a Peter Criss Psycho Circus comic book to complete a set, having already secured signatures from Frehley, Simmons, and Stanley on their respective individual issues.
He noted that these specific comic books hold the highest sentimental value in his collection, because he originally picked up the Spanish-language editions while living in Mexico.
"I'm going to have Peter sign his issue, and I'm going to have it framed," Valdez said. "It means more to me."
That level of dedication is standard operating procedure for the "KISS Army."
Since the 1970s, the band has plastered their iconic makeup and logos onto everything from action figures and pinball machines to official coffins. The seemingly endless mountain of merchandise has bred a unique subculture of die-hards who treat memorabilia as a lifestyle, rather than a hobby, turning out en masse over the weekend just to secure a brief moment with Criss.
The rock nostalgia continued elsewhere on the convention floor, away from the standard autograph lines.
Lita Ford thrills fan with surprise performance
Heavy metal icon Lita Ford treated attendees to an unexpected highlight when she picked up a guitar for an impromptu, bare-bones performance in the middle of the aisle.
Without the buffer of a massive stage or a booming stadium PA, the set turned into a remarkably raw, intimate moment for the crowd that quickly swarmed the area.
A high point of the surprise performance came when Ford struck the opening chords of her 1988 hit, "If I Close My Eyes Forever," trading vocal lines with a member of the crowd.
Originally recorded as a haunting duet with Ozzy Osbourne for her self-titled Lita album, the track remains a permanent fixture of late-80s radio. Hearing her belt it out stopped foot traffic, offering fans an unpolished look at a song that has endured for nearly forty years.
For long-time horror purists, the weekend offered an equally rare milestone.
Face-to-Face with Pazuzu: Eileen Dietz Debuts Historic Character Photo Op
Actress Eileen Dietz, who served as the terrifying face of the demon Pazuzu (known as Captain Howdy) in William Friedkin’s 1973 masterpiece The Exorcist, donned the character's ghoulish mask for an official photo op.
“It's for the first time!” Dietz excitedly said while meeting fans at her table.
Between the celebrity tables, the event served as a major showcase for regional cosplayers who roamed the halls alongside established character guests. At one turn, fan-favorite regular Father Evil, a character portraying a fallen priest, hissed "Sinners!" into a passing camera lens.
Right behind him, a towering scarecrow carrying a sickle posed for photos before melting back into the crowd.
Behind the mask: The real reason why cosplayers do what they doAmong the dedicated hobbyists pacing the floor on Saturday was Nicholas Grandinetti, transformed into a Cenobite from the Hellraiser franchise.
Grandinetti is a veteran of the scene, hitting roughly twenty horror, comic, and pop culture conventions every year to break up the monotony of daily life.
"Monday through Friday is work. Saturday and Sunday is play," Grandinetti said.
He builds his rotation, which includes sci-fi, comic characters, and even a Krampus suit for the holidays, around the specific theme of each show.
“Sometimes it's just based on whatever the theme of the show is. Other times it's what the weather is going to be. You don’t want to be wearing this in a heat wave," he noted. "I try to keep it with something that I think is going to go over well with that show. But, really, when it comes to cosplay, there's no rules. You can go to an anime show dressed as Darth Vader, nobody cares, as long as it looks cool.”
Over years of travel and convention floor wear-and-tear, he has learned that investing heavily in high-end masks and gear is the only way to ensure a costume survives the circuit.
“I go by the philosophy that if you pay for quality, you're only going to cry about it once,” Grandinetti said, noting that top-tier masks and suits simply hold up better over time.
He is already preparing his Hellraiser look for the Monster-Mania Convention in August, where he hopes to meet original Pinhead actor Doug Bradley while fully suited up.
For Grandinetti, the long hours and financial investment are worth it for the reactions he gets on the floor, particularly from attendees who need a lift.
“I just have an eye for costuming, but, really, it's the people that I meet, especially when I can do something for kids, people with special needs,” he explained. “The world's not getting any nicer, so if you could give them a smile or just give them something cool to look at for a minute, it's satisfying, even if you look like this.”
