BOOK LAUNCH PARTY!
A HORROR-FILLED HALLOWEEN WEEKEND BOOK LAUNCH PARTY AT KAISER TIGER!
To say that I am proud of my new book, 40 Years, 40 Horror Films, from Eckhartz Press would be a massive understatement. I spent an enormous amount of time writing this thing, digging through forty years of horror movies, revisiting old favorites, rediscovering forgotten gems, and thinking about why this particular genre has meant so much to me for practically my entire life.
And now that the book is finally out, one of the greatest pleasures has been meeting people at events, hearing their reactions, talking about their favorite horror movies, and signing copies for fellow members of the horror-loving tribe.
Well, we're about to celebrate the book in a very big way, and I couldn't be more excited about it.
On Friday, October 30th, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., we're throwing a giant Halloween weekend book launch party at the fantastic Kaiser Tiger, located at 1415 W. Randolph Street in Chicago's West Loop.
I'll be there, my publishers from Eckhartz Press will be there, we'll have plenty of copies of 40 Years, 40 Horror Films available for purchase, and I'll be signing and personalizing books, taking pictures, talking horror movies, and hanging out with everybody who comes by.
And because this is happening the night before Halloween, we're turning the whole thing into a spooky celebration, complete with costumes, food, drinks, and a little friendly competition.
And believe me, Kaiser Tiger is a hell of a place to have a party.
If you've never been there, Kaiser Tiger is this enormous, wonderful, 14,000-square-foot, bi-level gastropub in the West Loop, not far from the United Center. It's been around since 2014, and it is a great neighborhood gathering place centered around craft beer, homemade sausages, bacon, and a whole lot of fun.
I love this place. The atmosphere is terrific, the staff is fantastic, and the food is outstanding. Kaiser Tiger specializes in house-made sausages, gourmet bacon dishes, giant soft-baked Bavarian pretzels, Belgian fries, and all sorts of other things that are absolutely terrible for your diet and absolutely wonderful for your soul.
They have something called the Bacon Bomb, which is essentially a giant meatloaf wrapped in bacon. Think about that for a second. Somebody looked at meatloaf and decided the problem was that it didn't have enough bacon surrounding it. That's the kind of forward-thinking culinary philosophy I can get behind.
They also have 24 craft beers on tap, a tremendous selection of drinks, and one of the coolest outdoor spaces in Chicago. Their enormous 200-seat beer garden was even named one of the top nine beer gardens in America by CNN. There are games, including bocce ball, cornhole, ping pong, and other ways to embarrass yourself in front of your friends after a couple of beers.
And when winter arrives, they actually transform the beer garden into curling lanes. That's right. Curling. At a bar. In Chicago. I love it. Now, I can't promise we'll be curling on October 30th, although with Chicago weather you never know what the hell is going to happen, but there will certainly be plenty of other things to do.
It's the kind of place where you can show up after work on a Friday, have a great meal, enjoy a few drinks, meet some people, and just relax. And on October 30th, you can do all of that while celebrating horror movies and picking up a signed copy of my new book. How great is that?
And this really is the perfect place and the perfect time to celebrate 40 Years, 40 Horror Films, because Halloween is my favorite holiday, October is my favorite month, and horror is my favorite genre of filmmaking.
Anybody who has listened to me on the radio, followed my podcasts, read my reviews, or attended one of my movie screenings over the years knows how much I love horror. It's the genre that made me fall in love with movies in the first place, and I genuinely believe it's one of the most important, versatile, creative, and misunderstood genres in the history of cinema.
That love is what inspired this book.
40 Years, 40 Horror Films is the follow-up to my first book, 40 Years, 40 Films, which was an autobiographical journey through my forty years as a professional film critic. I started reviewing movies professionally in 1985, so I structured that first book around my favorite film from every year of my career, along with stories about my life, my experiences in radio, and the movies that shaped me.
For the new book, I decided to take that same basic idea and devote it entirely to horror.
Beginning with 1985 and continuing through 2025, I selected my favorite horror film from each year and wrote an extended essay about it. I discuss what makes these movies special, why they work, the filmmakers and actors who brought them to life, and the impact they had on the genre and on cinema itself.
But the book became much more than a collection of forty individual reviews. It turned into an examination of the history of horror, how the genre has evolved, why people love being scared, and why horror movies have always been able to explore subjects that other genres sometimes won't go near.
That's one of the things I love most about horror. It can be funny, tragic, disgusting, beautiful, intelligent, ridiculous, terrifying, and deeply moving, sometimes all within the same movie. The possibilities are endless, and the filmmakers who understand the genre can do extraordinary things with it.
In addition to the forty featured films, I've included my annual Top 10 horror movie lists, so there are well over 400 horror films discussed or mentioned throughout the book.
But there's another major part of the book that's especially personal to me, and that's the celebration of horror fans. The tribe.
I've been hosting and moderating panels at Flashback Weekend Horror Convention for about 25 years, and during that time I've had the incredible opportunity to meet and interview some of the greatest actors, directors, writers, and special-effects artists in horror history.
I've collected wonderful stories from those encounters, and many of them are included in the book. Some are funny, some are surprising, some are touching, and some are just plain weird, which is exactly what you would expect when you spend a quarter of a century hanging around horror conventions.
But the fans are what make those experiences so special. Horror fans are passionate, knowledgeable, loyal, funny, and wonderfully obsessive. We can spend hours debating the best horror sequels, the greatest practical effects, the scariest monsters, or which version of a particular slasher franchise is the most underrated.
And I wanted 40 Years, 40 Horror Films to be a celebration of those people as much as a celebration of the movies themselves.
One of the things that makes me especially proud of the book is that the Foreword was written by my friend, the legendary Rich Koz, better known to generations of horror fans as Svengoolie.
Come on. How cool is that?
Rich has spent decades introducing audiences to horror movies, making people laugh, sharing fascinating information about the films, and keeping the spirit of classic horror alive. He's a Chicago broadcasting legend, a national horror icon, and somebody I've been lucky enough to know and work with for many years.
In his wonderful Foreword, he writes about horror movies, his experiences as a horror host, our friendship, and the special connection that exists between horror fans and the people who bring these movies into their lives. It's funny, personal, affectionate, and absolutely perfect for the book. Having Svengoolie write the Foreword to my horror memoir is an honor I can't even begin to describe.
So when I say that I'm proud of 40 Years, 40 Horror Films, I mean it. This is a labor of love. It's a celebration of forty years of movies, forty years of my career, the history of horror, the filmmakers who have terrified and entertained us, and the extraordinary people who love this genre as much as I do.
And now I want to celebrate it with you.
Which brings us back to Kaiser Tiger and our big Halloween weekend party on Friday, October 30th.
First of all, come in costume! I am absolutely encouraging everybody to dress up. It's the night before Halloween, for crying out loud. If you want to come dressed as Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, a zombie, a vampire, a werewolf, or some completely bizarre creation of your own imagination, go for it. Be creative.
Be ridiculous. Be scary. Be funny. This is the perfect opportunity to show up looking completely insane and have everybody congratulate you for it.
And I'm going to make things a little more interesting. I'll be giving away a free autographed copy of 40 Years, 40 Horror Films to the person who comes to my table wearing the most creative, original, or outrageous costume I see that night. So put a little effort into it. Surprise me. Impress me. Scare the hell out of me. Just don't get bacon grease all over your costume before I get a chance to judge it.
The official party runs from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., and I'll be arriving around 5:30 to get everything set up. I'll have a table with plenty of copies of the book available for purchase, and I'll be signing and personalizing them throughout the evening.
Come over and introduce yourself. Tell me your favorite horror movie. Tell me which movie scared you the most when you were a kid. Tell me which horror film everybody seems to love but you absolutely cannot stand. Those are exactly the kinds of conversations I want to have.
We'll take pictures, we'll hang out, we'll talk movies, and we'll have a great time. My publishers from Eckhartz Press will be there too, so it's going to be a real celebration of the book and everybody who helped make it happen.
And while you're there, take advantage of Kaiser Tiger. Order some sausages. Get one of those enormous pretzels. Eat some bacon. Try one of the craft beers. Play some games. Meet some new people. Bring your friends. Bring your fellow horror fans. Bring somebody who doesn't know a damn thing about horror movies and introduce them to the tribe.
It's a Friday night in Chicago, it's Halloween weekend, and we're throwing a party at a fantastic place. What more do you need?
I also want to mention that 40 Years, 40 Horror Films is available exclusively through Eckhartz Press at eckhartzpress.com, but if you come to the launch party, you'll be able to purchase a copy directly from me and have it signed and personalized right there. And there's something special about doing that in person.
I love meeting readers, hearing their stories, and talking about the movies that mean something to them. That's one of the great pleasures of writing these books. Getting to share it with people who love horror as much as I do makes it even better.
So here's the deal:
It's my big Halloween weekend book launch party for 40 Years, 40 Horror Films. There will be books, autographs, costumes, a costume prize, great food, fantastic beer, and plenty of horror movie conversation.
Friday, October 30th, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Kaiser Tiger, 1415 W. Randolph Street in Chicago's West Loop.
Phone: (312) 243-3100
Information and more: www.kaisertiger.com
Come dressed as your favorite monster, or come dressed as yourself. Either way, come on out. Let's celebrate Halloween weekend, let's celebrate the release of a book that means an enormous amount to me, and let's spend a couple of hours hanging out with fellow movie lovers in one of the coolest places in Chicago.
I am unbelievably excited about this, and I really hope you'll be there.
Let's pack Kaiser Tiger. Let's eat some bacon. Let's talk horror movies. Let's get a little scary.
And let's have one hell of a book launch party.
I'll see you on Friday, October 30th!
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