chiller blog

Posted Dec 14, 09 01:18 PM

Lil' Shop O' Horrors

Somewhere, Pavlov rang a bell.

Inflatable coffins. Black cat baskets. Hockey mask charm necklaces. Cobweb handbags. Mummy candleholders. An eye of newt bottle opener. Satanic sunglasses. Brain soap.

Skull-and-crossbones patterns on shower curtains, Christmas stockings, and baby bibs. "Boo Boo" bandages. A lawn-style whirly-gig of wooden ghosts chasing carved witches. A ceramic snow village full of asylums, not cozy shacks, where instead of skaters doing revolutions on frozen lakes, Frankenstein 360s after his laboratory Bride.

A CD soundtrack from The Hunger; a vinyl from Deadly Friend. The Deluxe Edition DVD of Friday the 13th (1980) - uncut. Child's Play collector cards. Texas Chainsaw Massacre belts. Jeepers Creepers bobbleheads.

Wow. Horror really DOES have an address: Dark Delicacies (4213 Burbank Blvd., Burbank, CA 91505; www.darkdel.com). Think Santa's workshop brought to life - if December Fats ever switched holidays with the Great Pumpkin. Come to think of it, I did glimpse a The Nightmare Before Christmas line on the back wall, and ultimate pumpkin carving books across from the register. If you hit the Fangoria rack, you've gone too far.

Del and Sue Howison opened Dark Delicacies fifteen years ago, affectionately pioneering the lone solely-horror book/collectible/gift store in the country. These days, half of their business springs from Internet sales - even to far-off fans in Germany, Finland and Malta. Just don't drop a jaw at the walk-ins, including Bob Dylan (looking for Granny's magic books).

A life-size Frankenstein's monster guards the dungeon-esque entrance, the space slowly winking to hours of adrenaline-inducing discoveries. Shelves neatly partition sections on scholarship, metaphysics... even "Zombie Books". Here, Vincent Price respectfully co-exists with Wes Craven. Posters trumpet an industry injection of signees - indeed, the Trick 'R Treat.

Del, his signature white hair flowing as genteel as his MENSA-level poetics on our common genre, offered a few perceptions.

"Horror is at its biggest when we were in wars...it follows a loss of control" noted Del. "With 9/11, we saw images of people coming out of the ashes [of the World Trade Center]." He's absolutely right: it lit the fuse of the current zombie cycle.

We both reflect that true horror and tension is borne out of the connection to character, where tone builds suspense.

"We've really come through a crap time in films - although we're in a golden age of publishing. I don't think there's been another time where every major house has had a horror title: [featuring prominent authors] Seth Graham Smith, Max Brooks..."

Howison is also (among other accomplished also's) a writer. Indeed, Dark Delicacies has its own name-brand graphic novel series. Del, as well, edits the published Dark Delicacies anthology collections, now visiting its third go-round. And he's collaborating with HUGE names and names that WILL BE huge.

CHILLER strolled with Del while Sue shipped (was it the 50-skull string lights?).

CHILLER: How did your love of horror first begin - as in the very second that it first "clicked" for you?

Del: As a child who was taken to church four times a week. There is nothing more horrific than religion.

CHILLER: What was it like, the early days of your store, compared to its growth fifteen years later? Do you find that your customers' tastes have changed?

Del: The market changes all the time. When I started, vampires appealed to real genre lovers. But as the vampire books turned into Fabio covers and then aimed at tweeners, genre lovers had to shift. Hello, zombies!

The store has outgrown its current spot (its second [home]), so we've grown. Who knows, maybe we'll move again?

CHILLER: Gazing through your store and online, it's clear that your love of horror is wide-welcoming. Karloff and Vincent Price. Crystal Lake and Elm Street. The Nightmare Before Christmas and Twilight. For the benefit of those outside our genre, what ISN'T horror? And what exactly "IS" what "ISN'T"?

Del: I try to cover horror in all of its permeations. I go from Casper to The Silence of the Lambs -- I'm running a store, not a museum. One of the things I always wrestle with is horror vs. terror. Richard Matheson says he wrote terror, not horror, as his [attempts at horror] were repulsive. But for my purposes, they are two sides of the same dice.

CHILLER: What's the most unusual request you've received?

Del: To buy an embalming table, which I did. There is a photo somewhere of editor Jeff Gelb and myself signing our first Dark Delicacies book contract on that table.

CHILLER: So what would you say are some of the most unique/exclusive items that you carry?

Del: Bride of Frankenstein ceramic breadplates, many [autographed] books from the weekly signings, exclusive Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab scents, a few odd hair jewelry pieces (that means made of hair...not for your hair).

CHILLER: Your calendar is constantly packed with signing events. Robert Englund, Harry Manfredini, Tom Holland. Generally, do the artists (composers, directors, actors, writers, editors, et al) find you, or do you find them?

Del: Both. Although in most cases, we find them after scouring what is coming out in the coming months. My wife almost spends her entire store time ordering product and lining up signings.

CHILLER: You're an actor with oodles of genre credits. I see you've played Falstaff, did a Crystal Lake mockumentary, and were cast a couple of times as Renfield! Give us some highlights. Please.

Del: I've played Renfield four times (as was noted by Video Watchdog Magazine) and am the only person to portray the character multiple times. I have a film in the can which is just getting ready to hit the festival circuit entitled Dahmer vs. Gacy. It's a lighthearted comedy for the entire family...if they like lots of blood. I have a cameo where I'm typecast as some dude with long hair. Can you believe it?

I worked with Robert Loggia in Her Morbid Curiosity and that was cool. I've worked with William Smith a couple of times, which is always a treat. In fact, in The Erotic Rites of Countess Dracula, I was Renfield to his Dracula. I've worked with many of the Scream Queens, probably Brinke Stevens the most.

CHILLER: You're also writer/editor behind your own brand name graphic novels. And you won a Bram Stoker Award for your very ambitious published horror anthologies. Your contributors include -- short list -- Clive Barker, Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, and Whitley Strieber. What's it like -- all of you terror talents working together? Who's the quiet one? Who's the jokester?

Del: Yeah, Dark Delicacies #3: Haunted just came out the end of this year. Well, you know, it's not like the Dick Van Dyke show where you sit in a large room and bounce ideas off of each other while buddy runs around crazed. It's all one-on-one and usually via email.

One of the funniest folks is Richard Matheson. He cracks me up and is a fan of Eddie Izzard. Steve Niles is a very funny writer but quite a morbid guy in real life...real down in the mouth. I think he eats a lemon everyday. I only hire him every chance I get and we are partnering in the Dark Delicacies graphic novels. Hopefully #2 comes out soon as we're working on a Clive Barker story scripted by Niles.

CHILLER: Thank you, Del. See you soon.