Greetings, readers, just a quick little story today…well, two separate but related stories, both taking place on Saturday, March 13th, 2010 at Monster Mania Convention 14, in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. I’d driven down for the weekend with Dan, one of my closest friends and my major co-conspirator over at Radiation-Scarred Reviews. My very first convention, I really didn’t know what to expect. I’d been shy and awkward the day before getting autographs from Kane Hodder and Bruce Abbott and walked around in a daze, stunned by the merchandise around.
But anyways. Moving on, Saturday morning Dan and I hit the breakfast buffet to fuel up for a long day of nerding it up. I happen to glance over…and not fifteen feet from us sat Dario Argento, casually eating breakfast. And by breakfast, I mean a goddamn mountain of scrambled eggs. His plate contained probably three quarters of a pound of scrambled eggs, an english muffin, and the teabag from his tea. Now, my friend Kristen (another close friend who since this took place has become a contributor for Radiation-Scarred Reviews) had asked me to get Argento’s autograph for her if possible. Well, I didn’t want to bother the man over breakfast, so I sent her a quick text “Argento eating breakfast 15 feet away. I’m saving you some of his leftover eggs.” Just for laughs, you know.
Argento finishes and leaves while Dan and I are still stuffing our faces. And no, I don’t walk over and steal Argento’s leftover eggs, or silverware that he’s used, or any of that. I’m weird and socially maladjusted, but there is a limit you know.
So Dan and I finish breakfast, and are walking across the lobby towards the elevators, going to get our cameras and such for the day’s adventures. Suddenly, I get this overwhelming sensation of being watched. I turn my head and…
Dario Argento is sitting in a plush chair in the lobby, staring directly at me.
Now, that’s a bit weird, but I brush it off, thinking “there’s no way he was staring at me. He was looking in my direction and I crossed his field of vision, or something.”
Fifteen feet further, the sensation of being watched has no abated. I stopped, turned and…
Dario Argento is still sitting there, but has turned his head to continue staring directly at me.
Shivering, I rushed to the elevator to escape the withering glare of the Italian director.
And that, my friends and readers, is how Dario Argento beat out Gary Busey for the title of “most uncomfortable celebrity encounter” that weekend.
Tags: convention, Dario Argento, eggs, Horror, Italian Horror Week, Monster Mania
Written by: Bill Adcock | Visit Website
Bill Adcock is an aficionado of low-budget schlock, having been raised on a steady diet of 1950s-1960s creature features. To this day these remain his favorites, though creature features of all sorts, gothic horror, slashers, alien invasion films, etc. are all near and dear to him. When not writing for The Blood Sprayer, Bill can be found writing for his own review blog, Radiation-Scarred Reviews, on a wildly irregular basis.
This made my day! Thanks for sharing, Bill!
Nice story! But you should have talked to him! Who knows, maybe he thought you had an interesting face and would have cast you in a movie? I once had the privilege of catching him at a convention, just killing time in a hallway while “Opera” was being screened inside. I got the chance to talk to him alone for a few minutes, while everyone was inside watching the movie. I gushed like a fan, of course, about how much I loved his movies. He seemed very pleased to hear it. He really is a nice guy.