Remembering Mr Chiller Kevin Clement 1955-2026

Back in the 80’s, I went to an indoor flea market in North Bergen. One vendor had records and I bought some. That guy was Kevin Clement. Fast forward a year or so. I was a mechanic, working for Ridge Service in Lyndhurst NJ. We had some young guys pumping gas and they were into punk rock. They told me about this new record store, The Vinynal Frontier, that opened right across from the bank we used.

So I checked it out and officially met Kevin. As I got to know Kevin, I found that he was a fellow Monster Kid. We both grew up watching Chiller Theater of Channel 11, WPIX in NYC. We also liked wrestling and porn. Being that I sold porn at the time, we would trade for records. We would also go into the city to the Melody Burlesque, Show World, and other places on and around 42^nd Street.

Kevin lived in the back of the store. I’d get a call at 10pm, ”…what are you doing? Nothing, why? Let’s take a run into the city.” So we would round up a couple of guys, get in my van, and the $3 toll was our ticket to the freak show. We would window shop street walkers, cruised around Times Square and 42^nd Street. Side note, we never picked up a hooker or did anything but make fun of certain situations.

We heckled live sex show performers, we met major adult stars at The Harmony Burlesque. We were just breaking balls and having fun. I was also living with my future wife, so hooking up was the furthest thing from my mind. The store became a hangout for the future staff of Chiller. I met Sean, Beatle John , Tony Crassman, Les, and Diane there.

Kevin switched stores and took one with an apartment in the back. I parked in front on day and heard a loud screech and tearing sound. “ My fuckin’ bumper just got ripped off” I yelled. I went out to find that some girl had passed too close and caught the edge of the bumper. “How did you know it was your bumper? “ Kevin asked. I said “ because the same thing happened at a stop light two weeks ago, someone passed too close and ripped off the bumper. “ the girl was a first time driver, so I told her father that $125 would settle it unless you want to report it and have your insurance go up. He paid.

About this time, Chiller Theater Video was born. Home Video had exploded all over the country. Us Monster Kids could now own the movies we loved. Problem was none of the major companies were putting out monster movies. Goodtimes Video put out a handful of titles like The Corpse Vanishes, Vampire Bat, Devil Bat, Spooks Run Wild, all Public Domain features. Universal put out the classics, Frankenstein, Dracula ect, but none of their B-monster Movies.

Kevin, somehow, got stuff that wasn’t out. Attack of the Giant Leeches, It Conquered the World, The Giant Behemoth and more. He has a bunch of VCRs run together and was cranking out tapes. He advertised in Film Fax Magazine. So did a lot of others like Sinister Cinema, Channel 13, Something Weird Video and others. Business was good, but those ads got noticed by the major companies. People got busted including Kevin.

Down the road, we teamed up to open a store in Montclair NJ called from Rags to Records. We were right on Bloomfield Avenue, a main street. We were doing ok, but my problem was I was used to roaming around making deal. Being stuck in a store all day curtailed that. So Kevin took it over and I went back on the road. Kevin took in a partner and got screwed. Sadly Kevin had a habit of getting in bed with the wrong people. And it would happen again.

Kevin called me about a plan he had. He wanted to start a horror convention. At that time all there were two cons, Fanex in Baltimore and Fangoria’s weekend of Horrors in NYC. He wanted to create a venue where fans could interact with their heroes. He had a partner, Charlie, who would soon be a problem. He said he needed big guys for a security detail.

My question was how much will you pay me? He said he couldn’t pay me, but I could guard Zackerly. I grew up watching Zach and was a huge fan. The other guest was Jonathan Harris from Lost in Space. A vendor named Big Andy brought in pro wrestler, Ox Baker ,who was in Escape from New York. Little did I know that Ox would pop in and out of my life until he passed away.

Ox was a presence. And he was loud. Kevin asked me to take the mic away from him. I told Kevin that he wasn’t using a mic, that was how he talked. I was supposed to enforce a no smoking rule. I was telling his handler, a guy called Big Andy, that no one can smoke in here. At that point Ox was lighting his pipe. He gave me a look and I said “ don’t worry, Ox, I’ll cover for you. “He grabbed me in a bear hug and told me I was his buddy. Little did I know.

The show was called Horrorthon and it was held in a run down movie theater, The Williams Center in Rutherford NJ. It was a gathering of Monster Kids misfits. Along with Zach, I met Eric Caiden of Hollywood Book & Poster, Mike Vraney from Something Weird Video, Michael Weldon from Psychotronic Video and other cool people.

The show was a hit with us misfits. Plans were made to do Son of Horrorthon with Zach returning, H.G. Lewis, Diane Thorn and Tom Savini who no showed the event. A certain amount of shit was thrown our way over Diane Thorne aka Ilsa, Shewolf of the SS. Some people didn’t like her character. H.G Lewis was amazed that anyone even remembered his films. John Zackerly would become the face of the promotion. Truly a nice and humble guy, he returned half his fee for the first show because people from his UHF dance show came to see him. Butch Patrick from the Munsters was also there.

Guests were paid a fee , so they signed for free. Butch was charging fans $5. Kevin told me to straighten him out. So I go over and sit next to him. He turns to me and says “ Hi, I’m Butch. “ I say Hi, I’m Pete and Kevin says stop this shit right now.”  Seems at the time, Butch was on probation for nose candy. So he was a bit out there.

The third show would see us move to a college in Rutherford, Fairleigh Dickenson . Problem was two buildings, one for vendors & signings, the other for Q&As. This show had Bob Burns, Ted V. Mikles, and Scream Queens Brinke Stevens, Michele Bauer, and Monique Gabrielle. I became friends with Michelle and Ted. But at the end of the show, problems arose.

No one liked Charlie, he was tolerated because of Kevin. But at this show he was seen taking all the big bills from the cash box, then taking off for an “emergency at home. He was confronted when he returned and Sean was really on his case. The partnership was over as one, Charlie was a thief and two, nobody would work with him. So Kevin said it was over. But we didn’t want it over, so a bunch of us put in some money to keep it going. Kevin wanted to register the Horrorthon name with the county. But surprise, Charlie beat him to it.

So we needed a new name. Kevin said Chiller Theater. I said it’s a TV show and someone owns that name. What if we spell theater the British way, theatre? Kevin said. So we checked and that name wasn’t taken, so The Chiller Theatre Con was born. But Charlie wasn’t backing off. He left death threats on Kevin’s answering machine. He sent a thug to Kevin’s store to threaten him and break the glass door.

They went to court and it was explosive. At one point Kevin said to the judge “ Your Honor, my partner is a weasel.” The Judge dissolved the partnership. Charlie could have the Horrorthon name. Kevin kept the Chiller name. We moved to The Rothman Center in Teaneck NJ. Charlie’s wife called in bomb scares. They were ignored. The show out grew the Rothman Center and we moved into the Hilton Hotel in Seacaucus NJ.

I was doing the announcements and was head of security. I also created the 42^nd Street Pete character there. Our guests were a who’s who of stars like Russ Meyer, Elvira, Roger Corman, George “The Animal “ Steele, Dean Stockwell, June Lockheart, Billy Mumy, Penny Marshall and many others. The first ten years were the best, then it got too big.

A documentary film maker wanted to make a documentary about Chiller. I set this up but in retrospect ,I wish I hadn’t. The film followed me, Gunnar Hansen, Tiffany Shepis, Bob Gonzo, and uber fans, Kathy & Dave Wilbur. Each had a crew filming their actions over the 13^th anniversary of the show. The film actually ran for a week in NYC. But “friends” were not happy with it and I was accused of “playing star”. So there was a bitter split between myself and Chiller. I quit the promotion and moved on.

Honestly, it became too big and, in my opinion, it strayed away from what made it great. So Kevin and I didn’t reconnect until Mike Vraney from Something Weird video passed away. I forgot who contacted who. We talked for hours and patched things up. By that time Chiller had moved out of the NYC area and into Parsippany NJ.
 We talked a few times a year, usually after a show. Then I saw a picture of Kevin with Lisa from Something Weird Video. Kevin looked horrible. I git in touch and he told me that he was in stage four colon cancer. He was being treated and he wanted to live. It went into remission at one point but then it came back. He stopped answering calls.

Mutual friends told me that he was now in hospice care. I got one last message to him before he passed. He wanted to see me one last time before he left. I said I would try to make the October show. It was a promise that I couldn’t keep because he left us on July 18^th. The man who invented the modern horror convention was gone.
 Kevin will be fondly remembered as the Godfather of Horror Conventions. He gave fans the opportunity to meet their heros and interact with them. Others ,like myself, went on to create their own legacies. Anyone who ever met Kevin would never forget him. Bro, you gave me the opportunity to create a character that is still relevant today. I thank you, Mike Vraney and Al Goldstein for opening that door. I know you now with Zach, Art, Sean, Lou, Tony, Mike Mindless , Mike Vraney and others. You are missed and loved. I’ll see you when I get there, just save me a seat at the bar.