The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards
and the MONSTER KID HALL OF FAME

The annual RONDO HATTON CLASSIC HORROR AWARDS, named after the once obscure B-movie actor of the 1940s (above left) who played monsters without makeup and has become a cult movie icon, honor the best in classic horror research, creativity and film preservation. The "Rondo" Awards were created in 2002 by David Colton and Kerry Gammill at the Classic Horror Film Board (CHFB), a 26-year-old online community. The awards are fan-based, and have no connection to any commercial sponsor. Anyone in fandom can vote or suggest nominees. Voting is by e-mail sent to David Colton (taraco@aol.com), who tabulates the voting.

The Rondo award itself features a bust sculpted by illustrator Kerry Gammill, and cast by modelers Tim Lindsey and Byron Salisbury (above right). The statuette is a miniature version of the large bust of Hatton's character "The Creeper," seen in the 1946 Universal film HOUSE OF HORRORS (above center). The Rondos have been praised by recipients for their quiet beauty and evocation of classic horror.

Nominees for the Rondo are selected from suggestions by horror fans, pros and enthusiasts offered all year at the CHFB. Each year's nominees are finalized by classic horror fan David Colton with the help of more than 20 other classic horror fans from around the world, and with expertise in all parts of fandom. Nominees for Best Model or Collectible are developed with the help of another venerable online fan community, the Universal Monster Army.

Voting for the annual Rondo Awards begins as early as possible each year -- putting together a ballot comprised of all the worthy achievements done the previous year is no easy task! It concludes on a pre-announced date; votes are tabulated for many weeks afterward (another difficult, very complicated job), and winners are announced in the CHFB chat room at midnight on a well-publicized Sunday. Winners are published on the Rondo Awards website and the CHFB on the following day. More than 6,000 classic horror fans voted in the 19th annual Rondo Awards in 2021.

Induction to the Rondo Awards Monster Kid Hall of Fame is a rare and very special award for lifetime achievement, since it is a write-in category for which the individual voters nominate fans, pros, writers, artists, researchers, horror hosts or others they believe have made a permanent mark on the world of classic horror appreciation over the years.

WE GOT BUSTED IN THE HALL OF FAME!

Well, okay, the Hall of Fame Rondo award is a plaque rather than a bust, but it's still a Thing of Brute-y and a joy forever to me. I'm especially proud to be able to share this honor with my late Monster Kid brother Bobb Cotter, a wildly creative, multi-talented character with whom I worked on lots of labor-of-love projects, attended many fabulous monstercons, and teamed up on a cockeyed caravan of crazy adventures, monster-mad obsessions and riotous laughter for thirty-five years, until he left this Mundane Dimension behind in February 2020.

I first caught a glimpse of Bobb's many talents in the early '80s, when I saw some of the stunning flyers he designed for his hardcore punk band "Th' Inbred" and other bands posted on the bulletin board by the entrance to a great bookstore right across the street from the "Underground Railroad" music venue in Morgantown, West Virginia. We both loved Golden Age comics and pulp magazines, animated cartoons, movie serials, old horror films, slapstick humor, and retro stuff like that, so Bobb's flyers that featured graphics from monster movies, cliffhangers, comics and other pop culture images still look great to me. Shortly afterward one of my sons brought Bobb (more than 10 years younger than me) over to our house and we hit it off immediately. I loaned him some original E.C. comics and he left happy that day. We had loads of laughs and fabulous experiences from then on, almost half my life. Missing that spiritual connection to Bobb's boundless Monster Kid energy has been a great loss to me. But we'll always share our membership in the Rondo Awards Monster Kid Hall of Fame, and I know Bobb would be as proud of that as I am. -- George Chastain

George "E-gor" Chastain
Inducted in the 18th Annual Rondo Awards in 2020
with this image and introduction:

"George Chastain, shown here with a recent
Forry Award, is a longtime fan, artist and, as
George 'Egor' Chastain, one of the earliest
chroniclers of the wide and weird world of television
horror hosts. His work can be seen in magazines,
books, convention posters, buttons and more. His
recent look at muscle-bound celebrities of the past
in the Rondo Hatton biography is a wonder of graphic
storytelling. A true Monster Kid for the ages."

The Monster Kid Hall of Fame award!
"A face only a Monster Kid could love?"
Brute-y is in the eye of the beholder!

For graphic details on the lifetime
achievements and Monster Kidstuff
that busted us into the Hall of Fame,
see E-gor's MONSTER PIECES
& the BOB COTTER ARCHIVES.

Robert Michael "Bobb" Cotter
Inducted in the 19th Annual Rondo Awards in 2021
with this image and introduction:

"Mexican wrestlers, Doc Savage, the Misfits, Vampira
and Ingrid Pitt were just part of the late Robert Michael
'Bobb' Cotter's enthusiasms, which he shared in eight
books over a long career. A DJ, a musician, an artist
and a steady presence at conventions always found
Bobb ready for his next project. His death leaves a
huge loss in the horror and popular culture community."

CURRENT MEMBERS OF THE MONSTER KID HALL OF FAME

AS OF APRIL 2022: Forrest J Ackerman, Julie Adams, Ron Adams, Rick Baker, James Bama, Buddy Barnett, Calvin Beck, Martine Beswicke, Stephen Bissette, Paul and Jackie Blaisdell, Robert Bloch, Ron Borst, Ray Bradbury, Joe Bob Briggs (and Darcy), Ricou Browning, Bob and Kathy Burns, Bill "Chilly Billy" Cardille, Veronica Carlson, Ben Chapman, George Chastain, Frederick S. Clarke, Jim and Marian Clatterbaugh, Roger Corman, Robert Michael "Bobb" Cotter, Dan Curtis, Joe Dante, Jack Davis, David Del Valle, Frank J. Dello Stritto, Frank Dietz, Gary Dorst, Dennis Druktenis, Kat Ellinger, William K. Everson, June Foray, Mark Frank, Frank Frazetta, Bob Furmanek, Ghoulardi, Gilbert Gottfried, Don Glut, Basil Gogos, Archie Goodwin, Alex and Richard Gordon, Count Gore De Vol, Ray Harryhausen, Mike Hill, Del and Sue Howison, Cortlandt Hull, Larry Ivie, Joe Kane, Sara Karloff, Ken Kelly, Dick Klemensen, Derek M. Koch, Rich Koz (Svengoolie), Verne Langdon, JD Lees, Bob Lemon, Jessie Lilley, Greg Luce, Lux Interior, Tim and Donna Lucas, Bela G. Lugosi, Gregory Mank, Jose Mojica Marins (Coffin Joe), Maitland McDonagh, Ray Meyers, Jean-Claude Michel, Mark Miller, Morgus, Mr. Lobo, Caroline Munro, David "The Rock" Nelson, Ted Newsom, Haruo Nakajima, Paul Naschy, Constantine Nasr, Greg Nicotero, Penny Dreadful, Cassandra Peterson (Elvira), Bobby "Boris" Pickett, Stacie Ponder, Don Post Studio, Mark Redfield, Amanda Reyes, Gary Don Rhodes, Jonathan Rigby, Li'l John Rinaldi, German Robles, George A. Romero, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, Vince Rotolo, Keven Scarpino (Son of Ghoul), Big Chuck Schodowski, Wes Shank, David J. Skal, Richard Harland Smith, John Stanley, Michael Stein, Bhob Stewart, William Stout, George Stover, Gary and Sue Svehla, Robert Sweed (The Ghoul), Robert Taylor, Sammy Terry, Vampira, Steve Vertlieb, Dennis Vincent, Mike Vraney, Laura Wagner, Bill Warren, James Warren, Tom Weaver, Michael Weldon, Bob "Hoolihan" Wells, Bob Wilkins, Lucy Chase Williams, Bernie Wrightson, and, of course, Zacherley.

... AND MANY MORE TO COME (RAMBOONA WILLING)