Saturday, September 29, 2012

Happy Birthday, Ice Cream Man!

During my decades of zine publishing, freelance writing and college radio dj-ing I've had the opportunity to meet a lot of people whose work I dig. And that's a double-edged sword, because some of them turned out to be real fart knockers. Then again, a handful (and a I do mean a handful) of the actors, directors, writers and musicians I've met and chatted with have not just been polite but have also been downright charming.

At or near the top of that list would be PHANTASM series star Reggie Bannister, who celebrates a birthday today. Bannister turned his role as PHANTASM co-star into a career as a full-fledged horror icon and I still recall seeing PHANTASM 2 on opening night with an audience loudly cheering Reggie's every move.

Years later I got the chance to chat with Bannister on the phone and then at a horror convention where I showed him a copy of a folk album he'd recorded with some band mates. Here's hoping a new installment of the PHANTASM series arrives soon and we get more adventures with this unlikely horror hero.

Check out our interview with Bannister!

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