Mad Monster Party 2017 Bringing Godzilla to South Carolina

Mad Monster Party has announced a new venue for its next horror and pop culture convention in 2017, relocating from its home of the previous five years in Charlotte, North Carolina to nearby Rock Hill, South Carolina, about 20 miles from the prior location, and they have already announced the first two guests.

Haruo Nakajima, who portrayed the King of Monsters in the original 1954 Godzilla will stomp his way to Mad Monster Party’s new home in Rock Hill as the first celebrity guest announced for 2017. In addition to playing Godzilla more than any other actor (12 times!), Haruo Nakajima also played King Kong in King Kong Escapes, as well as Mothra, Rodan, Baragon, and Gaira from War of the Gargantuas, and he was one of the bandits in Seven Samurai.

The second guest announced is Bill Bryan, who not only played iconic characters like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in the original 1984 Ghostbusters and the Pit Bitch in Sam Raimi’s 1992 Army of Darkness, but he also fabricated them, as an FX wizard who has worked with Sid and Marty Krofft, Randy Cook, Steve Johnson, Stan Winston, KNB, and many other renowned FX shops.

Characters with which Bryan has been associated include Mr. Staypuft, SIL, The Pit Bitch, Doc Ock, Captain Eo, Teddy Ruxpin, King Kong, Chucky, Rex, The Ninja Turtles, The Puttermans, The Energizer Bunny, the Cat in the Hat, and many others.

Regarding the venue relocation, in statement posted on Facebook yesterday, event organizers explain: “Why South Carolina? Many reasons, but ultimately every move we make is only influenced by opportunities to improve the Mad Monster experience for the fans. Fact is, we draw about the same amount of fans from SC as we do NC. We almost ended up in this new venue in 2014 but ended up choosing the Hilton University Place. It’s no secret that we’ve had issues with Charlotte venues every year since the beginning. That’s why our website and print ads have always intentionally read: ‘The Carolinas’ Horror/SciFi/Pop Culture’ convention, knowing the show might travel. We were convinced to never return to the previous venue the minute we opened the 2016 show.

“If your question alludes to the highly publicized N.C. political situation, I’ll say this…We welcome and support EVERYONE (almost everyone, some people are just shitty). Some celebrities and sponsors may object to local policies, but Mad Monster is solely motivated by our promise to bring you the best shows possible and realize that moving away just for a political statement can also hurt the very fans we’d be trying to ‘support’. Our new venue is around 20 miles or so from old one. We figure if at 87 years old, Haruo Nakajima can travel 7000 miles to bring Godzilla to his fans, we believe his fans will be willing to travel an extra half hour to see him!“

Mad Monster Party will take over Hood Center in Rock Hill, South Carolina on March 24-26, 2017. Tickets will go on sale on October 13 at MadMonster.com.

We will see you there!

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