Hey, gang- Halloween may be over, but thankfully there’s still lots of monster goodness to be had before the other upcoming holidays- including a couple of events this weekend in downtown Memphis.
This Saturday, November 15th, the Beale Street Monster Club is celebrating the 100th anniversary of “The Phantom Of The Opera“.
The event will run from 1-3pm upstairs at A. Schwab on historic Beale Street.
There will be a quick talk on the history of the movie followed by a screening of the 1925 silent movie. Costumes are optional, but highly encouraged.
There will also be photo ops, collectibles on display, and a voo-doo museum to check out while you’re there. Monster Club founders Michael Cox and Tony Kail will be your hosts for this free spooktacular event.
You can follow them on Facebook, and get a cool membership card when you join like I did.
The following day, Sunday, November 16th, the annual Memphis Zine Fest is back, and I’ll be set up again from noon-4pm.
This year is the 10th Zine Fest and the event is going to be at Havenhaus, which is downtown off Main at 84 E GE Patterson Avenue and near the Arcade Restaurant, Central Train Station, and the Malco Powerhouse Theater.
I had a lot of fun setting up there last year at Crosstown Concourse, and have been looking forward to this year’s. There will be about 2 dozen artists/vendors there, and this is another free and all ages event.
I’ll have copies of my “Scared Silly” zine, along with lots of the MSCA’s “The Good, The Bad, and the Sketchy” zines. I’ve done a few covers for the group’s anthology zine, have had toons in all (except the “Memphis” themed issue), and have edited the last two issues (#13 & #13).
I’ll have a lot of hand-drawn sketchcovers for sale- both MSCA zines…
…and various monster comic sketchcovers.
I’ll also have some prints and original art there like my wood panel paintings…
…and hand-drawn sketchcards. Plus I’ll have some packs of my “BATS” trading card sets and a bunch of different stickers.
I had a lot of fun this year at the annual Monster Market at The Medicine Factory last month, and sold a few pieces there (a couple wooden coffin panel paintings, sketchcard, prints and a few other items).
Monster Market is a weeklong Halloween pop-up shop in downtown Memphis. I’ve been invited to be a part of the last 3 markets. There are over a hundred other artists/vendors that participate.
I was also one of a few artists invited out to the Monster Market‘s one night mini-mart at the Pink Palace Museum on Thursday, October 30th.
We were set up in the theatre’s lobby for their showing of “The Ring” movie. They had a great turnout for the event, and I made a few bucks- which is always nice!
After the crowd had gone inside a couple of us vendors stayed set up, but most everyone else went inside to see the movie. I took a bathroom break and on my way back to my booth I totally geeked out when I saw their SIVAD display!
I hadn’t noticed the display case on my way in, and once the crowd was there I didn’t leave my table until my bathroom trip. I had no idea these Memphis horror host artifacts were here, but also found out later that the museum has Watson Davis’ entire SIVAD costume!
I’ve never seen any of these 60yr old items (top hat, make-up case, teeth, record, and money) in person, and had no clue my friend Tony Hardy at the museum had access to them. Although, I’ve got to say that I probably shouldn’t have been surprised to find that info out..! This discovery made my night for sure.
I really hope they do another SIVAD celebration like the 2010 “SIVADS OF MARCH”. I’d love to be a part of another tribute art show..!
Halloween on Friday was kinda slow for us and we only had a handful of trick-or-treaters stop by the house. When I went to hand one of the kids a handful of the fun-sized candies he told me he only wanted one, and even our pizza delivery guy turned down our candy. We still have half a bowl left! The following day I set up with MSCA prez Kevin L. Williams to promote the cartoonists club at the 15th Memphis Comic & Fantasy Con at the Memphis Hilton.
I had a lot of fun hanging out with my fellow MSCA members including A.G. Howard, Greg Cravens, and Dr. Kevin Thorn. Traffic was a bit light for this “Day Of The Dead/All Saints Day” and we had a hard time handing out candy and stickers there, but we did get to talk to a few folks about what we do as a group.
I also got to meet some of the crew from the movie “Clone Cops” who were great guests and set up just a couple booth spaces down from us.
The next day, was my birthday, “All Souls Day”, and the Memphis Japan Festival. It was the first time Nicki and I had ever attended this one day event, and we had a great time. It’s a well attended festival, and when we got to the Memphis Botanic Garden there already was a loooonnnng line to get in, and it was even longer behind us when we got up to the ticket booth/gate. When we left after 2pm there was still a long line to get in!
It was chilly and a bit overcast out that morning, but we were able to get some free hot green tea and fried rice to warm us up. Lots of food/drink vendors set up there, and the smells were amazing! I do wish there was more walking space between the food trucks/booths. It got a bit crowded and hard to navigate or tell where lines started and stopped.
There were lots of vendors and exhibitors around the park.
We did run into a few friends while walking around there, including the Wade’s who were set up there selling their Toshigawa Universe comics and merch.
Behind the Wades there were a few martial arts demonstrations, and some inflatable sumo wrestling on the other side of that stage.
The main stage had several martial art demos and musical acts including some from Japan like the band Kazha.
It warmed up a bit and we went to explore the gardens and take a break from the crowds. Perfect day for a nature walk and shooting pics!
We were going to grab some lunch at the festival, but all the food vendors were slammed. We decided to head up the street to Huey’s for my birthday dinner/lunch- I had my usual Huey Burger, fries, and sweet tea! We did a quick stop into Comics & Collectibles on our way to Huey’s, and when we got to the restaurant we got to enjoy some blues from a duo called HeartBreak Hill. Great way to spend a birthday!
Oh, BTW- the MSCA’s “The Drawn Of The Dead” art show has wrapped up. I had two canvas prints, 4 mini acrylic marker canvas paintings (including a SIVAD), and an airbrushed monsterpiece. I’ve heard I sold some art there, but not sure yet which pieces sold.
The next MSCA art show, “The Art Of The Game”, will be out at the Memphis Jewish Community Center (6560 Poplar Ave, Memphis, TN) from December 22, 2025–January 30, 2026. We will have an artists’ reception January 8, 2026, from 5 – 7 pm. I’m currently working on a few paintings for it which will be due at our next MSCA dinner gathering at Garibaldi’s Pizza. That night will also be our annual holiday art swap. You can find out more about it and many other upcoming events at the Mid-South Cartoonists Association website HERE.
Hope to see you at any or all of the upcoming events around town!
Lin