Sleepaway Camp Reunion

On Saturday, April 7, 2001, SLEEPAWAY CAMP once again made history! It has been 18 years since SLEEPAWAY CAMP was unleashed upon the world and 18 years later, the film's following is STRONGER than ever! When I arranged this reunion, I expected we would draw in a pretty good group of people...but the turn-out was absolutely INCREDIBLE! For all of you who have honored me at the Show and via e-mails afterwards for making this thing happen, I honor you for being the dedicated fans that you are and for helping to make this such a huge success...and the fun has only begun because SLEEPAWAY CAMP is coming back Big Time BABY!

I want to send a special thanks out to Tony Timpone and the rest of FANGORIA MAGAZINE! Tony says we were the "surprise hit of the show!!" Also a special thanks to MICHAEL FELSHER from ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT for supplying us with all those wonderful DVD and VHS sleeves for signing! They were gone within minutes!

And now without any further ado...we bring you: THE SLEEPAWAY CAMP REUNION...

The Arrival

First to arrive was everybody's favorite Aunt! It was DESIREE GOULD, Aunt Martha herself!

It was like Desiree had been frozen in time! She looks like she hasn't aged since the film was made 19 years ago...Absolutely remarkable! She looks even better today than she did as AUNTY MARTHA!

Next to arrive were FELISSA "Angela" ROSE and JONATHAN "Ricky" TIERSTEN. They were greeted by a gigantic hug from DESIREE.

Although we talk all the time, this was the first time Felissa and I have seen each other since we recorded the DVD commentary last year at this time!

HEY BOB A REE BOB! It's Jeff with "Kenny" himself: JOHN DUNN!! John actually did a live performance of "BOB A REE BOB" while on stage with the cast and the audience as his back up!

The creator himself, ROBERT HILTZIK, is greeted by one of his creepiest creations: AUNT MARTHA!

TOM "Mike" VAN DELL arrives with 15 minutes left until showtime!

The beautiful Felissa strikes a pose in the lobby of the NEW YORKER HOTEL!

Nick here travelled from PA to see the SLEEPAWAY REUNION! Check out the AWESOME silk-screened ANGELA T-shirt that he made back home!

LORIS "Billy" Sallahain and PAUL "Ronnie" DEANGELO arrived last minute! Unfortunately, Paul needed to use the rest room (which was all the way downstairs) and we were already about 5 or 10 minutes past showtime. So I showed him where it was, and when we came back, everyone else was already on stage. So Paul and I came on a few minutes late.

Video Footage of the Arrivals

On Stage... It's showtime!

The Man with the master plan, ROBERT HILTZIK, takes questions from the audience. LEFT TO RIGHT: Jeff Hayes, Paul DeAngelo, Robert, Felissa Rose, Jonathan Tiersten, Desiree Gould, Tom VanDell, John Dunn

Robert takes questions from the audience!

It's RICKY, AUNT MARTHA, and MIKE 18 years later!!

Jeff answers some Q's about the website and the whereabouts of MOZART!

Robert, the PROUD PAPA of SLEEPAWAY CAMP on the mic!

JT, a man used to the mic, talks SLEEPAWAY and music.

Jeff and Paul on Stage. Ronnie stays well maintained over the years, but don't you all wish he sported a red jogging suit for old times sake? LOL.

The Autograph Session!

Felissa signs a very cool piece of SLEEPAWAY Memorabalia

Look at that line of people waiting to meet their SLEEPAWAY faves!! The crew signed and took pictures for over 2 hours!

Check out these KILLER T-shirts that these great fans had made up to bring to the Show!

Aunty M signs even without a string around her finger!

This cool cat brought some SLEEPAWAY Love all the way from CANADA just to meet the SLEEPAWAY crew! He braved a LONG 15 HOUR Ride all for this!! Now that's DEVOTION!!!

Robert with the actual prop of PAUL'S HEAD from SLEEPAWAY CAMP! It has deteriorated a bit over the last 19 years, but has held up remarkably well. That's a piece of Movie history right there!!

A closer look at Chris Collet's doom. Ed French (the special-fx master who made the prop) told me a few months back that he couldn't believe that the head was still intact all these years later because it had been made with a gelatin that usually doesn't last that long.

Paul "RONNIE" DeAngelo poses for a snap with my sister, Susan.

A Trivia contest winner hops on stage to grab his T-shirt and grabs a hug from "ANGELA" at the same time!

The Excitement Continues!

Jeff with Loris "BILLY" Sallahain and Desiree "AUNT MARTHA" Gould. Don't let these cats fool you! They are the social butterflies of the whole group, so friendly and likable that it's hard to believe they even played the characters that they did!

Fans rush the stage at the end of the show to try and obtain any leftover T-Shirts!

This is right when we got off stage and FANGO showed me where to bring the crew for the signing...

Take a close look! Does this guy look familiar?? It's Mike Tatosian who played a "Dishwasher" in SLEEPAWAY! He still won't tell anybody the truth about what happened to ARTIE because MEL gave him an extra $5 in his paycheck that week! Now that's a man who knows how to keep a secret!

This one's for John who just can't get enough of RONNIE...and with good reason, he's as nice as the Counselor he played.

A Few other Special Guests at the WEEKEND OF HORRORS CONVENTION this year included DANIELLE HARRIS ("Jaime" from HALLOWEEN 4 & 5)

GUNNAR HANSEN ("LEATHERFACE" from the classic original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE!)

And here I am with TONY TIMPONE, editor and chief of FANGORIA MAGAZINE

Here's Desiree in the New Yorker Hotel bar with one of her biggest fans! This guy has practically all the dialogue in the movie memorized!!

A Few Cold Ones

As if John Dunn didn't get asked to sing "HEY BOB A REE BOB" one time too many that day, he was asked to sing it again in the bar!! Notice his finger as he conducts the bar-room in a HEY-BOB sing along!!

Jeff and Loris talk about killer bees in the bar.

LATE BREAKING NEWS!! ANGELA spotted in NEW YORK CITY!!

Sue and Felissa on the way to Jonathan's Show!

Ricky Rocks the House!

Later Saturday night, after the Big SLEEPAWAY REUNION, Jonathan did some jamming at BB DOYLE'S- a NYC Pub. Most of the reunion crew showed up to listen to his incredible musical talents...as well as a good group of SLEEPAWAY FANS!

JT sets up to jam with a fellow musician, ironically named: "RICKY."

There's Felissa chatting with some fans as JT plays away in the backdrop!

JT rocks the house with an AMAZING song that he wrote for FELISSA!

During a quick break, SGT. KABUKIMAN fills in on the mic with a fun-filled version of "SECRET AGENT MAN." Look for KABUKI in the upcoming TOXIC AVENGER PART 4!

Audio Clips from the Event

Martha's biggest fan does an impersonation of AUNT MARTHA... followed by a modern rendition herself!

John Dunn sings "HEY BOB" on-stage with the audience.

Johnathan Tiersten rocks the house with an AMAZING song that he wrote for FELISSA.

Another piece of this great tune!!!

Photos by staff photographer Mike Manikowski

Fan Photos

Check out all these great photos taken by SLEEPAWAY fans at the show! If you have any pictures from the show that you would like to see in here, e-mail them to me.