2020 Rondo Awards

As Rondo Awards administrator David Colton puts it — “A monster in green hair and red lips dancing on the steps. A baby Yoda discovering the Force for the first time. A cool, cruel Dracula charming his soon-to-be dinner guests. And an unknown makeup woman of the 1950s helping to create a Creature for the ages. All these and more were honored today as the best of 2019 in the (Gasp!) 18th Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards.

The Rondo Awards, named after Rondo Hatton, an obscure B-movie villain of the 1940s, honor the best in classic horror research, creativity and film preservation.

Colton says this year’s e-mail vote, conducted by the Classic Horror Film Board, a 25-year old online community, drew more than 4,700 ballots, the most ever.

Below is a photo of Hatton in the 1946 film, House Of Horrors, an inspiration for the distinctive bust given to winners.

BEST FILM OF 2019

  • Joker

BEST TV PRESENTATION

  • The Mandalorian

BEST BLU-RAY/DVD

  • Dracula (1979; Shout)

BEST COLLECTION

  • Godzilla: The Showa Era  (15 films; Criterion)

BEST RESTORATION

  • The Black Cat (1934; Universal)

BEST DVD EXTRA

  • Twisted Tale: The Unmaking of Spookies by Michael Gingold and Glen Baisley (SPOOKIES; 1986; Vinegar Syndrome)

BEST COMMENTARY

  • Tom Weaver, David Schecter, Dr. Robert J. Kiss (Tarantula, Shout)

BEST PACKAGE OF DVD EXTRAS

  • Godzilla: The Showa Era (Criterion); Interviews include director Ishira Honda, unused footage.

BEST INDEPENDENT FILM

  • House Of The Gorgon, directed by Joshua Kennedy, with Caroline Munro, Martine Beswicke, Veronica Carlson

BEST SHORT FILM

  • Frankenstein’s Monster’s Monster Frankenstein directed by Daniel Gray Longino; starring David Harbour.

BEST DOCUMENTARY

  • Horror Noire: A History Of Black Horror, directed by Xavier Burgin, based on a book by Robin R. Means Coleman

BOOK OF THE YEAR

  • The Lady From The Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick by Mallory O’Meara

BEST MAGAZINE (Classic)

  • Scary Monsters

BEST MAGAZINE (modern)

  • Fangoria

BEST ARTICLE

  • Rise Of The Supermonsters/Monsters From The Closet, by Carly Maga and Matthew Hays, Rue Morgue #189

BEST INTERVIEW

  • Dark Shadows’ Kathryn Leigh Scott, interview by Rod Labbe, Scary Monsters #111

BEST COLUMN

  • “Scene Queen,” by Barbara Crampton (Fangoria)

BEST COVER

  • Scary Monsters #115 by Scott Jackson

BEST WEBSITE

  • Bloody Disgusting

BEST MULTI-MEDIA SITE

  • Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast

FAVORITE HORROR HOST OF 2019

  • Svengoolie

BEST CONVENTION

  • Monster Bash

TOP LIVE EVENT

  • Svengoolie 40th Anniversary Honored by City of Chicago

ACHIEVEMENT IN HORROR STUDIES

  • Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation

BEST COMIC BOOK

  • The Creeps (Warrant)

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

RONDO AWARD FOR SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT

  • SCOTT GALLINGHOUSE

For decades, the few details known about Rondo Hatton have been a mixture of conjecture and legend. Enter Scott Gallinghouse, whose masterful biography of Hatton in the book The Brute Man uncovered a richer life than anyone imagined. Two marriages, a thriving career as a reporter, an athlete and a brave gamble on Hollywood after his features began to distort. Meticulously researched and superbly written, Gallinghouse’s work is an important part of the Rondo Hatton story.

MONSTER KID OF THE YEAR

  • JORDAN PEELE

Director and writer Jordan Peele has brought a new sensibility and terrific energy to the horror and fantasy field with his depictions of real people confronting unreal truths. His films US and GET OUT and his reboot of THE TWILIGHT ZONE only hint at his new horror concepts to come. For thoroughly shaking tired tropes, he is our Monster Kid of the Year.

WRITER OF THE YEAR

  • GREGORY WILLIAM MANK

Greg Mank was one of the first horror historians to delve deeply into the production and personalities behind the Universal horror films, and decades later he shows no sign of ending his search for new insights about the films we all love. His recent books and lectures on actors Colin Clive and Laird Cregar, along with his Blu-Ray commentaries make him an essential part of ever-changing film history.

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

  • MARK MADDOX

Like the best of genre artists, Mark Maddox makes familiar images new again through color and depth, superb composition and eye-pleasing dynamics. His work in magazines is legendary but his entry into Blu-Ray covers and more shows an artist moving with the times, and with his audience.

FAN ARTIST OF THE YEAR (The Linda Miller Award)

  • JERROD BROWN

Jerrod’s art is bold and grand, a mix of classic images and modern monsters. But last year his large-scale reproductions of Aurora monster model box art went on tour, wowing visitors with a mix of nostalgia and presentations that made childhoods new again.

THE MONSTER KID HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

  • Robert Bloch, Jonathan Rigby, Kat Ellinger, Constantine Nasr, Greg Luce, George Chastain, The Ghoul (Ron Sweed) And Son Of Ghoul,  David ‘The Rock’ Nelson