2022 Rondo Awards

Rondo Awards administrator David Colton announced the 2022 Rondo Award winners on April 29.

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.

Among top winners of the publicly-voted Rondo were Denis Villeneuve‘s Dune, voted Best Film, and What We Do in the Shadows, picked for a third year as Best Television Show.

And in a posthumous tribute, comedian and classic horror fan Gilbert Gottfried, who died last month, was inducted into the Monster Kid Hall of Fame.

Almost 4,700 fans and pros voted online, in what has become the largest annual survey of classic horror fans and pros in history.

In addition to the winners named below, go to the Rondo Award site to see the runners-up and honorable mentions (generally, everything else that was nominated.)

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

BEST FILM OF 2021

  • DUNE, directed by Denis Villeneuve

BEST TV PRESENTATION

  • WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS (Fx)

BEST BLU-RAY

  • INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN (1957; Criterion)

BEST BLU-RAY COLLECTION

  • KOLCHAK: THE NIGHTSTALKER: The Complete Series (Kino)

BEST RESTORATION

  • DOCTOR X (1932; Warner Bros)

BEST COMMENTARY

  • Tom Weaver (Incredible Shrinking Man)

BEST DVD EXTRAS

  • INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN (1957; Criterion), includes documentary on Jack Arnold, directed by Daniel Griffith, Arnold interview, remembrance by Richard Matheson’s son.

BEST INDEPENDENT FILM

  • JAKOB’S WIFE, directed by Travis Stevens, starring Barbara Crampton

BEST SHORT FILM

  • THE MOST HAUNTED HOUSE IN VENICE BEACH, directed by Ansel Faraj

BEST DOCUMENTARY

  • BORIS KARLOFF: THE MAN BEHIND THE MONSTER, directed by Thomas Hamilton, written by Ron MacCloskey

BOOK OF THE YEAR

  • YOURS CRUELLY, ELVIRA: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark, by Cassandra Peterson

BEST CLASSIC HORROR FICTION

(Fiction that uses classic horror icons as jumping off points)

  • DRACULA NEVER DIES: The Revenge of Bela Vorlock by Christopher R. Gauthier

BEST MAGAZINE (Classic)

  • SCARY MONSTERS

BEST MAGAZINE (modern)

  • FANGORIA

BEST ARTICLE

  • ‘Child of Dark Shadows,’ by Kathryn Leigh Scott, FANGORIA #11

BEST INTERVIEW

  • Sam Irvin interviews Elvira (THE DARK SIDE #222)

BEST COLUMN

  • Scene Queen, by Barbara Crampton (FANGORIA)

BEST COVER

  • CLASSIC MONSTERS OF THE MOVIES #25 by Daniel Horne

BEST WEBSITE

  • BLOODY DISGUSTING

BEST PODCAST

  • GILBERT GOTTFRIED’S AMAZING COLOSSAL PODCAST

FAVORITE HORROR HOST OF 2021

  • SVENGOOLIE

BEST EVENT

  • A DARK SHADOWS CHRISTMAS CAROL, read by several members of the Dark Shadows cast

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL OR COLLECTION

  • LUGOSI: THE RISE AND FALL OF HOLLYWOOD’S DRACULA by Koren Shadmi

INDIVIDUAL RONDO AWARDS

SPECIAL RECOGNITION for achievements that may have been overlooked or don’t fit into other categories

  • KIER-LA JANISSE — Like no other before her, horror scholar Kier-la Janisse in 2021 demonstrated  that so-called “folk horror” goes far beyond the mythologies of Bigfoot and Loch Ness.In two seminal works, a weighty Blu-Ray collection of films called ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS, which she helped assemble, and an in-depth documentary she directed, WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED, Janisse traces the deep roots of humanity’s natural fears — of forest beasts, of witches and sprites, and of all things supernatural, many hiding in plain sight. No Frankensteins are needed when owls are enough. In addition to her years of writings and her founding of the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies 12 years ago, Janisse is deserving of Rondo’s ‘Special Recognition’ for advancing horror scholarship and understanding.

MONSTER KID OF THE YEAR Rondo’s highest honor: Who did the most in 2021 to advance the cause of classic horror scholarship, film preservation or genre creativity?

  • EVAN DAVIS — Whether known as Halloween Jack or Evan Davis, he is the energy behind the resurgence of The Monster Channel, which curates horror host shows 24/7 online, on Roku and wherever you can find it.

WRITER OF THE YEAR

  • FRANK DELLO STRITTO — In a series of fact-packed fictionalizations of the legends of the Wolf Man and kindred were-things, the Pacific Island brethren of King Kong, and now the might-have-been journeys of the Mummy — old and new —  Dello Stritto breathes new life into the stories we thought we know so well.

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

  • MARK MADDOX

FAN ARTIST OF THE YEAR

  • NOUFAUX

THE MONSTER KID HALL OF FAME
New inductees

JEAN-CLAUDE MICHEL  — A French horror and film historian of long-standing, Jean-Claude Michel was the first foreign correspondent for Famous Monsters of Filmland, remaining with the magazine for many years.

LAURA WAGNER — Laura Wagner is not only ‘Classic Images’ magazine’s book reviewer; she has spent  decades interviewing stars and almost-stars whom everyone has forgotten except for  their fans.

BELA G. LUGOSI — There were times when Bela Lugosi’s son, Boris Karloff’s daughter, and Lon Chaney Jr.’s grandson would dine together in Hollywood. The trio of real ‘Monster Kids’ always caused a nervous buzz.

FRANK DIETZ — If the Baby Boomer generation of ‘Monster Kids’ — and that’s who most of us are — has a creative heart, it just may be artist, animator, actor, screenwriter, director, and monstrous party planner Frank Dietz. An artist at Disney studios, he taught young creatives the secrets of lines and shadows.

MAITLAND McDONAGH — Author, editor and cultural critic Maitland McDonagh was an influencer long before Tik-Tok. As early as 1991, McDonagh explored the world of Euro horror and giallo with her groundbreaking book, ‘Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento.’

MR. LOBO — For more than 21 years, Erik Lobo’s Cinema Insomnia has been a creative force in the horror host community, especially during the years when the format was close to disappearing. Now his always curated site, OSI74 (which stands for Outer Space International), houses dozens of hosts permanently online.

GILBERT GOTTFRIED — The no-holds-barred funnyman was not to everyone’s taste, but there was no doubt he knew his monsters. In bits onstage or on his Rondo Award-winning Amazing Colossal Podcast with Frank Santopadre, guests could range from Rick Baker and Sara Karloff to author David J. Skal and Adam West.