Rondo Awards administrator David Colton announced the 2024 Rondo Award winners on April 30.

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.

The voting public submitted more than 6,500 ballots arrived, shattering previous records. A Rondo Awards Ceremony will be held June 1 at the WonderFest Convention in Louisville, Kentucky.

This year’s Rondo Awards memorialized horror historian David J. Skal, who died in January, by creating a new award in his name. The David J. Skal Horror Research Award recognizes “revelatory examinations of horror history.” The first Skal Award was given to Jim Coughlin, who examined the largely unknown career of Ted Billings, who had a minor role in Bride of Frankenstein (1935), but appeared unbilled in hundreds of other films.

In individual categories, Sam Irvin, author of The Epic Saga Behind Frankenstein The True Story, an NBC TV movie, was voted Best Writer, Mark Maddox was voted Best Artist, Lee Hartnup was voted Best Fan Artist, and Tim Lucas was tagged as Best Blu-Ray commentator.

Three Special Recognition Rondos were awarded: To the late Ned Comstock, a USC Film Archivist who helped horror historians for decades; to Vanessa Harryhausen, daughter of pioneering stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen; and to Chris Endicott, who helped finish the late Dave Allen’s stop-motion film, The Primevals. Bobby Zier, a young online influencer who uses TikTok and YouTube to explain classic horror films to his followers, was named Monster Kid of the Year.

Inductees to Rondo’s Monster Kid Hall of Fame were convention organizer Anthony Taylor, Don and Vicki Smeraldi, editors of several monster magazines, actress and writer Barbara Crampton, film historians Walt Lee and Donald C. Willis, and writer David J. Schow.

The complete list of winners follows the jump.

 1) BEST FILM OF 2023

• GODZILLA: MINUS ONE, directed by Takashi Yakazami

2) BEST TV PRESENTATION

• WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS

3) BEST BLU-RAY

• ROBOT MONSTER 3-D (1953; Bayview)

4) BEST BLU-RAY COLLECTION

• THE PUPPETOON MOVIE Vol. 3 (Arnold Leibovit Puppetoon Productions)

5) BEST RESTORATION OR UPGRADE

• ROBOT MONSTER 3-D (1953; Bayview)

6) BEST BLU-RAY EXTRAS

• THE GIANT GILA MONSTER/KILLER SHREWS (Film Masters): Ray Kellogg documentary by Daniel Griffith’s Ballyhoo Films

7) FAVORITE COMMENTATOR OF 2023

• DAVID J. SKAL (Freaks)

8) BEST INDEPENDENT FILM

• WHEN EVIL LURKS, directed by Demian Rugna

9) BEST SHORT FILM

• THE MAN IN THE GREEN SUIT, directed by John Goodwin

10) BEST DOCUMENTARY

• ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATO RETROSPECTIVE, directed by Dan Fowler

11) BOOK OF THE YEAR

• GEORGE PAL, MAN OF TOMORROW, by Justin Humphreys

12) BEST CLASSIC MONSTER FICTION

• THE BOOK OF RENFIELD (revised) by Tim Lucas

13) BEST MAGAZINE (modern)

• FANGORIA

14) BEST MAGAZINE (classic)

• CLASSIC MONSTERS OF THE MOVIES

15) Best Article

• ‘Black Sabbath: 60 Years of Nightmares,’ by Ernie Rockelman, HORRORHOUND #99

16) BEST INTERVIEW

• Guillermo Del Toro by Alan Jones (Pts. 1-8), THE DARK SIDE

17) BEST COLUMN

• KIM NEWMAN’S DUNGEON (The Dark Side)

18 )  BEST COVER

• SCARY MONSTERS #133 by Scott Jackson

19) BEST WEBSITE

• BLOODY DISGUSTING

20) BEST PODCAST

• GRIMM LIFE COLLECTIVE (Regular visits to film locations and more)

21) FAVORITE HORROR HOST OF 2023

• SVENGOOLIE

22) BEST EVENT

• BLOBFEST “RUN-OUT”AT COLONIAL THEATRE IN PHOENIXVILLE, PA.

23) BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL OR COLLECTION

• THE ART OF THE ZOMBIE MOVIE, by Lisa Morton

 INDIVIDUAL RONDO AWARDS

WRITER OF THE YEAR: SAM IRVIN

ARTIST OF THE YEAR: MARK MADDOX

FAN ARTIST OF THE YEAR: LEE HARTNUP

MONSTER KID OF THE YEAR: BOBBY ZIER

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD: NED COMSTOCK

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD: VANESSA HARRYHAUSEN

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD: CHRIS ENDICOTT and DAVID ALLEN

DAVID J. SKAL HORROR RESEARCH AWARD: THOMAS (JIM) COUGHLIN

THE MONSTER KID HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

• ANTHONY TAYLOR
• DON AND VICKI SMERALDI
• BARBARA CRAMPTON
• WALT LEE and DONALD C. WILLIS
• DAVID J. SCHOW