Thank you, Dark Delicacies

I’ve known since last year that Dark Delicacies — the premier locale for all horror geeks to visit whether you live in Southern California or not — was getting ready to close up shop, but it has hit me hard in the last few weeks that the days of Dark Del’s are truly winding down for real.

Recently, the SF Gate wrote a fantastic piece on Dark Delicacies, telling the story of how Del and his amazing wife Sue set out 30 years ago to create a space where genre lovers could shop for great books and other wares that showcased their love for horror and the weird. It’s a place I first learned about in 2007 thanks to MySpace, and it was on my bucket list for the next few years.

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Fast forward to 2009 when I moved to Los Angeles that April, and as the timing worked out, there was going to be a signing at Dark Del’s my first week there for the indie slasher film Laid to Rest. My publicist pal Ed Peters encouraged me to come out that night and I was beyond giddy while making the drive from my day job in Cerritos all the way to Burbank that night. I remember walking in those doors for the first time (which was at the original locale), and thinking to myself, “I am home.” It felt like everything I loved was all in one place and the atmosphere alone made my horror-loving heart race a mile a minute. I had no idea at that moment just how integral Dark Delicacies would become in my life over the next 15 years.

For as much as I have loved writing ever since I could figure out how to work a typewriter, I don’t know if I ever expected that I would ever become a “professional writer” in any capacity. But somehow, I did. And for as much writing as I did in the online space over the years (more than 3K articles), I never could have believed that I would ever write a book — that just seemed like a pipe dream. And yet, somehow I did. Several times, which is absolutely banana pants.

My first book was called Monster Squad and it profiled 20 different special effects legends and celebrated their lives, both on and off the set. I was incredibly proud of being able to do that book, but for me, I was just squarely focused on giving these artists their moment in the spotlight like they deserved. So, when the book was released, I knew I wanted to do a signing for it at Dark Del’s. Not because I deserved it, but because THEY DID.

I remember going to Del’s a few weeks before the event, and I was gobsmacked just seeing something that I wrote sitting there in the store. I could not believe it and when we left, I cried in the car on the way home.

The signing for Monster Squad on January 13, 2018 was quite literally a dream come true for me. One, because Del Howison is someone I had always been in awe of because he’s an amazing writer himself, and like how freaking cool it was to be a writer being featured at his store. But also, I just couldn’t believe how supportive he and his wife Sue were of the release of my first book. They had supported so many legendary events featuring so many genre greats at their store over the years, and I was just me. But they treated me and everyone there so well, and that kindness meant the world to me. The best part of that signing was that I was able to bring out a bunch of special effects folks so that they could be celebrated too, and it was a day packed with so many laughs, memories, and fun. I just wanted the world to love and appreciate these artists the way that I did (and still do) ever since I fell in love with special effects as a kid.

My book projects took on a transformation of sorts in the early 2020s, which led to a new series: Monsters, Makeup & Effects. I ended up building upon what I did with Monster Squad and started accumulating interview after interview with all kinds of special effects legends from around the world. The first volume of MM&E was released in the fall of 2021 and both Sue and Del were gracious enough to have me back for another signing to celebrate the arrival of this new tome.

And while it wasn’t as huge as the previous signing (there were still COVID considerations going on at that point, and we had a few artists who didn’t make it out due to health concerns), I did get to sit alongside the legendary Ve Neill and Everett Burrell that day and it was truly a “pinch me” moment in my career. Like, holy crap! It was so wonderful that they would come out to support my work, but also, it was so cool that they had a bunch of fans waiting to meet them there that day. What a treat.

The very next year, I was able to publish Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume 2 and we had another signing to celebrate that book’s release as well. That day, I was joined by two more legends — Steve Wang and Norman Cabrera — and I could remember just sitting there that day, thinking about 2009 Heather not ever believing that she would have been a featured guest for multiple signings at THE Dark Delicacies. Like, how would that even be possible?

Over the next few years, I kept myself busy co-writing the massive celebration of ‘80s horror, In Search of Darkness: The Definitive Look at ‘80s Horror, alongside my Horror BFF Patrick Bromley, so I didn’t get to return to Del’s for another event until April 2024, but what a return it was.

My ultimate goal for the In Search of Darkness signing was to turn it into an incredible celebration of ‘80s horror that would bring out the amazing icons who all helped shape my love for the world of genre cinema as a kid so that the event would feel like a mini horror convention. And it really did. It was packed, there was such an infectious energy in the air, and everyone seemed to have a blast.

The signing that day couldn’t have been more perfect, and that is due to so many factors: the generosity of these horror legends who all came out to celebrate this book with Patrick and me, the wonderful fans who bought the book and were stoked to meet so many of their heroes, but most of all, it was because of Del and Sue. I worked with them for a few months to put this signing together and they were so accommodating and wonderful throughout the entire process. It was a pretty big undertaking (and we maxed out their guest capacity too), but they were always so cool about everything.

But there was a twinge of sadness I felt that day when heard that Del and Sue were preparing to close up Dark Delicacies in the coming year, as they were ready to retire. I was sad that we horror nerds were going to lose this wonderful mecca that we could return to whenever we wanted, I was really bummed that Del and Sue wouldn’t be “out there” as much anymore, and I was lamenting the fact that another small business in this world of corporate conglomeration would no longer exist.

But the thing is, Del and Sue more than deserve to have their lives back after giving so much of themselves to this community for more than three decades now. What they have given us all is such a beautiful gift — creating a space where all of us horror nerds felt welcomed no matter what — and they should get to go and enjoy themselves after all this time because they have more than earned that.

I’m so grateful for everything that Dark Delicacies — and more specifically, Del and Sue — have done for me over the years because I’m just this horror dork who happened to get lucky enough to write a few books so that I could celebrate what I love about this weird little world that has meant so much to me ever since I was a little kid obsessed with monsters and mayhem. I never imagined that I would ever be someone who was a featured guest at any event, but they invited me in and made me feel so welcome each and every time.

Dark Delicacies will be officially closing its doors forever on April 5th, so I encourage anyone who is able to get out to the store before it’s gone to show support to Del and Sue before they retire and enjoy this well-earned time of rest. If you’re unable to get to the store in person, you can still peruse some of their stock via their website to buy directly from them online.

It’s also worth mentioning that Del also has a brand new book coming out, entitled What Fresh Hell Is This?, and he’s going to be the guest of honor for the very last signing at Dark Delicacies on Saturday, March 22nd at 3 pm and you can order signed copies of his book HERE.

So, thank you once again Del and Sue for all that you’ve given to me, and all that you have done for the horror community ever since Dark Delicacies first began back in 1994.

From the Desk of The Horror Chick is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.