Do we still love Poltergeist?

This week, I got back answers to my interview questions sent to Craig Reardon, who was a part of the special effects and makeup team for movies such as Poltergeist, Thirteen Ghosts, E.T., The Gate, and others. The chapter I was interviewing him for talks about just HOW these guys work together to "spookify" a haunted house movie. (Heh, I LOVE that word.)

I found out about Craig by accident. I didn't go through the credits of every haunted house movie, looking for the right person to interview. I did some investigating on the Internet. What kind of people were involved in spookying up stuff on those kinds of movies? It helped that I'd already interviewed two other people for this chapter. Their input was informative and helped me find the third person I wanted to include quotes from. During my search, I read that there were three people who were prominent in this field: Dick Smith, Craig Reardon and Rick Baker. So I checked them out on IMDB.com. I went through their credits and was pleasantly surprised to see that Craig had done work on both the movies Poltergeist and Thirteen Ghosts, two movies discussed in the book. Earlier, I'd done a poll on a message board to see which haunted house movies were the favorite among members, and Poltergeist was a common answer. (Even one of my two interviewees said he liked Poltergeist.) So it was settled: I would try to interview Craig for the book.

But it was going to take a little persistence to find out how to reach Craig. The man doesn't have a website! Or even a MySpace. *cries* When I was doing the chapter on the haunt industry, I found A LOT of people to interview through MySpace. (I guess part of the reason why it was so difficult finding them through Google was because I kept using the wrong search terms! LOL That's what I get for trying to write about something I'm not familiar with.) So I just kept searching and searching. I didn't have to wander far from IMDB.com, though. I found out there was a "Contact" section for Craig. At first, I was doubtful. Would he really include his contact info on there?? Well, it was worth a look. I was trying to contact him for the interview! So I clicked on that and it turned out I had to register with IMDBPro.com first, which is $15 a month. So I did that then clicked on the "Contact" feature.

WHOA. His email address, as well as other info, was right there. I was surprised to even see a phone number! (I wonder if it's his business phone number??) In any case, I was elated. I finally had a way to reach him! Yay!

So I contacted him by email to see if he'd have time for an interview. As busy as he is, he made the time. Awesome!! And now, almost a month after first contacting him, I have on my computer a great interview with Craig Reardon! What started out as an interview for my book turned out to be so much more. He had some very interesting things to talk about and some pieces of trivia for good measure! I'll admit, I was kind of sad, though. I won't be able to include everything he has talked about in my book. Just stuff for the chapter's topic. Sigh! There's some good stuff I know people would be interested in reading and I am loathe to keep it all "to myself." So I'm thinking, maybe I can try submitting the interview for publication? Maybe there's a site or magazine or newspaper who would be interested in running something like this? To be honest, I really don't know. I'd like to think so. After all, after over 25 years, Poltergeist is still a popular movie! So maybe I can find a way to get this stuff out there. That is, if Craig is totally okay with that. (I just sent him an email asking him for permission to do that.) And if so, I wonder next if there's a market for this?

I suppose it's something to think about, and look into. It really depends on if he is okay with me sending out the interview as an interview.