“What’s the matter, don’t you like it?”

Born in 1894, Rondo Hatton suffered from acromegaly, the symptoms of which set in during adulthood and gave him the unique face that he used to play heavies and monsters in a handful of movies before his untimely death in 1945. He is probably best known for playing “the Creeper” in a pair of Universal shockers released the year after he passed: House of Horrors and The Brute Man, the latter memorably featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Hatton has since become something of a genre icon, lending his unmistakable likeness to everything from the Lothar character in The Rocketeer to a comic book detective called The Creep to, allegedly, the classic Creeper character in Scooby-Doo – who is, not for nothing, my favorite Scooby-Doo villain.

He has also been immortalized in the form of the Rondo Hatton Awards. Since 2002, these awards have been administered by members of the Classic Horror Film Board to honor significant achievements in classic horror and monster film fandom, research, restoration, and preservation.

You can see, then, why this is the award – of all awards out there – I most want to win. And not just because the prize is a miniature bust of Rondo Hatton himself… though that certainly doesn’t hurt.

This year, I’m one step closer to that goal. Glowing in the Dark, my new book on horror film from Word Horde, is on the ballot for the Rondo Hatton Awards!

You can see the full ballot here, where you can also see that I’ve got a lot of competition. That’s where you come in. Voting is by email, and anyone is eligible to vote. Simply follow the instructions on that page and you can vote for as many categories as you want – or just cast your vote for Glowing in the Dark, if you’d rather, although I definitely recommend some of the stuff in other categories.

In fact, while I’ve got you here and I’m already stumping for votes, here’s a few more I’ll toss out: The new Blu-ray of Cat and the Canary from Eureka is basically a miracle release, and absolutely has my vote for both Best Blu-ray and Best Restoration. For Best Independent film, I cast my vote for the genuinely sublime The Vourdalak, though if you want a dynamite write-in, I recommend They Call Her Death.

Short film is even easier, as Jack Paterson’s wonderful “The Curse of Dracular” is just an absolute delight. Again, if you want a top-notch write-in, I recommend “Mansect.” (Ironically, no relation to the manga I just posted about.)

Then there are a couple of other areas in which I have a personal interest. My friends from the Classic Horrors Club podcast are up for Best Podcast, while the newly-launched Spooky Magazine – which recently featured my short story “Candles Burn Blue” in its second issue – is up for Best Magazine.

But honestly, just go, vote your conscience, vote in as many (or as few) categories as you like, go through the ballot, look up stuff you’ve never heard of, have some fun! Just don’t forget to also vote for Glowing in the Dark for Book of the Year – I want that Rondo Hatton statue!