Posted in: Collectibles, Games | Tagged: Box of Dread, collectibles, Deathgasm, Dread Central, entertainment, Jon Condit

What's In The Box? – Talking With Box Of Dread's Jon Condit

There is something fun and exciting about the mystery boxes that have become so popular. That moment when you become Brad Pitt from Seven…. "What's in the box?!?!" And with the move to specialize by genre, you are even more likely to get things you like. For horror fans, that's the Box of Dread. The company has been shipping out cardboard boxes of creepiness for the last few years and I got a chance to catch up with Jon Condit to talk about the company  on the cut off day for their September box.

DAN WICKLINE: The last few years saw the trend of mystery boxes grow from a general pop culture / geek theme to more specific boxes. What made you jump on the mystery box wagon and how did you end up choosing horror as your theme?

JON CONDIT: As a lifelong horror fan, one of the coolest experience I had was reading the horror comics of the 70s. You know, all the cool EC stuff, etc. One of the most fun things about those comics were the ads in which you would send away for X-ray glasses, or a giant Glow-in-the-Dark skeleton. With each issue you never knew what would be waiting for you. There was this mystery about it… this fun. With Box of Dread we wanted to both emulate and update that kind of fun for today's modern users.

Originally when we started Box of Dread a few years ago we were one of the first out there to specialize in niche' content. Collecting culture has dwindled a little bit because the world is moving rapidly toward digital delivery. You don't get the liner notes anymore, or that badass little booklet that would occasionally come with your DVD or Blu-ray. Or even model kits. I remember running home from school and hauling ass to go and build my Mummy or my Godzilla. That's the kind of fun magic that's lost on today's culture. With Box of Dread I really want to try and bring back the creature kid ideals of Forrest J Ackerman and celebrate them and the genre as a whole. As for why horror, we were already doing Dread Central so it seemed like a no brainer.The fans are the pillars of the horror genre and we want to be able to give back to them and let them own a piece of it. Those horror fans out there… from the hardcore to the casual viewer, they're the reason we're allowed to do what we do for a living, and Box of Dread is our way to repay them with some really cool and exclusive goodies to say thanks.

DW: What companies do you work with to get the contents for the various boxes? Are there any basic rules for what you want in each box or the minimum standards?

JC: We work with a handful of really great partners. People like Dynamite Entertainment, Funko, Diamond Select, and Horror Decor have been incredibly instrumental in our various successes along they way. Newer partners like Eibon Press and Space Goat Comics have only broadened the horizons which were already pretty vast. A big part of what we do at Box of Dread isn't just the merchandise… It's the ability to showcase the works of not only the filmmakers of whom we appreciate but also the various artists as a means to get their work out there. These artists we work with… inspire me and just to be able to share their work with fans from all over is a big part of the reason I enjoy working on BOD.

DW: What is your favorite item that has been in a box so far? Is there anything you saw and just wanted to take one home immediately? And has there been anything that you had to turn down because it just wouldn't fit in the box?

JC: One of my all time favorite items in the box has been the exclusive book we did for the film, Deathgasm. When Dark Sky agreed to have us do a behind-the-scenes artwork for it… man, I was just over the moon. Deathgasm speaks to me the same way that the Box of Dread idea does. It's nostalgic and hits so many of the right notes. It captured a lot of what I missed about the genre and with Box of Dread I really want to try and rekindle that kind of fun for fans everywhere.

There's been a handful of things that I really wanted to do for the box but you just couldn't make it work. Generally the biggest restriction is the weight of the items. There's been a couple times I've had to pass on something just because it was too heavy to put in the box which is a real killer.

DW: How do you approach horror as a genre? There are things that include horror elements that may not necessarily be horror… some examples being the film Young Frankenstein or when the X-Men took on Dracula. Thought both featured classic horror icons, neither were truly horror. What are the parameters you have for whether something fits into your theme or not?

JC: Horror is subjective. What's scary to you, may not be scary to others. At Dread Central and with Box of Dread, it's not our jobs to give our opinions on what is or isn't frightening. It's to spread awareness of a particular film, or book, or product and then let the fans decide for themselves. If everyone liked the same things we'd all be bored stiff. I know a lot of hardcore fans that look menacing enough to eat your first born child. But show them Hocus Pocus or Monster House and they just lose their shit over them the same way they would a Fulci movie.

DW: What can you tell us about your next Box of Dread? When is it due out? What might we find in it? And how can folks sign up for it?

JC: Our next box is shipping out after our sign up deadline on September 9th. They are selling fast so anyone who wants one needs to sign up at www.boxofdread.com soon. At the rate we are going there may not be any left overs.

September's Box of Dread features items from Michael Dougherty's Trick 'r Treat including the exclusive enamel pin we just announced. When I found out AtmosFX was doing a new digital decoration based on the movie I thought it would be cool to do a promotional tie with the launch so I reached out to Legendary to see of they would mind if we created a promotional exclusive to help build some buz. Just to be clear though their Trick 'r Treat effects package will not be included with the Box of Dread. My goal this month is to do something cool with the Sam character and the Trick 'r Treat franchise while still spreading awareness about AtmosFX's new product.

And we have some very cool things planned for the near future that we will be announcing shortly too but of course it's a mystery box so you know I gotta maintain that air of mystique:)

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