By JAMES BURRELL
Horror fans in New Jersey will be able to get their fright fix this weekend with the annual winter I HEART HORROR DAY convention, taking place this Saturday, February 21, at 575 Jernee Mill Road (VFW Post 4699) in Sayreville, New Jersey. Now in its fourth year, the one-day event, which raises money for the Deborah Heart and Lung Center, will feature actors, filmmakers, vendors, live music, raffles and costume contests. Recently, we caught up with Christopher Cuneo, the show’s co-founder, to talk about the event.
You and your brother, Gregory, hold a convention each February called I HEART HORROR DAY, which is celebrating its fourth year this month. How did you come to create the event? I understand that you got the idea for it during the pandemic.
Gregory and I are both lifelong fans of horror – monsters, Halloween, the paranormal and horror [movies]. The COVID-19 lockdown was a period when everybody was taking time to make art that they didn’t usually have the time to do, or to write, or make music, and so on. And I saw a lot of people inspired to chase their dreams. One day, I looked over at my brother and said, “Everybody is creating a holiday; there is a holiday for everything. Let’s create a horror holiday, a ‘second Halloween’ for horror fans!”
Another cool thing I got caught up with while surfing social media was famous birthdays. And it so happened that two of our heroes, Alice Cooper and George A. Romero, both share a birthday on February 4th. This blew my mind, and it felt like it was too big not to be acknowledged on a larger scale. That is when I started thinking of that day as one to celebrate all things horror.
And so you went ahead and were actually able to register February 4th as a horror-themed holiday?
I reached out to every calendar [resource], Facebook page and website I could find, to no avail. But when celebrating one of my newest favourite found holidays, “Frankenstein Friday,” I Googled who created it, and lo and behold, it was my friend Ron MacCloskey. I told Ron I had an idea for a holiday I would like to get registered, and asked him how he got it done, and he said he used Chase’s Calendar of Events. We submitted I HEART HORROR DAY to them, and they loved and registered it!
Their Senior Editor, Holly McGuire, did have one question before she put the holiday through: “Do you have a problem with your holiday also being on World Cancer Day?” We said, “Not at all.” We both believe in giving to charity, and because we lost George to lung cancer, we wanted to raise money for lung cancer awareness. We wanted to treat I HEART HORROR DAY not only as a day to celebrate, but also as a day of service for the community. We sent in our entry for the holiday on George and Alice’s birthday on February 4th, 2022, and it was registered in Chase’s Calendar of Events on July 6th, 2022.
Your event is helping to raise money for charity. Tell us about that.
We were able to get the holiday passed in enough time to celebrate Alice Cooper’s 75th birthday. We started looking into lung cancer and disease foundations and societies. Gregory and I have lost many loved ones who were taken or suffered from different forms of cancer, and I had volunteered many years with Relay for Life, an event put on by the American Cancer Society. One of our good friends who attended our first meeting was “Psycho Steve” Prestup, who suggested the Deborah Heart and Lung Center of Browns Mills, New Jersey, which is a prominent and respected hospital specializing in heart and lung care and repair and is known worldwide.
We happily received positive feedback from the hospital. Both the Hospital Foundation’s Special Event Coordinator, Doreen Liller, and the Volunteer Services Director, Cyndy Kornfeld, loved the concept of a horror-esque Halloween-type event in February. We all agreed it was a good fit, with February being American Heart Month.
In a little over two months, with a small group of loyal friends who volunteered to help, we pulled off a successful event. We received wonderful, positive feedback from people who were amazed to find out just how short a time period we had to put the event together.
How much have you been able to raise so far?
Well, that first year we took in close to $7,000 for the Deborah Heart and Lung Hospital Foundation. In the second year, we raised close to $10,000. And last year, we raised over $13,000. The money raised is collected from admissions, vendor spot fees, food sales (which are donated by both friends and local establishments) and prize basket raffles, again donated by both friends and businesses.
You met both Alice Cooper and George Romero years ago and had pictures taken with them. Have you had the opportunity to talk with Alice Cooper or anyone from the Romero family about your event and your fundraising goals?
Before we told Alice Cooper about the holiday and our plans for it, Psycho Steve was part of a weekend-wide hard rock music event in Philadelphia … and told me that [Alice Cooper’s daughter] Calico Cooper and her band Beasto Blanco were playing, and that I should come and talk to her. I told her all about the holiday … and she replied that her dad would be absolutely thrilled with it. The following year, we met Alice, which was actually the second time, as the first time was back in the late ’90s at a haunted attraction in New York City. So, in November of 2023, we made the pilgrimage to Oaks, Pennsylvania, for Monster Mania Con, where Alice Cooper was a guest. We told him all about the holiday and that it was created in both his and George A. Romero’s name, and he was genuinely, deeply and extremely touched. We gave him some swag and asked him to autograph an I HEART HORROR DAY sign from our inaugural mini-con. He offered to pose for a pic holding the sign. Of course, accepted!
Just like Alice Cooper – and, unfortunately, my brother wasn’t with me at this particular Fangoria show that he was at – when I met George, he was so kind and so attentive to me. Which brings us to the Romero family. Right before our first show, we were able to connect with [Romero’s widow] Suzanne Romero, thanks to our friend Steve “Uncle Creepy” Barton. We were able to get a message to her about the holiday and the charity we were collecting for in honor of George. In response, she sent a heartfelt thank you video to us, mentioning just how important heart and lung health is, and sharing this awareness with others.
You sent some pics of previous years’ events. Some of them show some of the cosplaying attendees, including someone dressed as Harry Warden from My Bloody Valentine.
Yes, that was 2023 at our first event. That Miner is a guy named Seth, who goes by the name “Upstate Harry.” I’m not really a big fan of Valentine’s Day, but I do love My Bloody Valentine and celebrate the day with a viewing of it every year.
Can you tell us about some of the guests who will be part of the con or some of the activities that will be taking place at the event?
This year was a very hard year for us, personally, and I Heart Horror Day Co., in the fact that we lost our dad to dementia. Most of our time had been spent between caregiving, making arrangements for Dad and being there for our mom. But thanks to the support of our third-in-command, Holly Mergogey, and our awesome team … we continue to be optimistic, and hope this will be the best year yet.
We’re celebrating not only our fourth show, but also Presidents’ Day, and the 250th anniversary of America. We have a great line-up of acoustic acts, and each will be adding a special Alice Cooper cover song in honor of Alice’s birthday. Contests and auctions this year that represent George Romero and his zombie world will be hosted by Mr. Haunt. The costume contest is called “Mr. Haunt’s Night of the Living Presidents.” As well, we are bringing back the “Zombie Wedding,” officiated by Father Evil. Our guest lineup includes our “Toxic Takeover,” comprised of Robert Prichard of The Toxic Avenger and Class of Nuke ‘Em High; Cynthia Manion of The Toxic Avenger; Bill Weeden of Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.; Toxic Avenger comic artist Fred Harper; Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead star Jason Yachanin; writer and producer Frank Somma; and of course, Toxie and Sara!
Other scheduled guests include Matt Mitler (The Mutilator), Nancy Anne Ridder (Scream), Ron Millkie (Friday the 13th), Bill Randolph (Friday the 13th, Part 2), Walter Krayvo (Dawn of the Dead), and many others.
For more information on the event and a complete guest list, check out ihearthorror.net.
I HEART HORROR DAY IV: EYEGORE’S 4th SCORE
February 21st, 2026
VFW Post 4699 – 575 Jernee Mill Rd, Sayreville, NJ 08872
Hours: 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Admission: $20 (cash only at the door); Children: 12 and under: $5
