OTTOMIC BLUE: HELLO RAMSEY, NICE TO FINALLY SIT DOWN WITH YOU. I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN BUSY OUT ON THE ROAD VISITING YOUR FAVORITE HORROR ICONS. FOR THOSE WHO DON'T QUITE KNOW YOU OR YOUR STORY YET, CAN YOU TELL US WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU'RE ABOUT?
RAMSEY: Sure, man. Great to be here. Name’s Ramsey. I’m a skeleton that digs the horror genre. I was chilling out one day back in 2006 dividing my time watching Evil Dead and reading Stephen King’s The Stand. It dawned on me that it’d be pretty kickass if I could send my body parts across the country and try and get signatures and artwork writ upon me by my favorite authors, artists, and horror movie celebs. Figured it might be a daunting task but would be a pretty original idea and in the end I’d look really fucking cool. Plus I was sure it’d help to get with the chicks.
HOW DID YOU GET STARTED WITH YOUR AUTOGRAPH COLLECTION?
Well, my Master, Mark Sylva. I know. My Master. Who the frig does he think he is making me call him that? Like he’s Emperor Palpatine or some shit. Although, I guess that would make me Darth Vader. That’s not too bad. Anyway, he’s more my slave since he does most of the work. Sucker.
So, I’m really big into reading horror. I’m a huge fan of a lot of authors. There’s this whole community of mid list horror authors that too many people don’t know about. Most people know King, Koontz, and Barker. Who all kick ass but there’s so much more out there that rules. Like your underground music scene. There’s a ton of great music out there that people just need to be exposed to.
The majority of signatures I wanted were from authors that I love to read and artists that I really dig. I started out by first sending my skull to a horror convention in Baltimore and then contacting authors and artists by email to see if they’d be willing to sign. The convention was a huge success. Jump started my Tour of Doom with a bang.
When I first contacted authors and artists by email I thought they’d think I was bat shit crazy and tell me to go fuck myself. But to tell you the truth, everyone’s been really cool. They think it’s a very unique and great idea to try and get all these signatures. Most of them really want to be a part of me.
AT LAST COUNT HOW MANY SIGNATURES DO YOU HAVE ALL OVER YOUR BONES? DO YOU KEEP A COMPREHENSIVE LIST OR DO YOU KNOW THEM AS A PART OF YOU KNOW LIKE THE LIVING DO TATTOOS?
I used to know the exact number. I have a list of everyone that’s signed and on which part of my body. Whether it is my arms, femurs, skull, pelvis, rib cage, etc. My Master needs to get off his fat ass and make sure the list is up to date. But last count is over 140 signatures. Not counting all the artwork. And a few authors when signing me will add a quote from one of their stories or something. But like you said, I remember pretty much all of them and where they’re at on my body. I’m one huge fucking canvas!
WHO WAS THE FIRST PERSON YOU REACHED OUT TO TO SIGN AND HOW DID YOU CONTACT THEM?
The first person to sign me was best selling author, Brian Keene. Right smack in the middle of my forehead. He was at that convention I was talking about earlier in Baltimore. It helped that him and my Master are friends. The first people I contacted by email and asked to ship pieces of me to were all artists. Alex McVey, Caniglia, and GAK. I couldn’t believe all of them said yes. These guys artwork go for hundreds and even thousands of dollars, but they were willing to draw on me for free.
SO AS YOU TRAVELED AND HAVE BECOME THE OCCULT ICON YOU ARE TODAY, WHAT WAS THE PROGRESSION OF YOUR WORK?
After that first convention which put about 20 sigs on my skull, I mainly just tried contacting people and asking to ship my bones to them. I averaged a few signatures a month since I could send my leg here, my left arm there. I even sent my whole rib cage to artist Chad Savage. That was a task and a half, but Chad really went above and beyond. He went crazy on my spine and ribcage. I think after that was when I started looking like the fucking mad man I am today. Truthfully, the progression has always been fast paced from the get go. I think I accumulated almost 50 signatures and a fuck ton of artwork in the first 6 months of the tour. I just continued to ship pieces of me across the country and trying to hit up horror conventions to get multiple sigs at one time.
AT THAT POINT I ASSUME WORD WAS SPREADING ABOUT YOU AND YOUR LIFE'S WORK. AS YOU GREW YOUR COLLECTION AND REPUTATION, DID IT BECOME EASIER TO APPROACH PEOPLE?
Hell yes. Of course, it’s always been pretty easy from the beginning. Like I said before, everyone’s been so cool with it. It was really amazing to see people willing and wanting to be a part of my hobby. But it’s a lot easier to approach people now. Shit, all’s I gotta say is, “Stephen King signed my skull! Would you?” How the hell can someone say no to that?
RAMSEY, ABOUT THAT KING AUTOGRAPH ON THE SIDE OF YOUR SKULL. WAS CONTACTING SAI KING ( IF IT DOES YA..) A JOURNEY OF DARK TOWER PROPORTIONS?
When this idea first came into being I wished I could get Stephen King to sign me. That would be the highlight of my collection. Never in a million years did I think I would have got him to sign. Hell, he’s the Mark Twain of our generation. He’s known throughout the entire fucking world. Even people who don’t read his books know who he is. He’s Stephen King!
I actually lucked out really. I sent one of my arms up to Maine to author Rick Hataula and artist Glenn Chadbourne. Rick is in contact with King periodically. He thought me collecting sigs on myself was such a unique idea that he’d try to hook me up with King. The spring of 2007 I wrote an email to King and sent it to Rick who then sent it over to King’s long time assistant, Marsha. Marsha gave it to King and he agreed to sign me. But with his busy schedule it wouldn’t be until the end of October. I stayed in contact with Marsha and eventually packed up my skull and shipped it to King’s office up in Maine. Looking back on it I still can’t believe it. I remember that whole year going by thinking, “Shit, Stephen King wants to sign me!” The dude’s got better things to do with his time but still agreed to do it. When I got to Maine he signed me. I asked him if Richard Bachman would sign as well, but he looked down at me and said, “Bachman’s dead, dude. Sorry.” Although Marsha signed me which was a nice surprise.
Another cool thing was that same week my McVey leg was in Brookline, MA getting signed by Stephen King’s son, Joe Hill. Another one of my favorite authors. His Locke and Key comics are the bomb. And Joe already knew about me and my tour when asked to sign my leg. Pretty cool.
I CAN'T HELP BUT NOTICE THE STORY WRITTEN ON THE BACK OF YOUR RIBCAGE. CAN YOU READ IT TO US AND TELL US THE STORY BEHIND IT?
That was written by author Kealan Patrick Burke. He’s originally from Ireland. I’m originally from Boston. Come to find out we both actually lived pretty much down the street from one another now. I was a huge fan of his work and eventually we got together at the pub and had a pint or two. Or three or eight. We hit it off and became good friends. We spent quite a few nights closing the bars down in our area. I eventually asked him if he’d sign me and also write a quick flash fiction piece on my ribcage. After promising to buy the first round he readily agreed. He took it one step further and wrote the story on one half of my ribcage in Gaelic and then the translation on the other side. He’s also an amateur photographer and took some cool pictures of me. Here’s the story:
When Sean heard the odd sound he went to the small door. Inside, he heard a girl crying. He said: “Be quiet, The dead are sleeping.”
“We’re not,” answered the girl, “We’re waiting for you.”
NOT ONLY DID BRIAN KEENE JOIN IN ON BRANDING YOU, BUT I UNDERSTAND YOU ARE GOOD FRIENDS WITH HIM THROUGH YOUR MASTER, MARK SYLVA. FILL US IN ON YOU ALL BECOMING PALS AND WHAT THEY'VE BEEN UP TO.
Brian Keene has signed me multiple times now. First on the forehead. Again on my femur with a little flash fiction to go along with it. I had him sign an arm near my GAK tattoo artwork. I also like to have authors sign me as some of their characters from there books. So he’s signed me as Adam Senft from his book Dark Hollow and Timmy Graco from Ghoul. We try to hang out at least once or twice a year at conventions.
Anyway, can you believe that my Master originally met Brian Keene through eBay? Mark collects books and won a King book on eBay. Turns out the seller was Brian Keene. This was back in 2003 before Keene’s debut novel, The Rising, even came out. Along with the King book he sent Mark a signed promotional cover flat for The Rising. In 2004 Mark picked up The Rising and was blown away. A new take on the zombie tale. If you haven’t read it you’re missing out. After that he was hooked. He hung out at Brian’s message board. He digs Brian’s Labyrinth mythology. All his books tie in to each other very subtly. Kind of like King’s Dark Tower mythos but more like Marvel Comic’s Secret Wars. He took it upon himself to keep track of all the links between books. Surprisingly, Brian contacted Mark to see if he wanted to proof read his manuscript of Ghoul. More surprisingly, my master did a good job at it and became one of Brian’s constant pre readers. He’s been helping edit everything Brian writes since 2006 which is fucking cool because we get to read stories way before they’re published.
Brian even used Mark’s last name for the main character in his Marvel comic Devil Slayer. How cool is that? He’s immortalized in a Marvel comic.
Currently he just finished proofing the novel A Gathering of Crows and a ghost story titled The Girl On The Glider. Both will be published some time this year.
TOM SAVINI HAS DONE SO MUCH FOR SPECIAL FX AND BLOWN PEOPLE'S MINDS WITH HIS STOMACH CHURNING TRICKS FOR DECADES. CAN YOU TELL ME HOW IT IS YOU CAME TO MEET HIM AND WHAT THE EXPERIENCE WAS LIKE?
That dude is awesome. I met the Godfather of Gore at a convention a few years back. Really cool guy and very gracious to his fans. Where most movie type celebs charge you for signatures at conventions, he was cool enough to sign stuff for his fans for free. Can you imagine the same hands that crafted special FX for Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Friday the 13th, and the Creepshows cradled my lovely skull and signed me. Now that’s badass.
WHAT CAN YOU TELL US
ABOUT THE ARTWORK ON YOU? I HEARD SOME DRAWINGS SPARKED A LITTLE FRIENDLY COMPETITION BETWEEN ARTISTS TO HAVE THE BEST PIECE ON YOU. I have some pretty awesome artwork on me from some of my favorite artists in the genre. Alex McVey ,who’s done a lot of artwork for authors like King, Keene, and Landsdale, was the first artist I contacted. He drew some sick shit on my left leg all in black and sent it back to me. During the same time period Caniglia was putting some art on my right femur. Now I don’t ask for anything specific from the artists, I let them do whatever they want. I’m just happy they’re willing to do it. Caniglia went to fucking town. Way beyond what I expected. Not just using markers but pulling out his paints and doing some great horrific stuff. Alex McVey saw pics of it and contacted me. He said something like, “I can’t have Caniglia topping me like that?!?! Send your leg back so I can add to my artwork!!”. So I did. And I’m glad I did because Alex really went above and beyond himself. I actually call it my McVey leg now. My narcissistic master dig’s McVey’s art so much he commissioned him to paint up a picture of himself all zombified.
But I have some great artists that have drawn on me. Many might not know their names, but they are all some of the best artists in the small press horror genre. Alex McVey, Caniglia, GAK, Chad Savage, Keith Minnion, Steve Gilberts, and Billy Tackett. I even have a small remarque from famous artist Bernie Wrightson. That dude rarely signs stuff these days. He’s known for his Frankenstein book, lots of artwork for Stephen King, and the old Swamp Thing comics. Glenn Chadbourne, who also does a lot of art for King books, put a remarque on my left arm but also drew up some original artwork of yours truly.
YOU HAVE SURPASSED MY HOPE TO SOMEDAY MEET SOME OF THESE ICONS AND BECOME A BIT OF A HOUSEHOLD NAME FOR SOME OF THEM. NO NEED TO BE HUMBLE HERE... DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE A BIT OF A CELEBRITY?
FUCK YES IT DOES!
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE SIGNATURES THAT ADORN YOUR BODY?
Man, there’s quite a few I’m really proud of. I dig them all but there’s just some that I thought I’d never get. Stephen King of course. Authors, Neil Gaiman, Brian Lumley, Jack Ketchum, Ed Lee, Bryan Smith, Gene O’Neill, Joe Landsdale, Ronald Kelly, F Paul Wilson, Michael Connelly (who also signed as his famous character, Harry Bosch). Artists Alex McVey, Bernie Wrightson, Caniglia, and Glenn Chadbourne. And of course Bruce fuckin’ Campbell from Evil Dead fame!
THROUGH OUT ALL OF THESE ENDEVOURS, IS THERE ANYONE'S SIGNATURE YOU’RE STILL HUNTING FOR?
It seems like I always keep adding to the list of people I want to have sign me. There are usually around 50 or so sigs that I want to get. Problem is I’m running out of room and with the amount of awesome sigs on me I’m paranoid as hell having a piece of me getting lost in the mail. But the people I would really love to sign me next are authors Clive Barker and Ray Bradbury and director George Romero. Can you imagine Romero!!?!!? Hopefully one day soon.
WELL RAMSEY, I APPRECIATE YOUR TIME, WHAT'S NEXT FOR YOU?
Thanks for having me, man. I’ll be meeting author Lee Child in a few months and going to try and hit a couple conventions this year. But first I’m going to blast my Ottomic Blue album out of my speakers while throwing back a few. Thanks again, dude. And if people want to see my updates they can always check out my myspace at http://www.myspace.com/ramseytourofdoom .
Looks like a kick ass con, Horror Hound in IN. the end of March. I'm fucking going.
George Romero and Clive Barker are gonna be there!! Holy shit.
I'm pysched. Here's the link below.. check it out and come meet me!
http://horrorhoundweekend.com/shows/201003/default.aspx
Original Glenn Chadbourne artwork featuring Ramsey.
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