This week marks the fifth anniversary of the death of Michael Jackson. To honor Mr. Jackson, I thought I would share my story of when I briefly met him.

Back in May 1995, I had a couple of dealer tables in the vendor area of the Famous Monsters of Filmland Convention in Los Angeles, California. On one of the nights of the convention, they held a costume ball with a contest for best costume. One of the guests dressed up as Nosferatu (or Dracula). I was standing out in the hallway with this guy and we were talking about the convention and what a great costume he had on. A cute little girl in a costume I cannot remember won the contest. Al Lewis (Grampa Munster) really liked her and he was the judge of the contest.

About a week or so later, People magazine had a little blurp about Michael Jackson showing up to the convention in disguise. Here it is:

“Speaking of Jackson, that was he disguised as Dracula at a costume ball last month sponsored by Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. The event, at a hotel in Los Angeles, was held during a convention for fans of film and TV horror and sci-fi. When Jackson, rehearsing on a nearby sound-stage, heard that Al Lewis, Grandpa on TV’s The Munsters, was at the convention, he sent a limo and word that he wanted to meet him. After their chat, Lewis said, “He’s a mensch.”….”

I remember sitting and thinking after I read the article if there was anything that could have tipped me off that it was him. No, not really. He had a quiet voice and really tried to stay in character the whole time we talked. He had a really great costume.

I now need to go up in the attic and see if I still have the pictures of the costume ball contest and of Michael in his great Nosferatu costume.