Dracula and Frankenstein never got the girl in their horror movie escapades. But now a local horror “star of the show” will be in charge of cementing relationships with a mass marriage ceremony.
Wolfman Mac Kelly, local werewolf and star of nationally syndicated Wolfman Mac’s Chiller Drive Inn will be officiating marriage ceremonies on Saturday night and next Wednesday – Halloween night in Pontiac at Erabus the Haunted House located at 18 South Perry. The festivities begin around 5 p.m. on both days.
Kelly got the idea five years ago from a friend who explained how he could be come licensed to marry people. So he did. And he came up with a twist on the whole idea
“I paid my $35 dollars and got my license to marry people and I thought ‘how cool would it be to have a werewolf marry people at a haunted house on Halloween?’” Kelly said.
So now the “wolf-prenuer” has couples that actually travel from outside of Michigan to either renew their wedding vows or make new ones.
“I’ve got a couple that is coming in and they’re going to get married on Saturday night at Erebus and they flew in from Minnesota. They watch my show there,” he said. “And I can do it in mass or individual ceremonies. They have to bring their license for me to sign.”
And anyone and everyone is welcome – especially monsters, ghouls and zombies.
“If anyone wants to do this at the last minute, that’s great,” he said. “And people ask me all the time if they can get dressed up and I say absolutely. Last year I had a zombie bride and groom and Frankenstein and the bride of Frankenstein. You can have a bridal party, a ring bearer and all that stuff.”
Wolfman Mac expects anywhere from five to seven couples to renew their vows and there’s talk of a local radio celebrity that may be renewing his vows as well. The service he provides does not have a fee but he does accept donations that go toward promoting his TV show with tours of the studio and T-shirts. And he’s got some ideas to expand the wedding plan beyond Halloween.
“I have a green screen in my studio (technology that allows different backgrounds) and I’d like to be able to offer a wedding service with any type of background – if they wanted to get married on the Starship Enterprise – we could do that.”
Kelly almost made it on the Today Show with his marriage shindig but was bumped at the last minute.
If you’d like to learn more you can email Kelly at wolfmanmackellly@gmail.com or give him a call at 586-533-1709.
A werewolf is born
Kelly was working in radio as a DJ in Bay City and interviewed a local celebrity there who was into horror movies and hosted a TV show. Mac offered his services to come down and help emcee. He did that for a few shows but then got the idea to “dress up” and join the fray.
“I was at a Big Boy in Bay City and decided that we needed to add a character,” he said. “My name was Mac and I thought Wolfman Mac sounded like Wolfman Jack and I thought a werewolf would be cool as a lead host. So I scrambled and got some make-up at a party store and drove over to this guy’s house and put on the wild hair, the fake fangs and the whole deal and Wolfman Mac was born.”
The show was broadcast locally on CMNtv, which supports a consortium of communities including Royal Oak, Berkley, Ferndale, Clawson and Troy. Kelly later moved to TV20 and now airs on the Retro TV Network but doesn’t have an affiliate in the Detroit area. The nearest is in Flint.
“We produce the show at the Erebus Haunted House and that’s where we tape it. We’re a situation comedy about a werewolf that owns a drive inn theatre and we do sketches before and after commercials,” he explained.
The Sir Graves Ghastly gates from the popular Detroit horror character that ran from the 60s to the 80s are prominently displayed during the show and Kelly enjoys showing them off.
You can also find Kelly at 8 p.m. each Monday night at www.monsterchannel.tv where he chats with fans and performs.
The wolfman’s day job
Kelly recently took a sabbatical in Florida to “re-center himself” and learn some new skills and came back to Michigan with the knowledge and know-how to create and sell mobile apps for phones and computers. And he’s putting his creative and technical mind to work in the Motor City as an App Wolf.
“I have a tool that I use to build mobile apps and its really neat because we are in a position now with apps where we were in 1992 with websites,” he said. “If you want to compete in the global market today, you need a mobile app.”
Kelly builds apps for small business owners that work on Android, Apple and PC systems.
He also has plans to re-enter the radio stage as a DJ and also performs stand-up comedy on occasion but as Mac Kelly, not the Wolfman.
