In Memoriam: William "Trollking" Watts, 1958-2012

He wasn't an actor, director or writer of horror films ... he was, like us, just a fan. Like most of us here at the Crypt, he loved the classics-- from the Universal monsters, to Hammer's Horrors, to Harryhausen's fantastic creations. He loved comic books, and was a talented sculptor and model-maker. Our tastes in movies wasn't always the same, but our pleasure at discussing them was. Wes' circle of friends was large in the various yahoo groups in which he was a fixture, and which he made better groups to which to belong. On the 17th of April, the Trollking died suddenly of a heart attack. He was 54. He left behind his loving wife, Mary, as well as many friends who knew and loved him, both in person and on-line.

I first met Wes in the old Horror-Web yahoo group; he was, in fact, the first to welcome me aboard. Soon I joined him as a writer for the Horror-Web website, the start of my career as the Unimonster. Before long Wes and I were the best of friends, and though we never met in person, we were as close as brothers. No, he wasn't a director, actor or anyone famous.

He was my friend.