The horror! It's coming your way in uptown Charlotte

Charlotte celebrates horror this weekend with the second annual Mad Monster Party at the Blake Hotel uptown. In addition to appearances by various film stars, a handful of big-time metal musicians with links to the genre will attend.

One of them: Kirk Hammett, best known as the guitarist for Metallica. In his spare time, he collects vintage monster movie posters, toys, masks and art – a vast collection he chronicled in the 2012 coffee-table book “Too Much Horror Business.” He’ll sign copies of the book Saturday during MMP. He spoke to the Observer early this week about his favorite things about the genre, and his sometimes high-priced hobby.

Q. How do you feel about the state of horror today?

For horror television cable series, it’s the golden era. It started for me with maybe “The X Files.” “Lost” is one of the best TV series that was ever created. I enjoy “True Blood,” “The Vampire Diaries,” “Walking Dead.” I like “Game of Thrones.” With movies, I tend to stay away from franchises like “Saw” and “Underworld” because they tend to get more formulaic. Having said that, the genre is solid.

Q. Were you familiar with these conventions?

I’ve been going to conventions of this sort since I was a little kid. They’ve come a long way. When I used to go, it was ground zero for nerds and 40-year-old virgins. Nowadays, they’re trendy and have a hipster sort of outlook to them. I’m impressed.

Q. Do you shop while you’re at them?

I’ve found many things just from going to a dealer’s table and them having an old toy they pulled out of their basement – something that’s been sought after for years by a group of collectors. I’m not exclusively collecting vintage stuff or higher-priced items. I collect anything that’s interesting to me.

Q. Metallica is touring South Africa and Japan this year. When you’re touring, do you look for collectibles?

Absolutely, especially in places where I know they made movie posters, or created a lot of toys, like Japan.

Q. Has this collection taken over your home?

I have a pretty creepy house (with no) wall space. All the rooms are filled, except a couple bedrooms and the kitchen.

Q. You discuss how secretive high-end collectors can be in the book. Why did you decide to share?

I’ve got a few pieces in my collection that are amazing in quality, and in terms of how rare the pieces were. I came to the conclusion that I should share this with all the other collectors who love this stuff. It was my gift to the horror nerds and geeks.

Q. Is there a Holy Grail you’re still looking for?

A movie poster for “Murders in the Rue Morgue,” which was filmed in 1932. I’ve been trying to find (it) for the last 20 years. There was only one known to exist. I’m not sure there’s another one to be had, but I’ve been telling everyone I possibly can if they come across it to contact me.

Q. Then the search is over.

The search is a large part of it. God forbid that I do find that poster, because I’m having a lot of fun talking about it.

This story was originally published March 21, 2013 at 12:13 PM with the headline "The horror! It's coming your way in uptown Charlotte."