Pop Smart - Monster Bash: Having a ghoul time

is like Drive-Invasion without the humidity and with more makeup. OK, it was already pretty warm on Sunday when hot-rodders, devil dolls, rock ’n’ rollers and ghouls of all ages got all tatted up at the Starlight Drive-In. The event sold out, with barely a parking spot available by mid-afternoon in which rockers and sci-fi/horror-movie fans could camp out, cook out and rock out. (“It’s like an inner-city version of a hippie fest,” said one Basher during the post-sundown viewing of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (which was followed by The Werewolf vs. Vampire Woman).Before that, Bashers were treated to loads of bands (including Super X-13 and Van Heineken, which featured Shane Morton and his Silver Scream Spook Show posse, which helps put on the event), as well as hot rods and a “model shootout.” It was a great way to kick off the summer, drive-in style, but next time I’ll have to remember it’s a BYOB affair. (I probably could’ve gotten a PBR contact high, though.) Morton says that folks drive in from around the Southeast to catch the show, and it’s no wonder. The costumes alone are worth the price of admission.If you missed this one, just go ahead now and mark down Drive-Invasion, held over Labor Day Weekend, on your calendar. They’re working on the lineup as we speak, but it should be fun no matter who shows up. Previous bands have included Agent Orange and Southern Culture on the Skids. On a related note, you might want to mark down Splatter Cinema’s showing of 1988’s The Return of the Living Dead on June 10 at the Plaza Theatre. Silver Scream’s next screening, of the 1956 Shakespearean sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet, is on June 28, also at the Plaza. imagebrowser=4(Photos by David Lee Simmons)