List of TV Horror Movie Hosts from Book (600+ lines)
George V. Chastain
Hosts. There's a terrific book on this subject, TELEVISION HORROR
MOVIE HOSTS - 68 VAMPIRES, MAD SCIENTISTS AND OTHER DENIZENS OF
THE LATE-NIGHT AIRWAVES EXAMINED AND INTERVIEWED, by Elena M.
Watson (McFarland and Company, Inc., 1991). I've compiled and
attached a list of all the hosts discussed in the book (some
in separate chapters, some just mentioned in passing), hoping to
stimulate more first-hand memories. I haven't added any of the
hosts mentioned in anybody's net postings, and I'm sure there are
lots more local stations hosts that the author didn't have info
about. Was this strictly a U.S. phenomenon? How about England,
Canada, Mexico or other countries?
In Key West in the early '60's (immortalized in the recent film
MATINEE), we watched horror host M.T. GRAVES on a Miami station
(can't remember the name of show, dammit). M.T. only got
a couple of paragraphs in Ms. Watson's book, but there was a
photo feature about him in an early issue of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF
FILMLAND, the monsterlovers bible. I was a bit disappointed that
the book didn't have a photo of him (though there are many great
shots of other hosts), and didn't have any information about the
person that played him. M.T. wore a black frightwig and bushy
eyebrows, buck teeth, rubber monster feet, a hook on one hand,
and a big scar down his face. For a while, he also hosted
science fiction films in a spacesuit as "M.T. SPACE"...
Several people mentioned COUNT GORE DE VOL in the Baltimore area.
Unless something has happened to him recently, he's still among
the living dead; he regularly attends a horror film convention
(FANEX) in Baltimore in late summer, presiding over an event
or two in full regalia.
I was privileged to be able to attend the FAMOUS MONSTERS OF
FILMLAND convention in Arlington last summer, where many
legendary horror and science fiction luminaries were special
guests -- editor Forrest J Ackerman (Guest of Honor), Robert
("Psycho") Bloch, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Curt Siodmak,
Ray Harryhausen, Jim Danforth, Frank Kelly Freas, Brinke Stevens,
John Agar, and many others. A real highpoint for me was meeting
Zacherley, the Coolest Ghoul of all. I never got to see his
original shows anywhere I lived growing up, and always envied the
experience. Why doesn't somebody find a slot for some of these
people in the weekend lineup? BRING BACK ZACK! (Or Commander USA,
or Chilly Billy, or Elvira, or Ghoulardi, or...?)
Enough raving... the list follows.
George Chastain -- WVNET, Morgantown, West Virginia
U0E53@WVNVM or U0...@WVNVM.WVNET.EDU
*************************************************************
AMERICAN TV HORROR MOVIE HOSTS
The horror hosts below are all discussed in Elena M. Watson's
"Television Horror Movie Hosts -- 68 Vampires, Mad Scientists and
Other Denizens of the Late-Night Airwaves Examined and
Interviewed" (McFarland & Company, Inc., 1991).
KEY: Alphabetical listing (by first word in host's name) in
following format:
HOST (ALL CAPS for complete info; Mixed Case for pointers)
(played by) (? if unknown)
"Show title" ("?" if unknown)
Station (City, State)
Years aired
******************************************************
Allen, David
(see DAVID ALLEN)
Barclay, John
(see JOHN BARCLAY)
BARON DAEMON
(Mike Price)
"?"
WIXT-TV (Syracuse, New York)
1962 - 1968
Big Chuck
(see HOOLIHAN and BIG CHUCK and LITTLE JOHN)
BILLY VAN (PYRE)
(?)
"?"
KTLA (Los Angeles, California)
197? - 197?
BOB WILKINS
(real name)
"Creature Features"
KCRA (Sacramento, California)
1971 - 19?
KTVU (Oakland, California)
1971 - 1978
The Body
(see THE BOWMAN BODY)
THE BOWMAN BODY, a.k.a. THE BODY
(Bill Bowman)
"Shock Theatre"
WXEX (Richmond, Virginia)
1970 - 1976
"Cobweb Theatre"
WVIR-TV (Charlottesville, Virginia)
1977 - 1979
"Monsterpiece Theatre"
WNVC (Fairfax, Virginia)
1983 - 19?
Budd, Milton
(see MILTON BUDD)
Byram, George
(see GEORGE BYRAM)
Cadaverino, Dr.
(see DR. CADAVERINO)
Cerberus, Professor
(see PROFESSOR CERBERUS)
Cecil Creape, Sir
(see SIR CECIL CREAPE)
CHILLY BILLY
(Bill Cardille)
"Chiller Theatre"
"Saturday Late Show"
WIIC-TV and WPXI-TV (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
1963 - 1983
CHUCK ZINK
(real name)
"?"
WTVJ (Miami, Florida)
195? - 19??
COMMANDER USA and LEFTY
(?)
"Groovie Movies"
USA Cable Network (from a Video Vault in suburban New Jersey)
1985 - 1989
The Cool Ghoul
(see ZACHERLEY and next item)
THE COOL GHOUL
(George Cavender -- see also ZACHERLEY, the original Cool Ghoul)
"?"
WOAC (Akron, Ohio)
1984 - 1985
THE COUNT
(Joe Towey)
"Nightmare Theatre"
KIRO-TV-7 (Seattle, Washington)
1968 - 1975
The Count (Count Scary)
(see COUNT SCARY, a.k.a THE COUNT)
COUNT FLOYD
(Joe Flaherty)
"Horror Chiller Monster Theatre"
(Fictional horror host on the TV comedy showcase SCTV)
COUNT SCARY, a.k.a THE COUNT
(Tom Ryan)
"Scary" specials; no regular series
WDIV-TV (Detroit, Michigan)
1982 - 19??
"Shocktober Halloween Movie Marathon"
WKBD (Detroit, Michigan)
1984 (as Count Scary), 1987 (as The Count)
COUNT GORE DE VOL
(Dick Dyszel)
"Creature Feature"
WDXR-TV (Paducah, Kentucky)
1971 - 1972
"Saturday Chiller"
WDCA (Washington, D.C.)
1973 - 1979, 1984 - 1987
COUNT SHOCKULA
(?)
"Shock Theatre"
? (Winston-Salem, North Carolina)
19?? - 19??
COUNT ZAPPULA
(Don Melvoin)
"?"
Channel 29 (Traverse City, Michigan)
1976 - 1980
WPBN-TV-7 (Traverse City, Michigan)
Early '80's - 19??
THE CREEP
(?)
"Creature Feature"
"Son of Creature Feature"
"Revenge of Creature Feature"
WNEW-TV (New York, New York)
Early '80's
CREMATIA MORTEM, a.k.a. THE GHOSTESS WITH THE MOSTESS
(Roberta Solomon)
"Creature Feature"
KSHB-TV-41 (Kansas City, Missouri)
1981 - 19??
Daemon, Baron
(see BARON DAEMON)
Daughter of Desire, The
(see STELLA)
DAVID ALLEN
(real name)
"?"
WKBN-TV (Youngstown, Ohio)
195? - 19??
Doug Graves
(see SON OF SVENGOOLIE and DOUG GRAVES)
DR. CADAVERINO
(Jack Du Blon)
"Nightmare Theatre"
WITI (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
1964 - 1977
DR. E. NICK WITTY and EPAL
(Alan Milair, Bill Everett)
"Monster Movie Matinee"
WXTM (Syracuse, New York)
1964 - 1980
"Chamber 13 - Tales of Horror"
Cable Channel 13 (Syracuse, New York)
1980 - 1985
DR. LUCIFER
(?)
"?"
WBAL-TV (Baltimore, Maryland)
195? - 19??
DR. LUCIFUR
(Ken Bramming)
"Shock Theater"
WSIX (now WKRN-TV) (Nashville, Tennessee)
1958 - 196?
DR. MADBLOOD
(Jerry Harrell)
"Dr. Madblood's Movie"
WAVY-TV (Virginia Beach, Virginia)
1975 - 1982, 1984, 1986
"Dr. Madblood's Night Visions"
WHRO (Virginia Beach, Virginia)
1982 - 1983
"?"
WTVZ (Virginia Beach, Virginia)
1989 - 19??
DR. MERIDIAN
(?)
"Shock!"
WPTA-TV (Fort Wayne, Indiana)
195? - 19??
DR. ALEXANDER MORGUS, a.k.a. MORGUS THE MAGNIFICENT
(Sidney Noel Rideau)
"House of Shock"
WWL-TV (New Orleans, Louisiana)
1959 - 196?
"Morgus Presents"
WJBK-TV (Detroit, Michigan)
1964
Other New Orleans TV stations and syndications until 1989.
DR. PAUL BEARER
(Dick Bennick)
"Creature Feature"
WTOG (St. Petersburg, Florida)
197? - 199?
DR. SHOCK
(Joseph Zawislak)
"Scream-In"
"Mad Theater"
"Horror Theater"
WPHL-TV (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
1969 - 1979
Dr. ZinGRR (mixed case intentional)
(Robert O. Smith)
"?"
Channel 13 (Seattle, Washington)
1971 - 1976
Drac
(see FRANK and DRAC)
Epal
(see DR. E. NICK WITTY and EPAL)
ELVIRA, MISTRESS OF THE DARK
(Cassandra Peterson)
"Movie Macabre"
KHJ-TV (Los Angeles, California)
1981 - 199?
FAMOUS MORRIS
(?)
"?"
KCOP (Los Angeles, California)
c. 1975
Floyd, Count
(see COUNT FLOYD)
Frank
(see FRANK and DRAC)
FRANK and DRAC
(Christopher Allen, Robert Kokai)
"The Frank and Drac Show"
WOIO (Cleveland, Ohio)
1987 - 1988
Frankie
(see WARREN REED and FRANKIE)
GEORGE BYRAM
(real name)
"?"
KBTV (Denver, Colorado)
195? - 19??
The Ghostess with the Mostess
(see CREMATIA MORTEM)
THE GHOUL
(Ron Sweed)
"?"
Channel 61 (Cleveland, Ohio; syndicated in other major cities)
1971 - 1974, 1982
"?"
WXON-TV (Detroit, Michigan)
1976 - 1978
GHOULARDI
(Ernie Anderson)
"?"
WJW-TV (Cleveland, Ohio)
1962 - 1966
GHOULITA
(?)
"Jeepers Creepers Theatre"
KCOP-TV-13 (Los Angeles, California)
1963 - 1964
Gore De Vol
(see COUNT GORE DE VOL)
GORGON THE GRUESOME
(Bill Camfield)
"Nightmare"
KFJZ-TV (Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas)
1957 - 1964
GRAMPA
(Al Lewis, reviving his role in the '60's sitcom "The Munsters")
"Super Scary Saturday"
WTBS (Atlanta, Georgia)
1987 - 1989
Graves Ghastly, Sir
(see SIR GRAVES GHASTLY)
GREGORE
(Greg Dunn)
"?"
KMTV (Omaha, Nebraska)
195? - 19??
GREGORY GRAVE
(Harvey Brunswick)
"Shock!"
KMBC (Kansas City, Missouri)
195? - 19??
GRIMSLEY
(Robert Forster)
"Fright Night"
KHJ-TV (Los Angeles, California)
1976 - c. 1979
THE HOST and RODNEY
(Tom Leahy, Lee Parsons)
"Nightmare"
KAKE-TV (Wichita, Kansas)
195? - 19??
HOOLIHAN and BIG CHUCK and LITTLE JOHN
(Bob Wells, Charles Schodowski, and John Rinaldi)
"The Hoolihan and Big Chuck Show"
"The Big Chuck and Little John Show"
WJKW-TV (Cleveland, Ohio)
1966 - 199?
JEEPERS CREEPERS
(Bob Guy)
"Jeepers Creepers Theatre"
KCOP-TV-13 (Los Angeles, California)
1962 - 1963
JEEPERS KEEPER
(Fred Stuthman)
"Jeepers Creepers Theatre"
KCOP-TV-13 (Los Angeles, California)
1964 - 19??
JOHN BARCLAY
(real name)
"Nightmare Theater"
KRON-TV (San Francisco, California)
19?? - 19??
JOHN STANLEY
(real name)
"Creature Features"
KTVU (Oakland, California)
1979 - 1984
THE KEEPER
(Rich Clark)
"Chamber Theatre"
WVEC-TV-13 (Hampton-Norfolk, Virginia)
1984 - 1986
Lefty
(see COMMANDER USA and LEFTY)
Little John
(see HOOLIHAN and BIG CHUCK and LITTLE JOHN)
Lucifer, Dr.
(see DR. LUCIFER)
Lucifur, Dr.
(see DR. LUCIFUR)
M.T. GRAVES
(?)
"?"
WCKT (Miami, Florida)
195? - 196?
MACABRA
(?)
"Theatre of the Macabre"
WOWT (Omaha, Nebraska)
1982 - 1985
Madblood, Dr.
(see DR. MADBLOOD)
MAD DADDY
(Pete Myers)
"Shock Theater"
WJW-TV (Cleveland, Ohio)
195? - 19??
Maneater from Manyunk, That
(see STELLA)
MARILYN THE WITCH
(Dolores Denny)
"The Witching Hour"
KCMO (Kansas City, Missouri)
195? - 19??
MARVIN
(Terry Bennett)
"Shock!"
WBKB (Chicago, Illinois)
195? - 19??
Meridian, Dr.
(see DR. MERIDIAN)
MILTON BUDD
"?"
WMBD-TV (Peoria, Illinois)
195? - 19??
Mistress of the Dark
(see ELVIRA)
MOONA LISA
(?)
"Fright Night"
KHJ-TV (Los Angeles, California)
c. 1971
Morgus, Dr.; Morgus the Magnificent
(see DR. MORGUS)
Nefu Ned
(see UNCLE TED and NEFU NED)
Nesmith, Ottola
(see OTTOLA NESMITH)
OTTOLA NESMITH
(real name)
"?"
KTLA (Hollywood, California)
195? -19??
THE OUTSIDER
(John Burke)
"?"
WSUN-TV (Tampa, Florida)
195? - 19??
Paul Bearer
(see DR. PAUL BEARER)
PETER VINCENT
(Roddy McDowall)
"Fright Night"
(Fictional horror host in film "Fright Night" (1985)
PROFESSOR CERBERUS
(Greg Bransom)
"Museum of Horrors"
KXAS-TV (Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas)
1973 - 1975
Reed, Warren
(see WARREN REED and FRANKIE)
Rodney
(see THE HOST and RODNEY)
ROLAND
(John Zacherle; see also ZACHERLEY)
"Shock Theater"
WCAU-TV (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
1957
"Shock Theater"
WCAU-TV (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
1957 - 1958
RONALD
(Jerry Sandford)
"Shock Theatre"
WVEC-TV (Norfolk-Hampton, Virginia)
195? - 19??
SAMMY TERRY
(Bob Carter)
"?"
WTTV (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Early - late '60's, '70's- late '80's
Channel 11 (Indianapolis, Indiana)
1990 - 199?
SELWIN
(Ray Sparenberg)
"?"
WISH-TV (Indianapolis, Indiana)
195? - 19??
SEYMOUR
(Larry Vincent)
"Fright Night"
"Seymour Presents"
KHJ-TV (Los Angeles, California)
c. 1970 - 197?
"Monster Rally"
KTLA-TV (Los Angeles, California)
c. 1973
Shock, Dr.
(see DR. SHOCK)
Shockula
(see COUNT SHOCKULA)
SIR CECIL CREAPE
(Russ McCown)
"Creature Feature"
WSM-TV (Nashville, Tennessee)
1971 - 1982
"The Phantom of the Opry"
TNN (Nashville, Tennessee)
1982 - 1985
SIR GRAVES GHASTLY
(Lawson J. Deming)
"Sir Graves Ghastly Presents"
WJBK (Detroit, Michigan)
1966 - 1983
WTOP (Washington, D.C.)
196? - 197?
STELLA, a.k.a. THE DAUGHTER OF DESIRE, THAT MANEATER FROM MANYUNK
(Karen Scioli)
"Saturday Night Dead"
KYW-TV (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
1984 - 1990
SON OF GHOUL
(Kevin Scarpino)
"?"
WOAC (Akron, Ohio)
198? - 19??
SON OF SVENGOOLIE and DOUG GRAVES
(Rich Koz, Doug Scharf)
"Son of Svengoolie"
WFLD (Chicago, Illinois)
1979 - 1986
Stanley, John
See JOHN STANLEY
SVENGOOLIE
(Jerry G. Bishop)
"Screaming Yellow Theater"
WFLD (Chicago, Illinois)
1970 - 1973
TARANTULA GHOUL
(Suzanne Waldron)
"House of Horrors"
KPTV (Portland, Oregon)
195? - 19??
TERRENCE
(Russ Coglin)
"Nightmare Theater"
KRON-TV (San Francisco, California)
19?? - 19??
Terry, Sammy
(see SAMMY TERRY)
TOULOUSE-NONECK
(Rick Felski)
"Shock Theater"
"Shock Rock"
WISN-TV (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
1979 - 1988
UNCLE TED and NEFU NED
(Ted Raub, Richard Briggs)
"Uncle Ted's Ghoul School"
WNEP-TV-16 (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania)
1974 - c. 1982
"Uncle Ted's Monstermania"
WVIA-TV-44 (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania)
1984 - 19??
VAMPIRA
(Maila Nurmi)
"?"
KABC (Los Angeles, California)
1954-55
Van (Pyre), Billy
(see BILLY VAN (PYRE)
Vincent, Peter
(see PETER VINCENT)
WARREN REED and FRANKIE
Warren Reed, Paul Herlinger)
"?"
KTNT-TV (Seattle, Washington)
195? - 19??
Wilkins, Bob
(see BOB WILKINS)
Witty, Dr. E. Nick
(see DR. E. NICK WITTY and EPAL)
ZACHERLEY, THE COOL GHOUL
(John Zacherle; see also ROLAND)
"Shock!"
"Zacherley at Large" (syndicated)
WABC-TV, WOR-TV, WPIX (New York, New York)
1958 - 1966
Zappula, Count
(see COUNT ZAPPULA)
Zink, Chuck
(see CHUCK ZINK)
ZinGRR, Dr.
(see DR. ZinGRR)
ZOMBO
(Louis Nye)
"?"
(Fictional horror host on an episode of "The Munsters" '60's TV
sitcom; Eddie Munster's hero until he discovers Zombo's human.)
Ed Dambik
Thanks for the list!
I miss these movie hosts too...
The Other Ed
Jamie Zawinski
>
> CHILLY BILLY
> (Bill Cardille)
> "Chiller Theatre"
> "Saturday Late Show"
> WIIC-TV and WPXI-TV (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
> 1963 - 1983
...
> COUNT FLOYD
> (Joe Flaherty)
> "Horror Chiller Monster Theatre"
> (Fictional horror host on the TV comedy showcase SCTV)
The show titles aren't a coincidence! Joe Flaherty is from Pittsburgh, and
Count Floyd was always making references to landmarks, and surrounding towns,
and things like that. Floyd played better movies than Cardille, though.
(And don't forget Bill Cardille's roles in both versions of Night of the
Living Dead. "They're dead, they're all messed up.")
-- Jamie
morr...@wittenberg.edu
> >
>
... and let's not forget Dr. Creep, host of 'Shock Theater' on Dayton, Ohio's
NBC affiliate from the late 70's to the early 80's, I believe. He was a
corpulent, bearded man who wore white make-up, a stove-pipe hat and a cape.
How could I not hold a sentimental place in my heart for the man who first
showed me such films as _Trog_ and _Clones_?
Dr. Creep, one of the greats.
James A. Gardner
Thanks for the list. How I miss those shows-- I grew up
watching Sammy Terry, (Indianapolis), Svengoolie and Son of
Sven (Chicago) and Commander USA. For the record, though,
I don't think Sammy Terry was even on a channel 11, but on
channel 4 (WTTV, Bloomington-Indianapolis, Indiana).
Michael Alberty
>From: j...@lucid.com (Jamie Zawinski)
>Subject: Re: List of TV Horror Movie Hosts from Book (600+ lines)
>Date: 18 Mar 1994 01:34:55 GMT
Virginia and the enchanting Terminal Stare (played by a knock down beautiful
Pittsburgh aerobics instructor named Donna.
Michael Alberty
>From: dam...@fnalo.fnal.gov (Ed Dambik)
>Subject: Re: List of TV Horror Movie Hosts from Book (600+ lines)
>
>Thanks for the list!
>
>I miss these movie hosts too...
>
>
>
in Portland OR who hosted Sinister Cinema on KATU-TV in Portland in the
1970s. Sinister Cinema was one of the best late night horror shows I ever
saw, and I've seen almost all the great ones.
Mark A. Natola
> (Bob Guy)
> "Jeepers Creepers Theatre"
> KCOP-TV-13 (Los Angeles, California)
> 1962 - 1963
Before Frank Zappa formed the Mothers of Invention in the early 1960s, he
recorded and produced a number of songs, including a couple with Bob Guy.
The first song was titled "Dear Jeepers", and the second was titled "Letter
from Jeepers" (both titles are off the top of my head, so forgive me if they
aren't exact). They were released on an obscure label back then, but have
since found their way onto a couple of Zappa compilations. The first
reissue was on the Rhino records lp titled "RARE MEAT". Since then, it has
been released on a Japanese CD titled "The Cucamonga Years (or Era). If you
remember this show (which I don't), you'll want to pick these songs up.
One show that I did not see mentioned was "Simon's Sanctorum", which played
on CH 56 in Boston during the early 1970s. It was basicly a wrap around,
where Simon introduced the movies. What I remember most about SS was that
each week after the movie, they would play installments from the Flash
Gordon seriels. They were great! Unfortunately, the guy that played Simon
has disappeared into obscurity. After a number of telephone calls to the
station, I was only able to find one person that remembered the show, and he
said that the host had long since left the station, and unfortunately, noone
knew his whereabouts. Oh well, he still exists in my memories!
Mark
Dean Weidling
You have stimulated some of my earliest memories by mentioning
M.T. Graves.
It's pretty dim but I recall one show where he was to inherit a
7 carat ring from some uncle or something. After a big buildup, at
the end of the show he gets a big steel ring with 7 carrots on it.
Even as a tot I groaned at that one.
Let me see there was some Ghoul or something he could talk to
through an opening in the wall. Actually a puppet I think. I
remember another show where he escaped from the dungeon (come to
think of it 'The Dungeon' may have been the name of the show),
anyway he showed a film clip of him crawling out of a manhole and
running around the streets of (I presume) Miami then somehow winding
up right back in his cell.
I can't imagine how this show would look if I could see it today.
I'd probably be too embarrassed to watch it.
BTW during those years that station had a cheesy kid's show on.
The host had a sidekick named Toby the Robot. Costume = inverted
plastic garbage can body, inverted plastic bucket head, oven mitt
hands. He couldn't talk but had a button on his chest which made a
beeping noise. Anyway, back to the host of the show...Hmmm something
about that voice...that face...
OH MY GOD !!!!!! <clutches chest> That guy was the SAME guy who
played M.T. GRAVES !!!!!!!!!!!
Can't remember his name thought.
Lisa Klobucar CIS-AH MSU
> In article <1994Mar17...@fnalo.fnal.gov>, dam...@fnalo.fnal.gov
(Ed Dambik) writes:
> > >
> >
> NBC affiliate from the late 70's to the early 80's, I believe. He was a
> corpulent, bearded man who wore white make-up, a stove-pipe hat and a
cape.
> How could I not hold a sentimental place in my heart for the man who
first
> showed me such films as _Trog_ and _Clones_?
>
> Dr. Creep, one of the greats.
hey what about the Ghoul??? he hosted some movie show on channel 50 in the
detroit area.
Also Sir Graves Ghastly on channel 2 in detroit.
--
Lisa Klobucar-"He's as sexy as a peacock in full Plume!-Loretta, AW
1/22/94"
IAH Dept.101 Linton Hall
Email: Li...@ah5.cal.msu.edu OR 2230...@msu.edu
Phone (517) 355-9572 "if no one answers, hang up!"
Fax (517) 336-1858