Thread: Horror movie hosts

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Okay, how many of you live in areas that have the late night horror movie hosts? Who watches them and what are there names. I am in Northeast Ohio and we haven't had one in a few years. I think they are great even if they are sometimes pretty campy.

When I was a kid we had a guy named Bob Wilkens. He hosted Creature Features and had a really dry sense of humor. He was a small guy and smoked a big cigar. He would introduce the films and provide some trivia about the film, he would make fun of the chessy ones. There would always be a double feature. I remember trying to stay up late at night to watch those movies.

Hey, Kronax,
I remember Bob Wilkins, too. He was sorta demoted from doing the weather on channel 2 in the Bay Area to hosting the Creature Features show. I think he was finally replaced with some guy named Stanley. I miss those old flicks...

In the Seattle area, where I grew up, we had a guy many years ago who did a very cheesy Count Dracula. He was simply known and the KIRO Count (KIRO was the station). He was played by Joe Towey who's day job was as a director of many local TV programs.

I lived one year in the Washington DC area and in 1970 they had a guy named sir Graves Ghastly. He was very over-the-topand hammy.

I spent a couple of years in Los Angeles in the mid 70's and would watch a mortician named Grimsley introduce the late night horror movies every week. I remember him as being quite strange and rather enjoyed him.

THE BEST I've ever seen however was when our family spent a summer vacation visiting relatives in Akron, Ohio. It was the summer of 1963 and I was 8 years old. My older brother and I quickly became avid Ghoulari fans. We couldn't get enough of him. He was a riot and had a profound influence on both of us.

Looking for a trip down Memory Lane? Searching for info about whatever horror host you used to watch? Check out this site:
http://myweb.wvnet.edu/e-gor/tvhorrorhosts/index.html

Great site, gardener! Thanks for posting.

I grew up in the Detroit area and remember watching the Sir Graves Ghastly on Saturday afternoons. The show would open up with the camera zooming through a pair of cemetery gates as they opened and over to a closed casket. The casket would open and Sir Graves would sit up and start talking.

For late night there was also a host called "The Ghoul". I didn't watch him much because I was pretty young, but I remeber one of the times I watched him, he showed the original "Night of the Living Dead". I started watching it and did'nt get past the cemetery part where the actor is saying "He's coming to get you Barbera" before I freaked and went to bed.

Zacherley! Zacherley! Zacherley!

My All Time Fave was a satire of all the old Horror Hosts. SCTV used to show "Count Flloyd", on "Monster Chiller Horror Theatre". It was Joe Flaherty done up as Dracula hosting foolish "Horror Flicks". The films were actually scenes featuring John Candy, Eugene Levy and others. Classic.

I grew up in the early 80's watching Uncle Ted on Channel 44 (I think) out of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Stella on Channel 3 from Philadelphia, and also Commander USA on the USA Network. Here's another great link about the older hosts:

http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/3257/

I grew up watching Dr. Paul Bearer in the Tampa Bay, FL area. How I loved his "horrible old movies" - always on Sat. afternoon! It seemed like Attack of the Mushroom People was on at least once a month. Godillza, Rodan, Mothra, Fing Fang Foom - all the great monsters were there. And Dracula's Daughters, Curse of Dracula - lots of tight bodice vampire movies. Dr. Paul Bearer died about 10 years ago and it made me so sad when I found out.

I used to watch Joe Bob Briggs in the 90s. I wish there was a horror host out there now, but I haven't seen once in years.



Victoria