WAmerican Scary is a 2006 American documentary film about the history and legacy of classic television horror hosts, written and directed by American independent filmmakers John E. Hudgens and Sandy Clark.
WErnest Earle Anderson was an American radio and television personality, horror host, and announcer.
WCharles "Big Chuck" Schodowski and "Lil' John" Rinaldi – together commonly known as Big Chuck and Lil' John – are a duo of entertainers who served as late-night horror hosts of The Big Chuck and Lil' John Show on television station WJW in Cleveland, Ohio from 1979 to 2007. In addition to hosting a movie with a live audience, they also performed original sketch comedy routines. At the end of each sketch was a very distinctive laugh voiced by comedian/actor Jay Lawrence, who was a disc jockey for KYW radio in Cleveland during the early 1960s.
WJerry G. Bishop was a radio and television personality who is known for being Chicago's original "Svengoolie", and for his award-winning twelve-year stint on "Sun-Up San Diego."
WJohn Irving Bloom, known by the stage name Joe Bob Briggs, is an American syndicated film critic, writer, actor, and comic performer. He is known for having hosted the TNT television series MonsterVision from 1996 to 2000, and The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs on Shudder from 2018–present.
WCinema Insomnia is a nationally syndicated American television series presented by horror host Mr. Lobo.
WZé do Caixão [ˈzɛ du kaj.ˈʃɐ̃õ], known in English-speaking countries as Coffin Joe, is a character created and nominally played by Brazilian writer, director, and actor José Mojica Marins. An amoral undertaker with Nietzschian beliefs, he is driven by his desire to have a son by "the perfect woman", believing that immortality is achieved through procreation, a concept he refers to as "the continuation of blood". He often resorts to murder, kidnapping, and rape to achieve his means, with his violent nature, atheism, and antagonism towards Christianity placing him into conflict with his largely Catholic neighbors. Despite his own disbelief in the supernatural, he often finds himself experiencing paranormal phenomena, including encounters with ghosts, Death, and visions of Hell.
WThe Cool Ghoul was a popular radio and TV character and horror movie host in Cincinnati, Ohio, created and portrayed by Dick Von Hoene, a Cincinnati native. With his trademark shout "Bleah, bleah, BLEAAAHHH!" and his inimitable tongue-fluttering "Bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl...", The Cool Ghoul was an icon of Cincinnati television, radio and local pop culture for over four decades.
WCount Gore de Vol is a television horror host who originally appeared on Washington, D.C.'s WDCA from 1973 to 1987. Originally named M.T. Graves and played by announcer Dick Dyszel, the character first appeared on the WDCA version of the Bozo the Clown program. When the character got a positive reaction, he was given his own program, called Creature Feature. The choice of Gore de Vol as the character's name was either a pun involving the name of acerbic author Gore Vidal or the name of a prominent Washington, D.C. funeral home, "de Vol." Gore de Vol became the Washington/Baltimore area's longest-running horror host, broadcast every Saturday night on WDCA from March 1973 to May 1987. He returned to the D.C. airwaves for a one-time special, Countdown with the Count, on New Year's Eve 1999/2000.
WCreature Features was a generic title for a genre of horror TV format shows broadcast on local U.S. television stations throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The movies broadcast on these various shows were generally classic and cult horror movies of the 1930s to 1950s, the horror and science-fiction films of the 1950s, British horror films of the 1960s, and the Japanese "giant monster" movies of the 1960s and 1970s.
WBarry Lee Hobart was a local television personality widely known to fans as Dr. Creep. He was a horror movie host on WKEF Television in Dayton, Ohio.
WDeadly Earnest was a late-night horror host active on Australian television between 1959–78. Originated as a live host of a horror film package for Perth's TVW-7 by 1959, the character was most active between 1966 and 1972 when adopted by the 0-10 Network. Broadcast weekly, Deadly Earnest's Aweful Movies featured mainly B-grade horror movies introduced by local actors with a tongue-in-cheek characterization. The program was renowned for screening low-budget B-grade supernaturally themed cinema, even going so far as to present the Worst Movie of the Year on at least one occasion.
WLawson J. Deming was a radio and TV character actor best known in Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Washington, D.C. and parts of Canada as the Saturday afternoon television horror movie host "Sir Graves Ghastly."
WEdward Robert Muscare, also known by his pseudonyms of Edarem, Uncle Ed, and Edmus Scarey, was an American television presenter, actor, internet celebrity, and sex offender. He gained success online through his eccentric and comedic posts on YouTube, uploaded from 2006 through 2009.
WDr. Gangrene is a television horror host based in the Middle Tennessee area, played by actor/writer/producer Larry Underwood.
WGhoulardi was a fictional character created and portrayed by voice announcer, actor and disc jockey Ernie Anderson as the horror host of Shock Theater at WJW-TV, Channel 8 the CBS Affiliate station in Cleveland, Ohio, from January 13, 1963, through December 16, 1966. Shock Theater featured grade-"B" science fiction films and horror films, aired in a Friday late-night time slot. At the peak of Ghoulardi's popularity, the character also hosted the Saturday afternoon Masterpiece Theater, and the weekday children's program Laurel, Ghoulardi and Hardy.
WErik Lobo, better known by his stage name Mr. Lobo, is an American artist and comedic actor best known as the horror host of the nationally syndicated American television series Cinema Insomnia.
WJosé Mojica Marins was a Brazilian filmmaker, actor, composer, screenwriter, and television horror host. Marins is also known for creating and playing the character Coffin Joe in a series of horror films; the character has since gone on to become his alter ego as well as a pop culture icon, a horror icon, and a cult figure. The popularity of Coffin Joe in Brazil has led to the character being referred to as "Brazil's National Boogeyman" and "Brazil's Freddy Krueger".
WMarvin was a television horror host, played by Terry Bennett, who originally appeared on Chicago's WBKB from 1957 to 1959.
WSharon Needles is the stage name of Aaron Coady, an American drag performer and recording artist. A self-described "stupid genius, reviled sweetheart, and PBR princess", Needles rose to international attention on the fourth season of the Logo reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race, where she quickly became a fan favorite and was subsequently crowned "America's Next Drag Superstar" in April 2012. After winning Drag Race, her debut album PG-13 was released in January 2013. It debuted at number 186 on the Billboard 200 and number nine on Dance/Electronic Albums. Since, Needles has released the US Dance/Electronic chart top-ten albums Taxidermy (2015) and Battle Axe (2017).
WMaila Elizabeth Niemi, known professionally as Maila Nurmi, was an American actress and television personality who created the campy 1950s character Vampira.
WCassandra Peterson is an American actress, writer and singer. She is best known for her portrayal of the horror hostess character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Peterson gained fame on Los Angeles television station KHJ-TV in her stage persona as Elvira, hosting Elvira's Movie Macabre, a weekly B movie presentation.
WEdwin Lynn Raub was a television personality and horror host under the name Uncle Ted in the Northeastern Pennsylvania viewing area of the United States. He is mostly known for hosting the programs Uncle Ted's Children's Party in the 1960s, Uncle Ted's Ghoul School from 1974 to 1982 and Uncle Ted's Monstermania from 1984 to 1997. He was posthumously inducted into the Horror Host Hall Of Fame in 2014. According to his first sidekick Richard Briggs: "He was a living legend, one of those guys who was around when (television) started up, and there's not too many of those guys around anymore."
WDr. Shock was a prominent 1970s fictional character, appearing on television as a horror host presenter, that was created and portrayed by magician Joseph Zawislak, commonly known as "Joe Zawislak." The character was created as an on-air host for the broadcast of B-rated horror movies for Philadelphia WPHL-TV Channel 17 that included three different show titles during his career: Scream-In, Mad Theater and Horror Theater. Dr. Shock, whose sign-off, "Let there be fright!", became a mantra for legions of school-age fans in Philadelphia for this local beloved celebrity. Fredy Benton, a young comedy writer and impressionist who worked with Dr. Shock in the early days, said that the horror host performed a version of the rubber chicken gag later made popular by Svengoolie.
WSir Graves Ghastly was a character created by Cleveland-born actor Lawson J. Deming (1913–2007) for the popular television show of the same name.
WThe Son of Ghoul is a horror host played by Keven Scarpino, appearing on The Son of Ghoul Show based in Akron, Ohio, where a B movie is presented along with comedy sketches.
WSuperhost was a character portrayed by TV personality Marty Sullivan at independent television station WUAB channel 43 in Cleveland from 1969 to 1989. He wore a baggy suit, cape and red nose to host the station's Saturday afternoon monster movie.
WSvengoolie is an American hosted horror movie television program. The show features horror and science fiction films and is hosted by the eponymous character Svengoolie, who was originally played by Jerry G. Bishop from 1970 to 1973, before Rich Koz succeeded him in the role from 1979 on. Before and after commercial breaks, Svengoolie presents sketches, tells jokes, and performs parody songs related to the films being aired. The show is a long-running local program in the Chicago area and in recent years expanded nationally, airing Saturday nights on MeTV.
WSammy Terry is a television horror host based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The role was originated by Robert "Bob" Carter in 1962, and Carter's son Mark Carter took over the role from his father in 2010. Bob Carter (1929–2013) was a television personality who appeared mostly on Indianapolis local television station WTTV, regularly during the 1960s and 1970s, and sporadically through the late 1980s. The format of Carter’s show as Sammy Terry, Nightmare Theater, usually involved the showing of two films. During the commercial breaks, Carter, in character as Sammy Terry, would engage in camp banter with the audience and his floating rubber spider, "George". This banter often included some commentary on the films being shown, which included classic films as well as many less-than-stellar productions common to the horror film era of the 1930s through the early 1960s. Carter died on June 30, 2013.
WLarry Vincent was an American television horror host, famed for his character "Seymour," who presented—and heckled—low-budget horror and science fiction movies on Fright Night on KHJ-TV and Seymour's Monster Rally on KTLA, both local stations in Los Angeles between 1969 and 1974. He was noted for his style of criticizing the movies he presented in an offbeat and funny manner, usually appearing in a small window which would pop up in the corner, tossing a quip, then vanishing again. Sometimes he would, using blue-screen, appear in the middle of the movie, apparently interacting with the characters in the movie.
WRobert D. "Bob" Wells, known as Bob "Hoolihan" Wells, is an American former television and radio personality and actor, who is best known to Cleveland, Ohio television viewers for his appearances on the then-CBS affiliate WJW TV Channel 8 during the 1960s and 1970s as "Hoolihan the Weatherman" and one-half of the Hoolihan and Big Chuck Show movie hosting team. Wells and partner Charles "Big Chuck" Schodowski replaced the former movie host, Ernie Anderson aka "Ghoulardi," in 1966 when Anderson left for Los Angeles to pursue a free-lance announcing and acting career.
WBob Wilkins was a television personality.
WJohn Zacherle was an American television host, radio personality, singer, and voice actor. He was best known for his long career as a television horror host, often broadcasting horror films in Philadelphia and New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. Best known for his character of "Roland/Zacherley", he also did voice work for films, and recorded the top ten novelty rock and roll song "Dinner With Drac" in 1958. He also edited two collections of horror stories, Zacherley's Vulture Stew and Zacherley's Midnight Snacks.
WRobert Bartleh Cummings, known professionally as Rob Zombie, is an American singer, songwriter, filmmaker, and voice actor. He is a founding member of the heavy metal band White Zombie, releasing four studio albums with the band. He is the older brother of Spider One, the lead vocalist of the industrial metal band Powerman 5000.