WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE TV HORROR HOSTS , WHETHER THEY'RE CURRENT , BEFORE YOUR TIME , OR SOMEONE YOU GREW UP WITH AND HAVE FOND MEMORIES OF(And , I hope most of you heeded the advice of KING GHOULARDI , and never quite grew up.). Any good stories about meeting any of them , in or out of character? I'll catch up , later. My original thesis was deleted. iT WAS A BAD FIRECRACKER , GROUP , IT DID'NT GO BOOM BOOM.

Richard Koz , Best known as Chicago Horror Host Svengoolie , survived a heart attack last week , and is reportedly recovering well. Koz began his Horror Host career as a replacement to the original Svengoolie ( Chicago and Cleveland R'n'R Radio Deejay , Jerry G. Bishop.). He served his first term , from the late 70's into The 80's as Son of Svengoolie , in a costume vaguely resembling a bearded Alice Cooper (Bishop looked something like a more hippified Roy Wood , with long green hair AND beard.). His program was cancelled , but , he returned , I want to say , in the late 90's , as just "Svengoolie" in the same costume , makeup and fake beard. His show still airs , and , of course , will likely consist of reruns until he is well enough to return. Koz also hosts a highly enjoyable , and , would you believe? , informative,  Three Stooges program , as himself. 

That's a good question. Hitchcock , of course , hosted his own Horror /Mystery show , and Karloff  hosted both "Thriller" and the lesser - known "The Veil", but , I would'nt , personally , call either of them Horror Hosts. They were'nt in character as somebody else ,  becoming celebrities in so doing. Karloff and Hitchcock were , of course , already celebrities , as were Rod Serling and Diana Rigg , for example , by the time they threw their hats in the Horror and Mystery ring. You could say that's a technicality , and that the genre is open to definition...But , to me , personally , a Horror Host should bear some kind of horriffic personna , even if it's one that's deliberately sexy , like Vampira or Elvira....I mean , there might be male Horror Hosts who are considered quite the studmuffins , as well. I don't know. Blood E. Murder made many women in Chicago throw their Romance Novels in the fire , I've been told.

Now!  In the UK we have the "Horror Channel" and host Emily Booth. (Shes cool. A hot host).

They have an eclectic mix of British, European, American and World horror.

Was Hitchcock a horror host? Maybe?

When I saw your comment , part of it , I remembered a great photo essay Famous Monsters did on Dr. Paul Bearer. He had huge , almost Marty Feldman - like eyes , one being unmistakably a glass eye , but , he utilized what made him unique , not an object of pity , and created a personna that no one could cop , not unless they wanted to go about it the HARD way. Even if he were'nt at an ocular disadvantage , he still looked different , and kids need that.  But.....If he started out in '74 , then , he would have been preceded by Wacky Packages , which started (If my geekass memory serves me right.) , in card form , in 1969 , reappearing a few years later as the stickers that were the prayer cards for us 70's PRE - TEENS. But , he might've been on another station  , previously. Ghoulardi also did monster product parodies , sent in by his fans.

Thank you for sharing (I mean it , maaaaan.).

I grew up with DR. PAUL BEARER out of Tampa/ St. Pete, Florida.  He was on Saturday afternoons with Creature Feature, a double feature of Universal or schocky horror movies.  I remember seen all the Abbot & Costello meet the... flicks.  He was the king of fake product placements.  Bleeder's Digest.  Raisin Brains.  Think Wacky Packages before Wacky Packages.  He was on the air on WTOG-44 from 1974 until almost the 90s!  AND he had a glass eye.

http://youtu.be/EDT9O1mgrEU

I realize there were a lot of spelling errors in my last comment. Used to be ,I could'nt even spell "Error" , now , I UR one.

Check out Blood E.Murder's American Nightmares .....Blood E.Murder has been (VERY) sporadically seen on Cable ACCESS IN cHICAGOLAND SINCE THE 90'S. hIS dvd COMES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED , ONEPART tv hORROR hOST PROGRAM , ONE PART TRIBUTE TO THE GREAT PAUL NASCHY (VERY WELL - CONSTRUCTED , AND FEATURING AMATEUR FOOTAGE OF HIS FIRST AND FINAL PUBLIC APPEARANCE IN AMERICA (THOUGH HE DID WORK IN TELEVISION AND FILMS , HERE , BEFORE BUILDING HIS HORROR EMPIRE.)    americannightmares.com

Also featuring Illinois' greatest Horror Rock/gARAGE /iNSTRO/Frat Rock / Country ETC. COMBO , The Renfields.

Most of you probably know Mr. Lobo's great show in SAN fRANCISCO , IF NOT , LOOK HIM UP.

My Brothr and his friends did an 8mm version of "The Odyssey'' in the 80's , called The Iddiocy. The key characters were Idyuss , NAUSEUS AND TESTICLES (Pron. "Testiclees"). It was'nt nearly as scary as this.....
 
MikeL said:

I think this is pretty cool:)

electrocute your cock said:

Oh no, we did have this. Terrifying!

I think this is pretty cool:)

electrocute your cock said:

Oh no, we did have this. Terrifying!

Oh no, we did have this. Terrifying!

I watched American Scary the other day. I would've loved this kind of thing growing up but we never had anything like it in the UK. Mind you, I probably wouldn't have been happy with them interrupting the films all the time.

Yes , I saw a trailer for that documentary. Have'nt actually seen it , tho'.

SVENGOOLIE , again , if we have'nt talked about this already , was played by Jerry G. Bishop in the early - mid 70's . HE'S A  FORMER CLEVELAND AND CHICAGO DJ , NOW BASED IN L.A..  HE WAS FRIENDS WITH ERNIE ANDERSON (King Ghoulardi.), and based his act partly on Ghoulardi , and a bit of Lenny Bruce thrown in. Goofy , but , hipper than most.   He was later replaced by Richard Koz as "Son of Svengoolie"......Koz returned to Televison in Chicago , several years ago. He now hosts a fine Three Stooges program as himself , and Horror MOVIES AS JUST "SVENGOOLIE".      Bishop was MUCH better , but , at least Koz is keeping it going, and kids are getting turned on to Horror movies , again.

Bishop briefly hosted a great Oldies show on an elusive , but outstanding , AM station (Oldies 1690.) that should have torn Chicago a new one , but died the death in about six months .

 
hips like cinderella said:

oh, i see where you mentioned it now. my bad, i must've accidentally looked over it at first. but yeah, the vincent price cameos were awesome. that doc American Scary talks about svengoolie, ghoulardi, dr. shock, and a ton of others. i highly recommend it to anyone interested in the topic.

John Battles said:

iF WE DID'NT GET AROUND TO TALKING ABOUT IT EARLIER , VINCENT PRICE DID COOL CAMEOS ON THIS SHOW (CANADIAN , LIMITED US DISTRIBUTION.) , AND A DVD CAME OUT A FEW YEARS AGO.

Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

Yeah, I mentioned it on page 2.
 
hips like cinderella said:

Also, has anyone ever seen this older kids show called The Hilarious House of Frightenstein? It's like Sesame Street had a baby with a haunted castle and that show was the offspring.

oh, i see where you mentioned it now. my bad, i must've accidentally looked over it at first. but yeah, the vincent price cameos were awesome. that doc American Scary talks about svengoolie, ghoulardi, dr. shock, and a ton of others. i highly recommend it to anyone interested in the topic.

John Battles said:

iF WE DID'NT GET AROUND TO TALKING ABOUT IT EARLIER , VINCENT PRICE DID COOL CAMEOS ON THIS SHOW (CANADIAN , LIMITED US DISTRIBUTION.) , AND A DVD CAME OUT A FEW YEARS AGO.

Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

Yeah, I mentioned it on page 2.
 
hips like cinderella said:

Also, has anyone ever seen this older kids show called The Hilarious House of Frightenstein? It's like Sesame Street had a baby with a haunted castle and that show was the offspring.

iF WE DID'NT GET AROUND TO TALKING ABOUT IT EARLIER , VINCENT PRICE DID COOL CAMEOS ON THIS SHOW (CANADIAN , LIMITED US DISTRIBUTION.) , AND A DVD CAME OUT A FEW YEARS AGO.

Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

Yeah, I mentioned it on page 2.
 
hips like cinderella said:

Also, has anyone ever seen this older kids show called The Hilarious House of Frightenstein? It's like Sesame Street had a baby with a haunted castle and that show was the offspring.

Zacherle Thax , "Bad Ghoul". Available NOW.
 
zacharythax said:

I never saw Zacherle on TV but I did hang out with him at a horror convention. He's a really cool guy. 

Yeah, I mentioned it on page 2.
 
hips like cinderella said:

Also, has anyone ever seen this older kids show called The Hilarious House of Frightenstein? It's like Sesame Street had a baby with a haunted castle and that show was the offspring.

I recently watched a pretty neat documentary called American Scary. Its about horror hosts and shit like that. (I'm pretty sure its available streaming on netlfix, actually.) I thoroughly enjoyed it. I recommend checking it out.

Also, has anyone ever seen this older kids show called The Hilarious House of Frightenstein? It's like Sesame Street had a baby with a haunted castle and that show was the offspring.

That's really cool. I bought his "Horrorble Horror" comp on Goodtimes (Trademark of QUALITY - HA HA HA HA) at Woolworth's 20 - odd years ago. Still have it. It's a keeper , if you eve rsee it.
 
zacharythax said:

I never saw Zacherle on TV but I did hang out with him at a horror convention. He's a really cool guy. 

I never saw Zacherle on TV but I did hang out with him at a horror convention. He's a really cool guy. 

It's so stupid. We all grew up loving shows from the 50's and 60's. I was'nt around in the 50's , and scarcely remember the late 60's, but all my favorite shows are pre - 80's. 
  It's not like we're Michael J.Fox in "Back To The Future"  , and would have known what Ralph Kramden was going to wear to the Racoon Lodge PARTY , BEFORE THE SHOW HAD EVER AIRED. A great show is a great show. Same is true of Horror Hosts , making a comeback , if they know what they're doing . It's proven successful more than once , tho' I'd love to see reruns of the original Svengoolie , and shows like that...

.
Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

Exactly.  It's the stations' mentality that nobody is going to remember anything from the 50s or 60s AS IF all those people are dead or just don't turn on a TV or radio anymore.  NIck at NIte has shows that are even more recent.
 
John Battles said:

  I ONLY EVER SAW TV LAND , ONCE , ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO.THEY WERE ALREADY HURTING FOR CLASSIC COMEDIES.    Maybe they could'nt get the rights to enough shows that don't suck. Sure , MeToo or MeTV is showing "Square Pegs", but , to me , THAT'S recent. And , I love that show....But even our remaining local UHF (OR WHATEVER THEY ARE , NOW)  stations were showing All in The Family , Sanford and Son , The Honeymooners , all the shows that SHOULD be on from 10:00 PM To MIDNIGHT, BUT , SLOWLY , THEY'D GET REPLACED BY ROSEANNE , FRAZIER , OTHER SHOWS THAT WERE'NT EVEN FUNNY , A WHOMPIN' 15 YEARS AGO.  It's like "Oldies " stations playing Billy Joel or Phil Colllins. It ain't Kosher.

Exactly.  It's the stations' mentality that nobody is going to remember anything from the 50s or 60s AS IF all those people are dead or just don't turn on a TV or radio anymore.  NIck at NIte has shows that are even more recent.
 
John Battles said:

  I ONLY EVER SAW TV LAND , ONCE , ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO.THEY WERE ALREADY HURTING FOR CLASSIC COMEDIES.    Maybe they could'nt get the rights to enough shows that don't suck. Sure , MeToo or MeTV is showing "Square Pegs", but , to me , THAT'S recent. And , I love that show....But even our remaining local UHF (OR WHATEVER THEY ARE , NOW)  stations were showing All in The Family , Sanford and Son , The Honeymooners , all the shows that SHOULD be on from 10:00 PM To MIDNIGHT, BUT , SLOWLY , THEY'D GET REPLACED BY ROSEANNE , FRAZIER , OTHER SHOWS THAT WERE'NT EVEN FUNNY , A WHOMPIN' 15 YEARS AGO.  It's like "Oldies " stations playing Billy Joel or Phil Colllins. It ain't Kosher.

  I ONLY EVER SAW TV LAND , ONCE , ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO.THEY WERE ALREADY HURTING FOR CLASSIC COMEDIES.    Maybe they could'nt get the rights to enough shows that don't suck. Sure , MeToo or MeTV is showing "Square Pegs", but , to me , THAT'S recent. And , I love that show....But even our remaining local UHF (OR WHATEVER THEY ARE , NOW)  stations were showing All in The Family , Sanford and Son , The Honeymooners , all the shows that SHOULD be on from 10:00 PM To MIDNIGHT, BUT , SLOWLY , THEY'D GET REPLACED BY ROSEANNE , FRAZIER , OTHER SHOWS THAT WERE'NT EVEN FUNNY , A WHOMPIN' 15 YEARS AGO.  It's like "Oldies " stations playing Billy Joel or Phil Colllins. It ain't Kosher.

Yeah, TVLand really sucks now with more recent reruns and adding new TV shows that the 3 majors won't touch.  Nick At Nite is pretty bad too.  So thank goodness for MeTV, Antenna TV and Retro TV.  I think Retro has something called Chiller Diller Movies also on Saturdays but they never say what's on in the listing or discription.
 
John Battles said:

Yeah , you're right. Antenna is SO similar to Me Too , it's easy to mistake one for the other. Those three stations are about all I watch , anymore. I never had TV Land , but , now , I don't think I'm missing that much. Nickelodeon USED TO have the best weeknight lineup - Dobie Gillis , Car 54 , Mr. Ed, Patty Duke , then , locally , we'd get The Honeymooners and Sgt, Bilko AT 10 AND 11 , I think....Elvira had a new show , I forget what station , and it was great . All classic schlock horror , plus she could incorporate more "Adult" humor. It died on the vine.
 
Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

Never seen MeToo but we do get Antenna TV but I think they are competetors as they are on a rival station trying for the same audience.  We also get one more channel:Retro Television.
 
John Battles said:

Do you , and our friends outside of Chicago , also get MeToo and Antenna , the  sister stations ? 
 
Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

I get MeTV in Seattle via cable.  It's on a Bellingham, WA station that I wouldn't normally get if I relied on an antenna system.  (Those digital boxes really suck)
 
John Battles said:

A Chicago boy ? Put 'er there. Or , maybe you get Me Tv (The only reason to have a TV , from where I stand.) somewhere else....You don't have to say where....Svengoolie was originally played by Chicago and Cleveland DJ , Jerry G. Bishop. He had Ernie Anderson's permission to do a character based on Ghoulardi , though with a more Hippie bent. He was great , there's cool clips on You Tube , inc. one with Tempest Storm !!! But , Richard Koz replaced him as "Son OF sVENGOOLIE" , I think , in the late 70's. He was off the air for several years , but , came back , doing the same act , as just "Svengoolie".  Bishop was way funnier , BUT , Koz is keeping it alive , and the kids love him , which is great.
 
Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

Svengoolie.  That's te name of the host I was trying to remember.  He's current and on MeTV on Saturday nights.

Yeah , you're right. Antenna is SO similar to Me Too , it's easy to mistake one for the other. Those three stations are about all I watch , anymore. I never had TV Land , but , now , I don't think I'm missing that much. Nickelodeon USED TO have the best weeknight lineup - Dobie Gillis , Car 54 , Mr. Ed, Patty Duke , then , locally , we'd get The Honeymooners and Sgt, Bilko AT 10 AND 11 , I think....Elvira had a new show , I forget what station , and it was great . All classic schlock horror , plus she could incorporate more "Adult" humor. It died on the vine.
 
Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

Never seen MeToo but we do get Antenna TV but I think they are competetors as they are on a rival station trying for the same audience.  We also get one more channel:Retro Television.
 
John Battles said:

Do you , and our friends outside of Chicago , also get MeToo and Antenna , the  sister stations ? 
 
Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

I get MeTV in Seattle via cable.  It's on a Bellingham, WA station that I wouldn't normally get if I relied on an antenna system.  (Those digital boxes really suck)
 
John Battles said:

A Chicago boy ? Put 'er there. Or , maybe you get Me Tv (The only reason to have a TV , from where I stand.) somewhere else....You don't have to say where....Svengoolie was originally played by Chicago and Cleveland DJ , Jerry G. Bishop. He had Ernie Anderson's permission to do a character based on Ghoulardi , though with a more Hippie bent. He was great , there's cool clips on You Tube , inc. one with Tempest Storm !!! But , Richard Koz replaced him as "Son OF sVENGOOLIE" , I think , in the late 70's. He was off the air for several years , but , came back , doing the same act , as just "Svengoolie".  Bishop was way funnier , BUT , Koz is keeping it alive , and the kids love him , which is great.
 
Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

Svengoolie.  That's te name of the host I was trying to remember.  He's current and on MeTV on Saturday nights.

You're right. It aired , briefly , in Chicago , when I was'nt living here. It originated in Canada . There is a DVD "Best of" that comes recommended to all fans of Rock'n'Horror. They had a real "Wolfman Jack" that would spin Rock'n'Roll hits (This was pre - Disco.), which the monsters would dance to. The host looked like Barnabis Collins....if he had green Vulcan blood. PLUS ! Vincent Price would do cameos , too ! But , yeah , it was more sketch - oriented. Good fun , tho'.
 
Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

There was another show during the 70s that was pretty great and even though it didn't have movies it was in the same vein but was more like a sketch show.  Hillarious House of Frightenstein, I think it was called.