Zacherley always seemed like everything you said , and eternally youthful. Did he eat so many gherkins , it pickled his internal workin's? If you can't find any footage from back in the day , friends , seek out "Zacherley's Horrible Horror " on Goodtimes ("Trademark of Quality") , tons of great clips , outtakes , trailers and promotional bits , hosted by the man (?) himself. Of course , before Bobby Bare became a Country star , he recorded the great spooky Rockabilly love song to Vampira , one of many Horror Host / Rock'n'ROLL tie - ins , as YOU MENTIONED. MORGUS tHE MAGNIFICENT , OUT OF NEW oRLEANS , recorded a self - titled rocker , too. iT'S VERY COOL THAT YOU GOT TO KNOW MAILA NURMI (VAMPIRA.), there were some great pictures of her with Elvis on her website. One where Elvis is pretending to CHOKE her (See "Tickle Me" for Elvis' only connection to Horror , and some damn good mid - period songs , plus possibly his most stunning leading lady. I said POSSIBLY.). oF COURSE , GHOULARDI IS THE KING , AND , FORTUNATELY , A WHOLE CD OF MAD DADDY BROADCASTS HAS SURFACED , THO' , as great as the two "Mad Mike " comps on Norton are , they're light on Mad Mike DJ spots. These people LIVED it. It's ALL Rock'n'Roll , from where I stand.
I met a few , but not the super - greats .....Marvel Comics Artist , Kerry Gammil , did a stint as a Horror Host , "Professor Cerebrus" , in the Dallas / Ft. Worth area. He had Uncle Creepy , The Wolfman , Frankenstein's Monster , The Fly and others in his cast. I moved to Arlingfun (sic) , Texas , six months too late to see his program , but , I did see him do a live monster show with most of his cast. It was GREAT !!!!!! I met Gammil , still in character , then , met him , another time , portraying himself. I did'nt know the two were one and the same for about 30 years. His show "Nightmare " went off the air , I think , in '75 , but returned a few years later , sans a host. This was where I first saw "Dracula Vs. Frankenstein" , "Frankenstein's Bloody Terror " (Twice !) , and "It! The Terror From Beyond Space" (A favorite of Johnny Ramone.).
Best of all , a good friend's Dad , earlier on , in Kewanee , Illinois , was a Horror Host out of the Quad Cities area. His real name was Ken Gibson , and he played an Edwardian vampire , with moderately long hair and badass sideburns , called Vincent Hedges. Actually , the host and the namesake of the program was the SPONSOR , Chuck Acree, who owned a home improvement business.....Hedges / Gibson offered comic relief , doing silent movie - inspired routines , with not only no soundtrack , but they were often shot in broad daylight ! The filters used to create the illusion of darkness were expensive , but , COME ON !
I also met Ron Sweed , "The Ghoul" , Ghoulardi's successor , by chance , and he told some great stories about Ernie Anderson , whose shoes he could never fill , but , he was doing the character with Ernie's blessings. I think he's still around(?).
BUT , HEDGES , AND FOR THAT MATTER , ACREE , BECAME VERY POPULAR ON "ACREE CREATURE FEATURES" IN THE 70'S , AND AGAIN , IN THE 80'S. GIBSON WAS A HERO WITH THE KIDS IN KEWANEE , WHERE HE LIVED , NOT FAR FROM ME. HE WAS THE COOLEST ADULT I'D EVER KNOWN. ALWAYS QUICK WITH A JOKE , AND SENDING OUT THE MESSAGE WE NEEDED SO BADLY - GROWING UP IS OVERRATED !!!!
HE PUT ON SPECTACULAR HAUNTED HOUSES FOR THE MARCH OF DIMES , DURING THE HIGH HOLIDAYS. HE EVEN HAD AN ALL - MONSTER BASEBALL TEAM THAT PLAYED EXHIBITION GAMES FOR THE MARCH OF DIMES. THE OTHER PARENTS SHOULD HAVE LOVED HIM , AS WE KIDS DID. NO !!!!!!
GIBSON OPENED A TEEN AND PRE -TEEN AFTER SCHOOL HANGOUT CALLED "VINNIE'S HIDEAWAY". INSTEAD OF HANGING UP YOUR COAT , YOU THREW IT IN A COFFIN !
THERE WERE BLACKLIGHT POSTERS , PINBALL , SOMETHNG NEW CALLED AIR HOCKEY , AND SOMETHING EVEN NEWER CALLED PONG !!!!! THE KILLJOY PARENTS CHASED HIM OUT OF HIS CASTLE OF COOL , WITH STAKES , ROCKS , PITCHFORKS AND TORCHES. THEY DID'NT LIKE US YOUNG KIDS CONSORTING WITH THE TEENS. IN REALITY , I GOT MORE SHIT FROM THE BIGGER KIDS AT THE MOVIES , OR EVEN THE YMCA , WHERE WE WERE LEFT UNSUPERVISED , UNLIKE GIBSON'S PLACE......He resufaced , later , with a family restaurant under the same name.
Howie Pyro said:
i love zacherley as he is even now at 94 (i think) so accessible to his fans...i called him recently & even though he had no idea what i was really asking he played along & was such a perfect host to a voice on the telephone (i was asking him to do an ID for my radio show, but to call me back and say a bunch of stuff into my voicemail which made no sense to him, haha) wonderful man. Vampira was also so nice...there's a great gallery show up right now on La Brea in hollywood at High Voltage (well next door, this is Kat Von D's Tattoo shop & she opened a store/gallery next door) of loads of unseen Vampira photos & cool stuff like her handmade wooden bat sunglasses...Ghoulardi is so amazing...(and don't get me started about The Mad Daddy, the wildest weirdest radio dj ever, along with Mad Mike from Pittsburgh...). I have a great collection of horror host rock n roll 45's, some with amazing picture sleeves...it seems the 2 went hand in hand & sooo many of them made weird cool records...
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