Start of C Listings — BIG page (all those "COUNT"s), so please be patient while it loads!

Cadaver, Dr.

(see DR. CADAVER)

Cadaver, Ivonna

(see BUTCH PATRICK and IVONNA CADAVER)

Cadaver, Madam

(see MADAM CADAVER)

Cadaverino, Dr. *

(see DR. CADAVERINO *)

Cadaverious, Floyd

(see FLOYD CADAVERIOUS)

Captain Harold

(see HAROLD GUNN)

Captain M. T. Space

(see M. T. Space)

CAPTAIN SPACE

(Dave DeWitt)

Visit Fiery-Foods.com, "the Fiery Foods and Barbecue Supersite" — Dave DeWitt's Web hot spot these days!

Name of show?

Saturday at midnight (pre-taped)

KOAT-TV, Channel 7 (Albuquerque, New Mexico)

1975-76

NOTES:

• E-gorespodent "rnigma" remembers this host:

  The Captain was supposedly an alien who arrived on earth in an egg-shaped craft (3 years before "Mork & Mindy"). The insignia on the chest of his spacesuit was a cracked egg with a lightning bolt coming out of it. I still recall his theme song after 22 years:
  

  Born on a planet far away,
  Captain Space landed here one day;
  Captain Space really must seem
  The strangest cat that you've ever seen.
  Captain Space don't cost six million dollars,
  He's the man with the strangest powers;
  Oh, Captain, stay here on earth,
  We all know what you're really worth.
  Captain Space, you're the guy for me,
  Floating around in my TV;
  I wanna see what you can't see,
  A space cadet's what I'm bound to be...

  The Captain had sketches between movie segments and commercials, such as a sketch called "Aliens Among Us," and fan mail, along with his soliloquies on his favorite beverage, Yucca Beer.

• Once in a while I, E-gor, receive very special e-mail like the following! —

  Hello E-Gor:
  
  Dave DeWitt here. I played Captain Space on KOAT-TV in Albuquerque 1975-76. I was astounded to find us listed in your database! Wayne Scheiner played Rusty the Robot. The show was indeed at midnight on Saturday, but was pre-taped. We were up against "Star Trek" and "Saturday Night Live" and beat them both in the ratings (I still have the Arbitron ratings in a file). We had to buy the time from the station and sell our own commercials, but we still made some money. I would start off the show by reading all the hate mail and I think that endeared me to the audience. Yucca Beer was indeed one of our fake sponsors, and your correspondent got our theme song mostly correct—hell, I can't even remember all the lyrics. Wayne sang the theme song which we co-wrote. The movies were mostly old sci-fi flicks like Revolt of the Triffids [aka Day of the Triffids — E-gor]. We would advise viewers to switch to another station because the movies we were showing were so bad—but they didn't!
  
  Thirty years later I'm now known as "The Pope of Peppers" because I'm an expert on chile peppers and spicy foods, with more than 30 published books of the subject—see www.fiery-foods.com. Wayne runs his own advertising agency and we're still best friends. All we have left of Captain Space are some still photos and fond memories.
  
  Best regards,
  Dave DeWitt

Carbuncle

(see UNCLE GHOULIE, CARBUNCLE, 13 and GORDON THE GORILLA)

Card, Count Alu

(see COUNT ALU CARD)

CARPATHIAN and THE PATIENT CREATURES

(Bob Beideman, Andrew Ely, Virginia Ely, Mia Rotondo, P.D. Cacek)

Visit the Patient Creatures Ltd. Website.

Horror Host Underground Network

Circulating videotape guest appearances

200? - Present

Live appearances at monstrous film festivals and other shows and events throughout the year (see Calendar of Events on the Patient Creatures Website for a schedule of forthcoming appearances).

NOTES:

• The cast of the live-performance / storytelling troupe called the Patient Creatures has evolved over the years, but currently includes: Bob Beideman as white-cloaked, skull-faced storyteller Carpathian; Andrew Ely as towering, black-cloaked Mr. Reaper (Carpathian's Cousin Grim); Virginia Ely as scarlet-coated, ram-horned, devilish Miss Kuzibah; Mia Rotondo as delightfully daffy vampiress Miss Scarlett; and P.D. Cacek as the Celtic Banshee Moira.
  
  
• The travelling troupe has a distinguished history going back to the late 1980's and the now-defunct Haunted Theatre, which was the premiere haunted house in Pennsylvania at that time. See "A Pictorial History of the Patient Creatures" on their Website for more information.
  
  
• Current TV host and Horror Host Underground co-founder A. Ghastlee Ghoul wrote a note to E-gor about them:

  Carpathian and The Patient Creatures are storytellers and short filmmakers, not technically TV horror hosts. The only segments they have done for TV were the ones you saw on the comp tape and some bits they did for The Nightshadow's "Attack of the B-Movie Horror Hosts" special. We hope to change that though, with an HDTV project that is in the works.

  Note from E-gor: the "comp tape" Ghastlee mentions is TV Horror Hosts from Coast to Coast, available on videotape and DVD-R from the HHU Website store. It includes segments of a wide variety of contemporary hosts, including clips of the Patient Creatures hosting a real turkey, I Eat Your Skin, as guests of Virginia horror host Dr. Sarcofiguy on his show's "Spooky Movie Thanksgiving Leftover Special".

Carradine, John

(see JOHN CARRADINE)

Cedric

(see THE SPOOKY SPECTRE and CEDRIC)

CECIL

(Real name=?)

Creature Feature (first film of double feature; see NOTE)

Saturday afternoon

Independent Channel 56 (now WLVI) (Boston, Massachusetts)

Early 70s

NOTE:

• Boston fan Paula O'Keefe, in a long e-mail on SIMON, briefly introduced us to this new host: "I wonder if someone may have confused (Simon) with Ch. 56's similar-looking Cecil, who hosted their "Creature Feature" Saturday afternoon horror movie (a double feature with "Tales From The Unknown," which showed science-fiction films and was hosted by a robotic voice known only as Bruce). It would be an easy mistake as they did look rather alike and were both appearing in the Boston area in roughly the same time period."

Cerberus, Professor *

(see PROFESSOR CERBERUS)

Cecil Creape, Sir *

(see SIR CECIL CREAPE)

Cherry Payne

(see THE DEBASER and CHERRY PAYNE)

Chester (Burnett)

(see SCRUFFY McGHOUL and CHESTER THE WEREWOLF)

Chester the Werewolf

(see SCRUFFY McGHOUL and CHESTER THE WEREWOLF)

CHILLY BILLY *

(Bill Cardille)

See Pittsburgh Horror Hosts, a new set of page on the "E-gor's Chamber" web site that's dedicated to collecting information about horror hosting activities in Iron City! If you can contribute new data, PLEASE DO — E-mail E-gor!

Check out the Chiller Theater Memories Yahoo Group! The group owner and moderator, John Buriak, is a long-time fan of the show and he says "Everyone is welcomed! Come in to the Castle and Laboratory and share your Chiller Theater Memories!" Check out the fast-growing collection of great pictures and multimedia goodies!

Visit John Buriak's Chiller Theater Memories website, with another rapidly-proliferating bunch of show-related stuff dug up by John's research (including a complete list of the movies shown -- see next item!) and/or contributed by hardcore Chilly Billy fans.

See Chiller Theater Movies, a complete, year-by-year list of all the movies Chilly Billy hosted during the entire run of the show, painstakingly researched by John Buriak for his Chiller Theater Memories group.

Read a great historical view of Chilly Billy's TV career, Monster Chiller Horror Theater: Growing Up MonsterMad with Pittsburgh's 'Chilly Billy' Cardille and Chiller Theater by Paul Riggie in issue #1 (July 1997) of MonsterMad, E-gor's one-shot monsterzine!

Read a terrific Chilly Billy interview conducted by Robert (Bobb) Cotter and Paul Riggie, reprinted with permission from the magnifico "MexicanMonsterMovieMag" Santo Scene # 11 (Vol. 2, # 3, October 2001).

Read How I Spent One Chilly Halloween, or "My Visit to Chilly Billy's Castle" by Susan Donley Johnston — a fan's memories of appearing on the Halloween 1980 Chiller Theater show... in a hunchback costume!

See Chilly MemoraBillya — a treasure trove of Chiller Theater autographed photos, records, posters, fan merchandise and other cool stuff! Got something cool and different? — share it with other fans!

Read Goodbye, Chilly Billy by Pittsburgh Press reporter Mike Hasch on The NEW Authorized Rege Cordic, Cordic & Co. and Olde Frothingslosh web site. (Originally published in The Pittsburgh Press, Saturday, December 31, 1983.)

See bio and images of Chilly Billy — and hundreds of images of a host of other horrors — at the incredible Horror Host Gallery website, courtesy of video shockaeologist Thomas Rudé!

See Bill "Chilly Billy" Cardille's Internet Movie Database info.

Check out Bill Cardille's current Pittsburgh radio show on the WJAS-AM 1320 website.

Chiller Theater

Saturday night, Sunday night, Saturday afternoon (?), Saturday late-night (see NOTES)

WIIC-TV (later WPXI-TV), Channel 11 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

September 14, 1963 - New Year's Eve/Day, 1983/1984

Chiller Theater Reunion Special (60-minute one-shot; no movie)

Saturday, 10:00 p.m.

WPXI-TV, Channel 11 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

December 14, 1991 (also aired several times since)

Chiller Theater: One More Time (one-shot special)

Sunday, 12:30 p.m.

WPXI-TV, Channel 11 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

Halloween season 1998 (part of "The WPXI Halloween Special")

(See Chiller Theater TV Log for a growing list of movies shown — E-gor.)

Elena Watson's Television Horror Movie Hosts reference:
whole chapter and picture (of Chilly Billy's LP jacket) in Ch. 8, "Chilly Billy: or Night of the Living Horror Host," pp. 65-69.

Other book reference:

• Two-page article with 6 photos, "'Chilly Billy' Cardille: Pittsburgh's own nighttime 'chiller' host," in The Collectors Guide to Monster Magazines (2nd printing, March 1978) by Bob Michelucci.

Magazine references:

• Four-page feature article, "The Emcee that Ate Pittsburgh" by R. Berrian in issue #53 (May, 1986) of Fangoria.
  
  
• Wonderful five-page feature with 10 pictures, Monster Chiller Horror Theater: Growing Up MonsterMad with Pittsburgh's 'Chilly Billy' Cardille and Chiller Theater by longtime show fan Paul Riggie in issue #1 (July 1997) of MonsterMad, pp. 12-16. (MonsterMad was E-gor's first (and so far only) attempt at monsterzine editing and publishing, kiddies!)
  
  
• Chillerific seven-page interview with Bill Cardille with 2 pictures, It's... Saturday Night... time for CHILLER THEATER... with your host, CHILLY BILLY!!! originally published in Bobb Cotter's great "MexicanMonsterMovieMag" Santo Scene # 11 (Vol. 2, # 3, October 2001), pp. 31-37 (unnumbered). The warm and wonderful interview was conducted by "Dr. Riggie Jr." (Paul Riggie) and "Roberto C" (Bobb Cotter) at the Monster Bash 2001 convention near Pittsburgh, and is reprinted with permission on this website at the link above.
  
  
• Great seven-page feature with fascinating interview and nine pictures, "At Long Last...Chiller Theater and a CHILLY BILLY CARDILLE Interview" by John Skerchock in Scary Monsters Presents Monster Memories #6, 1998 Yearbook (January 1998), pp. 24-30.

NOTES:

• Chiller Theater first aired on at 11:30 pm on Saturday, September 14, 1963, The show aired for several months at different times on Saturday and Sunday, but soon settled into a regular slot on Saturday night at 11:30, normally with double-features.
  
  Chilly Billy sometimes referred to the show as Channel 11's "Saturday Late Show" during Chiller Theater's final, single-feature late-night run following Saturday Night Live. For a while (dates being researched, but c. 1985), Channel 11 continued to run late-night horror movies under the title The Saturday Late Show in an unhosted show; Bill Cardille provided voice-over narration for this show.
  
  
• In Pittsburgh Tribute Review film and theater critic Ed Blank's Sunday, November 9, 2003 column, archived at PittsburghLIVE.com, quotes his T-R colleague Mike Hasch (who wrote the great Goodbye, Chilly Billy article mentioned above) about Bill Cardille's first show as "Chilly Billy." We're working on contacting Mike Hasch for verification; meanwhile, here's an extract of his quoted comment with the pertinent information:

  It! The Terror From Beyond Space (1958), a Class B flick about an alien that sneaks on a space ship heading back to earth from Mars .... was the first movie Chilly Billy (Cardille) ran when he became host of Chiller Theater Sept. 19, 1964. Second that night was The Screaming Skull.

• Bill Cardille is still on the radio airwaves with "music, memories, and observations" (and some of his old TV skits) on Pittsburgh station WJAS-AM 1320, weekdays from 10 am - 3 pm.
  
  
• The "Chiller Theater family" included: "Chilly Billy" (Bill Cardille), "Terminal Stare" (icy, sexy, stony-silent Donna Rae), beautiful "Sister Susie" (Joyce Sterling), "Norman, the Castle Keeper (Norman Elder; deceased, see note below), "Stephen, the Castle Prankster" (Steve Luncinski), and "Georgette the Fudgemaker" (Bonnie Sue Barney), with occasional appearances by other characters like "Skeets Skeltino the Pizza Man," "Sister Suzie" and "Beauregard C. Beauregard" (Ted James).
  
  
• Marilyn Eastman, well-known to horror fans as "Helen Cooper" in George Romero's original Night of the Living Dead, had a regular recurring role in the 60s as "Commoneltha," the vampire lady, in commercials for Commonwealth Plumbing and Heating written by her NotLD husband (and longtime creative partner), Karl Hardman.
  
  
• Guest stars on the show included the late-great horror icon Vincent Price, comedienne Phyllis Diller, actress Barbara (Get Smart) Feldon, Lorne Greene (Bonanza and Battlestar Galactica), and legendary pro wrestler Bruno Sammartino.
  
  
• Bill Cardille appeared as himself (as Channel 11 news reporter) in both the 1968 and 1990 versions of Night of the Living Dead. Bill's daughter, actress Lori Cardille, starred as "Sarah" in the 1985 NotLD sequel Day of the Dead.
  
  
• Chilly Billy released an album, "Chilly Billy Goes on Record," on the Gateway label, and a 45 single, "Chilly Billy's Vamp," on the Vampire label.
  
  
• The Chiller Theater theme music was Henry Mancini's "Experiment in Terror," composed for the film with that name. The arrangement used on the show was not one of the variations on the original soundtrack; it was a raunchy, rockin' arrangement performed by guitarist Al Caiola. Both the soundtrack and Caiola versions are available on CD -- see details and ordering info here!
  
  
• The show came to an end during the Halloween season in 1998 with a special called Chiller Theater: One More Time, featuring a showing of the original 1968 horror classic Night of the Living Dead, which Chilly Billy and Channel 11 helped young director George Romero to promote and produce in Pittsburgh thirty years earlier. Romero appeared as Chilly's guest and discussed the film during the hosted segments. At the end of the show Chilly Billy announced his impending retirement and said a very moving goodbye to his fans and supporters.
  
  
• Chilly Billy fan Pete Ferraro writes:

  I grew up in Pittsburgh and used to watch Chiller Theater late nights on Saturdays. In grade school, I once met Bill at a little league dinner banquet -- he was the guest of honor. Many years later, I eventually went on to work in television, and as corny as it may sound, I later realized I had "finally made it" when I began working next to "Chilly Billy" in the newsroom as a Promotion Writer/Producer for WPXI-TV (I was the envy of all...my family). TV can be a cutthroat business. But Bill really helped me get through some tough days at WPXI as a young producer. As far out as he seemed on Chiller Theater, in reality he was the most down-to-earth person at the station. He is a true gentleman and has earned his place in local TV horror history.

• Dedicated Chiller fan Bill Yester remembered a landmark date in this note:

  As a long time fan, I really like your web site. The memory of the first showing of Chiller Theater is still vivid in my mind. I was ten years old, and my parents allowed me to stay up and watch. The first showing was Saturday, September 14, 1963 at 11:30 pm. I can still picture the ad in the Pittsburgh Press .... I don't think I missed more than one or two shows over the life of the series.

• Erik Von Gorr kindly permitted us to reprint his e-mail on Bill Cardille, originally posted to the Yahoo Horrorhosts group, with the comment "i'd be honored! i'm glad you enjoyed my anecdotes! Bill Cardille is a class act!" Here goes:

  i am a fan of his radio show, which is on 1320 AM, WJAS between 10:00 am & 3:00 pm.
  he plays GREAT old popular tunes you won't hear anywhere else AND does his "strange but true" and other features that he originally did on Chiller Theater, and frequently has old cast members on!
  a Chilly Billy story i have; one hot summer i was painting my house and i was in a terrible mood due to the humidity, and i turned on wjas and listened to his show.
  he usually played Roy Orbison's "Crying" and i really wanted to hear it, so i called in to request it.
  Billy answered and apologized that he could not play my request, because the play list was all pre-programmed, so we talked for awhile about music we liked and i hung up, impressed with how friendly and down to earth he was.
  then years later, maybe 5 years, i saw him at the monster bash and started chatting with him about his show and music again, and i mentioned that i had called his show once, and he told me he remembered when i called in to request "crying"!!!!!!
  pretty cool guy!
  
  also, i was with my friend, a girl with cherry red-dyed hair.
  he kept calling her "red".
  the last time i saw him a couple years later, upon seeing me, right away he says, "hey, where's 'red'?" !!
  that was before i even said anything to him!
  pretty sharp!

  Aside from E-gor: Erik is well-known in sinister circles as an accomplished artist and collector of "all things monster" who creates awesomely grotesque monster dolls (including a growing set of TV horror host action figures!), paintings, T-shirts and other monster stuff, which he displays and sells at shows and on his Pittsburgh-based Haunt Kraft website. Here's more comments from Eric's e-gorrespondence:

  Reading your Chilly Billy feature brought to mind that he would often have Steve Luncinski ("Stephen, the Castle Prankster" from the TV show — E-gor) on his radio show, calling him, "and now heres Steve Luncinski, our man about town!" and then Steve would do some veiled plug about some restauraunt or something, but it usually turned into them just shooting the bull.
  i haven't heard Steve on there since around '99.
  once i was listening at work and Bruno Sammartino stopped by -- it was one of the funniest moments and one of the best and most memorable shows i have ever heard!
  basically, what happened is, at noon, Bruno suddenly appears, -- it really didn't seem planned, ( but one never knows with Mr. Cardille!) and those two just started shooting the breeze.
  well, by and by, it dissolved into this hilarious jam-session about women and all kinds of stuff! they were laughing really hard & Bruno started telling stories about his mother and other personel experiences.
  this went on for a really long time, and i got the impression that they had forgotten entirely about the audience.
  it was like eaves-dropping on a conversation at a bar!
  that's what i think is special about Bill Cardille, he makes his audience feel firmiliar and like he is speaking directly to you.

• Charlie Harris, one of E-gor's former co-workers, used to see Norman "The Castle Keeper" Elder hitchhiking and frequently gave him lifts. Sadly, Charlie also brought the sad news that Norman had passed away, and contributed this obituary from the Steubenville (Ohio) Herald Star:

  Norman Elder, former 'Chiller Theater' regular
  STEUBENVILLE -- Norman Elder, 50, of Steubenville, who played the Castle Keeper on WPXI-TV's "Chiller Theater", died Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2000 at Trinity Medical Center West.
  He was born Oct. 2, 1949, in Jefferson county, a son of the late Melvin and Rose Walker Elder. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a brother, Archie; and a sister, Betty Jane Elder.
  He was Protestant by faith. He was a member for many years of Bil Cardille's ensemble cast on the weekly horror film double-feature that was a mainstay of Tri-State Area television.
  Surviving are two brothers, Randy of Steubenville and John of Brunswick; and two sisters, Patricia Merino of Steubenville and Ella Mosser of Weirton.

• Todd Warren sent the following comments:

  Just visited your fantastic Horror Hosts site. I am particularly impressed with your coverage of Chilly Billy -- great info!
  I grew up in the Pittsburgh area during the early to mid 70's and looked forward to watching Chiller Theater every Saturday night. I remember watching my first Chiller (double feature: Missile Monsters and The Frozen Ghost) in 1973 when I was a young nine-year-old lad. This was a very big deal and sealed my interest in horror films for life. My younger brother and I enjoyed many memorable Chiller features until moving to Colorado in 1976.
  In recent years I have become a collector of rare horror films and Chilly Billy memorabilia. My prized possession is a video of the 1991 Chiller Theater Reunion Special along with vintage Chiller clips (1974 interview with Lorne Green, classic intro with Barbara Feldon, and other rare bits). I have also kept an old scrapbook with undated Chiller feature clippings from TV Guide and The Pittsburgh Press from 1974-1976.
  You may be interested to know that Chiller ran some Triple Features for a short while during 1975!
  I am looking to correspond with other Chilly Billy fans and always looking for collector Chiller memorabilia.
  Thanks, Todd Warren

• Jim in Pittsburgh remembers:

  It's Saturday. And time for Chiller Theater with your host Chilly Billy Cardille!
  I remember his jokes during the breaks were called "Chilly Billy Sillies." I can also remember him peddling new glow-in-the-dark monster models from the Aurora manufacturer.
  I can remember the crew either being partied out or drunk and howling during his monologue.
  It was my favorite show. At 12 years old I loved it.

• From Richard Santus:

  Saw your Chiller Theater site and thought I'd write. I too was, and am, a BIG Chiller Theater fan. I started watching it in the late 60s and continued through its '84 finale. I attended some of Bill's appearances at malls, "haunted" houses and even a couple of show tapings in the mid-to late 70s.
  Bill, as you probably know, regularly attends the summer Monster Bash convention in PA, where he signs autographs and mugs for fans' photos.
  I miss Chiller Theater, but am grateful sites such as yours help keep the memory alive.

• Another old fan of the show, Malcolm Gittins, shared his memories of visiting the Chiller Theater set (and working with Chilly Billy) with the Monster Bash Convention Yahoo Group, and sent me additional details by e-mail. Here's a conglomerated adaptation of his comments:

  Growing up in Pittsburgh the place to be every Saturday was Chiller Theater. Chilly Billy was and is the coolest host ever, and on several occasions he scared the heck out of me!!
  
  I'm very lucky that during the 1970's I began sending my art work to him and he would show it at the end of the show. And I was even luckier to attend a Chiller taping on October 9th, 1976! It was the second week of the new Castle set (which debuted on October 2nd, 1976), and I was the first guest to see it live. It looked so much better in person... I had a blast! (That October 2 show was also the first appearance of Norman, and the rest of the Chiller family would be added over the next few months.)
  
  From there we struck up a correspondence... I wrote a couple of "Strange but Trues" that he used on air, and to this day he has been a great friend and very supportive of me and my art work. I also have a lot of "inside" info on Chiller and Chilly Billy cause we corresponded all thru the 70's and we've stayed in touch since then.
  
  I've got some rare Chiller Theater and Chilly Billy fotos I took on the set, and lots of other Chiller collectibles including, as far as I know, the only existing script from the show!
  
  CHILLY BILLY RULES!
  
  Beast, Malcolm

• Bill Conger writes:

  For some unknown reason I did a Google search on "Chilly Billy horror movie" and came across your website. This is really cool. I was born in 1970 so I was young in the seventies but I remember staying up late when our family friends from Munhall came to stay. I was the youngest of a group of 6 kids. I only have some vague memories of the actual show but we all remember one episode with a movie villain that one of the older kids named "the ugly eye guy." It seems to me that some of the skits had an almost MST3k look to them.
  I read on another website that almost no recordings exist of the show. That is really unfortunate.
  Anyways thanks for the dedication.
  BTW do you know an email for Bill Cardille?

  Fans and friends can send Bill e-mail via a "mailto" link on his bio page for the Pittsburgh radio station where he works now, WJAS-AM 1320 — E-gor!

Christ, Peaches

(see PEACHES CHRIST)

CHRISTOPHER COFFIN

(Reed Pasternak, aka Reed Farrell)

Theater of Thrills

Friday night? Saturday night? at 11:30 pm

WJRT, Channel 12 (Flint, Michigan)

February 1963 - fall 1966? 1967?

NOTES:

• There seems to be some disagreement about what night the show aired, Friday or Saturday, and when it ended, 1966 or 1967; until we get the final word on these subjects, the following comments will run unquestioned.
  
  
• E-gorespondent Robert Maisch supplied initial info about this "missing horror host" in April 2004:

  Dear Egor,
  I ran across your site and wanted to contribute the name of Christopher Coffin to your expanding list of television horror hosts from the fifties, sixties and seventies. He hosted "Theatre of Thrills" on WJRT-TV, Channel 12, the ABC affiliate out of Flint Michigan from roughly 1962 through 1966 on Saturday nights at 11:30.
  He wore a black fedora, sunglasses and a cape and spoke in an echo-chambered voice to try and scare the kiddies watching. The spoken opening was something like

  GHOSTS! GHOULS! Tales of HORROR...and maybe, even MURDER!!!! Worldwide Home Furnishings presents THEATRE OF THRILLS!!! I am Christopher Coffin and tonights feature is...

  My recollection is that the guy playing Christopher Coffin was named Reed Farrell, who did voiceovers for the station and was also Nu-Vision Optical Company's on-air TV pitch man at the time.
  I remember he ran really second-rate movies such as X the Man with the X-Ray Eyes with Ray Milland, Frankenstein 1970 and a lot of the Roger Corman crap of the time. We watched em all cuz, sitting in the middle of Michigan (Midland) on a Saturday night, what the hell else was there to watch at that hour? Honestly, I think the two other network affiliate stations in that area signed-off at around midnight during weekend nights.
  At any rate, I hope this will help you in your research into this fascinating subject.
  Best regards,
  Rob Maisch

  Lytle Hoover, whose informative e-mail follows, says that the show sponsor, Wordlwide Home Furnishings, was a local furniture store chain in the Flint / Saginaw / Bay City TV area — E-gor
  
  
• Another TV horror host, the inimitable DOKTOR GOULFINGER, posted more details about this host on Keith Milford's Vintage Detroit TV and Movie Board:

  Christopher Coffin was played by Reed Pasternak (aka Reed Farrell), a former DJ (of course! with that deep and smooth voice). He debuted on WJRT Ch 12 out of Flint, MI between February 1963 (same month and year as Ghoulardi!) and ran through 1967. I've only seen a few clips of Christopher Coffin, courtesy of a WJRT anniversary show, but he was clearly "the goods". In some ways, he reminded me of Ghoulardi, with the resonant voice and hip attitude. But, unlike Ghoulardi, he seemed to inject a real undercurrent of menace into his show — kind of a darker Addams Family / Ed Gorey / Gahan Wilson quality. Even with the mere 5 or so minutes I've come across, he's made his way to the top end of my fave list.
  DokG

• Lytle Hoover followed up in July 2005 with GREAT inside information about this host and his show in several e-mails (combined and slightly adapted here):

  I was one on the directors on WJRT's Theater of Thrills, starring Christopher Coffin. I can fill in some missing info on your Bio of him and the show itself..
   The show was each Friday night at 11:30 pm (the night school students could stay up late). Reed Pasternak (aka Reed Farrell) was Christopher Coffin. After radio, Reed started a TV advertising agency in Flint placing many of his clients on WJRT and performed their commercials at the station using the name Reed Farrell. WJRT had the only Video Tape recorder in the state of Michigan for one year when they went on-air in October 1958. Reed could pre-record our commercials and do his others live at other stations. When others stations got VTRs we produced his tapes for those other stations. Since WJRT was an ABC-TV affiliate we had local programming after 11pm. Movies were shown each night with the Friday Night one being the old classic horror movies. These did poorly, revenue wise, and in ratings against The Tonight Show.
   In 1963 WJRT now owned two Ampex VTRs. Reed wanted to place clients in the late movie, but couldn't place many because of the low ratings. Reed conceived the idea of having a live host on the movie to try to boost the ratings; then he could place his clients' ads in it.
   He developed the Christopher Coffin character in the following manner so people would not recognized him as one of the commercial performers during the movie. He sat in a wheelchair, with a lap robe, to disguise his height and body shape. He wore a black hat to cover his hairline, sunglasses to cover his eyes, and a mustache/goatee beard over his mouth. This all made him look very sinister and he spoke in a very deeptone loud scary voice to change his regular voice. He did this to keep the audience from recognizing that he was actually "Reed Farrell" who also appeared in the World Wide Home Furniture Stores commercials within the same TOT movie, who totally sponsored the first half of the movie. "Reed Farrell" also did some commercials in the second half of movie for other sponsors, such as NU-VISION Optical Company, etc. He would come on live at each break in the movie and then again after the commercials before returning back to the film.
    The segments included scary little skits that carried a plot that went on throughout the movie. Most times these themes tied into the movie's plot. We would sometimes insert quick takes of Chris within the movie itself. This made the audience watch for him all through the movie as well as in the commercial breaks.
  
  HERE IS THE BACKSTORY OF THE SHOW
  The title Theater of Thrills was superimposed over the out-of-focus live shot of the coffin. It oscillated back and forth. This was done by shooting the white title on a black card on the other live camera which had an audio oscillator clipped on its video wire that caused its video to vibrate. This wire was removed after the opening so the camera could be used as a 2nd camera on the set..
   Christopher Coffin lived in a very large endless old, Dracula-type, haunted castle. He would be located in various parts of it at each movie break describing what it was and doing some sort of running story that tied into the movie that was showing. This was accomplished by a very inventive production department at the station. At first the backgrounds were large rear screen projections of old castles photographed from books at the Flint Public Library, along with scenery & stage props that production crew members searched for around the city and borrowed for the show. Different slides were used in each segment. Later we created a large castle crypt set in our station garage by using paper mache stones to cover the wall, columns, and overhead archways..
   One of best props, I found for use in the skits. It was an old horse drawn hearse. I borrowed it and towed it to the station and kept it for a couple of weeks. A grave yard was built outdoors in the back of the TV station and the hearse was parked in it. Chris sat up on the drivers seat pretending there were horses. In the segments he dropped off a corpse or picked one up then drove off. Crew members pulled the hearse out of the TV picture at the end of each segment.
   While there we videotaped 20-30 segments on a reel of videotape after using hearse for the first show. Segments included Chris on the hearse with mummies and zombies walking around in the background of the cemetery during segment: played by camera crew members. One segment included a (buried crewman) corpse breaking through the ground rising up out of the grave. We could save these and add them to other shows when needed. This was also true for Frankenstein. A local man came over to show us his costume and makeup. These segments were put on another "keeper tape" so Chris could periodically visit with "Frankie." Several reels were developed like this to include randomly in the regular taping sessions.
   The ultimate special effect was making Christopher Coffin appear and disappear. We created this special effect before Videotape synchronization to live video was possible. We created this illusion by doing it in reverse. We synchronized the station's live video to the video tape machine. It was extremely hard to do, but possible. First you lock a live camera in on a static camera shot and record 30-40 minutes of that picture. This can only be done while you are in network video. When done you start playing back that recorded picture and try locking all the live camera picture to the VTRs signal. This breaks up all the 20-30 video monitors in the entire control room. This electrically may take up to 10-20 seconds. If it is longer you had to stop and start over so you don't damage the electronics in to other video equipment.
   Once this is accomplished it is possible to match dissolve from the live cameras to the vtr recorder. Then anyone in the live static camera will disappear when you dissolve to recorded camera that has an empty picture. Using the effect we bought an actual coffin so Chris could lay in it for the show. Each show we pretaped a static shot of the tilted up coffin with the lid closed for the show opening and opened the lid with a thin wire. Once the lid was open we would very slowly dissolve to Chris lying in the coffin on the live camera. The picture was always perfect and Chris would then sit up to do the segment. When done he laid back and we dissolved back to the empty casket. I used this technique in several different ways over the years such as Chris accidentally disintegrating a corpse on his laboratory table when he tried to duplicate Dr. Frankenstein's experiment of bringing it to life.
   Fortunately I still have many of those TOT segments on VHS tape which I had provided to the WJRT Anniversary show.
   As the years went by the show became so popular we received tons of fan mail with scary poems, stories & pictures which Chris used on the air. In the last year of the show we cut out that feature, because we were so convincing we realized some viewers thought we were for real. We actually received real mail from some satanic groups and witches. We had to cut back on content of the skits and only use brief wrap-arounds to the commercials. Thus this led to dropping Theater of Thrills when we switched over to live color in the fall of 1967.
  Lytle Hoover - Cherry Hill, NJ
  PS - one other movie role Reed was infamous for was in an old low-budget "Rock & Roll Movie" for about 15 seconds. He is a protesting DJ at a radio station who takes a 78 rpm record and smashes it on the turntable because it is "Rock & Roll" and says the line "NO MORE ROCK & ROLL." Funny thing I saw it again years later on a PBS documentary on the history of R&R music. The narrator says "In the early days many DJ refused to play R&R music... " They showed this clip of Reed as if it had been an actual occurance - HA!

• The forthcoming documentary on horror hosts, American Scary, will feature clips of Christopher Coffin and interview footage with Reed Farrell. Here's the background information (slightly adapted) they provide about him from the bio page on their website:

  CHRISTOPHER COFFIN
  (Reed Farrell)
  Reed Farrell's long and colorful career has spanned decades and media. As a top-rated deejay, Farrell provided the intro at an Elvis concert and shook hands with John F. Kennedy. But to horror hungry fans in Flint, MI, he will always be remembered as Christopher Coffin, the "Guardian of the Ghouls" on WJRT's Theater of Thrills. The show ran between early 1963 and late 1966 on the local channel 12. At the height of the program's popularity, Christopher Coffin was presenting two double bills a week; one horror, the other sci-fi themed.
  As citizen of a world between the living and the dead, Coffin would fade into his namesake storage unit to share letters and art work from the viewers. At other times, he would use a wheelchair .... to tour his crypt and conduct various strange experiments — his deep, commanding voice adding genuine weight and menace to the darkly humorous proceedings.
  In later years, Farrell served as president of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. He continues to do commercial voice work, while indulging in his passion for golf.

CHUCK ACRI and VINCENT HEDGES

(Chuck Acri and Ken Gibson)

Visit the Acri Company business website, which has GREAT show references including lots of pictures!

Check out the great show info on this Acri Creature Features subsite of the House of Jitters website.

Acri Creature Feature

Friday at midnight

WQAD, Channel 8 (Moline, Illinois)

196?-197?

WEEK-TV, Channel 25 (Peoria, Illinois)

Friday at midnight

1968-1976

KLJB-TV / KLJB-DT, Fox Channel 18 (Davenport, Iowa)

Saturdays at midnight

May 28, 2005 - present

Magazine reference:

• Discussed in feature article, "Monster Memories of the aluminum siding horror host" by Johnny Gilbert, in issue #19 of Scary Monsters (June 1996), pp. 104-109. Brief fan memories and 14 images, mostly from a 4-page "Creature Feature Family Album" flyer.

NOTES:

• Illinois horror hostorian Mark Angelcyk provides details on the show's Moline incarnation, and on Vincent Hedges:

  In the late sixties, certainly throughout 1970 and 1971, WQAD featured the original CHUCK ACRI CREATURE FEATURE. You have the show referenced as being on WEEK-TV Channel 25 out of Peoria, Illinois, which it was — but that was much later. The original was on WQAD-TV Moline. Acri owned a large home improvement business in the Midwest and sponsored the Creature Feature on Saturday night, but that was a single feature and didn't come on until midnight. His featured horror host was a character called Vincent Hedges, and he was a ghoul of the Zacherley type, complete with cape and tuxedo and waxed-down hair. Hedges and his continually changing supporting cast performed rather elaborate skits during the movie breaks: In particular, I remember one where they supposedly kidnapped a young girl either in a mall parking lot or off a downtown street, wrapped her in a sheet, stuffed her into their traveling hearse and brought her back to the basement laboratory where they started operating. The highlight of the operation was when the ghoul pulled an old-fashioned string of link hot dogs out from under the sheet to signify that the operation was successful! I wonder how that would go over today? I'm sure people who lived in the Midwest in the Quad-City area of the Mississippi River will remember this show well, and add things to it that I just can't remember. Vincent Hedges was played by one of Acri's siding applicators and carpenters named Ken Gibson. After a couple of years, he quit working for Acri, in large part because Acri was paying him next to nothing extra to perform on the shows! Gibson was one of those master carpenters who went where the work and the money was and didn't stay in one place very long. I can assert all of this because for a year or two, when he was plying his trade in my area, he was on the same bowling team (he was an oustanding bowler) with me, and now and then would tell stories about his time on the Creature Feature. I haven't seen him for over twenty years and don't have a clue as to where he is now. But Ken Gibson was his real name.

• Peoria fan John Whisler remembers:

  There is a horror host I used to watch with my Dad in the early '70s out of Peoria, Illinois.... His name is Chuck Acri and he hosted the Acri Creature Feature from 1968-76. There were a few other cast members. Chuck would most often be dressed in a replica jacket that the Michael Landon Teenage Werewolf wore, and some times would come back as the werewolf. There was a Dracula character and a regular wolfman character named Beauregard (?); sometimes a caveman would appear. Chuck would show kids drawings they sent in and fill in between commercials. I remember one time the whole group came to our local highschool and played some mock basketball. I have the greatest memories of the show and watching it with my Dad. Chuck has a business (then and now) the Acri Company which sells storm doors, windows, gutters, etc. They have a website and he mentions the show and there is a picture in the companies bio section (see Acri Company web site.)

• Another Peoria fan, Tom Boyd notes:

  Chuck would go down the stairs into his dungeon every Friday night at midnight to host the movie with his sidekick, Bernie the Skull, who lived in a black box on the set. There were weekly segments on film of several characters (Dracula, Frankenstein, Werewolf & Creature from the Black Lagoon) running around Peoria locales doing slapstick. I also remember him having a bulletin board where he hung drawings sent in by fans.

• According to the Acri Creature Features pages on the House of Jitters website, the show's cast of characters over the years included: Chuck Acri as himself; Ken Gibson as Vincent Hedges, the vampire; Don Molander as Emmett, the hunchback; ? as Beauregard, the werewolf; ? as The Missing Link, the caveman; ? as Bertie, the maid; Bernie, the skull as himself; and Fang, the wonderdog. It's also noted that the earliest incarnation of the show featured Bill Flannery and Don Raymond, who hosted the show and introduced Chuck Acri.
  
  
• E-gorespondent DeAnn writes that her dad Don Molander was a regular cast member, and she remembers:

  Hi my name is DeAnn.
  My dad was the original Emmett on Acri Creature feature. It says in your pages that his limp was real. That is not so.
  (Note from E-gor: this information isn't on my site, but a fan memories page linked from the Acri Creature Features fan site noted above.)
  He was not and is not disabled and still works for WQAD TV-8. Actually he is retiring after 35 years there on 7/15/2005. Also it did not start until after July 15 1970, because we lived in Texas till then. He was not paid anything for doing it and evenyually stopped because he had 5 kids and was spending too much time away from us. I was only 5 or 6 and only watched the show a couple of times because I just couldn't stay awake. I know he had a good time doing the show and I am very proud of my dad.
  Thanks, DeAnn

CHUCK ZINK *

(Charles DeWayne Zink)

Name of show?

Late night

WTVJ, Channel 4 (now Channel 6) (Miami, Florida)

195? - 19??

Elena Watson's Television Horror Movie Hosts reference:
mentioned in Ch. 3, "Invasion of the Ghost Hosts," pp. 22-23.

Magazine reference:

• Mentioned in feature "The Horror of Them All!" in issue #13 (December 1988) of Filmfax, pp. 28-32.

NOTES:

• Second host of this show, replacing ALEC GIBSON.
• Also hosted Popeye Playhouse as "Skipper" Chuck Zink

Claude the hunchback

(see MALCOM THE BUTLER and THE DUKE OF DESMODAS)

Cleaver, Butch R.

(see BUTCH R. CLEAVER)

Clower, Randy

(see RANDY and RICHARD)

COAGULUS (see also COUNT VON THIRSTENBURG, TARANTULA)

(Real name=?)

Supernatural Movie (?) or Scream-In (?)

Sunday evening? Saturday afternoon? Saturday evening?

WPGH-TV, UHFChannel 53 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

February 2 (?) - ?, 1969

NOTE:

• E-gorespondent Joe Bacon provided great initial info about Pittsburgh station WPGH's horror shows, including this new entry and another for COUNT VON THIRSTENBURG:

  Scream-In was on channel 53 from 1969-1971. You have the last host of Scream-In, Tarantula, mentioned in your list.
  The first host of Scream-In was "COAGULUS" -- a vampire, who repeatedly lampooned the films a la Seymour in LA. He was fired after four weeks because he requested a raise.
  He was replaced by "COUNT VON THIRSTENBURG," who was really a lame host. I remember that his name was Harry (something) and he hosted Channel 53's OPEN HOUSE show, which was nothing but 30 minutes of house pictures shown on the TV. This is the guy Joe Flaherty (Pittsburgh native) supposedly based COUNT FLOYD on, because his routines were just as bad.
  "TARANTULA" replaced COUNT VON THIRSTENBURG" thankfully by painting a cross on the top of the Count's Coffin. He was much more into the role, and he remained the host of Scream-In until the station went bankrupt and was forced to shut down in mid-1971.

• E-gorespondent FRANK-N_STEIN started writing to me in 2005, and has provided lots of great info about many of the Pittsburgh-area horror hosts and their shows, since he lived there for 42 years! Among his useful comments about this show, he noted that:

  WPGH channel 53 in Pittsburgh first went on air February 1st, 1969 and went off the air on August 16, 1971 (before coming back on in 1974). Scream-In would have to fit somewhere in that time frame.

  I have been listing Scream-In as the title of Coagulus's show, but when I acquired a nice run of Pittsburgh TV Guides from this period, I discovere that WPGH had a Sunday evening horror show called Supernatural Movie that first aired on the station's second day of broadcasting, February 2, 1969! Given the succession of three different horror movie hosts that Joe Bacon remembers during the station's short initial lifespan, I'm inclined to think that Coagulus may have been the host of Supernatural Movie, and that the station's horror showcase had a title change when it began to run on Saturdays instead of Sundays. But all this is unconfirmed speculation; if you can help to clear up the mystery, please e-mail E-gor!

Coffin, Christopher

(see CHRISTOPHER COFFIN)

Colossus, David the

(see DAVID THE COLOSSUS)

COMMANDANT GORE

(Rick Ammon)

Visit Gorevision, the show's official Website.

Check out the Gorevision and Commandant Gore pages at MySpace.com.

Watch Commandant Gore videos on the Veoh Video Network!

See Commandant Gore's profile page at HORRORHOSTS.com, the official site for the Horror Host Underground.

Gorevision

Wednesday late night at 12:30 a.m.; has also aired after midnight on other nights

Miami Valley Cable Council, Channel 23 (Centerville, Ohio)

?? 200? - present

Horror Host Underground Network

Live and circulating pre-recorded guest appearances

2003 - present

Live appearances at monstrous film festivals and other shows and events throughout the year.

NOTES:

• From the GOREVISION Website:

  GOREVISION ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK
  
  FROM THE LOWEST PITS OF HELL HEINRICH VON GORE ROSE THROUGH THE RANKS OF THE WAFFEN SS JUST BEING PLAIN SHEER EVIL HIMSELF. AT THE YOUNG AGE OF 30, HE TOOK OVER A SMALL DEATH CAMP IN EASTERN GERMANY. DELUSIONS OF POWER CAME OVER HIM. HEINRICH SAW HIMSELF AS A GOD. JUST DROWNING IN INSANE MEGALOMANIA OF ULTIMATE POWER, AS THE RED ARMY WAS APPROACHING REALITY WAS SETTING IN. HE COMMITTED MORE AND MORE ACTS OF BRUTALITY AND CRUELTY. HE MADE THE DEAL WITH EVIL ITSELF. I WILL BRING YOU BACK AS A MUTANT ZOMBIE IF YOU WILL SHOW HORROR MOVIES TO CAUSE NIGHTMARES IN THE VIEWERS SO I CAN FEED OFF THE SHEER TERROR OF THEIR NIGHTMARES. HE ACCEPTED. AS THE RED ARMY EXECUTED HIM. HEINRICH SWORE HIS REVENGE AND SAYING I WILL BE BACK TO KILL YOUR DREAMS!!!! COMMANDANT GORE IS BORN!!! .... COMMANDANT GORE WAS SENT BY THE FUEHRER OF EVIL TO SEEK THOSE WHO LOVE GOREY MOVIES AND THOSE WHO WILL DARE TO ENTER THE DARKNESS OF GORE. .... FOR THOSE WHO ARE WEAK OF HEART OR SCARE EASILY DONT ENTER BUT FOR THOSE WHO ARE WILLING TO ENTER YOU FIND WICKED THINGS ABOUNDING ... ENTER IF YOU DARE .... WE ARE TRYING TO BRING DIFFERENT GOREY AND SHOCK MOVIES FOR THE UNIQUE MOVIE VIEWER .... OUR INFLUENCES WERE THE CLASSIC HAMMER MOVIES OF THE 1960'S AND THE GORE MOVIES OF THE 1970'S TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE AND THE LIKE. PLEASE ENJOY AND AGAIN ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK .... GOREVISION HAS ENTERED NEW PHASE OF MORE EXTREME GORE AND SHOCK. WE ARE GOING TO PUSH THE FRONTIER WHERE NO OTHER HORROR HOST HAS GONE BEFORE.

COMMANDER USA and LEFTY *

(Jim Hendricks and his own right hand)

Visit The Video Vault, a groovie Commander USA fansite with groovie pictures, groovie quotes, groovie links, a guestbook and an invitation to join the Club (see next link)!

Check out Commander USA Groovie Movies, a Yahoo Group with lively e-mail discussions, great pictures, and an episode guide!

See Commander USA video clips on YouTube and on the Scourge Films website!

See the Commander USA's Groovie Movies entry in the Internet Movie Database, with comprehensive production credits.

See Jim Hendricks Internet Movie Database credits.

Go to Tony n' Tina's Wedding, the website for the long-running comedy play Jim Hendricks performed ceremonies in for years!

Commander USA's Groovie Movies

Saturday afternoon or Sunday afternoon at different times during run

USA Cable Network ("from a Video Vault in suburban New Jersey")

January 5th, 1985 - 1989

Elena Watson's Television Horror Movie Hosts reference:
whole chapter and picture in Ch. 29, "Holy Cats, It's Commander USA's Groovie Movies!," pp. 206-212.

Another book reference:
Encyclopedia of Super Heroes by Jeff Rovin includes Commander USA!
Megan S., a major fan of the show (see her NOTE below), provided details:

I have a copy of the encyclopedia entry. It's not too long, and devoid of pics. (Just a couple very minor things were head-scratchers to me — I seem to remember the spelling of 'Groovie' with an 'ie' not a 'y,' and I don't remember the agent at all. I'd bet he was more a "pop-in" character than a costar?) Here goes:

COMMANDER USA (TV)
Alter Ego: None.
First Appearance: February, 1984, Commander USA's Groovy Movies, USA Cable Network. (Sic! Both the premiere date and the spelling of "Groovie" are incorrect! — E-gor)
Occupation: None.
Costume: Red, white, and blue bodysuit with star-spangled suspenders and 'USA' on chest; domino mask. Tools and Weapons: Tele-psychotronic screen to view movies.
Biography: A retired superhero with bad knees, Commander USA lives in the basement of a shopping mall; his secret entrance leads to a doughnut store. Smoking fat cigars he hosts old science fiction movies and entertains oddball guests which have ranged from a swami to a female bodybuilder. His companion is Lefty -- a face drawn on the palm of his right hand; the Commander's agent also make occasional appearances. The hero has no known powers.
Quote: The Commander is played by former disc jockey Jim Hendricks; Barry Kluger costars as his agent.

So, that's it. How fun. I also picked up Television Horror Movie Hosts, by Elena Watson. The chapter on the Commander is such fun, but I guess I expected more behind-the-scenes or factual info. Oh well - I'm thrilled to find any info at all! I plan on rummaging through storage to find my Commander videos. Can't wait. Groovie!

NOTES:

• Darren Gross, who ran a Commander USA Fan Club when the show was on the air, and who provided E-gor with the treasured autographed photo and fan club card proudly displayed with this entry, also provided great additional information:

  It's nice to know someone else is just as enthusiastic as I am about the Commander!
  I have compiled a full episode and movie guide for the Commander. It was done in the early 90's before I had a computer.
  (As he transcribes them, Darren is posting his episode guide for the show in the Files of the Commander USA's Groovie Movies Yahoo Group. See the link above for information about joining this e-mail group and accessing these files — E-gor)
  Brief clips from the show are visible in COLOR OF MONEY and in SCROOGED.
  Jim Hendricks is still acting. He's been playing the minister for the theatre/play "Tony n' Tina's Wedding" (See link above — E-gor) in NYC.
  I ran a Commander fan club back in the day and was rewarded with a thank you call from the Commander and a phone interview later which ran in the newsletter/fanzine I put out.
  ("The Groovie Gazette"! The cover of one issue is currently displayed in the Photos of the Commander USA Yahoo group; see link above — E-gor.)
  In fact, during one show, the end credits rolled over a shot of a wall that had a large note on it. On the note was written. "Reminder — Call Darren Gross!" Quite a thrill for 16 year old me! Years later when at NYU I bumped into Jim, dressed as a priest on his way to the theater for Tony n' Tina. A real nice guy and he remembered after all these years.

• When I, E-gor, joined the Yahoo Groovie Movies group, I asked if anyone knew anything about the Commander USA's World of Horror fanzine I discovered in an eBay auction (see image in sidebar). Darren Gross came to the rescue again!:

  Funny you should ask about COMMANDER USA'S WORLD OF HORROR...
  After I put together about 9 or 10 issues of the 8-12 pg GROOVIE GAZETTE fanclub newsletter, I thought of pushing it to a more substantial 32 pg fanzine which would have the COMMANDER USA theme, but the focus would be less on the show, but more on horror, sci-fi, horror hosts and psychotronic cinema...
  I think there were only 100 to 150 printed, and technically it's the last issue of the GROOVIE GAZETTE... but by the time we went to press, the only thing COMMANDER USA about it was the cover pic and some references in the masthead/byline... It was essentially a huge interview with ANGUS SCRIMM (Phantasm) and MICHAEL T. GILBERT of the Commander-ish comic MR. MONSTER... Probably extremely rare... I only have one or two copies myself... I premiered it at the 1988 FANTACO convention in Albany and gave out Commander USA membership cards to anyone who subscribed...
  It became a real magazine for two issues in 1988/1989, a couple of thousand copies each and internationally, one a reprint of this issue with the COMMANDER USA theme dropped, and called just WORLDS OF HORROR and with a color ANGUS SCRIMM cover... and the second issue had a I, MADMAN cover feature interview with Randy Cook and content on WAXWORKS with a Anthony Hickox interview... It was a fun magazine and I thought pretty nice work for a 16/17 year old kid...

• Megan S., who provided the Commander USA encyclopedia entry above, also remembers:

  Someday perhaps I'll tell you about my Commander Club Room and Board Game... But right now, I am sitting here kicking myself for losing my own Commander USA Fan Club Membership Card! I'd completely forgotten until now that in a fit of fanatical hysteria, I sent the Commander a letter and a drawing I'd done of him (I was.. 12? :). As a thank you, he sent me a signed membership card! What a dear! I clearly remember coming home from school and seeing the envelope on the table, addressed to me.
  What a thrill! Getting this memory back is almost as cool as getting the card in the first place. How delightful!
  "Keep your nose in the wind and your tail to yourself!"
  Meg

• The show premiered on the USA cable network from Noon to 5 pm on Saturday, January 5th, 1985, with an hour of classic Republic serials chapters (the first episodes of Zorro's Black Whip and Undersea Kingdom), followed by two psychotronic Mexican horror films, Doctor of Doom and Samson and the Vampire Women. It aired in different Saturday/Sunday day and time slots during its run, sometimes pre-empted by football broadcasts, and finally came to an end in 1989 after more than 200 episodes. For an episode guide (currently in the works from Darren Gross), join the Commander USA Yahoo group linked above!
  
  
• Horrorhost fan "Eerie Evan" writes:

  Ahhh, Commander USA, how I remember him well. One episode that sticks out in my mind was when he showed the broadcast premiere of The Incredible Melting Man. Boy did he have fun with that one. And yes he looked and sounded very much like John Ratzenberger who played "Cliff Clavin" on Cheers.

• Timothy Liebe worked on the show! He remembers:

  Unfortunately, I only wrote briefly for the show (bumpers for two episodes--BLOOD BEAST TERROR and SUPERBEAST, both in the last or next-to-last season, I believe).
  The people I dealt with mostly were the show's Producer, Pam Bagot, and Associate Producer, Peter Pileski, who used to be with USA Networks but aren't any longer to the best of my knowledge....
  As for Mr. Hendricks, I only met him once for about a minute. I gathered from Peter that he wasn't happy at having outside writers poaching on "his turf" (in earlier seasons, he'd apparently written most of the bumpers himself). You may already know this, but following the end of the series, Mr. Hendricks did a few commercials for the now-defunct NYC electronics superstore Crazy Eddie's (when they attempted a more low-key advertising campaign than the infamous "Their prices are--INSANE!!!!"), playing a singing loading dock foreman. (Sorry, but I don't have copies of the commercials.) I was one of several outside writers hired near the end of the show's run (at the time, I was working as an office temporary, and wrote the bumpers during lunch breaks). Two others I know of are Arn McConnell (co-director of the cult classic SHOCK! SHOCK! SHOCK!), who did one episode, and Jack Wrangler, the 70s adult film star. Mr. Wrangler .... wrote and directed several episodes. I believe he may still writing and directing under his professional name (it was a bit of a jolt to me when I showed up in USA Networks' offices and met him!).
  I hope this is of some help to you, and I apologize for not knowing more,

• Rescued from a fleeting eBay auction, the following item description from a seller whose identity is unknown:

  Back in the 80's USA Network tried to create a cult movie host for its horror and sci-fi movies, they came up with Commander USA. I actually enjoyed watching this guy and thought he was funny....
  In 1988 Eclectic Publishing Inc. in association with USA Network came up with "Commander USA's World of Horror" magazine of which this is the very first issue, Vol. 1 Number 1. This mag consisted of 32 B + W pages and the intention was to publish in Jan., April, July and October but I don't know if there was ever another issue. This first issue has an interview with Angus Scrimm of Phantasm.

  See picture on sidebar, and full details on this fanzine in NOTES above by its editor, Darren Gross.

CONRAD

("Conrad Andrews," a fictional ex-horror host played by Conrad Brooks)

Read about Conrad's appearance in the critically acclaimed B-movie spoof Dr. Horror's Erotic House of Idiots!

See Conrad Brooks' Internet Movie Database filmography as actor, director, producer, writer, and as himself.

Conrad's Crypt

Saturdays at 11:30 pm on Channel 9

STATION?, Channel ? (city?, state?)

c 196? - 197?

"Conrad Andrews," played by Ed Wood stock company veteran Conrad Brooks, is one of the main character in Paul Scrabo's hilarious (and pointedly NOT X-plicit) all-star send-up of contemporary low budget filmmaking, Dr. Horror's Erotic House of Idiots (2003). Conrad, once a beloved TV horror host, now helps an old show-biz friend (MIchael R. Thomas as movie writer "Frank Mannering") to scam patients at a sex therapy clinic and pay off a gambling debt — but the con artists manage to cure everybody's problems along the way!

Magazine reference:

• Feature article by Tim Troutman, "Dr. Horror's Erotic House of Idiots," in Monster Memories #13: Scary Monsters 2005 Yearbook, (March 2005), pp. 81-83. Film review and 7 images, including a photo of Conrad Brooks as retired TV horror host Conrad Andrews.
  NOTES:

  • Dr. Horror's Erotic House of Idiots was directed by Paul Scrabo and written by Scrabo and actress Brinke Stevens, who has a cameo in the film. In addition to Conrad Brooks' role as an ex-horror host, the film features boffo performances from three other horror hosts discussed on this site: Michael R. Thomas (Ygor), and the legendary John Zacherle (Roland and Zacherley) in major roles, and Bob Burns in a funny cameo. Co-stars Debbie Rochon, Trent Haaga and Nathan Sears are also terrific, and the talented supporting cast includes Roxanne Michaels, Marina Morgan, Rodney Gray, Barbara Joyce, Rachael Robbins, Robert Collins, Don McGregor, Tina Krause and Ruby Larocca.
    
    
  • The air time for the fictional Conrad's Crypt show comes from two prop promotional flyers shown in the film: Both show a smiling "floating head" photo of Conrad, looking years younger than he currently appears and sporting a wooly head of dark black hair.
    The first flyer shown reads:

    SATURDAY at 11:30 pm on CHANNEL 9
    HEY, YOU LITTLE DEVILS!
    JOIN US FOR ANOTHER
    FUN FILLED SEASON ON
    CONRAD'S
    CRYPT
    This week Conrad hosts
    the 1945 Universal classic
    FRANKENSTEIN MEETS
    THE MUMMY
    starring    LON CHANEY    GLENN STRANGE

    and concludes with two small photos from this fictional film, one of the Mummy and one of Frankenstein — but neither photo shows the actor mentioned; I bet they're from one of Paul Scrabo's own amateur monster films!
    
    The second flyer shown reads:

    SATURDAY at 11:30 pm on CHANNEL 9
    HEY, YOU LITTLE DEVILS!
    CONRAD & COMPANY HOST
    DEAD MAN'S HANDS
    STARRING JOHN CARRADINE
    CONRAD'S
    CRYPT

  • Another great imaginary prop collectible featured in the film is a fan club pinky ring with an extreme closeup of Conrad's face!
    
    
  • One brilliant final touch drives home the credibility of the imaginary program: a substantial segment from the show itself, introduced by the voice of co-writer Brinke Stevens while a garage kit of the actress is onscreen:

    Hello, all you little devils — Welcome to Conrad's Crypt! Join us for our special anniversary show with Conrad as The Wolf Man, Frank Mannering as Dracula, and the Cool Ghoul himself, Zacherley!

    The clips shown are actually from a November 4, 1967 Disc-O-Teen anniversary show hosted by Zacherley, featuring Zach interviewing a guest in werewolf makeup and — teenager Michael Thomas in an elaborate Dracula costume, already doing a letter-perfect Bela Lugosi impression! Thomas' "Frank Mannering" character is a sly reference to Patric Knowles' mad doctor character in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man.

Cooke, Jim

(see JIM COOKE)

COOL EDDIE

(Real name = ?)

Name of show?

Day? Time?

STATION ?, Channel ? (City? State?)

'60's? '70's?

Magazine reference:

• Mentioned in "Monster Memories" article by Tom Deschamps in Scary Monsters Presents Monster Memories #1, 1993 Yearbook (January 1993), p. 34.

The Cool Ghoul *

(see also ZACHERLEY and next two items)

THE COOL GHOUL (I) (see also following item and ZACHERLEY, the original "Cool Ghoul")

(Dick Von Hoene; died February 4, 2004, age 63)

Scream-In

Saturday night

WXIX, Channel 19 (Cincinnati, Ohio)

1969-1972

NOTES:

• Dan Sweet notes:

  In the '70s WXIX Channel 19 had a host called the Cool Ghoul. He spoke with a Transylvanian/by way of Kentucky accent. He wore a funny hat & wore a cape. His makeup was ghoulish but funny. By the time he came to town Ch.19 was mixing the Universal classics with stuff like The Astro Zombies, Dracula vs. Frankenstein& Blood & Black Lace. Dick Von Hoene later worked as an announcer on a country music radio station.

• Paul Clark provided information on the years of the show's run and on Dick Van Hoene's later TV career, paraphrased below since his demise:

  "Dick Von Hoene....(was) still on television, although he traded his dead-threads for a jacket and tie. He (was) host of a cable program called called Northern Kentucky Magazine (Intermedia Cable, Channel 6, Covington, Ky.)

• The Cool Ghoul released an LP, "The Cool Ghoul's Phantasmagorical Funny Fonograf Record," on the Artists Records label.
  
  
• Lynn Wilson (aka Maddalena) submitted this Cool Ghoulish Maddendum!:

  As a devoted fan of Dick Von Hoene's Cool Ghoul, I thought I'd add some things to your listing on Cincinnati's Cool Ghoul. It's true he wore a funny hat and a cape, but for me, his main feature was his flaming red wig of shoulder-length hair. His stature was also significant -- 6'2" and quite slender. He also had a trade-mark laugh (Von Hoene referred to it as his "cool drool"), sort of a "Blih, blih, blih, BLEEAAAHHHH-AH-AH-AHHH!" The Ghoul had an off-camera announcer -- never seen and only referred to by the Ghoul as "my friend." The announcer was a Boris Karloff impersonator who would always open the show with an "OH-ho-ho-ho" groan and an admonishment that the viewer might want to change the channel before it was too late. Then a woman's screams would be heard and the Ghoul's theme music would be playing and the Cool Ghoul would appear, coming out of un upright coffin. There would be friendly banter between the Ghoul and his friend, although I understand it became heated one night in 1971 or '72.

  (A bit of history: WXIX went on the air in the summer of 1969 and the Ghoul and Scream In were there from the beginning. My family and I moved from Cincy in Nov. 1970. About a year later, a friend from Cincy wrote me that the Ghoul had gotten a little perturbed with his off-camera friend on the air one night. As I recall, the friend was urging the Ghoul to move the show along -- to get to the weekly reading of the "fang-mail" or some such -- anyway, the Ghoul lashed out (still in character) with "Dammit, my friend, I'll do it when I'm ready!" or words to that effect. He apparently was off the air for awhile and was obliged to make an on-camera apology to the audience and his friend!)

  I'm not sure if (or when) the Ghoul and Scream In ended its run.... Oh yes, he sponsored a rock and roll group accompanied his appearances at local teen dances. They were called The Crypt Kickers. A regular spot on the show, besides the "fang-mail" was when the Ghoul would do his trade mark dance (called the Cool Ghoul, of course) to an instrumental (perhaps by Booker T and the MG's -- not sure of the title, but I could hum it for you!). The dance was done by bending your arms in fro you (palms together and fingers pointing toward the ceiling). From here you did sort of a windshield wiper motion -- two beats on each side. Occasionally, when the cymbals crashed on the record, the Ghoul would slap the top of his head with his right hand while momentarily squatting down, then pop back up and go back to the windshield washer motion.
  One more thing on the Cool Ghoul. His opening and closing theme song was an instrumental version of "Slippin' and a-Slidin'" with a killer sax solo. At the end of each show, the Ghoul would yawn and say "Time to get back in de box!" The theme song would start. Then from inside the upright coffin, the Ghoul would say, "I'll be draining you too, soon, I hope. But for now, pleasant dree-eams!" This would be followed by his laugh and the sounds of a woman screaming again (perhaps the Ghoul's "girl-fiend," Gladys Purplelips from good old Drain U?) as he clo