Start of F Listings

FAMOUS MORRIS *

(Don Sherman)

See Lost Angels: Horrors! LA's forgotten Horror Hosts at the Real Little PartiGirl's Local Legends website, which mentions Famous Morris.

Name of show?

Day? Time?

KCOP, Channel 13 (Los Angeles, California)

c. 1975, for about a year

Elena Watson's Television Horror Movie Hosts reference:
mentioned in Ch. 25, "Son of Invasion of the Ghost Hosts," p. 179.

NOTE:

• E-gorespondent Mark Minisci recalls: "I just stumbled upon your site by accident, but looking at it has brought back some memories from my childhood. While I briefly remember Shrimpenstein, the horror movie hosts Seymour, Moona Lisa, Grimsley and especially Elvira are a welcome sight. I do remember another horror film host, who I believe went by the name of Morris (played by Don Sherman), an agent to horror film monsters. I remember this specifically because the horror films that were shown were adult in content (first film shown was Tomb of the Living Dead). Morris never refered to the films being shown by title and the bits appeared to have been taped."

Fantastic, Professor *

(see PROFESSOR FANTASTIC *)

Farndark, Jasper

(see PROFESSOR JASPER FARNDARK)

FAT DRAC

(Al Sahley)

Read "I'm a Big Guy with a Big Voice," a career interview with Al Sahley, on the Charleston 95WKAZ Radio website. (Reprinted from the November 22, 1999 edition of the Charleston Gazette, byline unknown.)

Read more about Fat Drac and other Appalachian horror hosts in a ghast creature feature, "Have Casket, WIll Travel — Appalachia after Midnight," reprinted by permission of the author, Kurt McCoy!

Friday Night Dead

Friday night

WVAH-TV, Fox Channel 11 (Charleston-Huntington, West Virginia)

early 1980s

Magazine reference:

• Discussed, along with numerous other TV horror hosts from the Appalachian region, in Kurt McCoy's "Have Casket, Will Travel — Appalachia after Midnight," originally published in the October 2002 issue of the tabloid newspaper Graffiti, the "Free West Virginia Entertainment Guide." The entire text of this article is reprinted on this site (see link above) with the permission of the author.

NOTE:

• Initial information for this entry came from the article by Kurt McCoy cited above, which provides the following (adapted) details:

  Friday Night Dead featured the talents of veteran radio personality Al Sahley as "Fat Drac, the King of Corpuscular Corpulence! The biggest name in Mountain State monsters!" Sahley was a self-professed "ham" with a talent for vocal characterizations and imitations, who had always wanted to do a Dracula character (white face, fangs, slicked back hair, cape, over-the-top Transylvanian accent). The show's debut was broadcast live but was subsequently taped on Wednesdays to allow time for editing and refinement. Sahley and production manager Steve Utt pulled together the costume and set, which included a plywood backdrop of castle walls and bats and a shipping coffin (a wooden box lined with felt).

Fat Ghouls, Two

(see SCRUFFY McGHOUL and CHESTER THE WEREWOLF)

Fear, Dr.

(see DR. FEAR)

THE FEARMONGER

(Charles Kissinger: died late '80's)

Click here to visit Dave Conover's superfine Fearmonger tribute page -- featuring the only existing photo of the Fearmonger(!), a photo of Charles Kissinger out of character, period ads from TV listings, and a complete list of all the movies shown on Fright Night during the show's entire run!!

See The Fearmonger! (26Kb jpeg image) courtesy of Dave Conover and regional TV Guide!)

Click here to see Charles Kissinger's Internet Movie Database info as actor!

Fright Night

Saturday night double-feature, starting at 7:00 p.m.

WDRB-TV, independent Channel 41 (Louisville, Kentucky)

March 6, 1971 - September 6, 1976

NOTE:

• Dave Conover of Louisville (PrimaMater@aol.com), who now has a wonderful website on the subject (see link above), provided the info above with the following memories: "He did a lot of local TV/radio work as well as appearing in a number of horror films! (See Internet Movie Database link above -- ed.) I don't know of too many other hosts (save for Morgus) who can claim that. Charles starred in the shlock classics 'Three on a Meathook,' Asylum of Satan,' 'Abbey,' 'Grizzly,' 'Sheba Baby' (with Pam Grier!) and a couple of others that elude me at the moment. Most of these flicks were produced/directed by the late Bill Girdler who was also from here and shot a lot around town in the 70's. Girdler also did 'The Manitou' and 'Day of the Animals' before he was killed in a chopper crash. Charles passed away about 7 years ago but his voice still haunts local radio in a number of spots. I'm a sort of one-man fan club for the guy -- most people just remember the voice and his image on their screens. WDRB was a lowwwwww budget operation and Charles literally held a flashlight under his chin and was solarized and zoomed around the screen telling lousy jokes with a haunting bit of music in the background! I stumbled across the music when I watched 'The Brain that Wouldn't Die' a couple of years ago and Bob Burns was able to find it in his enormous library of LP's!... (See BOB BURNS -- ed.)

FEEP

(Enhanced voice of Ed T. McDonnell: died 1979)

Fantasmic Features

First on Monday at 7:30 p.m.; moved to Saturday at 11:30 p.m.

WNAC-TV (later WNEV-TV, now WHDH-TV), Channel 7 (Boston, Massachusetts)

Early '60's - 19??

Feeperoonies

Saturday morning (Warner Bros. cartoon show)

WNAC-TV (later WNEV-TV, now WHDH-TV), Channel 7 (Boston, Massachusetts)

196? - 19??

Book reference:

• Ed T. McDonnell's "Major Mudd" kid show is discussed in the Boston section of Tim Hollis' great book on Americal's local children's TV programs, Hi There, Boys and Girls from University Press of Mississippi.

Magazine references:

• Discussed, and TV listing ad with picture of Feep reproduced (courtesy of Bob Knight), in "Monster Memories" article in issue #5 of Scary Monsters (December 1992), p. 11.
  
  
• Extensive information about Feep, with a sketch drawn from memory, in a letter from Bob Deveau (see NOTES below) in issue #22 of Scary Monsters (March, 1997), p. 2.
  
  Order copies at the Scary Monsters website.

NOTES:

• The Fantasmic Features TV listing ad contributed by Bob Knight to Scary Monsters #5 shows a double-exposed photo of Feep wearing an oversized space helmet (click the link under the sidebar image to see the ad). It describes Feep as a "Man About Space and Channel 7's General Custodian of Fantasmic Features."
  
  
• When the show moved to Saturday night, it bumped back an existing horror showcase called Chillerama which continued to run as a second feature.
  
  
• Bob Deveau, who wrote the letter to Scary Monsters about Feep cited above, also contributed information to this website by e-mail. The following notes are from his published letter, which expanded on the brief comments in his first e-mail:
  
  
  • The show normally played a package of Allied Artists films.
    
    
  • Feep was played by Ed McDonnell, the king of kid's programming at WNAC. "He played MAJOR MUDD five afternoons a week, hosting Three Stooges shorts and Warner Bros. cartoons from a 'base on the moon'....dressed in one of those genuine astronaut suits you could buy from the Captain Company in the back of any Warren magazine." He "also played (briefly) LORD BUMBLEBROOK on Saturday afternoons, hosting Tarzan and Bomba movies from a tiny jungle set."
    
    
  • Feep, an alien, was "a diminutive creature with a bulbous head, a funnel for a mouth, and light-bulbs for eyes." "Standing roughly six inches tall and chroma-keyed into life-size backgrounds, Feep (pre-dating Saturday Night Live's Mr. Bill by at least 10 years) was constantly menaced by giant hands and getting popped into toasters. His pre-recorded, echo-chambered voice was a speed or two slower than a Chipmunk's, and his delivery was similar to (but more deliberate than) Johnny Carson's 'Tea Time Movie Host' Art Fem."
    
    
  • Feep "occasionally was chroma-keyed into the movie itself (I particularly remember him swimming around outside The Atomic Submarine).
    
    
  • "For a while, Feep hosted a two-hour block of Warner Bros. cartoons on Saturday mornings."
    
    
  • "I don't recall exactly when this unique character disappeared from the airwaves, but I do know that the talented Mr. McDonnell has since passed away."
  
  
• Bob Deveau wrote again in March 2006, providing the image on the sidebar (at last!) with the following comment:

  Through the miracles of modern technology, I have been able to reconstruct a photographic image of "Fantasmic Features" host Feep. Using the double-exposed ad that appeared in Scary Monsters magazine, I've been able to remove most of the double-exposure overlap, to produce this (see sidebar).

• Michael Legge, a horror host himself (see DR. DRECK), dedicates his own show to the memory of FEEP, and contributed this detail by e-mail:

  As an update for the character FEEP, the Saturday morning cartoon show he hosted was called Feeperoonies.

• Tim Hollis' book Hi There, Boys and Girls, cited above, notes that Ed McDonnell's "rather goofy spaceman" Major Mudd "used the daily sign-off slogan 'I'll be blasting you'" (IBBY), and hosted many film features on his show, but mainly Three Stooges shorts. He was one of the nine local hosts selected to appear with the Stooges in the feature film The Outlaws is Coming, playing the farcical villain Bat Masterson, "trying in vain to use his famous gun, disguised as a walking cane, after the Stooges plugged up the barrel with glue." The Major Mudd Show / Muddville U.S.A. started in 1961 and ended in 1975; McDonnell passed away four years later.

FERDY (I)

(see also MR. MEPHISTO)

(Jack Crowley)

Read more about this host and his show at Dick (Nitelinger) Golembiewski's Milwaukee Hosts of Horror website, which now features a separate page on Madison TV Horror Hosts!

Ferdie's Inferno

Saturday night at Midnight

September 19, 1964 - April 30, 1966

Friday night at Midnight

September 16, 1966 - April 14, 1967

WMTV-TV, Channel 15 (Madison, Wisconsin)

Magazine reference:

• Feature article "Horror Hosts Which Sold Appliances: Ferdie's Inferno!" by Dick Nitelinger (Golembiewski) in Scary Monsters magazine #52 (fall 2004), pp. 114-118. Ads, pics, and interviews with Jack Crowley and Carl Ames!

NOTES:

• Initial information for this Ferdy entry and the following one contributed by Dick (Nitelinger) Golembiewski, tireless hostorian and webmonster of the frighteningly fabulous Milwaukee Hosts of Horror website.

"FERDY" (II)

(see also MR. MEPHISTO)

(Carl Ames)

Read more about this host and his show at Dick (Nitelinger) Golembiewski's Milwaukee Hosts of Horror website, which now features a separate page on Madison TV Horror Hosts!

Ferdie's Inferno

Friday night at Midnight

August 18, 1967 - September 13, 1968

WMTV-TV, Channel 15 (Madison, Wisconsin)

Magazine reference:

• Feature article "Horror Hosts Which Sold Appliances: Ferdie's Inferno!" by Dick Nitelinger (Golembiewski) in Scary Monsters magazine #52 (fall 2004), pp. 114-118. Ads, pics, and interviews with Jack Crowley and Carl Ames!

NOTES:

• Initial information for this Ferdy entry and the preceding one was contributed by Dick (Nitelinger) Golembiewski, hostorian and webmonster of the frighteningly fabulous Milwaukee Hosts of Horror website.
  
  
• Carl Ames took over as host of "Ferdie's Inferno" show. "Ferdy" appears here in quotes because Dick Golembiewski pointed out that this wasn't the name Carl Ames gave him. The character actually had no name, but because the show was still called "Ferdie's Inferno," everyone thought the character was still named Ferdy.

Film Vault guys in hardhats

(see RANDY and RICHARD)

FIREMAN FRANK

(see also DR. VOLAPUK)

(Voice only: Ron Ross)

Nightmare Theater

Friday night

196?-19??

The 10:15 Double Nightmare

Friday night at 10:15

196?-1966?

The 10:20 Double Nightmare

Friday night at 10:20

1966?-19??

KCPX, Channel 4 (Salt Lake City, Utah)

NOTES:

• E-gorespondent Steve Anderson initiated this entry with the following information:

  I grew up in American Fork, Utah and I remember clearly watching "Nightmare Theater" each Friday night. The host (voice only) was Fireman Frank. He got the name from an early morning cartoon program he hosted for the same television station (KCPX, Salt Lake City). Each morning he came out and introduced cartoons and had a firehouse set. Many of the fans of Nightmare Theater didn't even know it was the voice of Fireman Frank. During the mid-sixties KCPX had a program called "The 10:15 Double Nightmare." Later, about 1966 it switched to the "10:20 Double Nightmare." I will try to find out his real name and let you know. Great to see someone besides myself remembers this program.

  (See DR. VOLAPUK entry for Steve's comments on KCPX's Nightmare Theater host during the 70s — E-gor)
  
  
• David Hall sent two e-mails supplying this host's real name and some very interesting additional details about both of his shows. Here are his comments on this one:

  I have a little information for you regarding Fireman Frank and Dr. Volapuk on KCPX TV in the 1960s and 1970s. His real name was Ron Ross. I don't know if he is still around. I do know he was a dancer and actor associated with what is Now Ballet West ( previously Utah Ballet), and he also worked with the Theatre Department at Utah State University in the mid 1970s.

  I met Ron Ross a few times as a kid. The TV station used to have a small live audience for the afternoon cartoon shows hosted by Fireman Frank. The set was a mockup of a firehouse wall complete with hoses, ladders and a fireman's pole. Every show he made his appearance sliding down the pole wearing a Salt Lake City Fire Dept. uniform. I was on his show twice as part of the audience. I rememer him as being very friendly and gentile with all the kids on his show, especially the toddlers who would be so shy they were ready to cry. Even off camera, he was always kind and attentive to the kids. Every so often, Fireman Frank had someone from the University of Utah Theater Dept. or Ballet West would appear on the show demonstrating costumes, makeup, or maybe sing and/or dance. Fireman Frank even got into the act. Once he must have been appearing in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," or something similar, and he applied the makeup for his role on TV. The finished satyr makeup looked remarkably like the Satyr from the movie "The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao."

  When I was in high school, I was involved in Speech and Drama competitions. Ron Ross often served as judge for regional and State competitions, and also conducted workshops for drama students. He was quite popular with the drama students as much for his status as a local celeb, as he was for his interesting and creative classes.

  (See DR. VOLAPUK entry for Dave's memories of Ron Ross on that show, AND for his explanation of that host's very unusual name! — E-gor)
  
  
• Chuck (THE WOLFMAN) Parrish howls: "It had the neatest opening — real scary."

FLOYD CADAVERIOUS

(Name = ?)

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

Demented Drive In Theatre

Friday Night at 9:00 pm and Saturdays at 1:00 pm

Charter Communications, Channel 3 (Washington State)

200? - Present?

NOTE:

• From the Horror Host Underground Website profile:

  Floyd Cadaverious manages the Demented Drive In Theater every Friday Night at 9:00 pm and Saturdays at 1:00 pm ( a matinee at a drive in????). He's Got 8 shows in the can since the first of the year and more are on the way weekly.

Floyd, Count *

(see COUNT FLOYD *)

FORREST J ACKERMAN

(Forrest James Ackerman; died December 4, 2008: see obituary)

Frame, Eddie

(see EDDIE FRAME)

Frank (I) *

(see FRANK and DRAC)

Frank (II) and Zomboo

(see ZOMBOO and FRANK)

FRANK and DRAC *

(Allen Christopher, Robert Kokai)

See bio and images of Frank and Drac -- and hundreds of images of a host of other horrors -- at the incredible Horror Host Gallery website, courtesy of video archaeologist Thomas Rudé!

The Frank and Drac Show

Saturday, 11:30 p.m.

WOIO-TV, Channel 19 (Cleveland, Ohio)

October 1987 - June 1988

Elena Watson's Television Horror Movie Hosts reference:
whole chapter and picture -- Ch. 30, "Frank and Drac Were Back...", pp. 213-216.

NOTES:

• I, E-gor, really lucked into contacting "Frank" from this team, one of the hosts I read about in Elena Watson's book (they got their own chapter) when I first got interested in this subject. I had recently joined the Yahoo group for Peter Lorre fans and browsing through the postings archive, I found a note from one of the group members who said he'd been a horror host (unnamed) in his younger days, so of course I wrote him to inquire about it! Here's his reply:

  Dear E-gor,
  
  Thank you and glad to say that my felonies...er, uh exploits as as a late night horror host are already documented in your site. I am/was "Frank" of "Frank & Drac" late of WOIO-TV19 in Cleveland, OH.
  The whole gig came about by accident, but it was a wild year while we were on and it fulfilled a childhood dream since I grew up watching Ernie Anderson as GHOULARDI. I got to meet Ernie while I was based out in LA.... at the time he was the premiere voice-over artist in the industry and I was a producer trying to make ends meet while sleeping on my office desk.
  
  About 75% of what was written about us in various articles and books was true, most of it garnered from some aggressive press the station concocted at the last minute before we made our debut (an 8.5 Nielsen rating in primetime no less... hey, it was the "new Fox affiliate" in those days and any rating above a point was a plus!). We ended our stint due to a falling out with the station GM even though our late night ratings (3+ late night Nielsen) were still solid at the time.
  
  I'm a pack rat and still have all the props, master tapes, costume and publicity stills. And yes, I'm still in the television biz although living in CT just outside of NYC now. Drac (Kokai) still lives in Ohio and we get together whenever I venture back to see the relatives. He's an avid collector of motion picture memorabilia and has quite a collection to say the least... you'd be surprised.
  
  Drop me a line and again thanks for keeping this wonderful niche genre alive for all of us dead hosts. You are to be commended! I bow in your presence!
  
  Sincerely,
  Allen Christopher
  aka "Your Monster Frank"

Frankie *

(see WARREN REED and FRANKIE *)

Freak, Dr.

(see DR. FREAK)

Fright, Dr.

(see DR. FRIGHT)

Fright, Joe

(see JOE FRIGHT)

FRITZ THE NITE OWL

(Frederick C. Peerenboom)

Visit "Fritz the Nite Owl -- Your Voice of the Night" at the Universe M Website! Fritz himself tipped us off about this site, noting that Universe M includes:

...sites for Green Lantern, Metropolis, E-Man, art created by X-Ray technology and more. Really well done...with some superb artwork. 'Tis a winner....

Read Aaron Edgell's interview with Fritz the Nite Owl), and Edgell's memories of his show and others, Late Night Horror Shows: Memoirs of a Misspent Youth, in the very cool Classic Horror Webzine!

Tune in Smooth Jazz WJZA (Columbus, Ohio: 103.5/104.3 on the FM radio dial) where Fritz the Nite Owl hosts a program of straight ahead jazz from 9 pm. to 12 Midnight on Sundays. Listen to the show live on this website!

Read Fritz the Nite Owl's "Real Jazz" column of CD reviews on the Short North Gazette Website.

Get a 30-minute DVD-R of Fritz the Nite Owl show clips! Just $19.95—see the cover and contents list on the sidebar, and read Fritz's comments about it in NOTES below.

See a 220K jpeg image from Fritz' show on WCLL-19.

Double Chiller Theatre (Friday night segment of all-week-long Nite Owl Theatre)

Friday, 11:30 p.m.

WBNS-TV, Channel 10 (Columbus, Ohio)

September 1974 - June 1991

Nite Owl Theatre

Monday thru Friday, 11 pm - 1 am

WCLS-TV, Channel 62 (Columbus, Ohio)

1992(?) - 1995

Nite Owl Theatre

Saturday and Sunday, 8 - 10 pm (chillers Saturday, variety Sunday)

WCLL-TV, Channel 19 (Columbus, Ohio)

c. May 2001 - c. July 2003 ("with sporadic showings after that")

Magazine references:

• Feature article discussing show and reproducing signed photo of Fritz, "Monsters Are My Life" by Vince Cornelius, in issue #5 (December 1992) of Scary Monsters, p. 9-11.
  
  
• Letter (with picture) from Fritz Peerenboom about show in issue #8 (September 1993) of Scary Monsters, p. 6.
  
  
• Feature article with four pictures, "Fritz the Nite Owl," in Scary Monsters Presents Monster Memories #2, 1994 Yearbook (January 1994), pp. 55-57.

NOTES:

• Fritz the Nite Owl himself has been keeping us posted on developments in Niteland!   His first e-mail read:

  Hi E-Gor!
  Just a note to thank you for including me on your terrific website. I really appreciate the space and attention you gave to the show and me.
  If it's possible, could you add, at your convenience, the following brief items somewhere---as they are elements of which I am extremely proud---and are items that might not be typical of most Horror Hosts.
  
  

  1. I won 5 EMMYS for my On-Air Performances.
     
     
  2. I had a Guest-Cameo with lines in DC's THE POWER OF SHAZAM! Comics #20, in which I gave a minor assist to Captain Marvel and Superman in saving the world.
     
     
  3. My show aired 7 nights a week from Fall 1974 -til- Summer 1991---which added up to over 6,000 consecutive appearances, with no re-runs of my performances, ever. (The films were shown more than once, but I always prepared new live and taped elements for each showing).

  
  Best wishes....
  Fritz The Nite Owl

• In April, 2005, Fritz wrote:

  Da Owl turned 70 this past December --- and all I can say is to quote Bette Davis who said, "Gettin' old ain't for sissies." But generally, my health is good --- just the normal aches, pains, inconveniences that come with geezerdom.
  To answer some questions -- this is embarrassing -- but -- I'm not real sure of the dates my show ran on WCLL-TV-19. As I recall --- it started around May of 2001 -- and ran until around July of 2003 --- with sporadic showings hither and yon after that.
  Unfortunately, TV-19 was a low power, commercial TV station -- but for whatever reasons, local cable wouldn't carry it -- so it was probably seen by about 14 viewers. I enjoyed doing it --- just wish it could have gotten better audience exposure.
  My radio show, Nite Owl Jazz, is going well --- will be going into its 14th year this month. For more info on that go to www.wjza.com and click on "personalities" -- scroll to the bottom -- and there's a bio and recent pic. Hope you enjoy.
  And my thanks to you for letting the Galaxy know about Fritz the Nite Owl.
  Keep in touch --
  Fritz.

• In June, 2006, Fritz wrote to tell us about his new DVD-R: See the link above and the cover pictures on the sidebar for details.

  A bit of Owl-news — a 30-minute DVD-R of The Nite Owl is now available. This DVD is my current audition DVD for possible jobs. It is a 30-MINUTE expansion of the entry I used in my 1991 EMMY submission tape— and helped me WIN my 5th EMMY in 1992 for the performances I did in 1991. I hope you and your readers will enjoy it!
  
  Best wishes,
  Fritz the Nite Owl

• At WBNS, Fritz hosted all types of single features 7 nights a week; Friday was "Double Chiller" night with a double-feature of horror movies beginning at 11:30 p.m.
  
  
• One Scary Monsters feature reported that Nite Owl Theatre started as an unhosted, all-night show on Saturdays only. Sunday-Thursday it was Armchair Theatre, with Double Chiller on Friday. Nite Owl Theatre originally had an animated stock opening and closing, with about 100 cartoon slides of an owl for commercial transitions. Fritz Peerenboom first provided voiceovers for the owls on these slides, becoming known to the audience as "Fritz the Nite Owl."
  
  
• In 1989, Fritz hosted and co-produced a pilot called 4-Star Nite Owl Theatre (4-Star Int'l., Burbank, CA) which was available for syndication.

End of F Listings  Go back to INDEX