Start of G Listings

Gangrene, Dr.

(see DR. GANGRENE)

GAYLORD

(Fred Briggs; died in 1995, age 67)

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

Name of show?

Day? Time?

WBFF-TV, Channel 45 (Baltimore, Maryland?)

197? - 197?

Shockwatch

Saturday at 11:15 pm

WSAZ-TV, Channel 3 (Huntington, West Virginia)

1959 - 196?

Magazine references:

• Baltimore show, host and actor mentioned in interview article, "Monster Memories of Baltimore's Ghost Host Mr. George Lewis" by Gene Crowell, in issue #13 (December 1994) of Scary Monsters, pp. 14-15.
  
  
• Gaylord's shows 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.

NOTES:

• George Lewis, who played Baltimore Channel 45's Ghost Host himself, produced the same station's show with Gaylord but didn't give more details in the interview above.
  
  
• The article about Appalachian horror hosts by Kurt McCoy cited above (and reprinted on this site) provides the following (adapted) details about Gaylord:

  Shock! came to West Virginia in 1959. The first local station to acquire the syndicated package of horror films was Huntington's WSAZ, Channel 3. The station's regular 11:15 p.m. movie show, "Nitewatch," was dubbed "Shockwatch" on Saturday night; along with the introduction of the "Shock" movies, WSAZ unveiled the host of its new show, a ghoulish figure with sunken black eyes in a craggy white face, dressed in black cape and top hat, named Gaylord, played by WSAZ news announcer Fred Briggs. His character was grimly sardonic and deliberately ghoulish. He played the keyboards and cracked bad puns with gravelly sincerity. His motto was "Have Casket, Will Travel!" In less than two years, Briggs left WSAZ; the station dropped "Shockwatch" after he departed.
  
  During the early '70s, while working at WBFF in Baltimore, Briggs revived his ghoulish alter ego in a new Gaylord show produced by George Lewis, who later created his own horror host character in the very popular Ghost Host show.
  
  Briggs had a long and distinguished career as a television reporter and anchorman, and went on to be a news correspondent for NBC. He won an Emmy in 1969 for his reporting on black lung disease, and appeared on NBC broadcasts until the late '80s. He died of cancer in 1995 at the age of 67.

• Something different in the way of E-gorespondants — two sisters who were both fans of Gaylord and Shockwatch! Both wrote in May 2005; Carole Newman first:

  I remember watching Fred Briggs back in the 50's on the show called Shockwatch. I heard that he passed away a few years ago. I would like to know just how he died if you don't mind sharing that with me. I was very fond of Mr. Briggs, and enjoyed his show emensly. I would appreciate any information you can give me concerning his passing.

  I replied to Carole with links to this page and the Appalachian Horror Hosts noted above, both of which provide brief information about Fred Briggs' demise. (If anyone can provide an obituary or more information about his life and career, please E-mail E-gor!)
  
  I heard from Carole's sister, Becky DeAlba, soon afterward:

  I also have a vivid memory of going down to WSAZ TV late on a Saturday night to meet Gaylord. It was a fascinating experience -- one that I will not ever forget. His make-up and coming out of the casket made a lasting impression on both of us. I can't remember if I actually talked to him or not, but I know that my sister was frozen in her tracks, and wouldn't go near him in person. Our parents were so unselfish to make my sister's dream come true by driving down there at an hour when the family is usually in bed asleep. Thanks so much for your website!!!

  My pleasure. The family that Shockwatches together, sticks together...
  
  
• An old show fan sent a family snapshot of Gaylord (see sidebar) with this comment:

  Here is the picture of Gaylord taken at Camden Park in the summer of 1960. Hope it can be of some use to you. Sorry about the finger over the lens - but you can still see him pretty well.
  Andy Moore

  We assume that's young Andy hidden behind the Amazing Colossal Finger — what a great piece of Americana!

GEORGE BYRAM *

(George Byram)

Name of show? (Shock!?)

Thursday at 10:00 p.m.

KBTV-TV, Channel 9 (Denver, Colorado)

195? - 19??

Elena Watson's Television Horror Movie Hosts reference:
mentioned in Ch. 3, "Invasion of the Ghost Hosts," p. 27.

George Eisenhauer

(see IGOR (II))

Ghastlee Ghoul or Ghastley Ghoul or Ghastly Ghoul

(see A. GHASTLEE GHOUL

GHOST, The Man from

(see THE MAN FROM GHOST)

The Ghostess with the Mostess *

(see CREMATIA MORTEM *)

GHOST HOST

(George Lewis)

Click here to see a brief bio and rare vidcaps from Ghost Host's show -- and hundreds of images of a host of other horrors -- at the incredible Horror Host Gallery website, courtesy of video archaeologist Thomas Rudé!

Ghost Host Theatre

Saturday at 11:30

WBFF-TV, Channel 45 (Baltimore, Maryland)

April 1971 - about 1985

Ghost Host Theatre?

Saturday night at 11:00

WPTT, Channel 22 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

Late 70s - early 80s

Magazine reference:

• Feature with three pictures of Ghost Host, two others from show opening, "Monster Memories of Baltimore's Ghost Host Mr. George Lewis" by Gene Crowell, in issue #13 (December 1994) of Scary Monsters, pp. 14-15.

NOTES:

• Show opened with a painting of an old mansion in a rain storm, with GHOST HOST walking through the woods toward the house. He entered, walked down a staircase into a dungeon, where he spoke the lines: "Goood evening. This...is your GHOST HOST! Inviting you to watch if you DARE!"
  
  
• Ghost Host's mouth was shadowed (Lewis was reciting Hamlet) so the same footage could be used every week with new audio dubbed over it.
  
  
• George Lewis also played kid's show host Captain Chesapeake.
  
• George Lewis produced another horror host show with a character named GAYLORD played by Fred Briggs.
  
  
• Chris Stone (jstone@bellatlantic.net) sent e-mail with personal memories of the show:

  The show was called Ghost Host Theatre, at least for a time. (A friend has a video copy of the introductory sequence from the show's final years with this title.) Even as a clueless adolescent, I realised that the bearded "ghoul" introducing the movie in the shadows of the cardboard cemetary also mc'd the afternoon cartoons as Captain Chesapeake. And that his dialogue never matched the movement of his mouth--a nod to economy, as you point out--was a continual source of amusement. Ghost Host was hardly in a class with just about any other fright meister, but there was an eerieness to those intros that set the proper mood for the night's horror flick.

• E-gorespondent Jonathan R. Mills remembers Ghost Host's signoff line -- "Until next week, here's blood in your eye!" -- and adds, "for fans of the truly trivial, 'BFF' stands for 'Baltimore Forty-Five.'"
  
  
• Pittsburgh fan "Slick Junior" recalls:

  Ghost Host also had his shows rebroadcast on Pittsburgh's WPTT Channel 22.... Saturday Nights at 11:30. I don't know the exact year it started.... but it was when Chiller Theater had moved to 1 AM after SNL, i.e., late 1970s to early 1980s. We used to watch GH then switch to Chiller.
  It took us quite a while to figure out that he wasn't actually saying the words that we heard during the Ghost Host segments.
  Also, although WPTT had a Captain Pitt like WBFF had a Captain Cheasapeake, the guy who played Ghost Host did not play Captain Pitt.

• Another Pittsburgh fan, Joe Bacon, remembers:

  GHOST HOST was also syndicated in Pittsburgh and his show was on at 11 PM on Channel 22 in Pittsburgh during the late seventies/early eighties. The OUTER LIMITS episodes which preceeded the GHOST HOST show were always better than his lousy movies.

• Baltimore fan Mike High remembers:

  Ghost Host having a double feature every Saturday night AND a chapter from a serial, like Phantom Empire. This was mid to late 70s. You probably missed the first movie if you watched (Count Gore De Vol's) CREATURE FEATURE since Ghost Host came on at the same time. It was always a dilemma which to watch!

• Pittsburgh fan FRANK-N_STEIN remembers:

  Two movies I can verify that aired on Pittsburgh's Ghost Host are I Bury The Living with Richard Boone and Mr. Sardonicus. As I recall, they had a limited amount of movies and showed the same features over again quite often.

THE GHOSTLY HOST

(Real name=?)

Nightmare Theatre

Saturday night at 1:00 a.m.

WPLG?, Channel 10 (Miami, Florida)

1960s

NOTE:

• E-gorespondent Al Val wonders: "Has anyone ever mentioned a show called 'Nightmare Theatre' on Miami's channel 10 during the 60's? It came on at 1:00 AM on Saturday nights. The host, called the Ghostly Host, was a disembodied head with an optical wheel spinning in the background, and it used to scare the hell out of me when the stations would show promos for the show during the daily kids shows."

Ghoul, A. Ghastlee

(see A. GHASTLEE GHOUL

THE GHOUL *

(Ron Sweed)

Click ova-dey to visit www.theghoul.com, the Official Ghoul website, with pix, boom booms, Froggy, info on Ghoulardifest and The Ghoul (S)Crapbook, loads of stuff for sale, and much more!

See a brief bio and a couple dozen images of the Ghoul — and hundreds of images of a host of other horrors — at the incredible Horror Host Gallery website, courtesy of video archaeologist Thomas Rudé!

Read about The Ghoul (S)Crapbook (see book reference description below) on the publisher's webpage, with full details about orders.

The Ghoul

Saturday at 11:30 p.m.

WKBF-TV, Channel 61 (out of business in 1975; resurrected as WCLQ in 1982) (Cleveland, Ohio; syndicated to Detroit and six other Kaiser Broadcasting cities)

1971 - 1975

The Ghoul's Creature Feature, later The Ghoul

Saturday at 11:30 p.m.

WKBD-TV, Channel 50 (Detroit, Michigan)

1975 - 1976?

The Ghoul

Saturday at 11:30 p.m.?

WKBS-TV, Channel 48 (Philadelpia, Pennsylvania)

197? - 197?

The Ghoul

Day? Time?

KBHK-TV, Channel 44 (San Francisco, California)

197? - 1973

Name of show?

Day? Time?

WXON-TV, Channel 20 (Detroit, Michigan)

1976 - 1978

The Ghoul

Day? 8:00 p.m.

WCLQ-TV, Channel 61 (Cleveland, Ohio) (resurrected from WKBF 61)

1982 - 1985

MasTERRORpiece Theatre (Halloween showing of Night of the Living Dead, co-hosted with COUNT SCARY)

Thursday, 8:00 p.m.

WKBD-TV, UPN Channel 50 (Detroit, Michigan)

October 31, 1996

The Ghoul

Friday night at 11:30

WBNX-TV, WB Channel 55 (Detroit, Michigan)

199? - present

Elena Watson's Television Horror Movie Hosts reference:
whole chapter and two pictures -- Ch. 17, "Direct from Parma: The Ghoul," pp. 111-117.

Other book reference:
The Ghoul (S)Crapbook by Ron "The Ghoul" Sweed & Mike Olszewski, Gray & Company, Publishers, Cleveland, 1998 (ISBN 1-886228-22-1), $17.95 retail, softcover, 152 pages, 8x8. (To order, see link above to publisher's webpage.)

Magazine reference:

• Short article with picture, "Ghoul Power," in issue #8 (September 1993) of Scary Monsters, p. 49.
  
  
• Feature article by Michael Weldon about Cleveland horror hosts, "The Hosts That Ate Cleveland," in issue #24 (December 1982) of Fangoria, pp. 28-32. Two pictures of The Ghoul, more of Ghoulardi.
  
  
• Feature above reprinted with changes as "Stay Sick with Ghoulardi" in issue #2 of Michael J. Weldon's own magazine, Psychotronic Video, (Spring, 1989), pp. 38-43. Same two pictures of The Ghoul, more of other hosts.

Ghoul A Go-Go

(see VLAD, CREIGHTON and THE INVISIBLE MAN)

GHOULARDI *

(Ernie Anderson: died February 6, 1997)

See all Ghoulardi products for sale at Amazon.com.

Check out the Ghoulardi and Ernie Anderson entries in Wickipedia.

Read about Ghoulardi -- Inside Cleveland TV's Wildest Ride (see book reference description below), with full details about orders, on the publisher's webpage.

Watch a great video clip of Ghoulardi (hosted by BIG CHUCK and LI'L JOHN) at You Tube!

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

Visit the Ghoulardi Fan Home Page.

See Ernie Anderson's Internet Movie Database credits.

Shock Theater

Friday at 11:20 pm

January 18, 1963 - November 1966

Masterpiece Theater

Saturday at 6:00 pm

April 13, 1963 - November 1966

Laurel, Ghoulardi, and Hardy

Weekdays at 5:00-5:30 pm

July 15, 1963 - December 9, 1963

All above shows on WJW-TV, Channel 8 (Cleveland, Ohio)

Name of show?

Weekdays at 4:00-4:30 pm

November 11, 1963 - December 9, 1963

WSPD-TV, Channel 13 (Toledo, Ohio)

Elena Watson's Television Horror Movie Hosts reference:
mention (pp. 79, 111) and whole chapter with two pictures -- Ch. 7, "To Ghoulardi, 'All the world's a purple knif'," pp. 57-64.

Other book reference:
Ghoulardi -- Inside Cleveland TV's Wildest Ride by Tom Feran and R.D. Heldenfels, Gray & Company, Publishers, Cleveland, 1997 (ISBN 1-886228-18-3), $17.95 retail, softcover, 174 pages, 8x8. (To order, see link above to publisher's webpage.)

Magazine references:

• Feature article by Michael Weldon about Ghoulardi and other Cleveland horror hosts, "The Hosts That Ate Cleveland," in issue #24 (December 1982) of Fangoria, pp. 28-32. Four pictures of Ghoulardi, two of The Ghoul.
  
  
• Feature above reprinted with changes as "Stay Sick with Ghoulardi" in issue #2 of Michael J. Weldon's own magazine, Psychotronic Video, (Spring, 1989), pp. 38-43. 6 pictures of Ernie Anderson, more of other hosts.
  
  
• Ghoulardi appears with group of other horror hosts in cover painting by Terry Beatty on issue #8 (September 1993) of Scary Monsters.
  
  
• Feature article "Hey Group! It's Ghoulardi!" in issue #2 (June 1994) of Monsterscene, a great magazine with terrific covers by Basil Gogos, sadly no longer being published.
  
  
• Feature with 4 photos and 4 ads or drawings, "Ghoulardi Rules Cleveland!" by Mike Olszewski, in issue #8 (? 1997) of Outré, pp. 31-33, 80.
  
  
• Discussed in article "Here we go-o-o again - Remembering Big Chuck and Little John (and Hoolihan)" by Mike Acord in Scary Monsters #32 (September 1999), pp. 20-23. Three pics of Chuck and John, two of Ghoulardi (mentioned in the article).

NOTES:

• Unlike most horror hosts, Ghoulardi was a hipster rather than a monster. He wore a phony mustache and goatee, hornrimmed glasses with a lens missing, a matted, thrown-on wig, and a long lab coat festooned with large pinback buttons. He laughed at authority, encouraged non-conformity, used ethnic humor in his skits, and spouted catchphrases like "turn blue," "cool it" "purple knif" and "stay sick."
  
  
• The first movie hosted by Ghoulardi (who went nameless on that show) was The House on Haunted Hill starring Vincent Price.
  
  
• Music used on the show (from the "Songs in the Key of Ghoulardi" list in the Feren and Heldenfels book cited above) included: "The Bat" by the Ventures, "Green Onions" by Booker T. & the MGs, "Pygmy" by Baby Stix & the Kingtones, "The Bomb" by Johnny & the Hurricanes, "I Lost My Kielbasa" by the Dave Stacy Orchestra, "Rumble" by Link Wray, "Buzzsaw" by the Turtles, "Incoherent Blues" by The Oscar Peterson Trio, "Silent Movies" by the Old Perfesser, "Cherokee" by the Cherokees, "I've Got a Woman" by Jimmy McGriff, "Space Rock, Parts One and Two" by The Baskerville Hounds, "Constipation Blues" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins, "Night Owl Blues" by The Lovin' Spoonful, "Stronger Than Dirt" by Tom King and the Starfires, "Desert Rat" by Duane Eddy, "Eddie's Blues" by Eddie Cochran, "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" by the Rivingtons, "Sugar Shack" by Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs, "Ghoulardi Polka" (Hej Gory Moje) by the John Borkowski Orchestra, "Peanuts" (Lacacahuata) by The Sunglows, "Surfin' Bird" by The Trashmen, "Greasy Spoon' by Hank Marr, "Pink Dominoes" by The Crescents, and "Turn Blue" by Jimmy McGriff.
  
  
• As his show progressed and more skits were developed, Ernie Anderson got invaluable assistance on- and off-camera from "Big Chuck" Schodowski, who was a fan of TV comedy genius Ernie Kovacs, and brought a lot of the same sort of hilarious creativity to Ghoulardi's show. When Ernie Anderson left the show in 1966, Ghoulardi was replaced by "Hoolihan and Big Chuck." Bob "Hoolihan" Wells moved on in 1979, but Big Chuck is still on the air with his long-time second TV partner "Li'l John" Rinaldi. For more about all these guys, see HOOLIHAN and BIG CHUCK and LI'L JOHN.
  
  
• Ernie Anderson moved to Los Angeles, California, where he was tremendously successful off-camera as the main "voice of ABC" television, providing voice-overs for shows like The Love Boat, McGiver The ABC Sunday Night Movie, and American's Funniest Home Videos. He was also the announcer for most of the run of The Carol Burnett Show on CBS.
  
  
• Ernie Anderson's son, Paul Thomas Anderson, is a film director whose works include Boogie Nights and Magnolia. His production unit is called "The Ghoulardi Film Company."
  
  
• Ernie's off-camera right hand man during the run of his show was teenager Ron Sweed, who first met his idol dressed in a gorilla suit to make an impression. In 1971 he got Ernie's blessings to carry on the Ghoulardi tradition and began hosting horror movies with riotous abandon as another fiendish hipster called THE GHOUL. He's still on the air!

GHOULIA

(Shirl Vloedman Selman — possibly under a different professional name?)

Classic Nightmares

Friday at midnight

KOLD-TV (previously KOPO), CBS Channel 13 (Tucson, Arizona)

1956-1958? (see E-gor's comment at end of first NOTE)

NOTES:

• Tucson horror hostorian Jim Morton first remembered this host with the following e-mail:

  When I was a kid in Tucson, the local scary movie was called Classic Nightmares. It started at midnight on Fridays and the first movie shown was Frankenstein (this would have been sometime between 56 and 58, I don't remember exactly). The host was a Vampira-style woman called Ghoulia. She was very urbane and my folks found her more amusing than I did. The tone of the humor was definitely more adult than what I've seen by Vampira.

  If Ghoulia hosted Frankenstein, her show probably started in 1957 (or 1958) like many others all over the country built around the Screen Gems SHOCK! package syndicated at that time. See List of TV Stations Carrying SHOCK! in 1958 for an incomplete but growing list of these other hosts and shows. — E-gor.
  
  
• Kris Selman, Ghoulia's daughter (!), adds:

  Sitting on vacation in Tucson, AZ, playing on my computer. I googled "Ghoulia" and came up with your site. The Ghoulia that Jim Morton wrote about was my mother, Shirl Vloedman Selman. She may have been using a different professional name at that time. We lived here in Tucson and she did the Ghoulia show. She had a coffin that she arose from on Fridays and a large stuffed lizard that she used as a prop. I remember her looking a lot like Elvira with long black hair and a black, revealing dress. During that time, 56-58, she also did a children's show, Aunt Coral and Uncle Shoe. The song, "Getting to Know You" from "The King and I" was the theme. I wonder if anyone out there has a picture?

  I certainly hope a portrait of Ghoulia will turn up! If anybody can help, I'd love to hear from you (see sidebar) — E-gor.
  
  
• A few more facts and possible leads gleaned from the Internet:
  
  
  • A web reprint of a May 1, 2002 obituary originally published in the Tucson Citizen noted that the deceased, Tucson attorney and radio and television personality Herbert E. Lahr, had been the (co-)star of the TV program Aunt Coral and Uncle Shoe. He was also the son of actor Bert Lahr, best remembered as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz!
    
    
  • Old-time Arizona broadcaster Ray Lindstrom's memories of working in TV and radio includes this tantalizing tidbit about an early job at KOLD-TV, the CBS station in Tucson:

    One of the shows I specifically remember was the Sunday morning local cartoon program hosted by Herb Lahr.... I would rush between segments setting up kids shoes and cookies. Actually the job was pretty boring. Lots of time between shows with nothing to do but sit around...and watch TV.

    Assuming this was the "Uncle Shoe" show noted above, I'm also assuming (pending better info) that Ghoulia's show was on KOLD-TV, which went on the air in January 1953 as KOPO, Tucson's first TV station, partly owned by cowboy star Gene Autry. The station's call letters were changed to KOLD five years later. — E-gor.

Ghoulie, Uncle

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

GHOULITA *

(see also JEEPERS, JEEPERSKEEPER, BOB BURNS.)

(Lietta Harvey)

See Lost Angels: Horrors! LA's forgotten Horror Hosts at the Real Little PartiGirl's Local Legends website, which includes a brief history of Jeepers Creepers Theatre — and cool pictures!

Jeepers Creepers Theater

Saturday night

KCOP-TV, Channel 13 (Los Angeles, California)

April, 1963 - 1964

Elena Watson's Television Horror Movie Hosts reference:
mentioned in Ch. 25, "Son of Invasion of the Ghost Hosts," pp. 177-178.

Magazine reference:

• Picture with letter about GHOULITA FAN CLUB in letters column of issue #7 (1963) of Fantastic Monsters of the Films, p. 38.

NOTES:

• Replaced original host JEEPERS (Bob Guy).
  
  
• Replaced on show by JEEPERS KEEPER (Fred Stuthman).
  
  
• Another very cool ghoul discussed on this site, BOB BURNS, created Ghoulita's makeup and did special effects for the show.

Ghoul-ley, Sir Robert

(see SIR ROBERT GHOUL-LEY; see also JIM COOKE)

Ghouls, Two Fat

(see SCRUFFY McGHOUL and CHESTER THE WEREWOLF)

Gibson, Alec *

(see ALEC GIBSON *, CHUCK ZINK *)

Gideon, Professor

(see PROFESSOR GIDEON)

GILBERT GOTTFRIED

(Gilbert Gottfried)

See Gilbert Gottfried's Internet Movie Database info.

USA Up All Night

Saturday at midnight

USA Network (cable)

199? - 199? (over eight years)

NOTE:

• RHONDA SHEAR hosted movies on this show on Friday nights.
• Movies shown were often not horror films -- but often enough for this list.

Gleason, Whitey

(see WHITEY GLEASON, aka CREEPMEISTER MAXIMUS)

THE GLOB

(A green rubber martian mask manipulated from below by ?)

The Glob

Day? Time?

KBHK-TV, Channel 44 (San Francisco, California)

1973?-19??

NOTE:

• Michael Monahan contributed this entry and these details:

  KBHK Ch 44 (San Francisco) tried a variety of horror shows - hosted and not. For awhile they syndicated The Ghoul.... I think The Ghoul lasted two years out here, but I can't be certain. I do remember that he was replaced by The Glob. The Glob was supposed to be a living (alien?) head - and was, in fact, a green rubber mask manipulted from underneath by some stage hand. They just wiggled it around a bit, while a gurgling voiceover announced the film. Over this they superimposed the dancing tuning line from some electronic meter. The Glob was popular enough in the Bay Area to inspire his own Slurpee flavor. This was back when the 7-11 advertised their current flavors with little billboards on the front windows. I remember seeing The Glob's head on one such board, announcing the flavor that been given his name. To this day, I have no idea what the flavor actually was. I'd kill for one of those posters, though....

Goddess of Stonehenge, The

(see RAVENA, THE GODDESS OF STONEHENGE and ANOK)

Gordon the Gorilla

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

Gore, Commandant

(see COMMANDANT GORE)

Gore De Vol *

(see COUNT GORE DE VOL *)

Gorey, Peter

(see PETER GORY)

Gorey or Gory, Uncle

(see EDDIE DRISCOLL)

GORGON THE GRUESOME *

(Bill Camfield; died in 1991)

Visit Welcome to the World of Ajax, Delphinium & Mr. Twerp, a web tribute to Bill Camfield's entire TV career created by his son, Paul Camfield! Lots of pictures, Bill Camfield's life story, a KTVT scrapbook, merchandise (tapes and video CDs of vintage show footage including Nightmare!) and more!

See Texas TV Terror: NIGHTMARE with Gorgon, Terror of Texas TV, "A Tribute to the Original Shock Theatre Host of Ft. Worth/Dallas," in the online monsterzine Monster Kid #2, available exclusively on Kerry Gammill's utterly astounding Monster Kid online magazine website.

Go to Slam Bang Theater, with lots of great photos and information about Icky Twerp and Gorgon (hear the SBT theme!), on Greg Knight's psychotronic Patio Culture website — "a treatise on suburbia."

See Bill Camfield's Internet Movie Database entry.

Nightmare (pure horror films in Shock! package)

Saturday from 8:00 - 10:30 pm (double feature)

September 1957 - "end of 1959....except for Halloween specials"

KFJZ-TV (changed to KTVT-TV in 1960), Channel 11 (Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas)

Mystery Matinee (non-horror thrillers in Shock! package)

Saturday afternoon at ? pm

? 195? - ? 19??

KFJZ-TV

1959 Halloween special (three movies in one day)

Mystery Matinee (single feature: The Wolf Man)

Saturday at 4:00 pm

Nightmare (double feature: The Beast with Five Fingers and Bride of the Monster)

Saturday beginning at 10:00 pm

October 31, 1959

KFJZ-TV

Nightmare

Saturday at 7:30 pm (single feature)

? 1962 - ? 1964

KTVT-TV (changed from KFJZ-TV in 1960), Channel 11 (Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas)

Nightmare

Wednesday at ? pm

? 1964 - ? 1964

KTVT-TV

Halloween spectacular (showing The Pit and the Pendulum)

October 1972

KTVT-TV

Halloween special

October 1976

KTVT-TV

Book references:

• Elena Watson's Television Horror Movie Hosts: mention (p. 24) and whole chapter with picture -- Ch. 5, "Gorgon, a Gothic Nightmare," pp. 43-47.
  
  
• Tim Hollis' fine overview of American local children's TV programs, Hi There, Boys and Girls!, has a nice writeup about Bill Camfield's kids' show host "Icky Twerp" in the Texas chapter; pp. 274-275.

Magazine references:

• Pictured and discussed on pages 59-60 of "TerrorVision" feature article in Famous Monsters of Filmland Vol. 1, No. 2 (1958), pp. 56-62. See content in NOTES below.
  
  
• Featured in "Night Harbingers of Horror" article in the May 26, 1958 issue of Life magazine (pp 63-68). Includes a photograph (page 68) and descriptive caption. See content in NOTES below.
  
  
• Gorgon's show and its effect briefly discussed (pp. 20, 85) in "TV's Midnight Madness" feature by Roul Tunley in the August 16, 1958 issue of The Saturday Evening Post magazine (pp 19-21, 85). Includes a photograph (page 68) and descriptive caption. See content in NOTES below.
  
  
• Bill Camfield pictured in and out of character (click Gorgon portrait on sidebar to display), show and personal life discussed on half-page (41) of feature article "TV's Nightmares" in February 1959 issue of TV Star Parade, pp. 39-42.
  
  
• Discussed, with two pictures, in feature "The Horror of Them All!" in issue #13 (December 1988) of Filmfax, pp. 28-32.
  
  
• Mentioned in feature "Monster Mania '57" by Greg Theakston in issue #3 (March-April 1991) of Pure Images, pp. 2-11, 25-28.

NOTES:

• From the Famous Monsters of Filmland feature article cited above:

  Photo caption: Gorgon is Master of Scarymonies on Ft. Worth's KFJZ-TV. He's now working on a shrinking device to use on Alaska — so Texans can keep bragging that their state is the biggest.

  Paragraph about the show in main text:

  texas terror
  Gorgon the Gruesome is the moody man for the Ft. Worth-Dallas territory on station KFJZ-TV. He's 29-year-old Bill Camfield, who bends every effort to create a real mood of horror when he presents NIGHTMARE. Each show opens with a close-up of Gorgon's eyes, and the audience is warned that "the following program is devoted to the pursuit of the unearthly, the terrifying, the shocking." Thunder crashes and the television eye moves slowly down a long, dimly lit hallway. At the end of the hallway each week lies a new surprise, such as:
    A beating heart, floating in boiling oil
    ... A man lying strapped to an operating table beneath a razor-sharp pendulum swinging closer and closer
    ...A chemistry lab with test tubes and beakers mysteriously mixing themselves
    ...A full scale graveyard with Frankenstein exhuming a body from a real coffin
    ...Candlesticks and skulls that float about a morgue, moved by an invisible visitor.

• Text from the May 26 1958 Life photo feature cited above:

  GORGON AND THE FUNERAL PYRE
  Bringing on Dracula's Daughter on KHJZ in Dallas. Bill Camfield, one of the station's sales promotion executives whose program name is Gorgon, invokes spirits to hover over a funeral pyre lighted in the station's patio. He dramatized the death of Dracula by pounding a stake into the heart of the corpse.

• Nightmare-related text from Roul Tunley's August 16, 1958 Saturday Evening Post feature cited above:

  "In Forth Worth, Texas, teen-agers have replaced the usual slumber parties with 'nightmare parties' during which they douse the lights and watch the films in an atmosphere complete with bowls of 'wolfsbane' and 'tanna leaves' (antidotes for werewolves and vampires) as well as 'bat thorn' (food for mummies)."
  (Sic. The author obviously wasn't a true-grue horror fan, readers: those last two items should be reversed -- E-gor)
  "Gorgon, Fort Worth's gift to the ghoul set, has developed a slow, staccato cackle which has become the rallying cry for a good portion of the Texas high-school crowd."

• Gruesome Gorgon tidbits adapted from Kerry Gammill's gorgeous Texas TV Terror web feature, cited above:

  "Camfield preferred to run mainly pure horror films on Nightmare so some of the features from the SHOCK package were run on the station's Mystery Matinee on Saturday afternoons."
  
  Nightmare's opening sequence: "After an extreme close-up of Gorgon's eyes, which opened wide at the announcer's line 'welcome to... NIGHTMARE!' accompanied by a thunderclap, the camera moved slowly down a dark, scary hallway. At the end of the hall was complete darkness and the primal fear it conjured up was a delightfully creepy feeling that viewers relished week after week."
  
  "Bill Camfield's most famous TV character was Icky Twerp, host of KFJZ's classic kids' show Slam-Bang Theater which ran on the station from 1959 through 1972.... Icky Twerp presided over the antics of a host of zany characters including his crew of apes (Ajax, Delphinium and Arkadelphia — E-gor) in slapstick routines.... Slam-Bang Theater was the home of the Three Stooges short subjects."
  
  For The Three Stooges' last film The Outlaws Is Coming, local kids' show personalities were featured as the outlaws.... a clever gimmick that assured that every kid in all the major markets would go to the movie to see their local celebrities on the big screen. Bill Camfield appeared in the film as Wyatt Earp. Camfield jokingly said.... he enjoyed working with the Stooges.... because all three of them were shorter than he was."

Gorilla, Gordon the

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

Gortem Shreek

(see MR. SHREEK, aka GORTEM SHREEK)

Gory, Al *

(see AL GORY *)

Gory, Peter

(see PETER GORY)

Gory or Gorey, Uncle

(see EDDIE DRISCOLL)

Goulfinger, Doktor

(see DOKTOR GOULFINGER)

Gourley, Dr. Montague B.

(see DR. MONGO)

Gottfried, Gilbert

(see GILBERT GOTTFRIED)

GRAMPA *

(Al Lewis, reviving his role of Grandpa Munster from the '60's sitcom The Munsters)

See bio and images from Grampa's show -- and hundreds of images of a host of other horrors -- at the incredible Horror Host Gallery website, courtesy of video archaeologist Thomas Rudé!

See Al Lewis' Internet Movie Database entry.

Super Scary Saturday

Saturday at Noon

WTBS (Cable Superstation TBS) (based in Atlanta, Georgia)

October 1987 - Fall 1989

Elena Watson's Television Horror Movie Hosts reference:
whole chapter and four pictures Ch. 31, "Grampa's Revenge," pp. 217-226.

GRANDPA FRED *

(Robert Prosky)

See Robert Prosky's Internet Movie Database entry.

Name of show?

Fictional TV horror host in the 1990 comedy/horror film Gremlins 2: The New Batch.

Elena Watson's Television Horror Movie Hosts reference:
mentioned in Ch. 25, "Son of Invasion of the Ghost Hosts," p. 175.

NOTE:

• In the film, Grandpa Fred is "an aging Dracula-type late-night horror-show host" at a cable TV station attacked by the Gremlins.

THE GRAVEDIGGER

(Real name = ?)

See an autographed photo of The Gravedigger loaned to E-gor for this site by Forrest J Ackerman!

The Graveyard Shift

Saturday late night

WIS-TV, Channel 10 (Columbia, South Carolina)

196?-19??

NOTE:

• Show fan R. Brazell contributed this entry: "We had a local horror host on WIS TV (Columbia, SC) for a Saturday late show called The Graveyard Shift. The host was called The Gravedigger, and dressed simply (just a pullover shirt as I remember, but I was very young). I saw 'Cape Canaveral Monsters' and 'Teenagers from Outer Space' on that program."

GRAVELY and GRIZELDA MacCABRE

(Ricky and Karen Dick)

Visit the Castle Blood Midnight Monster Hop website.

Check out Midnight Monster Hop, the MacCabre's blogsite.

Experience the Castle Blood Haunted Attraction website — if you dare!

Castle Blood Midnight Monster Hop

Began on Saturdays at Midnight, moved to Friday in February 2008

HSTV Channel 19 (based in Uniontown PA and carried on Atlantic Broadband Cable in southwest Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia)

October 2006 - present

Castle Blood Midnight Monster Hop

Friday and Saturday at Midnight

CSMTV (College of Southern Maryland), Comcast educational Channel 98 (available in five counties in Maryland)

Jan 11 2008 - present

Castle Blood Midnight Monster Hop

RTN (Retro Television Network) (WPXI digital channel widely available in Pittsburgh PA cable/broadcast area)

Premiere February 2, 2008 - present

NOTES:

• In November, 2006, I got the initial information for this entry straight from the horror host's mouth:

  Love the list, and I have a new host for you. ME! I am Gravely MacCabre, host with my wife Grizelda, of Castle Blood's Midnight Monster Hop, on HSTV Channel 19, airing in parts of five counties south of Pittsburgh PA (and into West Virginia). We have already aired four episodes in October, and they went so well that I just got a year's contract for more. I didn't want to write you untill I knew the show wasn't a one shot. If you've ever heard my name it may be because I was a supporting character on two other shows in the 90's — Fitzgerald's Realm in the Chicago area, and Fright Night Friday with SPOOKY SPECTRE, here in Pennsylvania. In fact, other folks from the old Fright Night are on my show now. You can check us out on myspace at

  Midnight Monster Hop

  Thanks, and please let me know if there's anything else we can do for you.
  
  Ricky Dick
  aka Gravely MacCabre

• The first four episodes of Midnight Monster Hop featured classic horror actors like Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and Christopher Lee: Horror Hotel, The Terror, The Day of the Triffids and White Zombie. Other movies featured later include Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, Horror Express, Revolt of the Zombies, The Brain the Wouldn't Die, Countess Dracula and much, much, more.
  
  
• This show is associated with the notorious Castle Blood haunted attraction on historic Route 40 in Beallsville, Pennsylvania. Here's a blurb from the blogsite:

  Castle Blood is on the air!!! For all you crazy Halloween folks that just can't get enough of us during October when you visit the attraction, you can now watch your favorite characters every Saturday night on TV.
  
  Tune in each Saturday at Midnight to watch what we're up to, and let us show you a great old film from Horrorwood's heyday of creepyness.... If you can't get our show on your system, and want to, write us and let us know .... maybe we can do something about that.
  And always remember "It's Midnight Somewhere!"
  
  Hosted By:
  The MacCabre Family:
  Gravely MacCabre
  Grizelda MacCabre
  Skully MacCabre
  
  The Rest of the Cast:
  Deliria, the household staff
  Madam Spookaslav Musikovalev
  Professor M. Scrye
  
  with special appearances by:
  Whiplash
  Uncle Vladimere
  And all the Cast of Castle Blood

• In his most recent e-goresponence (January 18, 2008), Gravely had some very exciting news -- especially since I'll soon be able to watch his show on my digital cable system! :

  I wanted to let you know of big things for us here. As of Feb 2nd,2008, MMH adds the RTN Pittsburgh affiliate to our lineup. It's a new channel owned by WPXI and available on all area cable systems, as well as digitally broadcast on channel 11.3, so those with new TV sets, and everyone once they get those government rebates for upgrade converters, will be able to just get it over the air.
  
  We will still be on HSTV, but that show will move to Friday nights.
  
  Even more news, we are now also being shown on the College of Southern Maryland TV stations (CSMTV) in Charles, St Mary's, Calvert, and Prince Georges Counties, and it's carried on Comcast channel 98 educational station, Friday and Saturdays at midnight.
  
  Thanks for all your work for all hosts everywhere and everyera.

THE GRAVEMASTER

(Tim Kincaide)

See pictures of the Gravemaster: 40k gif image | 48k gif image

See bio and more images from the Gravemaster's show -- and hundreds of images of a host of other horrors -- at the incredible Horror Host Gallery website, courtesy of video archaeologist Thomas Rudé!

Friday Night with the Gravemaster

Friday night

WKCF-TV, Channel 18 (Orlando, Florida)

Early '90's for about six months

NOTES:

• Information contributed by Pat (Fleagore) Tantalo, who created the incredible makeup and set for The Gravemaster (see image links above). (E-mail Fleagore!)
• Tim Kincaide was also "Ranger Bob" on New York and Florida kid shows.

GRAVES and GRAVES DADDY

(see also: COUNT DRACULA, aka TV'S COUNT DRACULA; UNCLE GHOULIE, CARBUNCLE, 13 and GORDON THE GORILLA)

(Tom Hamper as "Graves")

Horror Incorporated

Saturday night at midnight

KSTP-TV, Channel 5 (Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota)

"For a few months," c. 1975 / "For a couple of seasons in the mid to late 70's"

NOTES:

• The original (unhosted) "Horror Incorporated" show aired in the 1960s and 1970s on KSTP-TV, Channel 5 (Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota).
  
  
• Steve Iverson (aka CultTVman) initiated this entry and provided these details:

  There was Graves and Graves Daddy .... This was called Horror Incorporated .... I don't even think anyone other than myself remembers them .... These guys were on at 12 midnight on Saturday Night. And they were only on for a few months. I do know it was after Paul Bearer's stint which would make it around 1975.
  Graves looked a bit like Tim Curry in a tux and Grave's Daddy was a guy in a Don Post mask of an old man. They were quite amusing, but just disappeared.
  The opening:
  "Lurking among the corpses are the body snatchers! Plotting their next venture into the graveyard! The blood in your veins will run cold! Your spine tingles as you look into the terror of tonight's feature matinee. Come along with me, into the chamber of horrors, for an excursion through Horror Incorporated."
  (This was then followed by a blood curdling scream which was lifted out of an old Arch Oboler record.)

  
  
• From a note on the history of the show by Steve Hammergren, director at KSTP Studios, posted on the Horror Incorporated Official Homepage:

  Horror Incorporated probably started in 1969. The first incarnation didn't have a host, but it featured the great voice-over talent of Mr. Jim Wise, who worked at KSTP radio. The person exiting the coffin at the beginning and returning to the grave at the end, was my late friend Warner Smithers, who was then a floor director. Other crew members included Forrest Stanford, who ran the fog machine.

  The narrator would then read the following words:

  Lurking among the corpses are the body-snatchers, plotting their next venture into the graveyard.... the blood in your veins will run cold, your spine will tingle when you join us for an excursion through Horror Incorporated!

  This open and close ran for many a Saturday night in the early '70s.

  For a couple of seasons in the mid to late 70's, Tom Hamper hosted the show on tape as "Graves." He was supposed to be a "vampire butler" or some such creature. He and a couple of pals acted out little skits between the movie segments. When that format ran out of gas, the station resumed the old "no host" format, tuntil the series went off the air in the late 70's.

  Sadly, much of local TV history is lost to the ages as stuff gets tossed. People come and go and memories fade. There really are no such things as archival tapes, set graveyards or a library of facts. Even though there should be, there just isn't the space, time or personnel for these kinds of endeavors.

Graves and Manor (should be Gravesend Manor)

(see MALCOM THE BUTLER and THE DUKE OF DESMODAS)

Graves Daddy

(see GRAVES and GRAVES DADDY)

Gravesend Manor

(see MALCOM THE BUTLER and THE DUKE OF DESMODAS)

Graves Ghastly, Sir *

(see SIR GRAVES GHASTLY *)

Graves, M.T. *

(see M.T. GRAVES *)

Graves, Robin

(see ROBIN GRAVES)

Graveyard Walker, Gregory the

(see GREGORY THE GRAVEYARD WALKER)

THE GREAT ZUCCHINI

(Bill Miller)

Supernatural Theatre

Saturday night

WDCA-TV, Channel 20 (Washington, D.C.)

1968

Magazine reference:

• Discussed in feature "Rot and Roll" by David McDaniel in issue #30 of Scary Monsters (March 1999), page 11. One picture, historical facts and the writer's memories.

NOTES:

• David McDaniel's Scary Monsters feature describes him:

  He lived in the catacombs beneath the Channel 20 studios in Washington, D.C. Not much to look at, I'll grant you, but it wasn't his fault. How could he have known that an audience unaccustomed to culture would react so violently to his magic act and Hamlet recital in that Munich theatre? How could he have anticipated going down in flames -- literally --through the state floor, in that tragic conflagration that destroyed his face and career?.... Picture, if you will, a deformed Beatle in a moldy tuxedo... a moth-eaten vaudeville aristocrat. Twisted throughout -- in body and mind -- he brandished his cane as a weapon, and lauged dementedly, in spite of it all. This, alas, was what remained of The Great Zucchini, who, with his faithfully warped but mercifully unseen projectionist Waldo, hosted the festivities each Saturday night, continually vowing to escape once again.

• Horror hostorian Charlie Ellis added these details:

  I remember Count Gore De Vol's predecessor on WDCA -20, The Great Zucchini! Played by utility man Bill Miller (who hosted an afternoon dance show, Wing Ding (this was the 60s, folks), Zucchini inhabited the Catacombs beneath the station.
  His face badly burned in a great fire, he ranted and mused...organized the famous "Down With People!" campaign (Up With People was a big deal then... Up your People would be today's version).
  He also hated bottles and was often seen breaking then for on-camera excitement.
  Loved his background music. (Can anybody identify it? -- E-gor)
  When the Great Zucvhini announced he would show films made in 8mm by members of the audience, my friend Bill George (now editor of Femme Fatales) and myself excitedly went into overdrive to make a film ....Heaven knows why we were making another one, since we had three or four shorts in the can, but we poured our hearts and souls into this one. It had everything, carefully animated shoes and hat walking down the street, atomic trash cans, the Blob or someone like him, just a typical day in Baltimore. One thing we did was take a few shots of Zucchini off the tube and splice them in...the protagonist was driven to suicide by the sight of him...
  At the age of 14, I was very very excited, to say the least, to see the film on actual TV! Hundreds if not dozens of people would be watching the snowy debut.
  Zucchini went into a rage about how bad all the film submissions were. He did mention one particular entry even violated his copyright by using him in the footage! I was mortified. Crestfallen, I didn't make a film for weeks. I found out years later that engineering had no way to put a decent picture up from 8mm, no way to sync frames, no way to nothing... broadcast specs were sacred hoodoo back then, not desktop trivialities.
  The way Zucchini handled it was in character, but did he have to stomp on my film and threaten to sue me?
  Zucchini read and answered letters from viewers... an early version of interactive TV or the One-List. Exciting to those of us who could write!
  Only once did he venture out of the Catacombs, into the station parking lot... "Oh Look! A Microphone disguised as a flower!"
  I finally convinced my friends to come over and witness this show for themselves (I was one of the few Northeast BaltiMorons who could even get 20) and, sure enough, Zucchini did not appear...gone forever.
  I understand Bill Miller was fired when he asked for a raise.

• Zucchiniphile Chuck Fraley writes:

  Egor,
  Thanks to your site, I have finally, after, oh--30 years?--found information on a favorite horror show host, "The Great Zucchini." I still have vague recollections of it, other than it being broadcast by WDCA-TV Channel 20 back in the late 60s in Washington, DC. My best friend Billy and I would watch this show religiously every Saturday night, chips 'n dip and soda pop at the ready (also with "Chicken in the Can," which, if you can imagine it, was canned fried chicken!). Anyway, one Saturday night as Billy and I were waiting for Supernatural Theater to come on, something else aired in its place! We even called Channel 20, but all someone from the station would tell us is that the program had been canceled. We were seriously bummed out!
  
  I recall the program was broadcast in black and white, and the Great Zucchini would rant at his assistant, Waldo (Waldo, you boob!"), one time even tying him up to an electrified fence! also recall Zucchini smashing wine bottles or other glass jars with his cane. Why, I don't know, but that was him!
  
  Since then, every now and then I have tried to obtain information on this program, even by contacting Channel 20, but no one remembered it. I also had faint hopes that Channel 20 had archive tapes of the show, but again, no one at the station seems to remember it. Anyway, it was a pleasure to run across your site and find this info. Thanks!

Gregore, Count *

(See COUNT GREGORE *) (see also GREGORE *, a different host)

GREGORE *

(Gregg Dunn)

Creature Feature

Saturday at 10:15 pm

KMTV, Channel 3 (Omaha, Nebraska)

September 6, 1958 - ?, 1961

Elena Watson's Television Horror Movie Hosts reference:
mentioned in Ch. 3, "Invasion of the Ghost Hosts," p. 28.

Magazine references:

• Full-page ad for Gregore's first show on KMTV in the Omaha edition of TV Guide, presumably the week it aired in September, 1958 (see Jim Kaffenberger's note below for description).
  
  
• Gregore and his alter-ego Gregg Dunn are pictured and briefly discussed in a two-page feature on midwestern horror hosts, "Underneath the Masks," in the December 6-12, 1958 (national) edition of TV Guide, pp. 26-27.

NOTES:

• Omaha fan Jim Kaffenberger has provided terrific information about Gregore (including great pix!) in a continuing series of wonderful e-mail notes with attachments, starting with this one:

  Back in 1958, Omaha Nebraska TV station KMTV 3 had the "Shock" package and it was hosted by GREGORE Saturday nights at 10:15 pm. Gregore's first show was on September 6, 1958, and had a full page ad in the local Omaha edition of TV Guide. The ad showed the brick wall of a dungeon and said "Meet GREGORE, Saturday night at 10:15 on KMTV." the first film shown was Frankenstein. The only surviving picture of Gregore that I have seen is the one from another TV Guide that showed Gregg Dunn with and without the makeup.
  (See Magazine reference above — E-gor.)
  Just thought i would pass this on in case you wanted to add it to your list.

• Jim followed up in February 2006 with this fabulous score, for which he provided scans so I could post them here! --

  I recently unearthed the complete 1958 KMTV GREGORE Fan Club kit:
  1. original 8x10 fan club photo
  2. Gregore membership charter certificate
  3. KMTV station release for Gregore fans

  See all three by clicking the links above or on the sidebar!

GREGORY THE GRAVEYARD WALKER

(Unseen host; voiceover by ?)

Frightening Flickers

Saturday night at 11:30

WHEC, Channel 10 (Rochester, New York)

1970-1977

NOTE:

• New York state fan Scott Walker contributed this host and these details:

  In 1976 I had moved out into the country and could receive a Rochester NY station, WHEC 10. On Saturday evenings at 11:30 they ran Frightening Flicker [sic; see below] with an unseen host named Gregory the Graveyard Walker. The show opened with a montage of clips of things like figures staggering thru a dark fullmoon lighted cemetary (from some movie I believe). It started with Gregory's voiceover saying something like
  "Who knows what horrors we will receive,
  a tale of terror you won't believe.
  I know for I am Gregory your friendly graveyard walker,
  bringing you TV 10's Frightening Flicker!"
  I think this ran from 1975-1980. [See below]

  
  
  
• Another old fan of the show, Sante Panella, offered some corrections:

  I have a question about Frightening Flickers. Will it ever be on YouTube? There was a mistake on the original airing -- it was from 70-77. The reason I'm saying this is I'm from Rochester, NY and I remember when it aired.
  Thank you.
  Sante Panella
  p.s. Who did the voiceover?

GREGORY GRAVE *

(Harvey Brunswick)

See Gregory Grave pictures and information at Spooky's Nightmare Mansion, courtesy of "Spooky Tom" Winegar.

See Gregory Grave's fan postcard (also courtesy of Tom Winegar).

See TV Guide ad for first KMBC-TV SHOCK! showing.

Shock!; show title changed to Chiller in early '60's

Saturday at 9:30 pm, later moved to 10:15 pm? (live)

KMBC-TV, Channel 9 (Kansas City, Missouri)

September 20, 1958 - ?? 196? (early '60's, "about four years")

Elena Watson's Television Horror Movie Hosts reference:
mentioned in Ch. 3, "Invasion of the Ghost Hosts," p. 28.

Magazine references:

• Full page ad in Kansas City (Missouri) edition of the September 20-26, 1958 issue of TV Guide, with "floating head" photo of Gregory Grave, another cutout photo image (from the wrong film!) of Frankenstein meeting the Wolf Man, and the following text:

  SHOCK comes to Kansas City
  Saturday at 9:30, Gregory presents
  FRANKENSTEIN
  With parts scavenged from
  morgues, graves, and gibbets,
  Dr. Frankenstein makes a
  man. See this greatest of
  all horror classics on the
  Channel 9
  Spooktacular  9:30
  Saturday is Fright Night on Channel 9

• Gregory Grave and his alter-ego Harvey Brunswick are pictured and briefly discussed in a two-page feature on midwestern horror hosts, "Underneath the Masks," in the December 6-12, 1958 issue of TV Guide, pp. 26-27.
  
  
• Picture of Gregory Grave in letters column of issue #18 (July 1962) of Famous Monsters of Filmland, p. 6.
  
  
• Discussed, with cartoon likeness in group drawing, in feature "Monster Mania '57" by Greg Theakston in issue #3 (March-April 1991) of Pure Images, pp. 2-11, 25-28.
  
  
• "Monster Memories of Gregory Grave" article (with picture ) by Thomas Winegar in issue #10 (March 1994) of Scary Monsters, pp. 59-60.

Gregula, Count

(see COUNT GREGULA)

Griffin, Professor

(see PROFESSOR GRIFFIN)

THE GRIM REAPER

(Bob Crowley)

Nightmare Theater

Saturday night from 10:30 pm - 12:30 am

KENS-TV, Channel 5 (San Antonio, Texas)

? 1980 or 1981 - ? 1981 (live, "for a couple dozen weeks")

? 1981 - July 1982 (pre-recorded, with guest performers)

July 1982 (one-shot special 3-D presentation of Revenge of the Creature)

NOTES:

• While working in the lab late one night (trolling the Web for obscure tidbits of horror hostory), I, E-gor, googled the following tantalizing quote from a fellow named Bob Crowley, posted on the Jim Rose Remembers Radio site:

  I also got my own show, dressed up as the Grim Reaper, hosted the Saturday night horror movie at KENS TV for 3 years as 3rd string weatherman...

  Of course I wrote to Mr. Crowley immediately, begging for details! Amazingly, he responded very quickly just a bit later that night!:

  Hello George. Thank you for inquiring. My character was the Grim Reaper. He was Death with a low self esteem. He made wisecracks about death and was always the patsy of the gags played by guests.
  
  I was the host of Nightmare Theater for two 'runs' and a final special. Nightmare Theater began in 1980 or '81. It ran from 10:30pm to 12:30am, Saturday nights.
  
  It was at KENS-TV, when they were still in their downtown studios. The first run lasted a couple dozen weeks. It was presented live.
  
  The second run in 1981 was pre-recorded and included a number of 'guest' performers.
  
  The final run was a 3-D presentation of Revenge of the Creature which aired in July of 1982. That program earned a 48 share, 24 rating.
  
  There are two articles about the program in the San Antonio Express News, by entertainment columnist Jeanne Jackle. One was about the 3-D broadcast, and ran in July '82.
  
  The program set consisted of a blue chroma-key wall. The opening background was a picture of an Irish graveyard a camera crew member had brought back from his vacation. We used a "squeezoom" to expand the keyed image {of the Reaper} to make it look like he was walking up from the path. We caught freeze-frame images of the movie, and played against them in comedy bits at the commercial breaks. We pulled props and sets from the 25-year collection in the back storage area, and did parodies of people, places and things.
  
  Guests that I recall include Frank Rodarte, Tom Scheppke, Rudy Harst, Debbie Miller, Sherrie Sorenson, Joey McGilivary, Kevin Arnold, Joe Bochard, Chip Colley, Alex Abravanel, and others. Kidd Kraddick and Hector Reyes appeared in a promotional announcement for the 3-D movie.
  
  One time we ran the entire series of "Abbott and Costello Meet..." and another time we ran the original classic Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolf Man, Mummy, etc. One season was mostly Peter Cushing / Christopher Lee efforts, which I can't recall at all.
  
  And, as you compile hosts, you should contact Joe Sears and Jaston Williams. They are better known as Greater Tuna, but before they wrote "Tuna" they did 5 Star Shock Theater on Friday nights on KENS. I believe it was 1978 or 1979.
  
  Bob Crowley

Grimsby, Ormon

(see ORMON GRIMSBY)

GRIMSLEY *

(Robert Foster)

Visit the Lost Angels: Horrors! LA's forgotten Horror Hosts page, which mentions Grimsley, at the Real Little PartiGirl's Local Legends website.

Fright Night

Saturday night at 11:00

KHJ-TV, Channel 9 (now KCAL) (Los Angeles, California)

1976 - c. 1979

Elena Watson's Television Horror Movie Hosts reference:
mentioned in Ch. 25, "Son of Invasion of the Ghost Hosts," pp. 180.

NOTES:

• E-gorespondent S.R. Tomb provided Grimsley's real name, show time, and the following: "On a personal note, Mr. Foster is currently releasing a collection of his own way-out music, written and performed by him."
• LA fan Kathy recalls: "Grimsley was an undertaker with a nasty wound on his forehead. I had a 'I'M A GRIMSLEY BODY' bumper sticker on my car for years."

Gruesome, Dr. *

(see DR. GRUESOME *)

Gunn, Harold

(see HAROLD GUNN)

End of G Listings  Go back to INDEX