Start of M Listings

MACABRA *

("a local businesswoman who wished to remain anonymous")

Theatre of the Macabre

Friday at 10:30 p.m.

WOWT, Channel 6 (Omaha, Nebraska)

1982 - 1985

Elena Watson's Television Horror Movie Hosts reference:
mentioned in Ch. 26, "Son of Invasion of the Ghost Hosts, Part II: The Return," p. 188.

Macabre, Count *

(see COUNT MACABRE *)

MacCabre, Gravely

(see GRAVELY MACCABRE)

MADAM CADAVER

(Pat Ozmun)

Fright Night

Friday and Saturday nights at 10:30

KHAS-TV, Channel 5 (Hastings, Nebraska)

Fall 1969 - mid 70s

NOTES:

• Lee Peterson contributed the initial information for this entry:

  I grew up in Grand Island, Nebraska (birthplace of Henry Fonda). In the early-to-mid '70's our local horror movie host was Madam Cadaver. As I recall, she showed movies Fridays and Saturdays at 10:30 (a different movie each night), after the local news. It was definitely on Ch.5 from Kearney/Hastings.
  Her look was patterned on Vampira (I didn't know that at the time, I assumed she was an original) -- black dress, pale makeup, long black hair. I remember her show to be pretty straight, not a lot of clowning around or anarchy. She did answer viewer mail some weeks, though.

• Lee wrote again later with great new details he turned up through diligent research and personal contact:

  I've finally uncovered some choice info about my local horror host, MADAM CADAVER.... After writing a letter to the editor of my hometown newspaper (the Grand Island, Nebraska Daily Independent — I've been a New York City resident for nearly 20 years), I was contacted by a gentleman named Bob Booe who was the creator of the program. Here's what he tells me:

  I put the idea together to create a sales vehicle for an otherwise unsold segment of station air time — at the time I was assistant general manager and program director of the station (KHAS-TV in Hastings, Nebraska). Fright Night first hit the air in the Fall of 1969, in time for Fall sweeps. "Madam Cadaver" was played by a part-time employee of KHAS-TV named Patricia (Pat) Osmond.
  (Sic: see correction in next NOTE — E-gor.)
  She would make her appearance by raising the lid on a coffin I had borrowed from a local mortuary. We attempted to create a scary set scene, complete with cobwebs, spiders, scary lighting, etc. etc. "Madam Cadaver" would, after establishing each week's theme, intro old black & white scary movies. The station purchased a number of these old Lugosi-and-Karloff type spine-tinglers. We would on occasion have locally prominant people appear as victims of "The Madam" by showing them chained in her private dungeon, hanging from torture racks, etc. etc...
  P.S, It was fun.

  Hope you can use this info on your site. I'll let you know if anything else comes my way.
  Keep up the great work on the site!
  Lee Peterson
  Brooklyn, NY

• One of Madame Cadaver's old friends and co-workers wrote with a correction:

  Hello, E-gor -
  I came across your site and was delighted to find a reference to the Madame Cadaver show on KHAS-TV in Hastings, NE, in the early 1970's.
  I did have one correction, on the spelling of the name of the show's host: It was Pat Ozmun (instead of Osmond). Other details are correct as nearly as I can recall. I was sports director of KHAS-TV from 1970-76 and was well-aquainted with Pat. I was even a "celebrity" resident of her dungeon on one of the shows.
  Congratulations on a great site!
  Larry Cain
  Columbia, MO

MADAME MORTEM

(Samantha Ramirez)

Visit The Magnificent Madame Mortem's Midway of Madness, the show's Official Website.

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

See The Magnificent Madame Mortem's Poetry and Short Story Page.

The Magnificent Madame Mortem's Midway of Madness

Shows aired on an irregular schedule

Horror Host Underground Network

Summer 2003 - Present

NOTES:

• "Madame Mortem's Midway of Madness" debuted on July 11, 2003 on The Horror Host Underground Presents, the weekly half-hour program that is a lead in for The Haunted Theatre, hosted by Halloween Jack. This show airs on Cablevision of Monmouth, Channel 77 in Jackson, New Jersey. Madame Mortem's shows are currently shown on tapes circulated and aired on cable access channels in the rapidly-expanding The Horror Host Underground Network.
  
  
• Information adapted from Madame Mortem's official Website:

  "You bring the chips, we'll supply the cheese!"
  Born to a gypsy fortune teller and carnival barker, The Magnificent Madame Mortem traveled the world with the Carn-Evil Circus. She never really was able to tell fortunes, but learned to bilk folks for their hard earned cash from her dad.

  Along the way, she hooked up with a smart-mouthed bird, Quoths the Raven, who was part of a traveling bird show that had joined the circus. The Madame won Quoths in a lucky hand of poker and the two were fast friends through their love of B-Movies, Monsters, and Horror Hosts; especially Madame Mortems idols, Vampira and Elvira.

  Madame Mortem and Quoths were not well liked by the rest of the carnie folk, and late one night, as the Madame and Quoths were "sleeping one off," the circus packed up and left them behind.

  Knowing they needed jobs, Quoths and the Madame put their love for all things Horror to work. Spending their last bit of money on video equipment, they began late night broadcasts of The Magnificent Madame Mortem's Midway of Madness from her fortune tellers tent at the abandoned circus.

  Cast:

  • The Magnificent Madame Mortem — Samantha Ramirez
  • Quoths the Raven — Josh Ramirez
  • Uncle Nevermore the Raven — Josh Ramirez
  • Camera-man Bob — Bob Ramirez

  Episode Guide:

  • Episode 1 — Night of the Living Dead
  • Episode 2 — Carnival of Souls
  • Episode 3 — Godzilla Vs. King Kong
  • Episode 4 — Suspiria
  • Episode 5 — Dementia 13
  • Episode 6 — Alice Sweet Alice
  • Episode 7 — Diabolique

Madblood, Dr. *

(see DR. MADBLOOD *)

MAD DADDY (I) *

(Pierre "Pete" Myers: died October 4, 1968)

Read an online reprint of Mad Daddy: Do You Remember Rock 'n Roll Radio (see original publication info below) on the "Everything Cleveland" website, Cleveland.com.

Dig Wavy Gravy & Mello Jello — The "Mad Daddy" Pete Myers Biography , a very groovy exhibit from Robert J's WHUS Memories Museum.

Check out Man Out of Time — Mad Daddy by David Hinkley on the WNEW 1130 website (featuring a photo of the "real" Pete Myers).

Order a mindblowing CD full of MAD DADDY – WAVY GRAVY! ("Atom Smashin’ Zoomeratin’ Mello Jello Radio Broadcasts 1958-1964") from the Norton Records website!

Shock Theater

Friday or Saturday night (?)

WJKW-TV (call letters changed to WJW c. 1985), Channel 8 (Cleveland, Ohio)

Summer 1957

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

Magazine references:

• Pete Myers' life and career, including his brief but influential stint as a TV horror host, is discussed at length in a great article called Mad Daddy: Do You Remember Rock'n'Roll Radio, in issue 3.X (Fall 1995) of CLE Magazine, issued with a CD. Read an online reprint of this article.
  
  
• Mad Daddy Myers is mentioned in feature article by Michael Weldon about Cleveland horror hosts, hosts, "The Hosts That Ate Cleveland," in issue #24 (December 1982) of Fangoria, pp. 28-32.
  
  
• The Fangoria feature above was 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.
  
  
• Mad Daddy Myers is mentioned in the feature article "Monster Mania '57" by Greg Theakston in issue #3 (March-April 1991) of Pure Images, pp. 2-11, 25-28.

NOTES:

• Pete "Mad Daddy" Myers was a legendary radio rock disk jockey. He created the character of Mad Daddy on WHKK in Akron, Ohio, then moved his wiggy, frenetic platter patter to WJW and WHK in Cleveland and finally to New York City in 1959. At WNEW-AM, his trademark frantic patter bombed with the square NY audience, and he was stifled after only one shift. He stayed at the station in a painfully constrained role until 1963, when he was sprung to recreate Mad Daddy at WINS until the station went all-news in 1965. He then returned to WNEW-AM, where he worked on mainstream shows from 1965-1968. Though he did fine work on such shows, his heart just wasn't in it. On October 4, 1968, he took his own life with a shotgun in his Manhattan apartment after his shift was moved from afternoons to evenings.
  
  
• Pete Myers briefly hosted Shock Theater horror movies on Cleveland TV, wearing a vampire cape. According to the magazine articles cited above, on some shows his image was shown upside-down for the whole program. Some say Mad Daddy's show lasted just a few weeks, others that he was fired the first night after viewers complained about his weirdness. E-mail from show fan Jay Hunt confirms the longer run ("I thought it was all summer, but it could have been only three weeks.").
  
  
• Under the name "The Joker," Pete Myers released a 45 rpm single on G&F records called "What Is A Fisteris?" and, on the flipside, "I Love A Good Practical Joke."
  
  
• Both sides of Pete Myers sole 45 rpm record and 48 other tracks are included on a CD available from Norton Records called MAD DADDY – WAVY GRAVY! (":Atom Smashin’ Zoomeratin’ Mello Jello Radio Broadcasts 1958-1964").
  Track List: 1. Show Opening; 2. Record Rendezvous; 3. Gillette Razor; 4. Big Bad Train; 5. WHK Jingle; 6. Immaculate Conception Record Hop; 7. RCA Dehumid-d-d-d-difier; 8. Dedications; 9. Gillette Razor; 10. News Break; 11. Wavy Gravy Flow; 12. Greasy Dedications; 13. Creature of Obla-Dee; 14. Throttle Jockeys; 15. WHK Jingle; 16. Jet Speed Saucer Blast; 17. Old Mother Geezer; 18. Lorain Speedway; 19. Goin' Steady Ring; 20. Martian Shave; 21. Record Rendezvous; 22. Tanfastic/Dick Lurie Guitar School; 23. Hangin' from the Ceiling; 24. Moldy Basement; 25. Peach Fuzz; 26. Round Sounds; 27. Mr. T./Pretty Plaid Skirt/Stubby McGonster; 28. Teenage Special; 29. Mad Daddy Batty Bucks; 30. Zoomeratin' Alphabet; 31. Winky Eye Goes Out; 32. Outboard Plum; 33. Mad Daddy Photo; 34. WINS Jingle/Super Snooper Scope; 35. Dedications; 36. Little Mello Jello and Some Winky Blinky Juice; 37. Sponge Rubber Heaven; 38. Man-Eating Plant; 39. Baseball Scores; 40. Crazy Wavy Groovy Gravy Dedications/Wolf Call; 41. Record Acid Test; 42. Jungle Drums; 43. Four Button Idiots; 44. Mad Daddy Photo; 45. Approve of the Groove; 46. Weather; 47. Frantic Chums; 48. Alfred E. Neuman Productions; 49. I Love a Practical Joke; 50. What Is a Pfisteris?
  
  
• The Cramps' recording "Mad Daddy" is about Pete Myers (available on their album Songs the Lord Taught Us, on I.R.S. Records).

MAD DADDY (II)

(J.G. "Pat" Patterson Jr.; died 1974)

See J.G. Patterson Jr.'s Internet Movie Database credits as director, producer, and actor..

Read details about J.G. Patterson Jr.'s film work on the official website devoted to a fellow exploitation filmmaker, William Girdler -- williamgirdler.com.

Shock Theater

Monday, 11:15 pm

WBTV, Channel 3 (Charlotte, North Carolina)

Fall 1958 - Summer 1959

Magazine references:

• Mentioned in the "Stay Sick with Ghoulardi" article (about Ernie "Ghoulardi" Anderson and other Cleveland-area horror hosts) by editor Michael Weldon in issue #2 of Psychotronic Video, p. 39. The report of this host is attributed to Ecco magazine in the article.

NOTES:

• E-gorespondent Mark Tunnell was the first to send e-mail confirming the existence of a second "Mad Daddy":

  You mention two horror hosts called "The Mad Daddy," the second of whom ("Pat" Patterson), you list as "unconfirmed." Mr. Patterson, whose real name was J. G. Patterson, definitely did host a horror show in North Carolina at one point; Michael Weldon mentions it on page 167 of "The Psychotronic Video Guide."
  
  However, he is better known for the two horror films which he directed ... Dr. Gore (1972, aka The Body Shop), which was one of the first films to get an X for violence, and The Electric Chair (1972). His wife, Nita Patterson, appears in both movies.
  
  He also worked on other films in various capacities ... for example, he produced Lisa, Lisa (1974) which ended up being re-titled The California Axe Massacre for some reason.
  
  He died in 1974.

• Another old fan of the show also confirmed this Carolina host's existence and provided additional details::

  The host of Shock Theater in Charlotte was indeed Pat Patterson, and his make-up consisted of simple grease paint scars, a fright wig and a blood-stained lab coat.
  
  The show aired on WBTV-Chan.3 in Charlotte, NC from the fall of 1958 until all of the "Shock" titles were run. House of Frankenstein was the first one shown, and the final one was Horror Island. The show ended in the summer of 1959, and I do not recall that any of the films were ever shown a second time.
  
  For some totally idiotic reason, the show aired at 11:15pm on Monday night! Since the next day was a school day, none of my friends were allowed to stay up and watch the movies. I was 10 years old, my parents indulged me, and I was allowed to watch them -- but only after promising to bring home a good report card from school. Consequently, I became the expert on all of the films and related their plots to my less fortunate schoolmates.
  
  I hope this information will benefit your website.
  
  Best regards,
  
  M.H. Faris
  Monroe, NC

• J.G. Patterson Jr. was also a magician who had a theatrical act and a traveling spook show under the stage name Don Brandon. He sometimes acted under that name in films.

Mad Frank

(see MADD FRANK)

MADD FRANK

(Credited as "Kent Kamron"; real name: Delray K. Dvoracek)

Visit WWW.DKDBOOKS.COM, Delray K. Dvoracek's website for his professional writing (under both his real name and his pen name "Kent Kamron").

Madd Frank Presents

Friday night about 10 pm, then 11 pm, then Saturday night, various times along the way.

KVRR-TV, Channel 15 (Fargo, North Dakota) — originating station

May 1985 - c. 1995

Syndicated on American Independent Network (AIN)

Package of "about 18 shows" aired to millions of viewers on many stations in about 40 states, including:

• WNHW-TV, independent Channel 28 (Hartford-New Haven, Connecticut)

1994-95

NOTES:

• E-gorespondent David Windhorst provided the initial information for this entry with these memories:

  A couple years ago I was living in a house in the mountains with an old Cape Canaveral-style satellite dish, and used to get the feed from this strange little thing called AIN, the American Independent Network. From somewhere in Texas they ran truly obscure stuff — a lot of 50s teleseries that nobody else wanted, and plenty of ads for chiropractors. But they also showed "Mad Frank" (sic) a couple afternoons and evenings per week... at least, I think they did. My wife never seemed to be around to witness that anything so hilariously amateurish could actually stow away on the air, so maybe I imagined it. Apparently AIN had just a handful of episodes, because the only films I can actually remember seeing, several times, are Night of the Living Dead, Day of the Triffids, and Corman's The Terror. Frank had a couple moronic nerdy friends who'd stop by, a little doll whose voice he threw, and maybe a windup toy or two.

• The following information is based on a discussion group post by Michael O'Brien, with additional memories of the show from subsequent e-mail:

  Channel 28 only carried the show for a few weeks, a pity. I think it was syndicated and either parents complained because it was a horror movie show in prime time, or else it was too expensive for them to carry. The show began with slow music as Madd Frank entered a building and slowly descended endless stairs to his studio. He wore dark clothing, a Homburg hat or something and a dark overcoat, cape like affair. He had corpse-type makeup like something out of Carnival of Souls. His deliver was the typical stuff, bad jokes with the punchlines emphasized with drumbeats, you know. He didn't have much in the way of odd props or odd characters on his show, but a few, it's hard to remember. The movies he showed were bottom of the budget barrel from the 50s and 60s, like The Corpse Grinders.

• James L. McIntyre of Grand Rapids, Minnesota contributed some great stuff about this host (including correcting the spelling of his name) as follows:

  I happen to know a lot about MADD FRANK. That's with two D's! Real name: Kent Kamron. Station owner of five or six small UHF stations (see corrections in following notes — E-gor). KVRR was the main location. He had two camera's for the show. The third was broken, or being repaired, or was on location, or was stolen, or was leased to another station, etc. There were only two cameras, but I loved the reasons why the third was never there! Miss Frizzy was the doll. George was the skull/candle he would light up at the beginning of every show! Harvey was always in his casket. The Madd Programmer was responsible for the movie, always an unknown or a bad movie. I am playing a tape of his show now! It's dated 1994. The movie is House of the Seven Corpses, not half-bad! The Madd Programmer must not have been feeling well that week! Ichy Bodd was from the medieval period. Billy Jabber would Jabber on and he always wore an old tank helmet from World War II. Dr. Phil O'dendron was always examining things like dead house plants, Madd Programmer's teeth, it depended on the movie being shown. Other films shown were Attack of the Giant Leeches, The Terror. Horror Express, etc. Most of the films were usually public domain films, or films he could legally broadcast. They even showed Gremlins at Christmas! The year before it was Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. KVRR was located in Fargo, North Dakota, my former childhood neighborhood! The basement was the studio's basement/dungeon! Little Shop of Horrors was shown and it even featured a cameo starring Madd Frank! Carrier Chicken delivered the fan mail. My biggest regret was not getting the Madd Frank poster when it was available.

• Steve Iverson (aka CultTVman) recalls:

  They apparently syndicated the shows in the early 80's (early 90's — E-gor). At one point the guy playing Frank had a heart attack and was replaced by an assistant for several weeks.

• Mike Leiboff sent more info and clarified Madd Frank's show credit:

  Just so happens I know the "real" Madd Frank. Contrary to what the credits told us, his real name wasn’t Kent Kamron. Those are the first names of his real-life children. His real name is Delray Dvorachek. He is still living in Fargo and you might see him driving around town in a early ’60s caddy convertible. He runs an ad agency in Fargo and has for many years. One of the reasons he stopped doing the TV stuff was he actually ran out of public domain stuff.

• Best of all, MADD FRANK himself (!!!) e-mailed comments and corrections on the notes above when he found information about his old show on this site. Here are some notes cobbled together and slightly edited from several of his e-mails:

  Hi, E-gor, Madd Frank here. I plugged in my old stage name, and your site, along with a few others came up. Glad to see there is some nostalgia floating around about me.
  
  Some of the information I read about is true, some close to accurate. I did not own any TV stations, just was the host of Madd Frank Presents. My real name is not Kent Kamron. That was the name I used in the credits for the show, but it is the name of my two boys, and a pseudoname for the western short stories I write. I did have a heart attack, and Ichy Bod took over for a few weeks while I was recovering, but that was December 6, 1986, a day that will go down in INFAMY!
  
  Ichy Bodd and I wrote all of the syndicated shows that the public may have seen on the air. The early shows were written by various other people, several by Vanilla White, who went wild whenever she ever got vowels sent to her. All of us that were on the show are still living here in Fargo:
  
  

  • The Madd Programmer (James Erickson), a good friend and a real character in real life, was the supposed culprit who dug up the films. He currently works for a radio company here in Fargo.
    
    
  • Ichy Bodd (Martin Jonason) was my main sidekick and critic of the films. I see him weekly. The two of us are collaborating on a variety of projects, mostly two filmscripts, which we are diligently trying to produce.
    
    
  • Billy Jabber (Dave Prentice) who wore the ancient football helmet was the mechanic, a talker and a talented fellow on the guitar. He played with THE UGLIES, a band group around this area for many years.
    
    
  • Dr. Phil O'dendron (Bill Flint), our roving character, works at WalMart.
    
    
  • Vanilla White (Judy Rae), our lovely blond, plays piano here in various places.
    
    
  • I was the voice of Harvey. He was in an upright casket where I hung up my cape. I always told him not to view the movie because it was too gory. No one ever saw Harvey.
    
    
  • I did the voice of Miss Frizzy (the doll) and George (the skull/candle).

  
  
  The heyday of the series was from 1985 -1995. I had 18 films out to various AIN independent TV stations, and although the program aired in over 40 states and to millions of viewers, alas, I never made a dime from any of it, Strangely enough, the show was hijacked off of satellite, since I often ran across people who claimed they had seen the show in places where we knew the show had not been syndicated.
  
  Life goes on. I have given up the Madd Frank days. Though I at one time thought the show might make a splash, I could never hook up with the right people. If someone asked me to make a comeback as Madd Frank, I doubt I would do it. That required a lot of physical strain, too, talking with my MF voice, laughing that crazy Great Gildersleeve echo, etc.
  
  Anyway, I'm on to my next phase.... I am content to write nowadays. I spend at least 30 hours a week composing on a computer.
  
  As Kent Kamron, I have two collections out, which can be ordered from my website, WWW.DKDBOOKS.COM: Charlie's Gold and Other Frontier Tales and A Time for Justice and Other Frontier Tales. I have a third collection due out in early 2005 entitled The Dime Novel Man and Other Frontier Tales.
  
  Under my Christian name, Delray K. Dvoracek, I have two novels out (also available from WWW.DKDBOOKS.COM). The first, entitled The Baltic Sea Incident, is an Air Force/adventure story based on my work as a Russian linguist flying reconnaissance missions from 1960-63 in Frankfurt, Germany. The second novel is The Prague Double, an espionage/adventure set in Germany, the U.S. and obviously, Prague, Czechoslovakia. I have a third novel coming out next year, another espionage/adventure entitled The Mirror Man, a modern-day novel. I won a novel contest with this work and also won third in a screenplay contest with the same name and am seeking an agent for it.
  
  I always had an ad agency (Del Agency & Associates) in Fargo and still run it. I have one major account, a food store, and write screenscripts for some businesses, which I desire to work with.
  
  I've been married to the same wonderful woman for 37 years — VERLENE JOY, THE JOY OF MY LIFE! She is the head of the ESL (English as a Second Language) department here in Fargo.
  
  I have two boys: Kamron, the oldest, is an electrician in Minneapolis; Kent, the youngest, teaches English at the U. of Won Ju in South Korea.
  
  I used to ride horse quite often, thus the interest in writing western short stories, and my wife and I toured around on a Goldwing motorcycle, but those are a couple interests that have gone by the wayside.
  
  I have a 65 DeVille Caddi convertible, which I used in some of the opens and many of the closes of the shows. I think I will put it up for sale, now that it is in excellent running condition.
  
  I thank all of the fans who still remember the show and all its quirky humor. We all loved producing the show, which usually consisted of about 24 minutes of shtick in between the movie segments. We usually produced the entire show within four hours time, always rushed, but I was blessed with a crowd of guys and gals who had good chemistry. Those were absolutely the most fun days I ever had.
  
  My regards to you all,
  
  Madd Frank

• John Hane discovered another great letter from the Maddman himself posted on the Horrorhosts.com website; go to the Contact Us page (2004 News), under the title "MADD FRANK CHECKS IN!" to check out the full text, along with lots of other fascinating info from and about horror hosts. Here are some juicy additional details (sometimes slightly paraphrased) from that note:

  "Good evening. Welcome to Madd Frank Presents. Let me hang up my cape and we'll talk about tonight's spooky movie." That's the way the episodes used to begin.
  
  I began shooting the show in May of 1985, continued over the years through 1995 or so. I believe we did about 350 shows in all. For the first several movies, I'd usually invent a few things to do and ad lib my way through during the breaks.
  
  A few years into the show, we took on Vanilla White (counter part to Vanna White) who wrote many of the episodes. Vanilla (Judy Rae in real person) lives here in Fargo, plays piano evenings around town. Of the regular characters, Ichy Bodd, my good buddy, does photography and teaches acting and voice. Billy Jabber, the guy with the l940's football helmet does karaoke around Fargo. The Madd Programmer works for Public TV here in town, and Dr. Phil O'dendron works at Walmart. Bill Flint, his real name, did a year on the circuit as a stand up comedian.
  
  I taught college for several years in the foreign language department at Moorhead State (German and Russian). Lost my job because of tenure and falling enrollments back in 1974 or so. I taught part-time mass communications for several years at the same school, had a heart attack in December of 1986, and that's when Ichy Bodd took over the show for a few weeks until after I recovered. Had triple bypass, but never had a problem since.
  
  I copyrighted about 18 shows from 94-95, circulated them around to AIN network, have probably appeared in at least forty states, but never made a dime. That's show biz for you.
  
  Some years back I wrote a half hour skit for Halloween and started off by coming up out of the stage basement (of the Fargo Theatre) playing the mighty Wurlitzer organ. It was the first time I ever performed on the organ, though I play piano, violin, guitar, accordian and some saxophone.

THE MAD MAN

(Real name = ?)

Show title?

Day? Time?

STATION?, Channel ? (Des Moines, Iowa)

195? - 19??

Magazine reference:

• Pictured in the "You Axed For It!" 2-page feature in issue #6 (February 1960) of Famous Monsters of Filmland, p. 20.

NOTES:

• The text accompanying this photo in FM #6:

  Among the many Ghost Hosts of Terrorvision Films, such as Zacherley (natcherly), Vampira, etc., one that sticks out in my memory is The Mad Man of Des Moines, Iowa. I think your readers would appreciate a picture of him—DON HINSON, K.I.K.K. Radio, Bakersfield, Calif. We agree—hope you get a KIKK out of the pic, too.)

  On the next page in the same feature article was a photo of horror hostess Tarantula Ghoul's playroom.

Madnight, Lon

(see LON MADNIGHT)

Mad Marvin

(see MARVIN)

MALCOM THE BUTLER and THE DUKE OF DESMODAS

(Ed Weiss and Jim "Red" Varnum)

Visit the WOI-TV Gravesend Manor Saturday night horror show page at DesMoinesBroadcasting.com, featuring original promotional photos of different cast members from the run of the show (adapted for the sidebar images here)!

See show outtakes and interviews with the cast on YouTube! (Apparently this video came from the IPTV Living in Iowa program discussed in the first NOTE below.)

Gravesend Manor

Saturday night

WOI-TV, Channel 5 (Ames/Des Moines, Iowa)

Late 50s - early 60s; returned in 1964

Son of Gravesend Manor

Saturday at 10:30 pm

WOI-TV, Channel 5 (Ames/Des Moines, Iowa)

Mid 70s "for a few years"

NOTES:

• From the Des Moines Broadcasting website noted above:

  "Goood evening, this is Malcom the Butler"
  Every TV market had one, a late night horror movie show. Many of them had a local host or hosts and put on a production to introduce and fill the breaks in the film.
  
  Des Moines has WOI-TV's Gravesend Manor. Malcom the Butler, Ed Weiss, was the host of Gravesend Manor. His original co-host was known as Claude, Ron Scott, later joined by Claude's brother, Clyde, player unknown. The show started somewhere in the late 50's, left the air for a period in the early 60's and came back for another run in 1964. Several years later (date unknown), Ed Weiss put on a wig and came back for a short time as the Son of Gravesend Manor.
  
  We have learned, thanks to Cal Bierman and Pat Powers that a small amount of video does exist. Outakes from the show were featured on a Living in Iowa program on IPTV a few years ago.

• Gravesend Manor fan Tom Johnson responded to a query about the show from horror hostess MADAME MORTEM, who kindly forwarded his reply to me:

  You asked the right guy. Gravesend Manor was on the air twice -- the original run in the sixties and then a reprise for a few years in the mid '70s. It was WOI's late night creature feature. The spots before the movie and bracketing the commercials were hosted by Ed Weiss (as Malcom the butler), and Red Varnum (as the Duke of Desmodas, a vampire). Other characters were Claude (a hunchback) and Esmerelda, a "woman" -- a very masculine man in drag! [Esmerelda was played by John Voight, who is interviewed in the video linked above -- E-gor.]
  
  I don't have any material from the original show, but do have a postcard somewhere of the cast of the second run, which featured Weiss and Varnum as well as Fred Kallamea (sp?) as Boris Kutchyourheadofski [spelling of both names corrected in Jena Pepper's note below -- E-gor]. I was a big fan of the show, and later was in high school with Red's kids, where we all did a lot of theater together, so i did a lot of carpooling with my favorite childhood vampire. Red also played Bozo for WOI when I was a kid. His wife Betty Lou was also a staple of WOI kids programming. She hosted House with the Magic Window for years. Ed Weiss and Red Varnum ran (and voiced) the puppets on that show.

• Show fan Cindy Sale added a personal note in August 2007:

  The WOI-TV station was located on the Iowa State University campus in Ames, Iowa, and many of the on-air talent were students from ISU. Pretty much any Central Iowa baby boomer will remember that show. The host was a drama coach from the university named Ed Weiss.
  
  I had the great pleasure to get to know Ed late in his life. He taught speech, drama and English as a second language at ISU and DMACC (Des Moines Area Community College) well into his 80s and passed away just a couple years ago. He also did a daily childrens show on WOI [House with the Magic Window, the longest-running local ETV show in history -- E-gor] where he was the voice of a puppet Katrina The Witch. He took no joy in people recognizing him as those characters and prefered being remembered as the teacher and local actor but to me he will always be my friend Ed.

• Wonderful feedback from the daughter of one of the actors! --

  Boris Kutchyourheadoffski was played by Fred Kalamaja --- this is the correct spelling. He was my father and was production manager at WOI during that time. He was also Mr. Fred on Betty Lou's House with the Magic Window. Mr. Fred was a guest who drew pictures for the kids. In one episode of Manor my brother played a neighbor kid they captured.
  Jena Pepper

Man, The Invisible

(see VLAD, CREIGHTON and THE INVISIBLE MAN)

Maneater from Manyunk, That *

(see STELLA *)

THE MAN FROM GHOST

(Real name=?)

The Man from GHOST

Day? Time?

STATION?, Channel ? (Palm Beach, Florida)

19??-19??

NOTES:

• E-gorespondent David Rutman, who remembered valuable details about M.T. GRAVES and M.T. SPACE, also contributed this new South Florida entry: "One of the Palm Beach channels had a horror host show called the Man From GHOST, the Global Headquarters for the Organization to Sustain Terror. (Why do I remember this?) It was a typical show, except they would drop in little comedy bits into the film itself; for example, if the film was showing a character looking at Dr. Frankenstein's diary, the station would drop in a picture of The Little Engine that Could."

Manor, Graves and (should be Manor, Gravesend)

(see MALCOM THE BUTLER and THE DUKE OF DESMODAS)

Manor, Gravesend

(see MALCOM THE BUTLER and THE DUKE OF DESMODAS)

MARGALI, aka MARGALI MORWENTARI

(Niels Erickson)

Visit Margali's Cob-Web Corner — loads of monstrous fun with great music (by Mussorgsky, Scott Joplin and others), Margali's bio, "BOO!" (Margali's Theme), Cardinal Rules (Horror Movie 101), Favorite Haunts (links), fan cub information, archival clips from Thriller Theatre, a great recipe from Auntie M, a fabulous selection of WAV and MIDI music to sample, Hallowe'en safety tips, and even more frightfully silly stuff!

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

Thriller Theatre Starring Margali

Saturday at midnight

WDBD-TV, Channel 40 (Jackson, Mississippi)

1990-1993

Thriller Theatre starring Margali (syndicated)

Day? Time?

WXTX-TV, Channel 54 (Columbus, Georgia)

Early 1991

NOTES:

• Tim Hess worked on the show(!) and sent these comments from Madison, Alabama:

  I stumbled across your web site this evening and was pleasantly surprised to find an entry for "Mistress Margali" included on your list.
  
  I was co-creator/writer/director/producer of Thriller Theatre Starring Margali from 1990 through 1993. The program originated out of WDBD-TV in Jackson, Mississippi, and could be seen in parts of Louisiana and Arkansas. For a short time in early 1991, the program was syndicated on WXTX-TV in Columbus, Georgia. The WXTX signal reached into Alabama, giving us coverage in five southern states.
  
  The program starred Niels Erickson as Margali Morwentari, along with a never-seen werewolf announcer, Wendel (voiced by Erickson) and Hans, Margali's hand servant (digitally mastered by yours truly).
  
  The program won Silver Awards from the Mississippi Association of Broadcasters during each of the three years of production, and even though it was scheduled at midnight Saturday, it was at one time the highest rated movie on WDBD's schedule.
  
  Margali still makes regular appearances and is an annual highlight of the New Orleans Worst Film Festival. Hans is still attached to me and helping to manage the Promotion Department at WZDX-TV in Huntsville AL.
  
  Niels now lives in New Orleans and maintains a website.

• From Margali's profile page at the Horror Host Underground site:

  Margali Morwentari
  Thriller Theatre with Margali
  "Heigh-ho, Couch Pumpkins...Margali here!"
  She is not some babe on a broomstick... NOT that other "Mistress of the Dark"... her complexion's much better than the Crypt Keeper's...and she's been called "the Murphy Brown from Hell"... (among other things...) She is Margali Morwentari, just your resident Sorceress-at-Large, Wicked Wit[ch] and erstwhile host of Thriller Theatre with Margali, an award-winning late-night program for dedicated couch-pumpkins.

  Notes:
  
  

  1. Debut: 1990
     
     
  2. Along the way (to accommodate the studio's sound equipment), Margali lost her faintly British accent (Celtic heritage, perhaps?) and acquired a somewhat huskier tone (though, as she has pointed out, not as deep as Lauren Bacall) -- and she acquired a regular announcer (who just happens to be a werewolf), a good right hand (literally), a pet spider, and a few additional quirks.
     
     
  3. The character of "Margali Morwentari" (aka Margali the Sorceress, The Morwentari, The White Queen, Mistress of the White Tower or Mistress of Wicceweald, blah-blah-blah, yackety-shmackety...) first appeared in the fantasy roleplaying adventure game Wizards' Realm™, published in 1981.
     
     
  4. Several trapped spirits and a few ghouls later, the originators of Wizards' Realm™ were appearing in costume as characters from the game at science-fiction conventions, when Margali made her first public appearance, in 1984, at CoastCon in Biloxi.
     
     
  5. She has been a familiar face to fantasy fans throughout the South, frequently acting as Mistress of Ceremonies at area science-fiction conventions.

  Markets: Jackson, Mississippi (WDBD-TV)

  More!
  
  http://members.aol.com/margalim/margali1.htm

MARILYN THE WITCH *

(Nora Denney)

See Marilyn the Witch pictures and information at Spooky's Nightmare Mansion, courtesy of "Spooky Tom" Winegar.

See Nora Denney's Internet Movie Database entry.

The Witching Hour

Day? Time?

KCMO-TV (Kansas City, Missouri)

1958? - 19??

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

Magazine reference:

• Marilyn the Witch and her alter-ego (credited as "Dolores Denny") 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.

NOTE:

• Among other film and television appearances, Nora Denney played Mike Teevee's mother in the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), credited as "Dodo Denney."

MARVIN *

(Terry Bennett; died October 12, 1977)

See more pictures of Marvin and read great information about him (and other Windy City horror hosts) at The Video Veteran website about the history of Chicago television!

Read about Terry and Joy Bennett (and see more great pictures of them) on the same Chicago TV website.

See original Marvin memorabilia from the collection of his monstrous fan, writer / moviemaker / musician Donald F. Glut, displayed in the terrrific Don Glut — I Was a Teenage Movie Maker exhibit at HorrorSeek.Com.

Shock Theatre

Saturday at 10:00 p.m.

WBKB-TV, Channel 7 (Chicago, Illinois)

December 7, 1957 - August 1959

* Elena Watson's Television Horror Movie Hosts reference: mentioned in Ch. 3, "Invasion of the Ghost Hosts," p. 25.

Magazine references:

• Marvin is pictured (twice) and discussed in the photo-feature "TerrorVision" in issue #2 of Famous Monsters of Filmland (1958), pp. 56-63. Also discussed are some other infamous original Shock hosts: Dr. Lucifer, Milton, David Allen, Mad Daddy, Terrence, Chuck Zink, Selwin, Dr. Meridian, Gorgon the Gruesome, Tarantula Ghoul, Warren Reed and Frankie, Roland and Vampira, every one of whom is covered in Elena Watson's book on Television Horror Hosts, which used this article as a reference. See NOTES below for Marvin content.
  
  
• Pictured and briefly discussed in Roul Tunley's feature article on the horror host boom, "TV's Midnight Madness," in the August 16, 1958 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, pp. 19-21, 85. Another source for Elena Watson's book on hosts. See NOTES below for Marvin content.
  
  
• Pictured and discussed with a bunch of other early horror hosts in "The Horror of Them All!" feature in issue #13 (December 1988) of Filmfax, pp. 28-32.
  
  
• Discussed, with cartoon likeness in group drawing, in "Monster Mania '57" article by Greg Theakston in issue #3 (March-April 1991) of Pure Images, pp. 2-11, 25-28.

NOTES:

• Tireless E-gorespondent Ken Kwil tipped us off about the cool Chicago Television history site linked above, to which he contributed details about this show (and which also contains pix and data about other Chi-hosts like THE CREATURE and both SVENGOOLIEs. Here are some tantalizing snippets from Ken's memories of Marvin that you'll find there:

  The show would begin with the title appearing on the screen only to shatter like breaking glass revealing a laughing skeleton who beckoned the viewers to "come on in." That scene would segue into the familiar outside view of a haunted house and of course the thunder and lightning as the camera moved toward the only lit window.... in a dark and dismal cellar complete with moss covered stone walls....
  
  Marvin could best be described as a demented beatnik type, dressed all in black and sporting a pair of thick lensed black hornrim glasses. He spoke with a voice that was a cross between Peter Lorre and Renfield.... Many viewers referred to him as "Mad Marvin"....
  
  He was kept company by his wife who he only called "Dear".... played by Bennett's wife, Joy, who also appeared on Bennett's daytime kidshow as "Pamela Puppet." You never saw "Dear's" face as the camera was always behind her or her face would be obscured. One was never sure just who or what "Dear" was as it was common for Marvin to ask "Dear" to lend him a hand only to get the entire arm instead!
  
  On the last telecast of Shock Theatre viewers finally got to see what "Dear" looked like. The show was being cancelled to make way for ABC-TV's Fight Of The Week. As the show was winding to a close, Marvin turned to his companion and said "Dear, why don't you say good-bye to our friends?" "Dear" then turned around and faced the camera for the first time ever and said "Good-bye!" Many fans of the show thought it to be the perfect ending.

• The WBKB daytime kidshow mentioned above was called Jobblewocky Place, created, produced, written by and starring Terry Bennett, accompanied by his wife Joy. The preschool program featured a cast of ventriloquial and hand puppet characters including Timothy Timber the sailor, Uncle Louie the talking picture, Mr. Head (a box with a voice), Mr. Engineer, Bertram the sleepy turtle, and angry little boy Rusty Hinges. The show aired weekday mornings from 8 to 9, and earned three nominations for Emmys.
  
  
• The Terry and Joy Bennett webpage provides additional details about Marvin and Shock Theatre. To summarize (with a little info thrown in from Ken Kwil's page), the show was so popular that a half-hour segment was added after the movie ended called "The Shocktale Party," in which Marvin was joined by "Shorty" (tall puppeteer Bruce Newton in a rubber Frankenstein mask), "Orville" the hunchback servant (Ronny Born), and a "shocktale band" dressed in black called "The Dead Beats," a four-piece combo (bass fiddle, bongos, guitar, and squeeze box) who provided background music while Marvin read offbeat poems or performed musical parodies.
  
  
• The show was so popular with its (mostly) young audience that it spawned the Terry "Marvin" Bennett Fan Club; see examples from Don Glut's collection at the link above, As usual, parents were less enthusiastic about it, and Shock Theater was cancelled despite a petition signed by thousands of fans.
  
  
• Here's what Forry Ackerman said about Marvin in the "TerrorVision" feature in Famous Monsters #2:
  
  Caption of 1st photo, showing Marvin holding a mannequin arm beside "Dear" lying on a lab table with her face turned away from the camera: "A disarming chap is Marvin of Chicago's WBKB. 'I begged him to be careful,' said his victim just before she fainted, 'but he assured me there'd be no arm in it.'"
  
  Marvin paragraphs in main text, under the heading "Chicago's socker";
      "Marvin the Near-Sighted Madman is the monicker of Terry Bennett, Chicago host of SHOCK on WBKB. Terry has taken to his role like a ghoul out of a grave!"
      "As the myopic madman, each week 'Marvin' terrifies his own attractive blond wife Joy, who scarcely enJoys having her tootsies toasted, her fingers roasted, her heart stabbed, her brain fried and her tonsils squeezed for grape juice, but whatcha gonna do when 'that's the way the monster mumbles?'"
  
  Caption of 2nd photo, showing Marvin playing cards with a dagger through his head:
  "TV host Marvin claims he needs this card like a hole in the head. 'Knife work if you can get it,' we always say."
  
  
• The Marvin information in Roul Tunley's Saturday Evening Post article "TV's Midnight Madness," cited above:
  
  Caption of photo showing Marvin holding a sign in front of "Dear's" face:
  "Marvin, of Chicago's Shock Theater, often uses his wife, Joy, as a prop for his bizarre station breaks. But so far his one million viewers haven't seen Joy's face."
  
  Marvin paragraph in the main text:
  "In Chicago, a million viewers a week faithfully watch a chilling comic called Marvin introduce movies with such remarks as: 'This is the story of Frankenstein, a story that poses the question: Can a monster over thirty-five find happiness with a playmate?'"

Mazeppa Pompazoidi

(see DR. MAZEPPA POMPAZOIDI)

Maniac, Dr.

(see COUNT ZAPPULA, aka DR. MANIAC) *

McGhoul, Scruffy

(see SCRUFFY McGHOUL and CHESTER THE WEREWOLF)

Meagle, Howard

(see MR. SLIME)

MEDUSA

(Jennifer Richards)

See Internet Movie Database entry on TerrorVision.

Name of show?

Fictional horror hostess in 1986 scifi/comedy film TerrorVision, played by Jennifer Richards.

Day? Time?

STATION?, Channel ? (City?, State?)

19??-19??

NOTE:

• This entry was contributed by Saul Fischer, who describes Medusa as a "nasty TV horror host."
  
  
• David Choi's review of the film in the Internet Movie Database describes it as:

  ....a very peculiar horror-comedy that has the word 'camp' labeled all over it. This fairy tale tells about a sloppy alien puppet monster who, presumably by accident, enters Planet Earth via a TV satellite dish. This enormous monster appears on the TV screen at first, then, talk about visual effects, it eventually materializes, appearing live, in the flesh!.... There is also a horror movie hostess, Medusa (Jennifer Richards) who fits into this scheme for absolutely no plausible reason.

Mephisto

(see MR. MEPHISTO)

Meridian, Dr. *

(see DR. MERIDIAN *)

MIDNIGHT

(Lynn Redgrave)

Name of show?

Fictional horror hostess in 1989 thriller Midnight, starring Lynn Redgrave as a wildly successful late night TV horror hostess whose greedy producers are ruining her career... until her trusted servant (Wolfman Jack) takes a hand.

Late night (weekends?)

Station? Channel? (town? state?)

198?

NOTES:

• Directed by Norman T. Vane. Co-starring Tony Curtis, Rita Gam, Frank Gorshin, and Wolfman Jack.

MIKE WARD

(Mike Ward)

Visit Cheap Thrills Theatre, the show's official Website (features a schedule of all movies shown).

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

Cheap Thrills Theatre

Friday and Saturday at Midnight (as of July 2004; originally on Friday at 11 pm)

SNCAT cable Channel 16 (Reno, Nevada)

May 2 1997 - present

NOTES:

• Show fan J.J. Ford, who contributed details about another new show in Reno, Frank's House of Horror Movies (with Zomboo), also added this one to our list, writing:

  The host is a bit more straightforward in his presentation. The show is Cheap Thrills Theater and it plays on the local public access channel in Reno (so it's available only on cable). The host is a guy named Mike Ward. It's more of a no-frills production than is Zomboo's show but, because of its public access status, he can show films that aren't public domain (recent showings were Legend of Boggy Creek and the biker flick The Peace Killers). Both shows are entertaining in their own ways.

• And then Mike Ward himself sent e-mail about his show (I LOVE hearing from these guys!):

  hi i noticed i am on your horror host list, and here is some more info about the show: cheap thrills theatre is on sncat cable channel 16 in the reno,nv area. it began may 1997 and is still on. im up to 220 episodes with no repeats. any other info you may want feel free to email me. mike
  p.s. thanks for putting me on your list!!!

• WELCOME info from the show's Website:

  Cheap Thrills Theatre was unleashed upon an unsuspecting Reno, NV television audience in May of 1997, and has been an unrelenting juggernaut of political incorrectness ever since! As Reno's original horror and exploitation movie host, Mike Ward is proud to expose himself and these films to you.

  Whether you like horror, sci-fi, exploitation, or sexploitation films, you will find something you may enjoy on Cheap Thrills Theatre. You will not, however, find any big budget, mainstream Hollywood crap that clogs the theaters and TV these days. Let's return to the drive-in trash of yesteryear! Stay Cheap!!!

• ABOUT US info from the show's Website:

  Cheap Thrills Theatre has been a part of Reno television since Friday, May 2nd,1997. I started showing these films to fill a void left by the crappy programming on current TV. It seems as if television would like you to think these types of films never existed.

  I grew up watching "Creature Features" with Bob Wilkins, and later John Stanley, from both the Oakland and Sacramento stations. I was hooked the first time Bob showed Night of the Living Dead in 1973. I knew I had found the genre I loved! Thanks, Bob!!

MILLICENT B. GHASTLY

(Barbara Ends)

Monsterpiece Theatre

Saturday late-night following Saturday Night Live (1-3 a.m. EST)

WLEX, Channel 18 (Lexington, Kentucky)

1984 - 1986 (show continued with other hosts until 1988)

NOTES:

• Kelly Hobbs remembers:

  Millicent B. Ghastly (real name...Barbara Ends) was one of our local horror movie hosts. She had a funky wig and wierdo glasses and wore bizarre clothes (with a Laverne-like insignia that said ARRRGH! across the front of her shirts). It was a really hokey but entertaining show. It aired on channel 18 (WLEX in Lexington, KY) during 1984-86 I believe. She had lots of people doing cameos like the weather guy and stage hands and even a cookie monster puppet they called the Little Blue Guy (he didn't have any feet).

• E-gorespondent "Edward Hieronymus" sent more details:

  I was surprised and delighted to find Millicent B. Ghastly listed. I watched her show on WLEX many times between the ages of 12 (1984) and 14 (1986). From the first episode when she apparently couldn't find her way into the studio and the first segment dealt with helping her get into the studio. The awful obscure movies that it showed for two years, and then the last summer that she was on WLEX and they showed classics like Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Invisible Man.
  
  I noticed that you didn't have a time or a day listed for the program, so I thought I would send you information on it. The name of the program was Monsterpiece Theatre. It came on following Saturday Night Live and lasted two hours, 1:00 - 3:00 a.m. EST. While the show was on she had a fan club and would read a letters from the mailbag on the air. Sometimes, they would accidently run nude scenes on the air or play Gumby cartoons for inexplicable reasons. I never knew what Millicent's real name was. After Millicent B. Ghastly left the show, Monsterpiece Theatre continued for a while. It even got two new hosts that you might want to put on your list -- Kruiser and Craig, the two morning comedy deejays on the Lexington station 98.1 WKQQ, the longest running FM station in Lexington -- as far as format goes. It has been a classic rock station since its inception in the mid1970's. Craig left the radio station /area soon after he was a host on Monsterpiece Theatre, but Kruiser though he doesn't work at WKQQ anymore and he was one of the founding members of the station lasting as program director for many years, but he is still a Lexington area media personality for the television station WLEX channel 18. I think that Kruiser's real name is Frank Kruisenkowski.
  
  The Kruiser and Craig version of Monsterpiece Theatre was much less quirky than the Ghastly version. I remember them wearing suits, and they may have filmed the show at the Kentucky Theater -- Lexington's movie palace. They dropped the antics of the stage hands and the Little Blue Guy. Although they did comedy bits about Lexington, Kentucky area people -- for example, the University of Kentucky Basketball team that was going through tough times with injuries during the 1986/87 season.
  
  I think Monsterpiece Theatre went off the air in 1988. It didn't have a host at that time, and I believe their last movie was Night of the Living Dead on Halloween night or weekend.

• Howard McClain worked on this show (!), and sent his privileged perspective on it:

  I worked at WLEX-TV in Lexington, Kentucky for 3 years from December 1984 thru August of 1987. I was one of the camera operators/audio producers/master control switchers who worked on Monsterpiece Theatre. Your description of Millicent is very accurate, and the comedic bit were about 65% "scripted" and 35% improvised. The bits were written by Barbara (Millicent) and her husband and they usually poked fun at the Lexington political scene/society circles.
  
  Never in my time there did any nudity "accidentally" run during the show. And the Gumby cartoons aired only when technical problems (i.e., broken films -- yes, we showed most films on a film chain rather than dubbing to video) prevented us from getting on with the flick. 90% of the Millicent hosted Monsterpiece episodes were done live. The shows with the new hosts, Kruiser and Craig, were taped beforehand.
  
  Millicent left the show of her own free will when her husband took a job on the east coast. In fact to my knowledge, Millicent/Barbara, her husband and the little troupe of friends never were paid for their efforts. Not even in commercial time for their own business venture outside of the studio. They were strictly volunteer.
  
  Kruiser and Craig were another matter. They were paid for their appearances with comp time for their hugely popular radio show that aired on "DOUBLE Q" radio as well as a regular salary. The production on their version of the show was a drastic change. Everything had to be perfect. Instead of the usual weekend director (who doubled as the weekend news director), they were granted prime mid-day studio time and one of the best video directors that the company had. More time was spent on lighting the small set and the 2 principles than it took to prepare for a full scale "Millicent B Ghastly-musical production-which was done from time to time." The show began to fade as viewers who had gotten used to the skewering of local notable figures from UK sport stars to the mayor were now being served with what amounted to Kruiser and Craig's radio show-rehashed for TV. There was no real link to the horror movies being shown. No Horror Host high-jinks. Even the one time road trip to Kentucky Theater Movie Palace was a bust. As Kruiser and Craig's on-air partnership busted on both TV and radio. Thus was the demise of Monsterpiece Theatre.
  
  As an aside, I left WLEX in August 1987 to come home to Cincinnati. I figured my experience as everything from studio cameraman to chief audio operator for all live telecasts would land me a job. Sadly, it didn't. I have moved on to other things and am now working as an Emergency Services / Police Dispatch Supervisor. I have nothing but thanks for those that I worked with at WLEX. And for Millie, if you are out there, "Have a Frightfully Good Evening --- where ever you may be."

• Millicent Ghastly fan Ken Douglas wrote in May 2008 with this great news:

MILTON *

(Milton Budd)

Nightmare

Saturday, 10:30 p.m.

WMBD-TV, Channel 31 (Peoria, Illinois)

1958 - 196?

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

Magazine references:

• Milton Budd pictured in and out of character (click the Milton portrait on sidebar to display both pictures), show and personal life discussed on half-page (42) of feature article "TV's Nightmares" in February 1959 issue of TV Star Parade, pp. 39-42. See NOTES below for the text of Milton's portion of the article
  
  
• Mentioned in feature "The Horror of Them All!" in issue #13 (December 1988) of Filmfax, pp. 28-32.
  
  
• "Monster Memories" article by Kim Justice, with TV listing show ad reproduced, in Scary Monsters Presents Monster Memories #1, 1993 Yearbook (January 1993), pp. 34-35.

NOTES:

• The TV Star Parade feature cited above (click sidebar image to see scan of original) provides a wealth of information:

  MILTON dares viewers to miss movies on Peoria's WMBD-TV
  Peoria viewers who watched the premiere of Nightmare on WMBD-TV about a year ago were surprised, shocked and startled. A small glowing blob of spectral white appeared in the middle of a black screen, weaving uncertainly as it grew larger. "You are calling me .... I am stronger, stronger, strong," a ghostly voice announced as the blob became an eerily-lit face. "I am the embodiment of your evil thoughts ... thoughts you have not dared to think until now." The effect was (and is) reminiscent of the old Inner Sanctum and Lights Out shows. "You have always wanted to see these movies," he taunts, "... Now miss them—if you can!" When WMBD-TV began operations in January, 1958, one of the first problems was finding a host for the station's Saturday night shock films. Milton Budd, who'd portrayed a sardonically cruel devil at grid dinners for many years, seemed the natural choice. Actually the pleasant radio veteran doesn't resemble the Nightmare host a bit. A native of Peoria (he and his wife still live in nearby Pekin), he grew into a job at WMBD radio in the early '30s. For 25 years he's endeared himself to the people of Central Illinois as an announcer and deejay. He still does several radio record shows each week. In line with his midnight spook-taculars Milt's gone so far as to introduce his "son"—a ghostly bit of hokum photography superimposing his head in his hand! Is it any wonder the midnight madness continues? Not really. And who can say how long the Halloween hilarity will go on. Frankenstein will be 143 years old next summer—and the old boy's still going strong!

• Old show fan Mike Isenberg wrote several times from Hollywood, California; here's a slightly-adapted consolidation of his comments:

  I am originally from Pekin, just next to Peoria, Illinois, and having been born in 1953, saw a lot of Nightmare. In fact, I went to school with Milton's daughter Beryl, who once had him appear in character at one of her birthday parties. Beryl and I are still in touch, I'm sure she would love to talk to you. I am contacting her and asking her to contact you personally.
  
  Milton's cackling laugh opening the show was absolutely classic and scared the hell out of everyone. The show contained several "monologues" by Milton per broadcast, usually scarier than the movie itself. There was also a "station identification card" that took up the TV screen before the show would return from a commercial. It was an artist's rendering of a graveyard with a big vulture sitting in a leafless craggy looking tree. Milton's nightmare character had a name for the vulture. At each shows end he would reappear and after closing remarks he would do that blood-chilling laugh and the face would fade into the distance on the black screen.
  
  I saw every single show until it's demise. I've been all over the U.S. in the last 50 odd years and seen a lot of horror hosts along the way. NO ONE was as real and genuinely scary as Milton, he was the master. Such a wonderful person and genuinely sweet guy, but a seriously scary cat in the dark!
  
  If there is anything else I can recall, you'll be the first to know!

• Another Milton fan, Sharlie Walker, wrote to request a picture of him and wrote again when I posted the ones on the sidebar:

  Thanks so much for the pic and article. Now while that man scared the beegeebers out of me every time he came on -- my dad always reminded me that he was really just that kind man from WMBD -- didn't matter, still had me hiding behind the chair. I can recall his intro and laugh vividly to this day.
  
  George -- thanks again -- you have provided me and my family with a fantastic trip down memory lane.
  
  Sharlie

Minister, Sinister

(see SINISTER MINISTER)

MISS SHOCK

(see also BOB BURNS, THE HOST (II), aka JOE ALSTON.)

(Kathy Burns)

Visit the Official Bob Burns Web Site, which also includes lots of great stuff about Kathy Burns, Bob's better half and lifelong helpmate.

See "Ahoy There Little Mateys!" — a wonderful webpage about Joe Alston's long stint as kid's show host "Captain Gus," created by the guy who played the Captain's sidekick, "First Mate Mortimer," Dennis DuPriest! The page includes some great pictures and memories of this show, reprints of two articles from the San Antonio Express-News, and "Mail from the Mateys," lots of feedback from old fans.

Shock Theater

(starring THE HOST, aka JOE ALSTON, supported by many appearances of Bob Burns and his wife Kathy in monster makeup.)

Friday at midnight

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

1959 - 1960

Book references:

• It Came from Bob's Basement: Exploring the Science Fiction and Monster Movie Archive of Bob Burns by Bob Burns with John Michlig; introduction by Dennis Muren. Paperbound, Chronicle Books, March, 2001. ISBN: 0-8118-2572-8.
  Includes considerable information about Kathy Burns, including great shots of the Miss Shock makeup process, details about how she made Bob's first gorilla suit, and an outline of the Halloween extravaganzas the Burnses hosted at their home in Burbank for many years.
  Order an autographed copy from "The Ghouleria" on Bob Burns' Official Web Site. Ask Kathy to sign it too!
  
  
• Monster Kid Memories by Bob Burns as told to Tom Weaver; foreward by Leonard Maltin, introduction by Joe Dante. Paperbound, Dinoship, Inc., 2003. ISBN: 0-9728585-2-0.
  Includes fascinating information about Bob and Kathy Burns' TV horror hosting stint with THE HOST, aka JOE ALSTON, their Halloween spooktaculars in Burbank, and much, much more. Loaded with photos, including a bunch of great shots of Kathy Burns in and out of makeup.
  
  Monster Kid Memories was nominated for, and won, the prestigious 2003 Rondo Award as "Book of the Year." It richly deserved it!
  Order an autographed copy from "The Ghouleria" on Bob Burns' Official Web Site. Ask for Kathy's signature too!

Magazine references:

• Feature article "Horrors Hottest Newcomer" with seven pictures of Bob and Kathy Burns in issue #13 (August 1961) of Famous Monsters of Filmland, pp. 46-51.
  
  
• Feature article "Return of the Burn," with pictures of Bob and Kathy Burns in and out of makeup, in issue #15 (January 1962) of Famous Monsters of Filmland, pp. 24-27.
  
  
• Feature article "Horror Monsters introduces Bob Burns — Horror is His Hobby!" with one picture of Kathy Burns (as "The Weird Woman") and thirteen pictures of Bob Burns in issue #4 (1962) of Horror Monsters, pp. 31-38. Kathy is also discussed in the text. Her appearances on the KENS-TV Shock Theater are listed: "The Bride of Frankenstein," "The Weird Woman," "Miss Shock" hideous hags and witches, and equally charming female fiends.
  
  
• Feature article "A History of Tracy the Gorilla, The Mad Mummy, and Major Mars...Our Weekend at Bob's!" by Steve Smith in Monsterscene #3 (Fall 1994), pp. 41-43. Five pictures, historical tidbits of Bob and Kathy's experiences, and a promise of major coverage to come (see next item).
  
  
• Cover painting, extensive career coverage and many pictures of Bob Burns (and three of Kathy Burns) in issue #5 (Summer/Fall 1995) of Monsterscene, which is dedicated to Bob, his lifework, and his early collaborators. Inside front cover (full color) shows Kathy Burns in Miss Shock makeup on a mockup cover for "the lost issue" of Fantastic Monsters of the Films, which Bob helped to publish in the early '60's. Much of the issue features reprinted material from the late, great "FanMo." Monsterscene was a wonderful magazine itself, sadly no longer being published. This issue is particularly fine, but they're all well worth tracking down.
  
  
• Features about Bob and Kathy Burns have appeared in numerous issues of Dennis Druktenis' fan-favorite Scary Monster magazine, with more undoubtedly forthcoming. Notable issues with information about Kathy Burns include:
  
  
  • # 39 (June 2001) — extensive Burnsiana in this "Mummy Bash issue", including: cover art (Mad Mummy and Kathy Burns Witch inset); Mad Mummy inside front cover photo; interview article "Mad Mummy Mumblings" conducted by Dennis Druktenis, focusing on Burns' Wrap Star appearances, with 26 pictures (5 of Kathy Burns) (pp. 8-22);
    reprint of "Mad Mummy Gets Jeepers" from Fantastic Monsters of the Films #4 (pp. 40-42);
    reprint of "Horror Monsters introduces Bob Burns — Horror is His Hobby!" from Horror Monsters #4 (pp. 55-63).
    This issue is dedicated to Kathy Burns and Sally Druktenis.
    
    
  • # 43 — Bob's horror hosting experiences (details forthcoming).
    
    
  • Monster Memories Yearbook 2003 — "The Thing" re-lived (details forthcoming).
  
  Order copies at the Scary Monsters website!

NOTES:

• Kathy Burns never hosted her own horror movie show (yet!), but she and her husband BOB BURNS appeared in a wide variety of monster makeups on "The Host" Joe Alston's show in Texas.
  
  
• After many years away from the limelight, Miss Shock made special guest appearances at both Wonderfest and Monster Bash in 2005. As part of a special birthday tribute to Bob Burns on Saturday night at Wonderfest, Miss Shock and Tracy the Gorilla were materialized onstage by Nashville horror host DOCTOR GANGRENE as "surprise" guests from Bob's past. At Monster Bash Miss Shock came onstage to introduce the film Bride of the Monster in the great Shock Theater tradition.

Mister Mephisto

(see MR. MEPHISTO)

Mister Slime

(see MR. SLIME)

Mistress of the Dark *

(see ELVIRA *)

MISTY BREW (I)

(Faye Fisher)

Read about Wisconsin's Misty Brew on the "Green Bay Hosts" page at Dick Nitelinger's Milwaukee Hosts of Horror website.

Creature Feature

Friday nights at either 10:30 or midnight

WLRE (now WGBA), UHF Channel 26 (Green Bay, Wisconsin)

October 29, 1982 - September 9, 1983

Magazine references:

• Feature article with a GREAT interview with Faye Fisher, "Titletown's Enchantress: Creature Feature with 'Misty Brew'!" by Dick Nitelinger (Golembiewski), in Monster Memories #13: Scary Monsters 2005 Yearbook, (March 2005) pp. 17-23. 9 images, including promotional photo and screen grabs from show videos.
  Order a copy at the Scary Monsters website!

NOTES:

• Initial information for this entry contributed by Dick (Nitelinger) Golembiewski, tireless hostorian and webmonster of the frighteningly fabulous Milwaukee Hosts of Horror website. His Scary Monsters interview with Faye Fisher asks the right questions, and gets some great answers, some of which I've adapted below to flesh out this entry!
  
  
• According to the Scary Monsters interview:
  
  
  • The station manager at Green Bay's new, independent UHF station WLRE had seen ELVIRA in Los Angeles before her Movie Macabre show was syndicated, and they were looking for a female host for their horror movies.
    
    
  • Faye Fisher answered a casting call while she was a visual arts major at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, and though she had minimal acting experience at the time, she was hired because she had "facial expressions, poise, and body language" and "could handle awkward moments."
    
    
  • Faye wanted to be called "Natasha" or something exotic, but the station manager came up with "Misty Brew" to suggest witches' cauldrons.
    
    
  • Faye got her costumes from a local vintage shop called "Glad Rags." Every week she'd go in and pick out what she was going to wear for each show — including a beautiful 40's white satin dress she bought when she showed Bride of Frankenstein, which she wore in her wedding in 1984.
    
    
  • She wasn't allowed to wear anyting too sexy because the station manager was very religious. Her arms had to be covered, and she had to wear long, high-necked gowns that covered her legs. Ironically, she was asked if she'd "stuff and pad" herself to mimic parts of Elvira's appeal, but she told them "No. What you see is what you get here. I'm not going to do some stupid, cheesy, 'Elvira' thing. I didn't want it that badly."
    
    
  • A salon called "Bananas" did her hair "really big and put glitter in it," and also did the make-up:

    It was regular street make-up. They made my eyes dark. I had "cat's eyes," and long, dark, defined eyebrows. I used red lipstick, and rouge on the cheekbones. They just highlighted what I already had. Once I saw myself, it helped me get into character. Here I was dressed exquisitely, with the make-up. There was a sexual edge to my character, but it wasn't overt.... I was just this classy, sophisticated, spooky person.

  • The part of her sidekick "Klystron" (named for a very expensive vacuum tube used at the station), was played by Jim, one of the cameramen, who played spooky music on the organ to open the show while Misty rose from her coffin. He wore a suit jacket and never talked, just grunted.
    
    
  • Faye Fisher's Misty Brew was the inspiration for a fictional horror hostess, "Ivana Viktimm," in Paul McComas' novel Unplugged.

MISTY BREW (II)

(Real name=?)

Friday Night Frights with Misty Brew

Friday late night

KBSI (Fox affiliate), Channel 23 (Cape Girardeau, Missouri)

circa 1986-1989 or 1990

NOTE:

• David Windhorst, who initiated this entry and several other additions to this website, remembers:

  She was an Elvira type — big hair, negligee, couch — with a Lugosi voice.... I got in touch with Eric Dahl, sales manager at KBSI in Poplar Bluff, MO, and the email contact listed on their website, to attempt finding out more about Misty Brew. It turns out he was cameraman for her show. Though not willing to give me her real name — maybe she's been stalked or something — he did offer this info:

  I'm checking on the air dates. I think it only ran from 1986 through 1989 or 90. It always aired late night on the weekends so as not to offend any viewers. We had a lot of fun with it. We had to stay late to do the shoots, so all of the crew ended up getting in on the act. Our producer played a killer bee once, one of the production guys played Frankenstien, and I played a robber one night. The gal that hosted Misty Brew was really funny. Some of the out takes were even funnier than some of the stuff we put on air. We had a lot of fun poking fun at the movies and current events. And here's a little known fact. The Pig head that was hanging on the set wall was real, the producer got it from a local butcher shop. We didn't have a telepromoter so we had to write out the scripts on cue cards and roll them underneath the cameras. I hope this helps out.

MISTY BREW (III)

(Catherine Brewton)

See Catherine Brewton's Internet Movie Database entry.

Shock Theater

Saturday Night at 10:30

September 24, 1988 - January 21, 1989

Saturday Night at 10:00

January 28, 1989 - March 11, 1989

Friday nights at 10:30 p.m.

March 5 – July 28, 1989

Monday Night at 7:00 p.m.

July 24, 1989 (One-Time Double Feature)

WDBB, Channel 17 (Bessemer, Alabama)

Magazine references:

• Pictorial feature by Mitch Persons, "Hot Wax Zombies on Wheels: Catherine Brewton: hostess of WDBB's Shock Theatre," in Femmes Fatales Vol. 7, #15 (May 7, 1999), pp. 40-41.
  
  
• Pictorial movie preview by Mitch Persons, "Hot Wax Zombies: Catherine Brewton: TV’s Elvira Clone Turns from Prude into Randy Zombie," in Femmes Fatales Vol. 8, #17 (June 2000), pp. 38-39.
  
  
• Photo feature by Mitch Persons, "Catherine Brewton," in Draculina #47 (? 2004), pp. 46-47.
  
  
• Feature "More Misty Brew: Alabama's Sexy Shock Theater Hostess!" by Dick Nitelinger (Golembiewski) in Scary Monsters Magazine #56 (September 2005), pp. 119-122. Illustrations include a promotional card, screen grabs, a sales proposal for the show, and a current picture of Catherine Brewton.

NOTES:

• Initial information for this entry contributed by Dick (Nitelinger) Golembiewski, tireless hostorian and webmonster of the frighteningly fabulous Milwaukee Hosts of Horror website.
  
  
• Catherine Brewton starred in the low-budget movie Hot Wax Zombies On Wheels (1999).
  
  
• Data on dates for this show was dug up by Scott Free, and submitted by horror hostorian Dick (Nitelinger) Golembiewski.

MITCH and MUNCH

(Real names=?)

Mitch and Munch's Midnight Movie

Saturday night

TV 56 (Delaware, Ohio)

1995-1996

NOTE:

• Entry contributed by Mark Lavin.

MOANA

(Kim Norris)

Moana's Place

Saturday, 9:00 p.m.

WTTE-TV, Channel 28 (Columbus, Ohio)

Early '80's? - 19??

Moana's Place (syndicated)

Saturday, 9:00 p.m.

WPTT-TV, Channel 22 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

c. 1984 or 1985 (for "a mere six months")

Magazine reference:

• "Monster Memories" article "Monsters Are My Life" by Vince Cornelius in issue #5 (December 1992) of Scary Monsters, p. 9-11. Cornelius mentions Moana and his article reproduces his personally-inscribed and signed promotional photo and postcard from Moana.
  Order a copy at the Scary Monsters website.

NOTES:

• E-gorespondent Conrad now lives in Nebraska, but sent some great memories of several Pittsburgh-area hosts he watched when he lived in Pennsylvania years ago, including this one:

  One thing I remember about Moana's Place (other than Moana was a knockout) is that it was syndicated in Pittsburgh, airing on WPTT-TV 22 Saturday nights at 9pm. She dressed like Elvira. I usually liked her skits better than most of the movie selections. This was around 1984 or 1985,after Chiller Theater (see CHILLY BILLY) had been canceled. The show lasted a mere six months on WPTT. Unlike Moana, WPTT's other syndicated offering, GHOST HOST, didn't excite me all that much.

Moldy

(see EDDIE DRISCOLL)

Mondo Von Doren, Baron

(see BARON MONDO VON DOREN and EL SAPO DE TEMPESTO)

Mongo, Dr.

(see DR. MONGO)

Monster, Ms.

(see MS. MONSTER)

MOONA LISA *

(see also COSMOSINA)

(Lisa Clark)

Visit Happy Hallucinations...Honeys, a tribute to Moona Lisa at the Real Little PartiGirl's "Local Legends" website — including cool pictures!

Science Fiction Theater

Saturday afternoon

KOGO-TV, Channel 10 (San Diego, California)

1963 - June 1971

Fright Night

Late Saturday night

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

January 1972 - mid-1973

Moona Lisa's Creature Features

Saturday afternoon

KFMB Channel 8 (San Diego, California)

197? - 197?

Moona's Midnight Madness

Day? Time?

KMOX, Channel 4 (St. Louis, Missouri)

c. 1973 - one year run.

Elena Watson's Television Horror Movie Hosts reference:
mentioned in Ch. 25, "Son of Invasion of the Ghost Hosts," pp. 178-179.

Magazine references:

• Discussion and two pictures in article by Terence Sanford, "Happy Hallucinations and Goodnight Sweethearts," in Scary Monsters Presents Monster Memories #2, 1994 Yearbook (January 1994), pp. 19-22.
  
  
• Half-page "Monster Memories" article, "A Brief Encounter with Moona Lisa," by Jim Knusch in issue #8 (September 1993) of Scary Monsters, p. 41.

NOTES:

• Moona Lisa replaced SEYMOUR at KHJ-TV.
  
  
• Her theme song at KHJ-TV was "Lord of Lights" from the album Zodiac.

Morbius, Dr.

(see DR. MORBIUS)

Mor B.S., Dr.

(see DR. MOR B.S.)

Morgus, Dr.; Morgus the Magnificent *

(see DR. MORGUS)

Mortem, Madam

(see MADAM MORTEM)

THE MORTICIAN

(Real name = ?)

Visit The Mortician: House of Fear, The Mortician's Official Website, including cool pix, merchandise and more.

The Mortician: House of Fear

Saturday at 10:00 pm, repeats at various times during the week

The BAT (Brunswick Area Television), Public Access Channel 21, (Brunswick, Ohio)

Friday the 13th, June, 2003 - Present

NOTES:

• A bit of background info:

  The Mortician is much like any other horror host fan, he enjoys the movies as well as the inputs from those that show them. The Mortician normally partakes of the shows while working on the mangled and brutalized bodies of the victims from the very movies the hosts are showing. From his secluded location in east central Ohio, the Mortician, far from prying eyes, has his way with the vast array of human carnage from the violence most watch on many a dark scary night. The nameless remains from the death swirls of mayhem these movies provide have no family, no friends and are the leftovers no one thinks of. The Mortician thinks of them plenty while preparing them for the dark cold earth. They find peace on The Morticians blood caked slab. They are welcomed to eternity during this last encounter...with The Mortician.

  The Mortician: House of Fear airs up to four times each week on The BAT (Brunswick Area Television) in Brunswick, Ohio. The standard time slot is Saturday at 2200 ET (10:00 pm), with up to three other showings at various times during the week. The Mortician is a supporting character in the world of these horrorists. He disposes of all the not-so-nice leftovers of the movies shown by various hosts across the nation. It's grisly work but someone has to do it, so why not someone that enjoys it greatly?

• Episodes shown so far (from the show's official Website):

  SEASON 1 — Dementia 13, The Phantom Planet, The Werewolf vs the Vampire Woman, Attack of the Giant Leechs, The Hideous Sun Demon, Atom Age Vampire, Revolt of the Zombies, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (silent), In the Year 2889, Creature of the Walking Dead, The Fury of the Wolfman, Horror Hotel, Night of the Living Dead.

  SEASON 2 — Carnival of Souls, The Head, The Vampire Bat, Face of the Screaming Werewolf, The Gorilla, Snake People, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter, The Atomic Brain, The Ape (with One Step Beyond episode "Dead Ringer"), Nightmare Castle, Indestructible Man (with One Step Beyond episode "Earthquake"), Invisible Ghost (with One Step Beyond episode "Dark Room"), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923).

  SEASON 3 — The Ghoul; Frozen Alive (with One Step Beyond episode Night of April 14): Gamera the Invincible; The Incredible Petrified World; A Bucket of Blood; Maniac (with One Step Beyond episode Epilogue); The Amazing Transparent Man; Reefer Madness (in color with One Step Beyond episode The Dream); Beast of the Yellow Night; Horror Express; The Crawling Eye; The Human Monster; Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1920).

• The Mortician's television markets include:

  BAT Brunswick, OH (Home); 3C27TV Albuquerque, NM; AccessTV Salina, KS; Channel 10 Cold Spring, MN; DCTV Denver, CO; HCTV Hudson, OH; HMS Houston, TX; MVTV Toppenish, WA; NewTV Newton, MA; PATV15 Manchester, CTl Portland Public Access Ch 2 Portland, ME; SPNN Saint Paul, MN.

Morwentari, Margali

(see MARGALI, aka MARGALI MORWENTARI)

Mousey Boy

(see PROFESSOR I.C. BLOODENGUTS and MOUSEY BOY)

MR. DARC

(see also LON MADNIGHT)

(Mike Acord)

Read "A Dream of a Nightmare," Mike Acord's article about playing his proto-host character "Deadbeat" at the "Terror on Church Street" live haunted house show, on the Haunted Attraction Website.

Darc of the Night

Pilot featuring Plan 9 from Outer Space broadcast on three successive Friday nights

Time Warner Cable (now Bright House Networks), Channel 98(?) (Orlando, Florida)

October, 1992

Magazine reference:

• Article by Mike Acord, "I Was a Teenage Movie Host (or at least a thirtyish wannabe)," in Scary Monster #8, September 1993, pp 36-38. Mike describes his efforts to promote his character Mr. Darc on a short-lived cable access show called Darc of the Night in Orlando, Florida in 1992.

NOTES:

• Information adapted from Mike Acord's Scary Monster feature about Mr. Darc, cited above:

  In 1988 I determined to do something about my longtime dream of being a movie host. I conceived of a brown-cloaked, slouch-hatted figure who wore a featureless black mask. I tricked around with different names (such as Shayde and Mr. Midnight) before settling on MR. DARC. Not to get too detailed into the creative process, I conceived of STUDIO TOMB from which Darc would broadcast. I gave him a foil, GOORAH, a thing that lives behind the couch, and an assistant, WHITLEY, to be the voice of the audience, and to give us one visible face on the set.

  Some of my my co-workers (at "Terror on Church Street," an Orlando haunted attraction) had experience in video production, and agreed to help me in the creation of my show. Five of us agreed to be the production team; we each put up money to rent camera and lights, our boss agreed to allow us to shoot on the sets at the attraction, I wrote the script, and off we went. One of our team had friends at our local cable operator and was able to make a deal for editing time as well as securing us a movie (we ran Plan 9 from Outer Space, god help us).

  Jump ahead to shooting day: normal television production allows that one might shoot 3-5 pages of script in a day. We did 22. Now it is October, 1992; the cable company has agreed to broadcast our pilot on three successive Friday nights, cool. They do the run, get very good reaction from viewers, and we got to series, right? Wrong.

  They are public-access, you see, and can't sell ad time. Now, if we do more shows, they'll be happy to run us, but somebody has to pay for the production and it won't be them, sigh.

  Well, we seek out a small broadcast station in the area who loves the show, and wants to do it. If we sell the ad time, sign. Armed with a letter of intent, we approach local comic shops, pizza places, amusement centers and show our promo reel, which is very sharp, thank you, and the consensus is quick and to the point...They like the show, but the station is too small to do them any good to advertise on. I think I see a pattern. At this writing, DARC waits in limbo, not dead, but not alive....

MR. LOBO

(Erik Lobo: born November 27th, 19??)

Read about Cinema Insomnia -- With Your Horror Host Mr. Lobo on the official Website, with full details about the show.

See Mr. Lobo's profile page at HORRORHOSTS.com, the official site for the Horror Host Underground (HHU).

Read Mr. Lobo's article Public Domain Movies Royalty Free for Horror Hosts on the HHU Website.

See Mr. Lobo's Public Domain Movie List on the HHU Website.

Visit The Monster Club.Com to order back issues of The Monster News with info, reviews and interviews. You can also order Monster Movie Memories, a book by publisher Cheryl Duran with a forward by Mr. Lobo.

The KXTV Movie (Cinema Insomnia)

Sunday at 3:05 am

June 2001 - November 2001

KXTV News10 (Sacamento, Stockton and Modesto, California)

Cinema Insomnia

Saturday at 11:00 pm

June 2002 - November 2003

The Sacramento Channel, Channel 18, Channel 74 (Sacramento, California)

Cinema Insomnia

Wednesday at 10:00 am and 7:00 pm, Sunday at 1:00 am and 12:00 pm

October 2001 - 200?

MATA-TV, Cable 96, 14 (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

Cinema Insomnia With Mr. Lobo

Sunday at 12:30 am

October 2003 - May 2004

COX Marketplace Channel, Cable 71 (Virginia Beach, Virginia)

Cinema Insomnia With Mr. Lobo

Saturday at 10:00 am

October 2003 - Present

KEJB, UPN 43 (Monroe, Louisiana)

Book reference:
Monster Movie Memories -- From Movie Palace To Drive In by Cheryl Duran, TheMonsterClub.Com books, 2004 (ISBN 1-59196-380-X), $12.95 retail, softcover, 174 pages, 5.5x8.5 (To order, see link above to publisher's webpage.)

Magazine references:

• Feature Article by Kieth Lowell Jensen about Mr. Lobo and The Horror Host Underground, "Geek Is Good," in volume 14, issue #43 (January 2002) of The Sacramento News and Review, pp. 27-28. Two pictures of Mr. Lobo.
  
  
• Article for (then) upcoming live show hosted by Mr. Lobo by Becca Costello, “Alright Midnight!” in volume 15 issue #21 (August 2003) of The Sacramento News and Review, pp. 3, 45. Two pictures of Mr. Lobo.
  
  
• Feature article by Cheryl Duran about horror host, "Meet Sacramento’s Mr. Lobo," and review by Jace Witman of live film show, "Mr. Lobos Plan 9 Show" in issue #9 (October 2003) of TheMonsterClub.com's Monster News, pp. 2-3. Two pictures of Mr. Lobo.
  
  
• Article on Cinema Insomnia with Mr. Lobo by Rake Leaves, "Cinema Insomnia Brings The Best of the Worst In Horror" in issue #125 (October 2003) of The Sacramento News and Review, pp. 3, 45. Two pictures of Mr. Lobo.
  
  
• Mr. Lobo is mentioned in an article about the Horror Host Underground by C. W. Prather, "The Horror Host Underground Casts a Mighty Web: The Worlds First Horror Host Wedding Begins the Third Year of the HHU" in issue #49 (January 2004) of Scary Monsters.
  
  
• Splash on cover, feature interview "Monster News Interviews Mr. Lobo," and mention in article on Horror Hosts by Dave Baker, "TV Horror hosts" in issue #10 (May 2004) of TheMonsterClub.com's Monster News Cover, pp. 2, 4-6, 9. Four Pictures of Mr. Lobo.

NOTES:

• Mr. Lobo’s rocking chair was once used by Bob Wilkins, who is credited as senior consultant on the show.
  
  
• Film print of Night Of The Living Dead on Cinema Insomnia was given to Mr. Lobo By Elvira.
  
  
• In West Palm Beach, The South Florida Science Museum had a long running Sci-Fi / Horror night in their Motorola Theatre on Fridays and would feature Cinema Insomnia episodes once a month.
  
  
• The Church Of Ed Wood has named Mr. Lobo a legal saint. Saint Mister Lobo is the patron saint of horror hosts and insomniacs.
  
  
• Music used on show includes "Stompin’ At 3 am" by the Stan Fong, "Empty" by Casualty Park, and "Web Of Love" by Joi Lansing.

MR. MEPHISTO

(see also FERDY (I), FERDY (II))

(Dick Flanigan)

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!

Lenny's Inferno

Friday at midnight

WMTV-TV, (NBC) Channel 15 (Madison, Wisconsin)

September 5, 1969 - May 21, 1982

Lenny's Inferno

Friday at 11:30 p.m.

WCGV-TV, Channel 24 (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

July 1, 1988 - August 26, 1988

Magazine reference:

• Feature by Dick Nitelinger (Golembiewski), "The Madison Saga Continues: Lenny's Inferno with Mr. Mephisto!" in Scary Monsters magazine #52, pp 119-125. Ads, pics, and interviews with Dick Flanigan and John Sveum!

NOTES:

• Eric Browning first reported Lenny's Inferno, named for the sponsor, and said the host was "a guy in ghoul makeup with a crushed stovepipe hat and a baby doll with stitches and black eyes." Eric also noted that the theme music was Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain (known to movie fans as the demonic classical music animated near the end of Disney's Fantasia).
  
  
• Brad Ringlien identified the host by name and provided lots of details:

  As a teen growing up in Madison, Wisc, I was an addict of the late night horror flicks. So here is some more information on Lenny's Inferno.
  The show was originally called Ferdie's Inferno. Ferdie owned a local Madison business called American TV and Furniture. Ferdie turned the store over to a guy named Lenny (referred to as "Crazy TV Lenny."), then the title was changed to Lenny's Inferno. The show ran on WMTV NBC 15 every Friday night at midnight. It was hosted by "Mr. Mephisto" (played by Dick Flanigan). He had a white face with a jet black goatee. He sat behind a dilapidated desk. On the desk was a little black box with a Iron Cross medallion hanging off it. Inside the box was Mr. Mephisto's sidekick known only as "The Voice in the Box," played by Jay Stevens (real name John Sveum; see note below — E-gor). The Voice had a high tinny sound and referred to the host as "Creepy Guy."
  Mr. Mephisto would break into the movie 3-4 times and pitch appliances and the latest store gimmicks such as giving away waterbeds and bicycles. Mr. Mephisto kept pointing out that Crazy TV Lenny was "insane" because of all the great deals he was making on stereo components.
  Other characters on the show were "Valdimer," a tall guy dressed in black who just stood still the whole show brandishing a large axe. Mr. Mephisto would hurl insults at poor Valdimer all during the show. Finally Valdimer would usually break apart the desk in anger. Many times, they would destroy Television sets or refrigerators at the end of the show. That was definitely worth staying awake for!!
  I lost track of the show when I graduated from The University of Wisconsin in '80. I think I may even have a cassette tape of some of the shows from around '71.

• Darrin Buchholtz provided more details:

  I was surprised to actually find a listing for Mr. Mephisto on your website. I was in 7th grade around 1978 when I was watching Lenny's Inferno every Friday night at midnight. There were times my brother and I would record the show on our cassette recorders. (If we didn't doze off before midnight) I only remember Lenny's Inferno. I wasn't familiar with Ferdie's Inferno. What I remember about the show: I remember the inside of the castle as a painted stone wall all behind Mr. Mephisto's desk, except for a big "M" on a banner. Some of the characters would also refer to him as "The Big M." The town his castle was in was called Swampton. I also remember a couple other episodes where his pet, the Moat Beast, was in. You never got to see it, but you sure did hear it, especially when Mephisto would somehow fall into the Moat and get attacked by it. There was a period that they used fire extinguishers quite frequently on Mephisto for a laugh. The only other characters I can remember besides Valdimere were Singing Virgil and Beauregard Shirley Mumphord (played by Jay Stevens). Besides doing the voice in the box, Jay would be off camera giving Mephisto a hard time, constantly getting him in trouble. The opening of the show was always the cool part. They showed a painting of a castle on a hill and would slowly zoom in on it like you were walking up to it while "Night on Bald Mountain" played in the background. There was one episode that was done as "The Best of Lenny's Inferno" where Mephisto went to his favorite watering hole, "Lefty's Bottom of the Barrel." It was 90 minutes of clips from past shows. It aired after the last run of horror movies and before they started showing Boris Karloff's Thriller. This show was part of the reason I got into the classic horror movies as a kid, and now as an adult. I did some checking with WMTV NBC 15 to see if any tapes still exist from the show. No help there. I also tried American TV, the sponsor of the show, with no luck. The tapes seemed to mysteriously disappear. I do have some cassette recordings. Too bad we didn't get a VCR until well after the show was off the air.

• E-gorespondent C. D. Ellefson remembers Mr. Mephisto's sidekick:

  The talking box voice for Mr. Mephisto was one of my dad's friends. You have him listed as Jay Stevens, which was an alias. His real name is John Sveum (note the initials), and he still does a lot of commercials and voiceovers here in this area. I don't know if he would care about his real name being listed or not, but you may want to include the information that it is an alias. My dad says he thinks John would think it was a hoot anyone remembered him! He terrified us as children by the way, even though he is really nice. We didn't want the voice from the box coming over, ever!. Thanks!

Mrs. Lucifer *

(see DR. LUCIFER and MRS. LUCIFER)

MR. SCHLOCK

(Bruce Lentz)

The Schlock Shop (30-45 minute show with movie clips)

Thursday at midnight

PC-TV, cable public access Channel 20(?) (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

199?-19??

NOTES:

• Bruce Lentz's character is apparently retired now, but Bruce still operates the great Incredibly Strange Video store in Dormont (Pittsburgh).

MR. SHREEK, aka GORTEM SHREEK

(John Hanson; died January 22, 2008: see obituary notice)

Visit Black Sky Cinema, the show's official website.

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

Black Sky Cinema

Monday at 10 pm; replays Tuesday at 4 am,10 am, and 4 pm

Northwest Community Television (NWCT) public access Channels 19, 20 on Comcast Cable (Minneapolis N.W. suburbs, Minnesota)

September 9, 2003 - January 2008?

NOTES:

• Terrible news received on Friday, January 25, 2008:

  Hello everyone,
  This is johnnys little brother erik (mr shreeks little brother to some of you).
  I am extremely sorry to inform everyone that johnny is no longer with us.
  He committed suicide on tuesday morning at about 8 am.
  I realize that some of you may have already got the news,
  I just figured it might be a bit easier to send this to all his contacts in one shot.
  ....
  This is an extremely difficult time for me and everyone involved,
  so I appreciate if you could keep us in your prayers.
  thanks everyone,
  sincerely,
  Erik

• From Gortem Shreek's Horror Host Underground website profile:

  It's always midnight-at BLACK SKY CINEMA!
  Gortem Shreek resides in his family's home of 6 generations. The Shreeks were outcasts, and people feared them for their gothic look and strange practices. Gortem was raised by his grandfather, a black magician, who taught him to summon flame. He lives alone, seeing no one! He studies horror and film to fill his days, and watches classic horror to fill the nights. Black Sky Cinema is the only contact he has with the world! He lives by his own laws, and they are not man's laws. His vast family fortune is a deep secret, and Gortem Shreek trusts nobody! — Cross him, and YOU"LL BURN!!! He does have a sense of humor, though it's a "sick sense."

• From the Black Sky Cinema Website:

  Black Sky plays classic horror, sci-fi, silent thrillerz, & cult films. NWCT public access, in the n.w.suburbs of Minneapolis, Mn. Lon Chaney, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Ed Wood, Cushing, Lee, Vincent Price & all the rest! Public Domain films can be shown by anyone, anytime, anywhere — go for it... I DID!!

• John Hanson's passing was a terrible shock and painful loss to the Horror Host Underground (HHU) movement, and to horror host fans in general. I, E-gor, never met John but I had the pleasure of exchanging occasional e-mails with him. In 2004, when I revamped this site and made one of several major attempts to update it with the latest information about new hosts and developments in the HHU, I wrote to "Gortem Shreek" requesting feedback about his new entry. He responded immediately and enthusiastically, and was kind and generous enough to include me on the long list of fans to whom he sent free videos and DVDs of his show, which I found very original and entertaining. John knew and cared a lot about horror hosting and the movies on his show, as the following excerpts from his e-mail to me show:

  The new site is awesome! You're the "Horrorhost Historian" of all time. I just went on-line in 3 / 2003, and the 1st thing i did,was look up DR.PAUL BEARER, he was my 1st, and favorite host. Your site was the 1st website i ever went to! I thank you for adding me to this esteemed group
  
  I was in a Yahoo group called Lugosiphilia. One of the members is RICHARD SHEFFIELD, he was good friends with Bela Lugosi from 1953-1956. He told some great stories about him, Ed Wood, and Bela hanging out, and Ed and Richard helping Bela move. There were 3 friends of Lugosi in the Lugosiphilia group, great stuff for a Bela fan!
  
  I also made a contribution of research to Frank Dello Stritto for his book about Lugosi.
  
  My life is 80% horror related stuff. I am always doing things like --
  1) previewing films for the show 2) taping at studio 3) editing 4) making flyers/posters 5) delivering flyers 6) taping broadcasts of the show 7) mailing tapes to viewers
  
  This guy, Uncle Davver, is fantastic! He is in Hollywood,and has a awesome resume in acting ... Murphy Brown, performed at Marilyn Manson's 30th b-day, voice overs galore. I have his 1st show on dvd & vhs. He has a cast of about 20 characters, and does all audio/video inserts over the movie Horror express. I told him to go to you for a spot on your site, and he's looking for some vintage host material. He's a great guy, been chatting for a couple weeks now.
  
  Well, after 2 months of insanity, i finished my one year anniversary shows, 4 hours, 2 shows.
  My Halloween show,with 10 zany, ghoulish characters, and 3 new shows on top of that.
  I FINALLY sent out the shows to you folks!! They went out media-mail today.
  So sorry for the loooooong delay, i usually get them out in 2 weeks, but Halloween kept me too busy to buy mailers, and blank tapes, and make copies of the shows.
  I've sent out 150 shows in one year, and have always got them out to those who request them.
  Thx folks!!
  
  (Forwarding a note he received from an old-time horror host, Count Scary): I love spending time at your site, 2 1/2 years i've been going there, and its still fun.
  
  (When I wrote him about finding new information about the pioneering Pittsburgh host, Sir Rodger):
  Cool...another classic host re-animated! I never heard of him.
  I'm aired on a lot more stations now --
  NWCT Minneapolis Suburbs (home base)
  Stillwater Mn. Valley Access
  Iowa City access
  Fairfield Iowa Access
  Hibbing Mn. Access (Bob Dylan's Hometown)
  Fergus Falls, Mn. access
  and Wisconsin soon.
  
  I hope you get a response from Count Scary, he is old school.
  Keep up the horror host history ... it's greatly appreciated by hosts and fans. The photos are a nice added touch too!
  Shreek

  Thanks for caring and sharing, John. You'll be missed.

MR. SLIME

(see also THE BOWMAN BODY, DR. SLUDGE)

(Howard Meagle)

Slime Theatre

Saturday night at 11:00

WVIR-TV, Channel 29 (Charlottesville, Virginia)

Mid-70s?

NOTES:

• Mr. Slime preceded DR. SLUDGE and THE BOWMAN BODY as the host of horrors on this channel.
  
  
• E-gorespondent David Allen initiated this entry with the following note:

  Just reading your list of horror hosts while dredging up memories from my teen years. The Bowman Body is listed at WVIR in Charlottesville from '77-'79 on a show called Cobweb Theatre. While I have absolutely no recollection of that series, there was a show on a few years before that, called Slime Theatre. The host was a fellow named Howard Meagle who had no "horror" schtick, but he used to make MST3K-like comments during the host segments. He was on the show for a year or so. He was replaced by "Dr. Sludge," and then "The Bowman Body."
  
  Slime Theatre's theme song was Frank Zappa's "I am the Slime."
  
  I remember this vividly, as I was a faithful viewer. The show ran Saturday nights at 11:00.

• And now, through the miracle of the Internet, we hear from Mr. Slime himself, Howard Meagle!:

  Hello E-gor,
  
  Quite surprisingly my 14 year old son asked me recently if I had ever hosted a show called Slime Theatre. It seems he had been searching around the web looking for family members, and he came across your site. He showed me your web page, and sure thing there was a listing for Slime Theatre. Talk about a time warp!
  
  I was further interested to read Mr. Allen's recollection of what happened to me. And if I may, I would like to set the record straight for those who care about such things.
  
  WVIR-TV 29 in Charlottesville, VA. signed on in the spring of 1973. It survives to this day as a terrific NBC affilliate serving Central Virginia. Management hired Bill Bowman away from WXEX in Richmond to be the Program Director of WVIR in Charlottesville. Bill continued to tape his Saturday night horror show "The Bowman Body" for WXEX every week. I was a disc jockey at a radio station co-owned by WVIR-TV, and Bill and I became friends while he was at the TV station. Bill directed the station early and late newscasts. I worked for Bill in the evenings after my radio shift. One of my first jobs was to edit commercial breaks into movies. One of the film packages we had was the old Universal "Classics" package which had all those old vintage horror movies like Frankenstein (Boris Karloff) and Dracula (Bela Lugosi) and The Wof Man (Lon Chaney Jr.). So we decided that WVIR needed a Saturday Night Horror Show.
  
  I had grown up in Wheeling, WV, about 50 miles south of Pittsburgh. We watched Bill Cardille on Channel 11. "Chilly Billy" was what NBC describes today as "Must see TV". Bill did his show "straight". He let his visitors and guests do all the weird stuff. Like most all teenagers at the time we thought Bill was cool. Charlottesville is a college town (University of Virginia). I had graduated from UVA just a few years before all this TV stuff.
  
  I was uncomfortable dressing up like the Bowman Body, so we decided that I would do it straight like "Chilly Billy". The theme song came from a Frank Zappa tune, "I am the Slime". Hence the title "Slime Theatre." Our artist, Tom Blaylock, came up with the show's logo, and we were in business. By the way, we were "sliming" people long before Nickelodeon.
  
  Bill Bowman was instrumental in helping us make the show popular. The "Bowman Body" made many appearances on the show. Bill eventually returned to Richmond to work for Educational TV. I was then promoted to the position of Program Director replacing Bill, and I continued doing "Slime Theatre" for about 2 more years.... I was offered a job at another TV station in 1977.
  
  After I left, the person who had been directing "Slime Theatre" assumed the position of host. His name was Pat Bauley.... He called himself "Dr. Sludge". Bauley left WVIR; I lost touch with the station after that, and also the fate of "Slime Theatre". I have remained in television, and I currently serve as General Manager of WMC-TV 5 in Memphis. I have lost touch with my old friend Bill Bowman. But I know if I were to talk to him today and ask him "Bill, How's it going? He would respond with his signature answer, "Down Hill!"

MS. MONSTER

(Real name=a monstrous secret)

Check out Ms. Monster's home page with pictures, web comics, news about her TV show, Zombie Dance Troupe and personal appearances, merchandise and more!

See Ms. Monster & her Monster Melons in Hel on Ice comics!

Visit Ms. Monster's Blogsite at myspace.com.

See lots more of Ms. Monster's Photos at flickr.

Hel on Ice

2nd and 4th Wednesdays each month at 12:30 a.m.

San Francisco cable access Channel 29 (San Francisco, California)

Saturday at 10:30 p.m.

Salem Access Television, Channel 3 (Salem, Massachusetts)

2004 - present

Personal appearances at "Horror Host Palooza," the "Shock It To Me" film festival, WonderCon, San Diego ComicCon, "Monstrous Munsters Matinee" and other events in California.

NOTES:

• "San Francisco’s own Mistress of Midnight," Ms. Monster, provided the initial info for this entry with this e-mail:

  Hi there
  Got linked to your website today and I am diggin it! Nice work.
  Would love to send you a dvd of B-Minus Presents: HEL on ICE, San Francisco's own late nite horror variety show starring Ms Monster & her Monster Melons. It's B and it's Hot....

• When I wrote back, I asked her if she was involved with the Horror Host Underground movement. From her March 2005 reply:

  Thanks E-gor! This is our second year producing the show -- I had met Mr Lobo and Bob Wilkins a few years back at some conventions but at the Wondercon this past month I met the whole horrorhost insurgence here in the Bay Area: Doktor Goulfinger, John Stanley, Bob, Lobo, Margot Kidder (I have lots of fun pics!) etc etc. TONS of talk about American Scary movie coming out. We were met with such enthusiasm we were swept away.
  I DEFINITELY will get us listed on HorrorHost.com and everywhere else we can. I love bridging communities, especially cool underground communities of gore and would love to see the shuffle of Public Access slots be more national. Thanks for the tip! We may need to include E-gor on the show one day ;)
  sweet screams
  MM

• A quote from the show's website:

  Ms. Monster presents: Hel on Ice. Not just a show, but a way of life...er...death! Sit back and let your rigormortis set in, while Ms. Monster and her Monster Melons, Tit and Tat take you on a hilariously wild ride filled with B-movies, shorts, Cartoons, and, as always, puppets and gore! You'll bust out of your stitches, then hunger for your own entrails!
  Not in San Francisco? No problem! Just check out our shop to purchase your own copy of the Hel on Ice DVD!

• "Ms. Monster's Blurb" from her Blogsite:

  About me:
  HEL-lo there my little beasties. I'm Ms Monster from the late night Horror Variety Show HEL ON ICE. Come join us for our favorite B Horror movie clips, our own animation THE CEREALISTS, house bands, indie submisisons, puppet gore and a whole lot of murderous mayhem with me & my Monster Melons, Tit & Tat. When we aren't trying to earn a crappy living bringing gore-filled nights to the cities of San Francisco (Davis, Berkeley & somewhere in Minnesota & Wisconsin & Salem, MA) we are out drag racing cars in our town called Hel and hanging with the carnies. We tango with evil, the melons are bringers of the apocolypse after all, we love gore and we dance quite often with demons and other horror hosts. Come join us in Hel at www.helonice.com.

M. T. GRAVES (I) *

(see also M.T. SPACE)

(Charlie Baxter; died October 3, 2007: see obituary)

See M. T. Graves and Charlie Baxter Present THE DUNGEON, E-gor's webshrine to his own personal childhood horror host hero, the late great Charlie "M.T. Graves" Baxter..

The Dungeon

Sunday afternoon, 4-5 p.m.; moved to Saturday, 4-5 p.m. after several years, stayed there until it went off the air.

WCKT-TV, Channel 7 (now WSVN-TV) (Miami, Florida)

195? - 196?

M.T. Graves Presents

Day? Time?

WKID-TV, Channel 51 (now WSCV) (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)

Late '60's - 197?

All Night Entertainment

Saturday late night, midnight - 5 am

WKID-TV, Channel 51 (now WSCV) (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)

May 1974 (first 2 or 3 of "5 Saturday nights")

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

Magazine references:

• Half-page picture in issue #5 (November 1959) of Famous Monsters of Filmland, p. 65, labeled "Who is he? What is he? Don't miss the next issue of Famous Monsters" (see next item).
  
  
• Feature article, "The Case of the Lonely Grave Robber," with four pictures in issue #6 (February 1960) of Famous Monsters of Filmland, pp. 34-37. Good puns but little factual information about the host and show. Another full page photo of M.T. on p. 54. Rare copies issued with M.T. Graves / "Dungeon" stickers on cover; see NOTES (with link to images from the cover) below.
  
  
• Mentioned in feature "The Horror of Them All!" in issue #13 (December 1988) of Filmfax, pp. 28-32.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• Ft. Lauderdale show is mentioned in "Monster Memories" article "TV Horror Hosts & Me" by B-movie director Fred Olen Ray in issue #9 (December 1993) of Scary Monsters, p. 8.

NOTES:

• The Webmonster of this site, George "E-gor" Chastain, was overjoyed to discover that M.T. Graves was free from the Dungeon at last and still lurking among us before he finally left us in October, 2007. Thanks to his longtime friend Garnette Faircloth, I was able to become a long-distance friend with Charlie Baxter, to create another website dedicated to his TV career, and to collect and forward dozens of fan letters for several years.
  See our Charlie Baxter tribute site here!
  
  
• From E-gorespondent David Rutman:

  I grew up in South Florida watching Channel 7's great kids programming, and I can tell you these things about Charlie Baxter.... The M.T. Graves show, The Dungeon, was on either Saturday or Sunday afternoon; M.T. interacted with a puppet head named Reginald. The gimmick of the show was that M.T., a prisoner in a dungeon who slept in a coffin, was tortured by being forced to watch the (unseen) Warden's home movies (i.e., that week's feature). On M.T. Space the gimmick was similar.

• From show fan Mark Hendrix:

  I was a boy in the late fifties In Miami and I remember quite well the M.T. Graves show. I remember it being on Saturdays, because my father and I used to watch it together. My father loved the show, we even went to a personal appearance M.T. made once at a car dealership. He arrived in an armored car and was chained and shackled and the guards constantly terrorized him. He gave out autographed pictures of himself in full M.T. Graves costume...mine disappeared long ago! I remember many of the plots of his show which revolved around his attempts to escape his dungeon cell. I really enjoyed the show and would like to purchase a picture, autograph or other parpaphenalia. If you have any or know where I might purchase some please let me know.

• E-gorespondent Glach@webtv.net recalls that M.T. Graves had a cellmate (Reginald) in the Dungeon who would pop out of a loose brick in the wall, and occasionally would get a message from the Warden -- usually a commercial.
  He also remembers that in the 60's Baxter had a 4 O'clock kids show, "Charlie Baxter and Willy the Moose." David Rutman (see note above) was on the show around 1964; he remembers that the show was called "Fun Club" on Channel 7, and that Willie the Moose was a big puppet.
  
  
• Charlie Baxter hosted MANY kid shows on WCKT and WKID; see details about Charlie's other shows here!
  
  
• Another old friend and co-worker, Rick Reiff, added great new information about Charlie's later work at WKID via e-mail and a letter. Here's a slightly-edited compilation of his comments:

  I came across your Charlie Baxter site a few nites ago. I'm an engineer at WPBT channel 2 in Miami. Been there for 29 years.
  I started my career at WKID channel 51 in 1972 where I was privledged to work with Charlie Baxter. I ran camera for Kaptain Kid and M.T Graves and got to know Charlie fairly well. He's a class act both in and out of costume. My "51 friends" talk fondly about Charlie quite often. Anyone who grew up in South Florida during the 60's and early 70's knew Charlie. He still has many fans here.
  In 1974 two co-workers (Jim Austin and the late Ed Sutton) and I started all night television in South Florida. We approached the general manager of WKID and asked him if we could go on the air all night (as an experiment) on Saturday nights. He was amused and asked us who would watch and how could we sell commercials?
  
  Well, being young and quite naive, we told him lots of people would watch. We really didn't know but wanted to try. To our amazement he told us OK... but we would have to buy the time from the station. 500 dollars. Yes, 500 bucks bought us the entire night from midnight until 5 am. Wow. None of us had 500 dollars in those days. But what a deal. We got the use of anything in the station's library and the equipment. No support staff. We didn't need any support staff because we were the staff. Ed Sutton was senior director, Jimmy Austin was a cameraman / director and I was an engineer. The only support staff we paid was the transmitter engineer Ron Stouffer. That was a wopping $30.
  
  We contacted the local papers and TV guide about the event. To our surprise we got positive newspaper coverage.
  
  We called it All Night Entertainment. A host was needed. We hired M.T. Graves. We paid M.T. $200 which to us was a lot of money but quite a deal... having M.T. on the air for us would certainly draw an audience. We didn't know how right we were (best 200 we ever spent). So in May of 1974 we went on the air with two movies and live skits with our host M.T. Graves. M.T. did a few dungeon bits but we also put M.T. in "bed" with a young girl. Nothing sleezy...M.T. could make anything funny.
  
  I don't remember exactly how we opened All Night Entertainment because I was quite busy in the videotape room and also projection. I don't believe I recorded the first night skits. If I did I only have a piece of them.
  
  The night was a hoot. The phones never stopped ringing. I had sold commercials to Gato Furniture (a local manufacturer) so that covered our costs. We had half of the station staff volunteering to help us out. It was amazing. Monday and Tuesday morning the mail came flooding in. Bags and bags full. M.T. makes reference to one letter in the video... a joke.
  
  We went on the air the following week with different sponsors and M.T. But this time the money didn't cover the costs. I don't remember if M.T. did a third week for us. We were able to produce the show for 5 Saturday nights.
  
  I wish we had been more businessmen than idealistic broadcasters. We never really had an initial contract and the general manager too the time back. It became a raging success and prompted WCIX Channel 6 in Miami to start their own "all night show."
  
  Early on one of the local WKID salesmen wanted to be partners with us. We had a meeting and decided no, we would produce the show "on our own." The salesman then bought the remaining time. Sunday through Friday nigts. Our decision to be on our own was one of the biggest mistakes in my broadcast career. The salesman's name was Roger King... as in president of "King World Productions." He distributes Oprah, Jeopardy, and many other extremely successful national shows. Roger got his own host for the "all nite show," Dave Dixon. By the time the word really spread, Dave was a household name in South Florida. Ed, Jim and myself had lost our idea and show to shrewd businessmen. We weren't left out in the cold though. We worked for Roger and Bill Johns (WKID general manager) and made fairly good money for those days.
  
  There are other stories about WKID in those days. Some unbelievable. Someday if you want I'll relay them to you. I have a couple of tidbits about Kaptain Kid. The first show was done against a blue flat with no props other than an old barrel and a paper cutout foot. The Kaptain did a great job of "stretching" without anyone to play off of. The show was an hour. WKID had cartoons to fill but that first show was mostly the Kaptain. He was a real pro. I believe it was the first telecast at WKID. They had just received the licence to go on the air that morning by the FCC. So at 4pm Kapt Kid was on the air. WKID was located on the grounds of the amusement park "Pirates World." Thus the tie in with the Kaptain.
  
  I'm going to call my friends from the old WKID to see if they have any "behind the scenes" photos or video. I'll check my old pictures. I'm probably the one with the most stuff. I had been working as an engineer and had access to tape stock (a precious commodity in those days). There were no home betamax or vhs machines yet. They were not invented. Anything recorded had to be on professional broadcast machines.
  
  Please say hello to Charlie and (his son) Tim from the old channel 51 staff. Tell Charlie we miss him here in South Florida.
  With fond memories,
  Rick Reiff

  
  
• Professional audio technician Charles Lawson sent his warm recollections of working with Charlie Baxter after he left television:

  How thrilled I am at having discovered your Charlie Baxter tribute site! I have done Web searches on Charlie before, but I never ran across your terrific pages until today. I am so happy to hear that he is still around and kicking and I would dearly love to get in touch with him again after all these years. (He is now — E-gor).
  While I didn't have much of an opportunity to enjoy most of Charlie's TV antics in Florida, I did have the magnificent pleasure of working with him for several years at the Buehler Planetarium in Davie, FL. (I have even personally witnessed the transformation from CB to MT!) I have never encountered a warmer, finer person in the entertainment business before or since. Without his encouragement and assistance, it is unlikely that I would have enjoyed the success that I have managed thus far in my career.
  Thanks, again, for creating a terrific site. I'll be sending snail mail via the address you include.
  All the best to you and to Charlie!

• Extremely rare copies of Famous Monsters of Filmland #6 (very few known to survive) were distribute with a black and yellow sticker attached to the cover featuring a drawing of M.T. and this text: "See 7 (NBC) Sunday for M.T. Graves in the "Dungeon" WCKT/Miami". I've been told these are the rarest and most valuable of all monster magazines, with only a few copies known to exist.

M. T. GRAVES (II)

(see also COUNT GORE DE VOL)

(Dick Dyszel)

Click here for details and ordering info about Dick Dyszel's more famous host character Count Gore De Vol's video Creature Feature: The Legacy Begin, "the first retrospective of Washington's longest running Horror Showcase!" featuring dozens of memorable segments covering the years 1971 to 1984 -- including clips of "M.T. Graves" in Padukah!

Night of Terror

Friday night about 10:30

WDXR-TV, Channel 29 (Paducah, Kentucky)

1971 - 1972

NOTE:

• E-gorespondent David Windhorst remembers: "I was living in Paducah, KY, in the seventies, and caught Dick Dyszel on local independent station ch. 29 WDXR's Friday show, 'Night of Terror'; the time slot was 10:30 or so. BTW, he appropriated the name 'M. T. Graves' for his character (a vampire -- editor), and also appeared on radio doing movie theater ads for horror flicks."

M. T. SPACE

(Charlie Baxter; died October 3, 2007: see Charlie Baxter's obituary)

See M. T. Graves and Charlie Baxter Present THE DUNGEON, E-gor's webshrine to his own personal childhood horror host hero, for lots more information about this host and his show and live appearances.

Otherworlds

Saturday morning?

WCKT-TV, Channel 7 (now WSVN-TV) (Miami, Florida)

196?-196? (two years)

NOTES:

• George "E-gor" Chastain, the Webmonster who maintains this site, remembers seeing M.T. SPACE on a show from Miami while living in Key West, Florida in the early '60's. The Space Race, the Bomb, and the Cuban Missile Crisis were all the rage in those days, so it must've seemed like a good idea at WCKT to put their resident ghoul, M.T. GRAVES (played by Charlie Baxter), in a space-suit and have him host sci-fi flicks too. The makeup was almost identical except for the costume.
  
  
• E-gorespondent David Rutman (see longer note under M.T. GRAVES) remembers:

  On MT Space's show, which I recall on Saturday morning, the gimmick was similar: MT and Reginald (same character from M.T. Graves show) were on duty in outer space, but I can't recall whether it showed sci-fi films or other programming. They used to give away packets of 'moon dust' if you wrote in. That show lasted about two years.

Murder, Blood E.

(See BLOOD E. MURDER)

Murray, Count

(See COUNT MURRAY)

End of M Listings  Go back to INDEX