- ZACHERLEY, aka THE COOL GHOUL *
(see also ROLAND)
- (John Zacherle)
- See all Zacherley products for sale at Amazon.com.
- See all John Zacherle products for sale at Amazon.com.
- Visit Zacherley The Cool Ghoul
— "the official website of the one-and-only Cool Ghoul,
the Hosts of Hosts, the creepiest, most sinister man you'll ever die to meet,"
hosted on the
Chiller Theatre Online Website!
- Read about (and order) Zach's grand new CD Interment for Two
(12 new tracks plus 9 tracks of vintage TV/radio treasures),
produced by Mike Gilks, and featuring a cover, packaging artwork and poster by your humble webmonster, E-gor!
- Check out the Zachtivities on Paul Scrabo's
Scrabo.com website, including:
- The Zacherley Archives videotape / DVD!
The videotape is a 100-minute collection of classic moments from John Zacherle's 50's horror shows as both Zacherley AND Roland!
The DVD offers bonus footage and is 3 hours long!
- John Zacherle's guest appearance in the B-movie spoof
Dr. Horror's Erotic House of Idiots,
produced and directed by Paul Scrabo, written by Scrabo and Brinke Stevens, and featuring a great cast including
scream queen Debbie Rochon, Michael R. Thomas, Conrad Brooks (see Conrad), and
Bob Burns,
and Zach himself!
- Richard Scrivani's comments about his great new Zacherle book
Good Night, Whatever You Are
and other monstrous topics in The Scrivani Pages.
- See bio and images of Zacherley
— and hundreds of images of a host of other horrors —
at the incredible Horror Host Gallery Website
courtesy of video archaeologist
Thomas Rudé!
- See John Zacherle's Internet Movie Database entry.
- Discover real TREASURES on the fabulous
Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Website:
- Action in the Afternoon
- Live half-hour daytime western serial
- WCAU-TV, Channel 10 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- February 2, 1953 - January 29, 1954
- The Shock Theatre, later shortened to Shock Theatre (live broadcasts)
- Monday and Tuesday late-night (11:25); changed to Friday and Saturday late-night
- WCAU-TV, Channel 10 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- October 7, 1957 - September 13, 1958
- Shock Theater (as "Zacherley")
- Monday and Friday at 11:15 p.m.
- WABC-TV, Channel 7 (New York City, New York)
- Monday, September 22, 1958 - Friday, March 27,1959
- Show title changed to Zacherley at Large (live; syndicated)
- Friday and Saturday (late-night?)
- WABC-TV Channel 7 (New York City, New York)
- Friday, April 3, 1959 - Saturday, June 20, 1959
- The Zacherley Show (or Zacherley at 12:00?) (taped; syndicated)
- Friday at 9:00 p.m., Saturday at 12:00 Noon, Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
- (according to rare variant cover of Famous Monsters of Filmland #7 June 1960)
- WOR-TV, Channel 9 (New York City, New York)
- Friday, October 9, 1959 - Friday, December 9, 1960
- The Mighty Hercules (hosting cartoon show)
- Weekdays at 4:30 - 5:00 p.m.
- WPIX-TV, Channel 11 (New York City, New York)
- Monday, September 2, 1963 - Friday, November 16, 1963
- The Three Stooges Show
- Weekdays at 4:30 - 5:00 p.m.
- WPIX-TV, Channel 11 (New York City, New York)
- Monday, January 6, 1964 - Friday, January 31, 1964
- Chiller Theater
- Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
- WPIX-TV, Channel 11 (New York City, New York)
- February 1, 1964 - spring 1965
- Disc-O-Teen (hosting live dance program)
- Weekday half-hour shows at 6 p.m.; Saturday hour show
- UHF WNJU-TV Channel 47 (Newark, New Jersey)
- May 1965 - November 4, 1967
- The Return of Roland
- One-shot program broadcast from Roland's original set and same studio
- WCAU-TV, Channel 10 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- date?, 1985
- Live on City Line Avenue
- John Zacherle appeared as a guest to honor Roland's 30th anniversary
- WCAU-TV, Channel 10 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- date?, 1987
- Z-TV
- Pilot for projected cable show; unsold to date
- date?, 1988
- Saturday Night Dead
- Roland appeared as a special guest of this show's hostess STELLA (Karen Scioli).
- KYW-TV, Channel 3 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- date?, 1988
- Elena Watson's Television Horror Movie Hosts reference:
whole chapter and five pictures
-- Chapter 4, "Warning: Zacherley at Large!."
pp. 31-42.
- Other book references:
- Good Night, Whatever You Are: My Journey with Zacherley, the Cool Ghoul
by Richard Scrivani, published by Dinoship, Inc. in 2006.
This book truly delivers an " in-depth look at the life and career of one of the great icons
of 1960s-60s TV" — MUST reading for all true-grue fans of John Zacherle, whatever you are!
Read about it at Amazon.com.
- The Zacherley Scrapbook by John Skerchock.
Copyright 2001 by Dark Dungeon Enterprises, P.O Box 733, Bellefonte, PA 16823.
A monstrously beautiful squarebound paperback with 126 pages shockful of indispensable pictures and information
about all aspects of John Zacherle's career.
Another must-have book for Zach fans!
Zacherly for President -- "A Photographic Interview
with Zacherly (sic)" by Dick Watson John Elliot and Dick Strome
assisted by Syd Rubin.
The Macaulay Company Publishers Inc., New York, 1960.
90-page digest-sized squarebound paperback with comical photos
of Zach serving as graphic answers to questions posed in
a political interview "conducted in the abandoned sewer
which serves as Mr. Zacherly's campaign headquarters."
Out of print; available from monsterzine dealers.
- Zacherle! by Gordon R. Guy.
Copyright 1987 by Gordon R. Guy Coffin Box 423,
Glastonbury Connecticut 06033.
52-page digest-sized squarebound privately printed paperback.
Chockful of all sorts of Zacherbilia and heavily illustrated.
Out of print but well worth tracking down.
- Magazine references:
- Zacherley At Large is a long-running newsletter for Zach fans published and edited by Paul Russak.
Paul has known Zach for over 25 years, and Zach himself refers to this newsletter as his "Fanclub Newsletter."
There have been 28 issues published to date.
Zacherley at Large was originally started by Louis Antonicello as a 1-2 page newsletter.
It was taken over by Paul with issue # 9, and has grown considerably in size since then.
Although it is published infrequently, every issue contains many photographs and illustrations of Zach, both vintage and present,
some never seen before.
Paul also reprints as many vintage articles about Zach as he can.
Future issues can be ordered directly for $3.50 apiece from:
Paul Russak
1205 Normandy CT
Flemington, NJ 08822
Some back issues are available in limited supply, so inquire if interested.
- Three superb Zacherley fanzines were published by film scholar and horror
host Jim Knusch (see PROFESSOR KINEMA).
Each one is shockful of incredible illustrations and rare reprints
covering every aspect of Zach's career:
- Zacher-Lore -- A Cool Ghoul Scrapbook
(October 1988; 40 pages);
- The Return of Zacher-Lore
(April 1989; 36 pages);
- Gasport? The Son of Zacher-Lore
(Feb 1990; 44 pages).
All three issues of the publication
Zacherley himself called "the ultimate Zach/Cool Ghoul fanzine"
are available from
Jim Knusch via e-mail.
See pix of the covers and lots of other cool ghoulishness
at his website
Professor Kinema's Lifelike Moving Shadow Plays and Ghost Poems!
- John Zacherle is pictured in and out of character (2 photos), and his
show and personal life are discussed on a half-page (42) of the
feature article "TV's Nightmares"
in the February 1959 issue of TV Star Parade, pp. 39-42.
- John Zacherle's early career as a host was discussed
in detail in "Spoofing the Spooks" in the TV-Radio
section of Newsweek, April 6, 1959. (p. 98).
The article
describes Zach's history until that time, with emphasis on the
New York ABC affiliate giving him a better time slot (Friday and
Saturday nights) as well as changing the show's name from
Shock Theater to Zacherley at Large.
It includes two photographs of John Zacherle in and out of make-up.
- Zach was featured in the "Night Harbingers of Horror" photo-feature in the 26 May 1958
issue of Life magazine (pp 63-68).
Includes a photograph (page 64) and descriptive caption.
- "Zacherley unmasked!" was the caption for a
small picture of John Zacherle sans make-up
in the letters column of issue #5 (October 1959)
of Famous Monsters of Filmland, p. 6.
- Front cover painting by Albert Nuetzell
and photo-feature with 16 pictures,
"A Horrific Evening with Zacherley," in issue #7
(June 1960) of Famous Monsters of Filmland, pp. 34-38.
- Front cover painting by Basil Gogos
on issue #15 (January 1962)
of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine;
cover blurb says "He's back--to judge our make-up contest"
(described, with mention of Zach, on pp. 30-31).
- Ads for 6-foot tall "giant photo pin-up" of Zacherley,
"Spook Along with Zacherley" LP, two Ballantine paperback
anthologies edited by Zacherley, a rubber Zach mask, etc., in
many early issues of
Famous Monsters.
- Eight-page article,
"Monsterama -- Frankenstein vs. Zacherley,"
in April 1964 issue of TV Junior.
The piece featured 11 black and white photos
of Zach and different Universal monsters) with
hand lettering and balloon captions (e.g. "It is I!
Frankensteins Monster! I have pounded down your door!"
"Frank! I should have known!
How nice of you to break in like this!
Can I offer you some lovely bats wing soup?"),
telling the fumetti-style
story of this classic scare meet.
(Spotted in eBay auction.)
- Feature "Zacherle!" by D. Everitt in
issue #21 (August 1982) of
Fangoria, pp. ?-??.
- Mentioned, with picture, in feature "The Horror of Them All!"
in issue #13 (December 1988) of Filmfax, pp. 28-32.
- Feature with 30 pictures
"An Interview with the 'Cool Ghoul' Himself...John Zacherle"
by Jim Knusch, in issue #14 (March/April 1989) of
Filmfax, pp. 32-39, 94.
- Sidebar with eight pictures, "Filmfax on Location with Z-TV" by
Jim Knusch, in letters column of issue #16 (August 1989) of
Filmfax, p. 9.
Describes filming of pilot episode of projected cable television
show, "Z-TV," starring Zacherley.
- 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.
- Feature with 6 pictures, half of interview article
"Zach and Ack are Back" (Zacherley and Forrest J Ackerman)
conducted by John Brunas, Michael Brunas, Jessie Lilley, Richard Valley
and Tom Weaver in issue #4 (Fall 1991) of
Scarlet Street, pp. 52-56.
- Feature "The Cool Ghoul...Zack is Back!!!"
in issue #4
(September 1992) of
Scary Monsters, pp. 38-42.
Describes 1991 recording sessions for a Zacherley audiotape
with two songs, "Zack Is Back" and "Grave Robbing Tonight,"
later issued with other new material on Zacherley's first CD,
"Dead Man's Ball."
- Feature with 7 pictures of Zacherley and others from show,
"Disc-O-Teen -- Zacherley's Lost TV Show" by Richard Scrivani,
in issue #12 (Fall 1993) of
Scarlet Street, pp. 86-90, 97.
- Zach appears with group of other horror hosts
in cover painting by Terry Beatty on issue #8
(September 1993)
of Scary Monsters.
- Illustrated feature
"Zacherley -- The Story of Television's First Ghoul,"
by Louis D. Antonicello in
Chiller Theatre Magazine
Vol. 1, No. 1 (Winter 1994), pp. 45-60
(15 photos).
- Four consecutive short Z-features
by Lou Antonicello in
Chiller Theatre
Vol. 1, No. 2 (1995):
"Zach's Facts" about Zach's appearance in various media
(pp. 5-6, heading illustration and
small reproductions of "Ghoul's Tour" map,
Shock Club card, sticker);
"Zach Records" about the Cool Ghoul's 45's and LPs
(pp. 7-8, heading photo and
small reproductions of four album covers,
6-foot poster);
"Zach Video" about available show and appearance footage
(p. 9, heading photo);
"Zach News!" about John Zacherle being honored as a kids show host
at the Manhattan Museum of Broadcasting
(p. 10, heading photo and small reproductions of
Transylvania passport and 6-foot poster ad).
Last page (p. 100) of same issue has a contemporary photo
of Zach in host makeup showing off "the very 1st Chiller
Theater Tor Award in May of 1994."
- Article with one photo and two drawings,
"Dinner With Drac? Nope, Breakfast With Zacherley!"
by Elaine Manning, in 40th anniversary (collector's tribute edition)
"second issue" of
The Journal of Frankenstein
(January 1999), pp. 22-23.
(The first issue, the pilot for Calvin Thomas Beck's long-running,
late-lamented Castle of Frankenstein,
was published in 1959! -- E-gor.)
JoF #2 also contains a half-page ad (p. 53) for the
Zacherley Archives videotape (see link above), and a
back-cover photo of Zach in his heyday -- a tribute to his
appearance on the back cover of the first issue 40 years earlier.
- ZACHERLEY, The Cool Ghoul Vol. 1,
a terrific 50-page "special limited edition" of
Chiller Theatre Magazine, published in 1998 to
celebrate Zach's 80th birthday bash.
With a magnificent cover portrait of Zach
by the peerless Basil Gogos,
this splendid tribute to the King of horror hosts
features scads of great photos and drawings and many great features
— and it's still available from the Chiller Theatre website — grab it while you can!
- NOTES:
- John Zacherle played the long-black-frock-coated undertaker character "Grimy James"
just once on the live western show Action in the Afternoon, though he played many other parts throughout the series,
working his way up to a co-starring part.
When WCAU purchased the SHOCK! package and were looking for a weird host for
the live broadcasts, Zacherle allegedly didn't need to audition because
they remembered him in that part and still had the coat!
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John Zacherle as
his namesake ZACHERLEY,
the King of Horror Hosts,
in his second incarnation
(see also Roland).
Click image for larger view.
John Zacherle's 2nd CD,
Interment for Two,
with artwork by E-gor!
Click the image to read more,
see more artwork,
and order your copy!
Great new Zach tribute
by Rich Scrivani,
Good Night, Whatever You Are!
Order it at Amazon.com.
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