VOTE FOR SVENGOOLIE!

Well we made it through The Oscars but, for monster fans like myself, the REAL Awards have just kicked off! Of course I’m referring to The Rondo Hatton Awards with the 2012 nominees announced shortly after the interminable Academy Awards ceremony ended this past week.

Last year we won for Best Horror Blog 2011 and were completely dumbfounded. I’d been voting for Rondo winners pretty much since they’d began eleven years ago and I’m sure I speak for the other Dave too when I say we never imagined one day being nominated, let alone winning, one of our own.

This year we were nominated again and I hope that everyone will take the time to cast us a vote. Please go to the official ballot (HERE) for details. I was also honored further by being nominated for a second Rondo in the category of Best Article for my piece 2012 Horror Host Hall of Fame: A Ghoul’s Gala that appeared in Scary Monsters Magazine #84. Looking at my fellow nominees in that category, I’m sincerely humbled at being included with such incredible talent. Yes, I know you hear crap like this all the time from nominees at virtually every award show but I truly mean it.

This post, however, is not designed to drum up votes for us (though we’d sure appreciate it if you did) but rather someone I feel absolutely deserves the honor. And, while this would not mark his first Rondo win, it was never more deserved than now. Before I continue, let me assure everyone that this site is friendly to ALL horror hosts and always has been. Many of these characters I’m fortunate to also call my friends and, since this blog began in 2010, we Daves have worked hard at remaining neutral.

This year, however, we’re making an official endorsement even at the risk of costing us a few of our own votes. Sorry folks, but there are some things in this world that you just gotta do and voting for Svengoolie for The Best Horror Host of 2012 is definitely one of them.

Of course this will come as no shock to most as I’m obviously a devoted fan and, to not understand my devotion as an adult monster kid towards my childhood host, would be to miss the entire essence of what makes horror hosts so special in the first place. It is not, however, these obvious reasons that I feel he deserves this award.

I mean, sure I could tell you that I grew up with him and how I idolized him the majority of my life and have had the privilege of sharing him with my own children on commercial TV.

I could even rehash the story I’ve repeated both on this blog and Scary Monsters Magazine numerous times about how it was indirectly through him that we Terror Daves met in the first place and that there would be NO Terror from Beyond the Daves without him.

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And let me also make clear that a sympathy vote based on his recent health scare is not a reason I’d tell you to vote for him either (though it should make many of us take pause and appreciate having him around).

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Instead, I’m going to ask that you cast your vote based solely on merit. The profession of Horror Hosting is near extinction with the majority wiped out during corporate TV’s take-over of local channels in the mid 1980′s. Rich Koz, then as “Son of Svengoolie,” was among these casualties until his return (as Svengoolie) in the mid ’90s due to the creation the new local WCIU Channel in Chicago. Yes, it was a rare event but mostly his hard work and dedication that saw him back on the airwaves. Despite losing his job as a horror host he’d remained in broadcasting and, aside from being a weatherman, also carried on his horror host-like schtick as a civilian via The Koz Zone. There were even a few Halloweens where his beloved character would make a rare appearance as a reminder that he was down…but never out.

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Getting back on the air wasn’t a recipe for success either. For the first decade after his return, he’d show less than appealing films and was bounced around various time slots from late night to mid morning. I’ve heard people say that he’s just lucky to be operating in Chicago and have access to its powerful media market. Yes, that’s definitely a plus but FAR from a guarantee of viewership. If that was all it took, then EVERY show in Chicago would be a hit and I can assure you The Windy City is not immune to the word “cancellation.” And it wasn’t like local TV had the budget for a massive promotional campaign either, with rubber chicken-shaped billboards heralding his airing of PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE over major expressways. I live in Chicago and had no idea he was even back on TV until seven years after the fact!

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Despite the odds, Svengoolie’s efforts finally landed him a steady slot on Saturday nights…and at an early enough time where you can watch him without having to set your DVR or down three cans of Red Bull beforehand. This is no easy feat for any entertainer let alone a horror host operating in a world where most stations no longer see the value of one. Sadly, television isn’t run like it was during their golden age; with the new “pay to play” mentality deflating many ambitious and talented hosts unable to transition into a professional venue.

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Svengoolie would not only manage to endure on commercial TV but defy conventional wisdom even further by going national. In the Spring of 2011, WCIU’s sister station, MeTV, started spreading throughout the country and made the wise decision to bring Svengoolie along with them. Now, two years later, he is seen in nearly 90% of the country as well as parts of Canada. As Svengoolie fandom spreads like wildfire, younger generations will now have their own horror host memories just as many of us did. They would also be given an introduction to something we adult monster fans had long since taken for granted…the monsters themselves!

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As Svengoolie worked his way through bargain basement films over the years, his movie selection would improve as his popularity and viewership grew. Prior to MeTV’s rise, Svengoolie had earned the rights to air The Universal Classic Monster films. Now younger fans around the country who’d have never gravitated towards these films otherwise can tune in to see Svengoolie’s antics and discover Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and The Wolfman. Many of these films were part of The Universal Shock Package released to TV stations in 1957 and responsible for the proliferation of a multitude of horror hosts across the country who acted as ambassadors in ingratiating them to the public. Now, once again, the profession returns to its original Mission Statement via the ascension of one.

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With a grateful Julie Adams who stated,

“Thanks for keeping The Creature (of The Black Lagoon) alive!”

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And then there’s his connection to his fans…

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Svengoolie has been one of the most accessible celebrities out there. He actively manages his own Facebook accounts, responds to just about all his emails and letters, has a monthly newsletter, and even writes his own daily blog. And for local fans who’d prefer a more personal encounter, there was a record number of 2012 appearances that were not relegated to the typical horror friendly month of October. In fact, his summer appearances rivaled the Halloween season and, having attended many of these, drew out HUGE numbers of fans from all walks of life and during a brutal Chicago heatwave.

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I’m also happy to announce that later this month, at The Horrorhound Weekend event in Cincinnati, I’ll have the honor of inducting Svengoolie into The Horror Host Hall of Fame. I’ll write more about that as soon as I get wind of the other inductees. This April will see a special Svengoolie Tribute issue of Scary Monsters Magazine in which fan input was at an all-time high, ranging from lowly bloggers like myself as well as Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill.

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Coming SOON!

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Mr. Hamill would be one of many new notable Svengoolie fans garnered in 2012, even seeing a proposed SNL skit with a guy dressed as him while inspiring another character (Svengoobles) on the hit show, GLEE. My friends, Svengoolie-enamored as I may be, there is clearly but ONE choice for 2012′s Best Horror Host and I hope that any Sven fans reading this will take this as a call to action and cast there vote for him, TODAY!

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Dave Fuentes~