Michael Monahan’s expertise was invaluable to this site’s early days. Vintage commercial television horror hosts were local, so most of us monster kids didn’t realize others were operating elsewhere in the country. Needless to say, Monahan’s American Scary documentary (2006)  was an eye-opening experience. Shortly after I saw the film, I had the honor of meeting him at the 2010 Horrorhound Weekend in Indianapolis, a tribute to the late Maila Nurmi, a.k.a. Vampira, whom Monahan had gotten to know before her passing.

Monahan was kind enough to make himself available to me, and we have remained pals. In the months after that meeting, Terror from Beyond the Daves thrived thanks to horror host content, winning a Rondo Award after our first year. It also led to some amazing experiences like standing at the gates of Michigan’s Sir Graves Ghastly while attending an event for Wolfman Mac, meeting Stella Desire from Philadelphia’s “Saturday Night Dead,” shaking hands with Chilly Billy at a Monsterfest in Pennsylvania, posing for photos with Wisconsin’s Mister Mephisto, and numerous encounters with Elvira, the Mistress of the Dark, to name a few. 

Fifteen years have passed, and though general coverage has leaned heavily toward Svengoolie, my admiration for the profession itself has never wavered. The importance of Monahan’s work in preserving the legacies of these colorful men and women cannot be overstated and “hearing” the voices of these horror icons is haunting in more ways than one. “The only downside to revisiting this ‘American Scary’ project is the fact that so many of the folks we spoke to are gone now,” Monahan told me. “I was so glad I had a chance to meet them and stay in touch with a few.”

Thanks to these two expanded volumes of American Scary, now many of us can too.

Dave~