It was just over three years ago when the Rondo Award winning Penny Dreadful (Danielle Gelehrter) released her eighth season of Shilling Shockers. Long before she’d share a name with a hit Showtime series, this New England horror hostess was presenting scary movies while treating fans to some rather hex-cellent sketch comedy. Penny Dreadful XIII is also one Salem witch that doesn’t shy away from a challenge either. This was never more apparent than during the aforementioned Season Eight when she shattered conventional wisdom by featuring all silent films; not something today’s viewers generally clamor for. Nevertheless, with an unholy mix of sweat, spells, and skill she’d pull it off with the help of her director, Rebecca Paiva, who worked tirelessly updating the scratchy Public Domain offerings with new “title cards” along with a vibrant storyline that had the host and her feral sidekick, Garou (played by real life husband, Magoo Gelehrter) hilariously venturing into different time periods.
Back to Monster High: Penny & Garou relive their teen years in Season 8!
But despite her character’s ability to tread into the future, no one could have predicted the real-life heartbreak that would follow. In late 2012, Magoo was diagnosed with cancer and, despite a courageous battle, would succumb to the disease less than two years later. It was a shattering blow to both Danielle as well as her alter ego and left a legion of shocked fans in mourning while silently pondering the fate of Penny Dreadful’s Shilling Shockers. It was a valid if not morbid question.
If the old adage about the great loves of this world existing between those who “share the love of many things” is true then there could be few better examples than Magoo and Danielle. Their mutual love of classic horror and vintage physical comedy (Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, etc) would inspire them to expand their fandom into the realm of horror hosting. Garou’s comedic skills, though brilliant, never upstaged the host and made him an essential part of the success of Shilling Shockers. He even inspired us Daves to do an Ode to Horror Host Sidekicks blog and interview with him during our earlier days.
However, abruptly ending the show was not an option as, prior to this tragedy ,a successful kick-starter campaign had been waged to raise money for a ninth season. This meant that Penny Dreadful had no choice but to continue whether Danielle was emotionally ready or not.
