Godzilla and The Horror Host Connection!

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G-FEST (Godzilla Festival) is the quintessential celebration of Godzilla and all his fellow Kaiju (Japanese Monsters). I’ve been a fan of Godzilla and Gamera ever since I was a kid. Growing up in the 1970’s, it was via shows like Creature Features or The Son of Svengoolie to bring those movies to me. People who did not grow up with a horror host usually have a hard time understanding why some of us adult fans get so weepy with adulation at the mere mention of our childhood ghoul. Well, when you’re a “monster kid,” surrounded by more “normal” kids who want to play baseball or watch The Dukes of Hazard, the person faithfully delivering your favorite films becomes more than just a TV star, he becomes your idol…one of Godzilla proportions. In my case it also helped that I found my host’s corny humor hilarious and his less than stellar singing voice pitch perfect.

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Monster Movie, “Hypothermia,” left me COLD!

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I have to say, this is one of those blogs that I almost hate myself for writing. Generally when I critique a movie I try and keep it focused on the mainstream/bigger budget stuff because, in my view, it’s open game. People have assumed that this means I turn a blind eye to Independent films or that I don’t support them. Nothing could be further from the truth! I have a great deal of respect for Independent films which is why I hate criticizing them. Especially in this case when its a rare modern “monster movie” that features old school FX.

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From Shock Theatre to Svengoolie: Chicago TV Horror Host Book Returns!

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TERROR FROM BEYOND THE DAVES is pleased to announce the re-release of the quintessential guide to Chicago horror hosts and horror programming – “Chicago TV Horror Movie Shows: From Shock Theatre to Svengoolie!” I remember buying this book at “Horrorbles” in Berrrr-wyn, Illinois  during its first release. As a die-hard Rich Koz/Svengoolie fan, I was elated to see his visage on the cover of a book. It seems so odd now but, when I look back, I actually used to feel isolated in my fandom of him. Thanks to the Internet and the Svengoolie YAHOO forum I soon discovered that I was far from alone. And, thanks to THIS book, it filled in a lot of Svengoolie-gaps in information that I had been unaware of…

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Living it up at the “Hotel Transylvania!”

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I was delighted when my daughter, Jade, asked me to take her to see HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA for her 11th birthday. I picked her and her sister up after work and made a quick post on Facebook that I was “taking my girls” to see the film its opening night. When co-running a horror blog, sometimes using your kids as a “beard” is necessary in maintaining your Terror image when partaking in less fearsome, “animated features.”  Despite my cowardice on Social Media, I must confess here that, after viewing the preview for this film a month ago, I had every intention of seeing it with or without them!

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Be at the Height of Halloween Fashion with MANI-YAK MONSTERS!

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Our blog was scarcely a month old when we had the honor of featuring the work of Jeff Carlson. I knew who he was years before having been a member of the Svengoolie YAHOO group. Jeff had generously shared his talents to the group by showcasing some of his original art featuring the now National Horror Host. I am happy to say that we will be showing some of them in an upcoming post. For now, we’d like to once again point your attention to some of his amazing shirt designs for sale on his RobotMonkeyPirate site! Check them out…

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“Bad-Off Boris & the Cupcake Cave-in”: Monster Inspired Book with “Universal” Concepts!

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With Chicago suffering yet another heat-wave, I guess I failed to realize that the end of summer is finally upon us. It didn’t actually hit me until I left for work one morning and kept getting held up by stopping school buses. Their sudden reappearance reminds me of big yellow whales invading neighborhood waters during a Fall migration. My kids are all back as well which means when I come home each evening I’m sure to see a stack of permission slips and teacher memos along with the usual barrage of ordering sheets courtesy of the various Scholastic Book Clubs.

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