Last year, we posted a blog featuring the classic horror hosts of Southern California (which you can revisit HERE). California, however, is a large state and has an equally rich history in its northern region. The new book, “Shock it to Me,” written by Michael Monahan a.k.a. Doktor Goulfinger, is a MUST HAVE for any Horror Host fan’s library – highlighting these very hosts!
Dave F: Ohio is one of the most prolific states when it comes to churning out horror hosts. Therefore, it was not surprising that several inductees to The Horror Host Hall of Fame would hail from there. One of these was Dick Von Hoene a.k.a. The Cool Ghoul!
Classic commercial horror hosts were also professional broadcasters and Von Hoene was no exception. In the early 1960’s, he worked on Cincinnati radio and was featured on a show called “Bob Smith’s Monster Mash.” It was there that The Cool Ghoul character was born, though it would not be until the latter part of the decade (after he moved from radio to television) that the character would be given its official “look.”
Last Friday, the Horror Hosting world was rocked with the news that their beloved friend, and fellow host, Barry Hobart a.k.a. Dr. Creep had passed away. As neither of The Daves had the privilege of meeting Dr. Creep nor had any familiarity with his show, we did not feel qualified to present our own tribute piece. Instead we felt it would be more appropriate to hear from his peers, as well as those whom had met and worked alongside him. Before his death we felt it unfortunate that we never me Mr. Hobart. After reading some of the amazing tributes below, it is even more regretful.
This is the season of thankfulness and the Daves can’t think of any Thanksgiving where we’ve been more grateful. A year ago at this time we were a couple of die hard Svengoolie fans (which we still are) who had no idea what other amazing personalities existed outside Chicago City Limits. Now we use names like Zomboo, Dr. Destruction, The Bone Jangler, and Wolfman Mac in everyday conversation and have amassed huge samplings of the work of many hosts from across the country. We also now have an actual venue for which to share our appreciation of them, as well as the world of horror fandom in general. We’ve really enjoyed doing this and can’t imagine life without it. There are so many people we wish to thank (not the least of which you the reader) but, rather than write a generic “thanks,” we’d really like to break down our appreciation to those folks who really helped make this one of our best years ever!
Ever since Vampira cooed to her pet spider, “Rolo,” and the great Zacherly whispered “my dear” to an invisible paramour just outside the camera’s reach, sidekicks have been a common feature of horror hosted shows.
These companions are often as colorful and diverse as their host creators. Some are the skeletal variety such as Svengoolie’s Tombstone or Wolfman Mac’s conniving Boney Bob. Others are even more bizarre and imaginative such as Doktor Goulfinger’s Count Zygote (the world’s first horror host fan), Ms Monster’s..”ahem”.. melons “Tit & Tat,” or even a coy houseplant whom Mr. Lobo affectionately refers to as “Miss Mittens.”
Saturday promised to be the busiest day of the Horrorhound convention. Wanting to get an early start, I immediately went down to the main hall after breakfast. Due to the large number of hosts attending the Vampira Tribute, I had no illusions about meeting them all. In an effort to stay focused, I created a short list of the ones I really wanted to meet.
Terror from Beyond the Dave 