# When you were a kid, what was your local "horror movie" show? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [July 6, 2024, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821 "2024-07-06T23:19:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821/21 "2024-07-07T00:44:31Z")
Must be going retrograde… ---
**Author:** ![nofloyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nofloyd/32/2870_2.png) [@nofloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nofloyd)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821/22 "2024-07-07T00:50:10Z")
Chiller Theater, out of WPIX New York. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/VmDgKobjYsc/hqdefault.jpg "ORIGINAL "Chiller Theatre" Stop Motion Opening - WPIX 11 - NY 1970's and Early 1980's") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmDgKobjYsc) Didn’t realize it was in color, only watched on a B&w tv. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821/23 "2024-07-07T00:53:41Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > In fact, I’m watching Svengoolie right now. > > The Angry Red Planet. > > **It’s moving kinda slow.** - I thought that was Uncle Joe. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821/24 "2024-07-07T00:59:53Z")
From 80-84 in Milwaukee the local weekly horror show was ‘Shock Theatre’ hosted by Tolouse No-Neck. Somebody at our church must have had some connections since they had him as our guest speaker at one of our Mother-Son breakfasts. He came make-up and all. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821/25 "2024-07-07T01:06:39Z")
Here’s the Wikipedia entry on this: > **[Horror host](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_host)** > > A horror host is a person who acts as the host or presenter of a program where horror films and low-budget B movies are shown on television or the Internet. Usually the host assumes a horror-themed persona, often a campy or humorous one. Generally there are breaks in the film where the host comments on various aspects of the movie. Many horror host shows also include skits involving the hosts themselves, sometimes with a sidekick or other supporting characters. > The first (proto) television ho... ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821/26 "2024-07-07T01:19:00Z")
_Creature Feature_ with host Dr. San Guinary in Omaha, NE from '71-'74. [https://www.creaturefeaturetv.com/about](https://www.creaturefeaturetv.com/about) Google image it if you want a couple of laughs. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821/27 "2024-07-07T01:20:36Z")
Growing up in San Diego in the 60s, Moona Lisa’s Science Fiction Theater was the one to watch. I still have my autographed photo: [![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53839904096_ae3fb2d30c_z.jpg) ](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53839904096_ae3fb2d30c_z.jpg) When I moved to San Jose, it was Creature Features with Bob Wilkins. I won his “Last Man On Earth Contest” that went along with the airing of the Vincent Price classic. The prize was a couple of pairs of movie tickets (but the "real’ prize was having him announce my name on air 🕶) Funny thing, I got more free passes for entering than I did for winning. [![Google Photos](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczN3FFWdTfEbBJP6bOA-gl7_zR9L6N3opmCE7Q2rCqaO1p-EEufeZ8kosk0-NFvkN9eCR6WaQLJ0LIlF_hw2el6kpS_1M0NHLJtcWaC60paFh1IbIRmQ=w600-h315-p-k "New item by Dave Carter") ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZLVMJLWwnH29WfxR6) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821/28 "2024-07-07T01:45:22Z")
Baltimore had **Ghost Host** on Saturday nights. DC had **Sir Graves Ghastly** Saturday afternoon and (I think it was) **Creature Feature** on Saturday night (in case the Ghost Host had a real clunker). You may think me mad, _mad_ I tells ya, but **Killer Shrews** actually has a clever ending (if you’ve seen it, you’ll know what I mean). ETA: If you were up really late on Saturday night, you could catch **Chiller** on one of those evenings where the atmosphere was conducive to getting TV signals from, like, NYC. I’m not sure where **Chiller** came from, maybe Philly, maybe NooYawk, maybe Greenland. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821/29 "2024-07-07T02:01:15Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > You may think me mad, _mad_ I tells ya, but **Killer Shrews** actually has a clever ending (if you’ve seen it, you’ll know what I mean). Were they tamed? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821/30 "2024-07-07T02:10:49Z")
No, you silly appendage, the survivors of the shrew invasion found big steel tanks — like horses would drink from — cut slots in the side to see through, flipped the tanks over and duck-walked underneath them to the ocean(?) where the boat was waiting. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821/31 "2024-07-07T02:11:17Z")
The Indianapolis TV area had Sammy Terry on channel 4. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821/32 "2024-07-07T02:22:20Z")
_Nightmare Theatre_, starring The Count, in KIRO TV 7 in Seattle, produced by the same crew that made _J.P. Patches_. It rand from 1964 to 1978. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821/33 "2024-07-07T02:43:04Z")
When I was a little kid, in the early '70s, and lived in Chicago, we had two: - “Creature Features,” on WGN (channel 9) which did not have a host - “Screaming Yellow Theater,” on WFLD (channel 32), which had the original Svengoolie\*, Jerry Bishop, as its host When we moved to Green Bay in 1975, there was no horror movie show on TV there. One of the three TV stations showed old movies on Saturday nights, but they were rarely, if ever, horror movies. \*- Chicagoan Rich Koz, who had written for “Screaming Yellow Theater,” began working as the host of a similar show on WFLD in the late '70s. With permission from Bishop, he styled his character as “Son of Svengoolie.” Years later, Koz moved to another Chicago station, WCIU (channel 26), and resurrected the show yet again; again with Bishop’s permission, he just went by “Svengoolie.” The company which owns WCIU also owns the syndicated network MeTV, and Koz’s Svengoolie show is now shown on it. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821/34 "2024-07-07T03:02:01Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > No, you silly appendage,… Oh, c’mon, it was a better joke than that. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > _Nightmare Theatre_, starring The Count, in KIRO TV 7 in Seattle, produced by the same crew that made _J.P. Patches_. It rand from 1964 to 1978. I remember The Count, but I only remember seeing _Nightmare Theatre_ a handful of times. Seemed like by the time I was old enough to stay up that light he was only on occasionally. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821/35 "2024-07-07T03:05:55Z")
If you type in " JOE TOWEY Nightmare Theater 1981" on You Tube, you can see one of the intros. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821/36 "2024-07-07T03:15:12Z")
Growing up in the Pittsburgh metro we watched “Chilly Billy” Cardille. He was the local weatherman by day and on weekends he hosted the wrestling shows. But on Saturday nights, he went to his spooky castle and showed us horror movies. Bonus: He’s in _Night of the Living Dead_ so you’ve probably seen him, whether you live in Pittsburgh or not. (He’s the reporter who interviews the sheriff about the zombies.) [Scene here](https://youtu.be/9qqly3VfTI8?si=y0dIFoOIAN4-aIEn) Extra bonus: SCTV’s Count Floyd was based on Chilly Billy, as Joe Flaherty was from Pittsburgh. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821/37 "2024-07-07T07:14:14Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Oh, c’mon, it was a better joke than that. You’re right, it is — I(finally)SWYDT. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821/38 "2024-07-07T07:26:04Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Growing up in San Diego in the 60s, Moona Lisa’s Science Fiction Theater was the one to watch. I grew up in San Diego in the '80s and '90s, and I’m pretty sure we didn’t have any of those kind of local hosts by that point - just a few kids hosts like Shotgun Tom Kelly on KUSI and Uncle Murph on XETV. The first horror host I ever saw was Joe Bob Briggs on TNT. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821/39 "2024-07-07T09:43:36Z")
Fright Night, with Sinister Seymour on KHJ-TV in Los Angeles ran from 1969 to 1974. I watched him religiously, and even attended one of his personal appearances at a local store grand opening. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821/40 "2024-07-07T11:13:22Z")
[Creature Double Feature](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creature_Double_Feature) on WLVI TV, channel 56, Boston [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-were-a-kid-what-was-your-local-horror-movie-show/1003821.md?page=3)