The third entry in JPiC’s Inktober 2024 in the “Regional TV Horror Hosts” series continues with Philadelphia’s Dr. Shock. Philadelphia native John Zacherle was an announcer and actor at WCAU-TV, portraying various characters, as needed, in the station’s home-grown Action in the Afternoon Western series. He also hosted the popular Mad Theater at the station, …
Week 2 Series 2 of JPiC’s “Inktober” continues with with Fay Wray. Moving to Hollywood from Alberta, Canada, 16-yrear old Vina Fay Wray made her film debut in an historical film sponsored by a local newspaper. Bitten by the acting bug, Fay landed a number of uncredited roles with the Hal Roach Studios in the …
The second entry in JPic’s Inktober’s series of local TV horror movie hosts is Cleveland’s legendary Ghoulardi. In 1963, announcer and disc jockey Ernie Anderson was tapped to host the late-night showings of horror movies on Cleveland’s WJW-TV. Dispensing with the usually “mad scientist” or “vampire” persona favored by other TV movie hosts, Eddie adopted …
Week 1 of series 2 – “Horror Actors of the 1940s.” – of JPiC’s “Inktober” starts with Colin Clive. A prominent stage actor in his native London, Colin Clive made his Hollywood debut in 1930’s Journey’s End, a drama about an alcoholic British Navy officer, a role that eerily mirrored his own life. The film …
It’s October already. You know what that means. Cooler temperatures. Going to work in the dark. Pumpkin spice cornflakes and coffee for breakfast. And Inktober! That right, for the tenth consecutive year, I have been participating — on my own terms — in the autumn internet drawing challenge started by an artist named Jake Parker. …
The final entry for Inktober 2023 was alluded to last week. It’s The X-Files, a science-fiction-horror series inspired by Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Tired of the mundane scripts he was churning out for Walt Disney Productions’ teen market, Chris Carter was hired by the upstart Fox Network to develop new programming. Working with his fondness …
Week 4 of Inktober 2023 sort of picks up where last week’s feature left off. After the demise of Dark Shadows, producer Dan Curtis soldiered on in his mission of bringing the horror genre to television. Working closely with writer Richard Matheson, Dan Curtis purchased the rights to an unpublished novel about a vampiric serial …
It’s the Third Week of Inktober 2023 and just about time for a vampire. On a summer afternoon in 1966, ABC premiered a brand new soap opera. Based on a dream by creator Dan Curtis and fleshed out by TV writer Art Wallace, Dark Shadows hit the airwaves to mediocre reception. It was a stilted …
Last week, I discussed Twilight Zone, the venerable “godfather” of horror anthology television series. While not the first, it paved the way for others in the genre like Outer Limits, Thriller, Tales from the Darkside and Masters of Horror. There were others, too. Many others. Many, many others, including one with which you may not …
Summer is over and October is upon is. The leaves are changing. The hot temperatures of July are yielding to cool breezes that bring a nip to the air. The sun is setting at an earlier time and everything is flavored with pumpkin spice. Well, everything has been flavored with pumpkin spice since the third …
