Dead of the Nite

Shameless promotion of our favorite movie icon who unbelievably has not yet won an academy award

In This Issue
articole lunare
Grave Diggings Page 9
Curious Chirography Page 14
Dead Letter Office Page 27

The Merrye Family is cursed with a degenerative age regression
brain disease caused by generations of in-breeding resulting in a
slow downward spiral into madness and cannibalism. The family
chauffeur Bruno (Lon Chaney jr), has promised to look after the
three Merrye children; Virginia, Elizabeth, and Ralph.
When greedy relatives of the Merrye family, accompanied by a conniving
lawyer and his assistant, come to visit and subvert the family fortune, they
are entagled in the Merrye's twisted web of madness.
One of the most underrated films of the sixties, Jack Hill's "Spider Baby" is
phenonmenal piece of dark comedy, a touch of Arsenic and Old Lace, a
pinch of the Old Dark House mixed with a liberal amount of Cormanesque
humor. Spider Baby is the precursor of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The
HIlls Have Eyes and House of a 1000 corpses.
Spider Baby is one of Lon Chaney Jr last and best performances. Jill Banner
also gives a truly stellar performance in her debut role as the Spider
Baby.
Director Jack Hill was famous for making audiences emote
with antiheroes, leaving audiences (and you) to cheer when the victims get
their just desserts. One of our favorite movies of all time, you don't want
to miss this Classic Film if not only to hear Chaney sing the title song!
The Cast includes Sid Haig, a favorite of Jack Hill, as
Ralph, a sexually aware but child like simpleton who
gets to eat what we catches. Jill banner plays Spider
Baby, the girl fascinated with spiders. Don’t let her
catch you in her web! Carol Ohmart is well cast not
only as the money hungry aunt but also the eye candy
for the film. Lon Chaney Jr., plays Bruno, the caring
Chauffeur who promised Titus Merrye to look
after the children and the rest of the Merrye family.
Chaney plays the part perfectly, devoted, caring but
mad himself by the years of service.
One of our top films to watch!
For more information on Spider Baby, Posters, and Pictures go to our website at
DeadoftheNite.com

In 1765, an entire village of Arkham is cursed after warlock necromancer
Joseph Curwen (Vincent Price) is burned at the stake for trying to mate
human women with elder gods. Curwen promises to rise from the grave
and seek revenge on the descendants of the men who killed
him. Curwen's curse is powerful, causing the townspeople to suffer severe
deformatities and mutations. 110 years later, Curwen's descendant,
Charles Dexter Ward (Price) and his wife, Anne (Debra Paget), inherit
the strange manse that looms above the town. Charles and Anne
quickly realize they are unwelcome by the townspeople and shocked by
the deformities that run rampant in the townspeoples families. Their
only friend, Dr Willet advises them to leave the town and abandon
their inheritance but the spirit Curwen is causing Charles to stay,
Possessed by Curwen and assisted by descendants of Curwen's associates
(Lon Chaney Jr and Milton Parsons), Charles begins to complete Curwen's work first by resurrecting Curwen's
mistress Hester and then to create super-humans by mating local woman with the elder gods, Cthulhu
and Yog-Sothoth using a book called the Necronomicon.
OK, at this point you are probably asking yourself... Cthulhu...
Necronomicon... Poe? Wait a minute those are H.P. Lovecraft!
And you are right. The only thing about this story that is
Poe related is the title and the last line of the movie, "...While,
like a ghastly rapid river, through the pale door, a hideous
throng rush out forever and laugh - But smile no more." Roger
Corman had done many Poe movies for American International
Pictures (AIP) but wanted to do something different by a then
little known author, H.P. Lovecraft. The screenplay, written by
Charles Beaumont is based on Lovecraft's, "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. AIP wanting to cash in on the
continuing success of their Poe series insisted against, Corman's wishes, that this film be released as a Poe
film. In the press kit, there is no mention of H.P. Lovecraft at all. Even stranger, and one has to wonder
about Corman's intent, the title sequences in the film misspell Poe's name as Edgar Allen Poe. This had never
happened in any of the preceding Corman "Poe" films. So, this "Poe" film is the seminal moment for H.P
Lovecraft fans as the first film to mention the elder gods, Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth and also shed light on the
black magic book used in so many films to come, the Necronomicon.

That being said, this is one of Corman's best movies. Vincent
Price gives one of his best performances, as both Curwen
and Ward, as does Chaney and Paget (in her final film). The
cinematography is starker and more malevolent than
Corman's other films reflecting the contrast between Poe
and Lovecraft. The dialog is polished reflecting the work of
Corman's apprentice, Francis Ford Coppola. The press billed
this as the blockbuster reteaming of Price and Chaney, but
actually the two hadn't worked together though both were
billed on the 1948 "Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein"
where Price just did the ending voiceover as the Invisible
Man. Unfortunately they never worked together on another
film although the chemistry bewteen the two was remarkable. In actuality, Chaney's role was meant for
Boris Karloff but Karloff became ill on the set of Black Sabbath and couldn't do the picture.
For those with keen eyes, you'll notice that the scene of
many castle interior shots and those from outside of the
castle under thunder and lightning, as well as the waves
breaking of rocks appear are eerily similar to the scenes
in The Raven and The Terror. Another example of Roger
Corman's low budget reuse of scenes from previous
movies to save money.
All in all, this is one of Corman's best and is not to be
missed! Enjoy!
Typical for 60s Films, the
Obligatory Cleavage Shot

The photo on the right is the old Strand
Theatre where I was introduced to my first
horror movie, Masque of the Red Death
over 50 years ago. For me this led to more
and more horror movies (the Strand
showed Horror Matinees every Saturday as
most theaaters did back then). A trip to
Newark, NJ to meet the Cool Ghoul, John
Zacherle and voraciously buying comics and of
course Famous Monsters of Filmland, as well
as every Aurora Horror model kit including
those later banned. Years later, I would recreate
those models in life scale for various
Haunted Amusements. For me, Horror films
and Music has been a lifelong passion and I
find myself in the same position as Forrest J.
Ackerman where today's film audiences (as it
was in Forry's day) were never exposed to
classic horror or find it old and irrelevant. It's
a shame because all genre and sub-genre films
had to begin somewhere, as did today's Academy
award winning actors and directors. At
Dead of the Nite we want to reintroduce the
cult and forerunner films that make today's
horror films possible. Each month we will present
some unique films, personalities and musicians, their background stories, trivia and
reasons for uniqueness. We'll also have a lot of photos, posters and lobby cards as well as
some off the wall fun. So stayed tuned and let us know what you think. You can write at
our Dead Letter Office or on facebook at deadofthenite!

He was known as the King of the Grand Guignol, the Merchant of Menace or
simply as Bink. A master of many talents; gourmet chef, art collector, writer,
painter and actor of stage, screen and television, his film career alone spanned
more than 100 films. This tall (6' 4") eccentric, polished gentleman with the singularly
distinctive voice and sometimes over the top theatrics is best remembered
for his performances in classic camp and horror films of the 50s, 60s and
early 70s. He often played the anti-hero who wants revenge on those who
wronged him. These atmospheric thrillers were always filled with a sense of black
humour with Vincent frequently playing the villain who died screaming.
Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. (May 27, 1911 - October 25, 1993), born in St. Louis,
Missouri to Vincent Leonard Price and Marguerite Willcox Price. His family
started the National Candy Company. Vincent attended the St. Louis, Missouri
private high-school, Christian Brother's College continued his education at Yale
University where he received degrees in Art History and English then taught
school for a year. Price returned to college to take his Masters in Fine Arts at
the Courtauld Institute in London, he also studied briefly in Vienna.An avid art
collector, Price and his second wife Mary donated hundreds of works of art and
a large monetary gift to East Los Angeles College in the early 1960s in order to
endow the Vincent and Mary Price Gallery there, which stands to this day. He
wrote a syndicated art column in the 1960s always encouraging others to develop
a passion for art.
He became interested in theater in the 1930s, appearing
professionally on stage from 1935. He made his film debut in
1938 with Service de Luxe and established himself as a competent
actor, notably in Laura (1944), directed by Otto Preminger.
He acted as Joseph Smith, Jr. in the movie Brigham
Young (1940). In the 1950s he moved into horror films, enjoying
the role in the successful curiosity House of Wax
(1953), the first 3-D film to land in the year's top ten at the
North American box office. He also starred in the original
House on Haunted Hill (1959) as eccentric millionaire
Fredrick Loren. (The actor playing the same character in the
1999 remake was made to not only resemble, but was renamed
after Price.) In the 1960s, Price and Peter Lorre starred as crimefighting antique dealers in the unsold
pilot, "Collector's Item." According to Price, when he and Peter Lorre went to view Bela Lugosi's body
at Lugosi's funeral, Lorre, upon seeing Lugosi dressed in his famous Dracula cape, quipped, "Do you think
we should drive a stake through his heart just in case?"

Also in the 1960s, he had a number of low-budget
successes with Roger Corman and AIP including
the Edgar Allan Poe adaptations House of Usher
(1960), The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Raven
(1963), The Masque of the Red Death (1964);
he also appeared in The Abominable Dr. Phibes
(1971) and Theatre of Blood (1973). He often expressed
an interest in doing Shakespeare, which is
why Theatre of Blood was one of his favorite
roles. He often spoke of his joy at playing
"Egghead" on the popular Batman television series.
He actually started an egg throwing fight
while rehearsing on the show.Another of his costars,
Yvonne Craig (Batgirl), often said Price was
her favorite co-star.
In 1964 at the request of a personal friend, he
narrated a brief history of Tombstone, Arizona
(titled, "Tombstone, The Town Too Tough To
Die") for use in the diorama at the site of the
O.K. Corral gunfight site. He reportedly recorded
the 20-minute piece in a single take at a recording
studio in Hollywood, and when asked about
his fee, asked for his pal, the owner of the exhibit
at the time, to buy him lunch. Price never visited
Tombstone but his narration is still used in
the diorama.
He had his own mail-order book club in the 1970s, "Vincent Price
Books", specializing in mystery and detective novels. He greatly
reduced his film work from around 1975, as horror itself suffered a
slump, and increased his narrative and voice work. For example,
Price's voiceover is heard on Alice Cooper's first solo album Welcome
to My Nightmare also playing "the spirit of the nightmare"
in Alice Cooper's 1975 television special. “Vincent’s Rap” in Michael
Jackson's mini-movie music video, Thriller, is by far his best
remembered voiceover. Another of these fantastic renditions was
one of his last major and one of his favourite feature film roles, as
the voice of Professor Ratigan in Walt Disney Pictures' The Great
Mouse Detective, in which two original songs had been written for
especially for him.

Price was also a noted gourmet cook and art collector. From 1962 to 1971, Sears, Roebuck offered the Vincent
Price Collection of Fine Art, selling about 50,000 pieces of fine art to the general public. Price selected
and commissioned works for the collection, including works by Rembrandt, Pablo Picasso, and Salvador Dali.
He also starred in "How to Make a Movie," a short film that was included in the "Vincent Price: Moviemaking
the Hollywood Way," a home movie outfit sold by Sears, Roebuck and Co.
Vincent price in the “Raven”
He was the Wednesday night host for CBS Radio's "Sears Mystery Theater" (1979). He was still Wednesday's
host when it became "The Mutual Radio Theater" on Mutual Radio (1980). Host of BBC Radio's "The Price of
Fear" (1973-1975, 1983). Vincent portrayed Simon Templar on "The Saint" for CBS Radio (1947-1948), Mutual
Radio (1948-1950) and NBC Radio (1950-1951). He abandoned films in the mid 1970s, in favor of cooking programs
for television - he wrote "A Treasury of Great Recipes" (1965) with his second wife, Mary Grant - He
also recorded many Gothic horror short stories for the spoken-word label Caedmon Records. In 1990 Price
was hired by Walt Disney Imagineering to voice the role of the Phantom for Phantom Manor, a new ride for
the upcoming Euro Disneyland, scheduled to open in 1992.

He was given a French script but the takes were so
bad, the entire performance was deemed unusable.
After working on the French script for over
three hours, sessions, gave him an English version
of the script. Craig Fleming, who adapted the script
and directed the recording Price recorded the entire
piece in two takes. The English recordings were
placed in the attraction, but after a few months of
operation, Euro Disney felt there was not enough
French in Euro Disneyland. So by 1993, in an
attempt to add more French to the park, Price's
narration was removed from the attraction and
replaced by the French spiel recorded by Gerard
Chevalier. Price's narration can be found on a Disney
Haunted Mansion CD. The CD, which contains a full ride-through of the attraction, claims Price's narration
was "never used at Disneyland Paris", but that's because the park was still called Euro Disneyland when
it was used. Today the park is now known as Parc Disneyland (as of 2002) and although his narration is long
gone, one part of his performance remains in Phantom Manor: his laugh. Although the spoken dialogue of
the Phantom character was changed, Price's original recordings of the Phantom's evil laughter still remain
intact, inside the attraction.
He would often attend showings of his films in costumes; often to play pranks on movie-goers. In his later
years, Price spoke out against modern horror films that glorified violence, pointing out that his films were
harmless spoofs by comparison. In the summer of 1977 he began performing, as Oscar Wilde, in the one
man stage play Diversions and Delights. Written by John Gay and directed by Joe Hardy, the play is set in a
Parisian theater, on a night about one year before Wilde's death. In an attempt to earn some much-needed
money, he is speaking to the audience about his life, his works and, in the second act, about his love for Lord
Alfred Douglas, which led to his downfall.
The original tour of the play was a success
in every city that it played, except for New
York City. In the summer of 1979 he performed
it at the Tabor Opera House in
Leadville, Colorado on the same stage that
Wilde had spoken to the miners about art
some 96 years before. Price would, eventually,
perform the play worldwide and to
many, including his daughter Victoria, it
was the best acting that he ever did. From
1981 to 1989, he hosted the PBS television
series Mystery!. His last significant
film work was as the inventor in Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands (1990).

Price was married three times. Coral Browne (24
October 1974 - 29 May 1991) (her death), Mary
Grant (25 August 1949 - 1973) (divorced) 1 child,
Edith Barrett (23 April 1938 - 4 June 1948)
(divorced) 1 child. Price fathered a son named Vincent,
Jr. with his first wife, a former actress named
Edith Barrett . Daughter Victoria was born in 1962
to Vincent and his second wife, Mary Grant. Price's
last marriage was to the actress Coral Browne who
appeared with him in Theatre Of Blood (1973). People
have said theirs was one of Hollywood's great
love stories; he converted to Catholicism for her,
and she became a U.S. citizen for him. Friends said
Price never recovered from her death in 1991 from
breast cancer. Coral was buried at St. Victor's with a
Mozart Requiem Mass accompanied by a full orchestra.
Vincent Price died of lung cancer on October 25,
1993, at 82 years of age, just six days before Halloween
and, eerily, just three days before his biography
was aired on the Arts and Entertainment Network.
He had also long suffered from emphysema
and Parkinson's disease, which had forced his role in Edward
Scissorhands to be much smaller than intended. His ashes
were scattered off the Californian coast of Malibu together
with his favorite gardening hat. Vincent Twice Vincent Twice
was a Price lookalike character on Sesame Street. In 1999 a
frank and detailed biography of Vincent Price, written by his
daughter Victoria Price, was published by St Martin's Griffin
Press. At the August 2004 Monster Mania convention in
Cherry Hill, NJ, a standing-room-only crowd attended the
"Vincent Price Tribute," which consisted of reminiscences of
Price from director Roger Corman, actresses Hazel Court and
Caroline Munro, artist Cortlandt Hull and moderator Tom
Weaver.

"Brilliant but immature," Surely there were better words to describe the years of training, teaching and experimenting
that she had accomplished at the University." There would be no chair, no professorship, no
funding for her research, all because of her. Maybe she should not have spurned the advances of her professor
but the only passion he ever truly felt was that of science. Only three months left, three months to finish
her work, the total accumulation of her short life's ambition. I was not sure what happened the night she
read the recommendation submitted to the University President, I only know that she changed. There was a
clear and sinister purpose in her every movement, thought and action. "Brilliant but immature," the words
themselves denoted the fine line between reason and fantasy, between purpose and insanity. I only know
that God may forgive me one day for my part is this macabre sequence of events. Then again, there may be
no hope or need for my salvation.
It all began two years ago when I started my graduate work in genetics. My cause was noble; to find cures
for the more complicated frailties of human existence. The Human Genome project seemed the answer to a
dream. It was there that I met Simone Nomege, a doctoral candidate two years my senior. Simone was likable
from the start, brilliant mind, perfection in form, charming and yet distant with a clouded past that introduced
a vague hint of scandal and intrigue. A Parisian transfer student, she grew up in Alsace-Lorraine to, I
believe, a notable aristocratic family whom had fallen in disfavor by some past disgrace. Her knowledge of
anatomy, chemistry and biology were absolute but her true passion was genetics. Her passion was not purposed
towards medicine, and it was not humane in nature but an arcane passion of genetics that perceived
life in a pure form devoid of mental, physical and spiritual sickness. I still believe to this day that her intentions
were good but known only to her; I may never know the whole truth.
We were both assigned to Doctor Leah Colsen as assistants that year. The good doctor was an arrogant selfindulged
lesbian whose capabilities often rode on the backs of students far her superior. It is often said,
"those who can't do, teach" and she was the epitome of that concept. At first we were often left alone to
complete redundant tasks of checking DNA sequences but then Doctor Colsen began taking an interest in
Simone, giving her more complicated tasks to study, correlate and report. I was along for the ride. The interest
in Simone began taking a more overt tone, the hand on the shoulder, the soft caresses, the late nights in
the lab. I saw it plainly, so Simone must have understood the intentions also but she seemed self-absorbed
in her increasing standing and free access to research materials. It became apparent that there were very
different agendas between the two women.
Our research was to identify strands of human DNA that were both cause and effect of human illness, birth
defects and the counter-effects of aging. We both devoured our work as a beggar to a royal feast. Simone,
however, was always looking further. I became increasingly aware of her irregular pattern of preoccupation
with evolutionary theory, genetic splicing, Freudian thought, and the scientific aspects of creationism. I often
wanted to ask to what purpose her studies were designed, but was too cowardly and intent to keep my
place within the research project.

Nine months into the study project, Simone gave me an independent task, a secretive task that would forever
bind us. The task seemed simple enough at first, a new DNA sample that required decoding and classification.
Since this was our bread and butter for the previous nine months, I thought nothing of it at the time. I
proceeded with my task as just another redundant exercise. As the results began to pour in, I realized that
this was not human DNA, not even mammalian and yet it had features I had seen in cases of study dealing
with respiratory birth defects. I asked Simone, but she just smiled and dismissed it as just another sample. I
wanted to ask Doctor Colsen but shied away, she was always rather abrupt with me anyway. The sample
piqued my interest. I began a classification analysis. True it was not mammalian, but more of an Ichthyoidal
representation and yet there were respiratory indications that were indicative of air breathing lungs. That
night I indulged myself in library study looking for a fish that could breath air. I knew of the walking catfish
but could there be others more remote, one with a distinctive biomedical interest, one that could be of interest
to Simone. For weeks, I spent every spare waking moment in the library. I am sure that most people on
campus including the librarian thought I had changed my major to ichthyology. Through the long nights one
name kept appearing, Channa gigantus of the family Ophiocephalus or simply the Burma Snakehead. The fish
itself was a rather ugly carnivore, slender with a long dorsal fin. The fish was prized as an exotic delicacy but I
think more importantly to Simone was its other distinguishing feature. It could survive out of water for days
on end, writhing its way through the terrain until it located a new source of water and food. Its rudimentary
lungs provided the air for survival. Evolution, creationism, and Freud, it was obvious to me that Simone's hidden
agenda must be based in religious belief. It had to be a chance to prove or disprove creationism, but
which it was I had no idea.
Months passed quickly but with tedium of work that seemed incessantly redundant. The results of the Channa
sequencing were finished sufficiently for Simone's purpose. It seemed she had what she needed, but I was
no closer to deciphering her intent. Professor Colsen's displays of furtive gestures grew with age. There were
conferences, dinners and other faculty functions that she always seemed to find a way to get Simone to accompany
her. I began to wonder if there was a relationship until that night I found Simone alone in the lab
with papers strewn everywhere. She was exhausted, her eyes sagging from lack of sleep, her skin a dull pale
white. She kept murmuring quietly, shaking her head while scanning some printouts. She startled when I put
my hand on her shoulder. It was obvious from the frightened look she gave me as she hurriedly covered the
printout with other papers that she thought I was Professor Colsen. I could see the relief when her eyes focused
enough to recognize me. She began crying and put her arms around me without speaking. She
muttered softly under her breath just two words, "Help me." It was then that Professor Colsen entered the
room, saw Simone with her arms around me, scowled, and left the room. Her quickening step resounded off
the tile hallway. Simone was nearing collapse, my dorm room was closer so I gathered her research and
headed to my room almost carrying Simone most of the way. I put her down on my bed where she fell into a
hard, fitful sleep. I watched her until almost dawn when I started drifting off. I had made up my mind. I would
ask her point blank just what was going on.
Morning came and went without either of us stirring. It was late afternoon before I awoke, Simone a little
later. I poured her a hot cup of coffee and just stared at her. Maybe it was the look, maybe she didn't know if
I had read her papers. The effect was the same, answers to the questions I had sought for so long.

She sipped her coffee slowly before she started her oratory. "My father was a famed geneticist, a pioneer in
cloning. If I told you his name, you would instantly recognize it for it is infamous within the medical and scientific
community. I assumed my mother's maiden name after schoolmates began calling me Frankenstein's
daughter. My father despondent by ridicule took his own life leaving my mother and I to our own devices.
Mother had her own ancestral estate on an island near Majorca as well as land in the Alps within Alsace Lorraine.
Within these remote estates, we found peace for a while. I was provided with the finest schooling
money could buy and excelled scholastically. When I turned 16 a package was delivered to me. My mother
was livid when she saw the seal on the package. My father's crest was embedded in the red wax. My mother
begged me to burn it without opening it but it was my father's, a father I dearly loved and I could not part
with it. The package contained my father's journals, his life work. Frankenstein was trying to perfect the reanimation
of life, but my father was trying to perfect the creation of life. Within the journals were the key to
eliminating the need of evolution, a way to recreate the human form in a variety of adaptive jumps allowing
survival in an infinite numbers of hostile environments. Imagine divers that need no SCUBA, Eskimos that no
longer require clothing to survive the elements, desert dwellers that can survive on the same water ration a
camel would. Through selective genetic splicing, anything was possible provided the host DNA strands were
correctly correlated. Some of the theories were recognized and widely lauded for their theoretical possibilities.
It wasn't until my father crossed from theory to experimentation that the ridicule began. The church was
the first to criticize the theory, but science criticized the experimentation. They compared my father to Hitler.
They labeled him "The new Father of the Master Race." As I read on, I became enamored with the concepts.
I wanted to prove my father's theories. It became my life's ambition to restore my father's reputation and
help mankind at the same time. I also knew that under my real name, the cloud of my father's reputation
would forever stall the pursuit of my ambition. So, I obliterated every association with him allowing me freedom
to achieve my goals. No one else besides my mother knows anything about this, no one but you. Will
you help me?" She was so beautiful, so noble, so vulnerable, God help me, I couldn't refuse. She stayed in
my room the rest of that night. In the morning, we went to the lab after an early breakfast. Professor Colsen
was already there. She stared at me with contempt and a fury that I had rarely seen in my short life, then she
smiled. The smile was cold, dark and decidedly evil. I was glad when she left the lab. For the first time, Simone
showed me the depth of her work, every intricate detail. It was unbelievable. Her theories were light years
beyond what I thought was the cutting edge of genetics. She was taking genetic manipulation and cloning to
a new frontier. She had found a way to mix traits found in varying families, classifications and subspecies of
life and splice them into human DNA. If correct in her assumptions, minor sequencing changes in a single cell
introduced in the forming ova would breed a new race in a single step. Evolution would be passé. Immense
jumps in the evolutionary process would be available in a single step providing new adaptive races where
needed and to suit every environment. Furthermore, the DNA was dominant, self-replicating and bioresistant
producing exact images of the original in every generation. No birth defects, no medical conditions,
immune systems that could be modified pre-birth to fight any virus or bacteria that evolution could produce.
The concept was staggering. I would have thought it a great storyline for comic books if I wasn't looking at
the theoretical proof now before my eyes. Then a chill went down my spine. It occurred to me, people would
kill for this information, not just any one particular faction of people but anyone. People would kill to have it,
kill to stop it, or kill because of the possibilities of what it could do. I calmed myself.

No one in the scientific community would remotely allow experimentation to prove these theories. There would be
no doctoral dissertation, no presentation to the scientific community, just ridicule. Simone would face the same
ridicule her father faced. I would be tied to that ridicule. There in the darkest reaches of my soul was a war raging
suddenly out of control. It was a war of selfishness, of fear, of self-doubt and yet a war of love. In the end, love won
out when I glanced at Simone. I saw it in her eyes, her pleading eyes. A cry for help, a cry for understanding, a cry
that comes at a point beyond intimacy and passion. It was the cry that goes beyond friendship and love, a cry that
captures and bonds the souls of kindred spirits. I knew then that no matter the cost, I would help her see this
through to the end. Besides, I could always teach at a community college.
After that day, Simone and I became inseparable, day night, weekends, holidays we were always together. It was
all work. Every moment possible, one of us would be working on the parameters of proving the theory. Professor
Colsen became more resigned and somewhat hateful towards me. To Simone, she was simply indifferent.
Our work continued, sometimes around the clock, sleeping whenever possible but always on guard even within
our dreams. Then the day came when it all changed. Simone wasn't at the lab when I arrived. I waited becoming
more anxious. I called her but the phone just rang endlessly. Fearful, I left the lab and went to check on her. She
was in her apartment, crying. As I sat down beside her, she handed me a letter, which I read.
"Brilliant but immature" With just three words, I knew her concern. The clock was ticking; Professor Colsen had
removed her fellowship grant. Thirty days and we would both be on the street. I cradled her in my arms for what
seemed an eternity.
Dawn came with a menacing storm. Simone was already awake fixing breakfast. I watched her for a moment.
Something was different. The fluidity of movement was gone. There was a determination in her face that tightened
every muscle in her body and yet there was a defiant almost maniacal radiance within her eyes. We ate without
speaking and readied ourselves for the awkward day at work. We where about ready to leave when she stopped at
the door, turned and kissed me with such passion that I thought my heart would burst.
Our work in isolation and manipulation of specific genetic coding was nearing completion. Seven days of sequencing
would produce the theoretical model of what we hoped to achieve. While I attended to the sequencing, Simone
readied the model of cellular introduction needed to implement the mutation. We barely saw each other for the
first two weeks. The last two weeks we spent in correlating the splice. We ran model after model through the computer
with undeniable success. Each model produced a stabile, dominant and self-replicating genetic strand. It was
the proof needed that her father's life work was not only viable, but also attainable. I downloaded the data to CD
and destroyed every trace of our project within the University system. I was going to make damn sure that no one
besides Simone would be able to get credit for the work. I had already resigned myself to removing my name from
any notes within the downloads. Simone and her father were the only authors of this work.
The morning dawned on our last day at the lab. I was up early and went to the lab to remove my personal belongings.
I was anxious. Simone had made plans to meet at her apartment for dinner. I arrived not quite knowing what
to expect. She was dressed rather casually in shorts and a t-shirt. The meal was extravagant however, Lobster Thermidor,
a pasta and artichoke salad, various seafood appetizers and a magnum of champagne. It was more like a celebration
than what I thought to be a farewell dinner. Throughout dinner, her eyes never left mine. She was radiant.
We talked about the project, professor, and school in general laughing about some of the absurdities. She took my
hand and led me to the couch where she poured us each a glass of brandy.

I casually remarked how much I would miss her. She leaned closer to me and whispered, "We are kindred
spirits, you wouldn't leave me now that we are so close." She kissed me as passion consumed us. When I
awoke, Simone was in the shower, on her dresser were two airline tickets to Majorca, one in her name, one
in mine. I was looking at the tickets when she came out of the bathroom. "I hoped you would come with me
and continue our work." Looking at her, draped in a towel, how could I refuse and yet there were warning
bells ringing.
After arriving in Majorca, we boarded a boat for her island estate. Fortress would be a better description.
The house was built in the living rock of the island perching high on the cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean
Sea. The rooms were large with walls of polished stone and oak wainscoting. The floors were marble. Every
room had a view of the ocean. Dreams are made in a villa such as this. Within the back of the house was a
winding cavernous stairway that led to a grotto complete with boat docks. Beside the grotto were rooms
filled with scientific, laboratory and medical equipment. As I toured the villa with Simone, I realized that our
project was not over but just beginning the second stage. Only two other occupants where housed in the
villa, the housekeeper, Maria and her daughter who saw to Simone's every whim.
The first week we talked little of the project, instead we relaxed on the beach below the villa, indulged ourselves
in food, wine, and other pleasures as we saw fit. The second week Simone appeared under the weather.
Some of the food didn't agree with her and she stayed in her room most of the days, the housekeeper
and daughter staying always by her side. He third week I began to notice a change in her. She was eating
more and more seafood and her waistline began to show it. Though from Indiana, I too acquired an insatiable
appetite for fish and a special dish called peau bourrée that Maria made for Simone.
At the end of the first month, I began to long for work and found myself in the grotto laboratory, cleaning,
testing and familiarizing myself with the equipment and controls. I know some hospitals that were less
stocked than this lab. The center room must have been a therapy room. There were long tables and a small
pool like a sauna but without the steam controls. Even without the steam, the water remained warm. I was
longing to get started on phase two of the project that dealt with experimentation and convinced myself
that it was time to talk to Simone.
I found her in her bedroom; Maria's daughter was gently brushing her hair. I sat down beside them and just
began talking of wanting to start work. Maria's daughter giggled then left the room after a glance from Simone.
She turned to face me then kissed me. "Darling, didn't you know, we started experimentation the night
before we left the University. When you made love to me, you contributed the greatest gift to our research.
You gave it life!"
The prolonged morning sickness, the change in appetite, the weight all made sense. To my embarrassment,
I realized the sauna was actually a birthing pool. Maria wasn't just a maid but a nurse and I was a bigger fool
that I had ever hoped to become. I stormed out of the room and found myself sitting on the beach cursing
myself. I soon realized that Simone was standing behind me, tears flowed readily from her eyes. "I thought
you of all people would understand. No one would have believed us without proof. It was the only way.

Please believe me, believe in me, I need you now more than ever. I may have made an error in the correlation."
I saw the fear in her eyes. I put my arm around her and we walked silently back to the villa. Once there, I headed
to the computer room located in the lab. I uploaded the data and began checking and rechecking the theoretical
calculations. I noticed subtle changes in the data that Simone had made and decided to run a test model programming
new variations. Even with the fastest computer a model like this could take hours, this computer
would take somewhat longer. I found Simone in her bedroom asleep. Her back was exposed. Moving closer, I
could plainly see lines of purplish striation running laterally down her back. She began to breathe heavy and
moan as in distress. I ran to get Maria. When we returned, Simone began screaming and clutching her stomach.
We took Simone to the lab where we could monitor her more closely. A quick examination revealed the cause,
though only twenty-eight days pregnant, Simone was going to give birth. Maria helped her into the birthing
pool. I waited outside. The screams grew louder and louder and then there was silence. Endless silence. Finally,
Maria came out of the room. "You have a baby girl, you may see them now but only for a moment, Simone is
weak from her ordeal." I entered the room hesitantly. Simone was still in the berthing pool, the baby sucking at
her breast. I should have felt embarrassed but I was too in awe of the child. She had long blonde hair, well, long
for a baby, a beautiful face, rosy pink skin and cute little hands. She was no ordinary child though; fine scales
covered the lower part of the body and a dorsal fin ran down her back that continued to the tip of her tail. I was
looking at something out of mythology, a merchild, a mermaid. Maria pushed me out the door. She put the baby
in a warmer then helped Simone onto a bed on the far side of the room. I returned to the computer to check
the results only half complete. The initial reports seemed positive and undeniably mammalian in its genetic
composition. By all accounts so far, Simone had proven her father's theory. It had been a tiring day and I laid my
head down and fell fast asleep. I must have slept for hours for the buzzer on the computer awakened me. The
model was finished I rubbed my eyes, snatched the report from the printer and began to study. It was obvious
from the model that Simone had fused Channa, Dolphin and human DNA strands. The model showed that the
creature produced would be able to take diluted oxygen from the water through rudimentary gills but also be
equipped with lungs able to live on air outside the water, exactly what she had hoped for. I wanted to go and
tell her the good news but she needed to sleep so I continued reading. It wasn't until page 7 that I began to get
a chill. The DNA was dominant and self-replicating but unknown to us in previous models, the DNA was invasive.
The warning was right there in the report in bold letters. Contact with host subjects on the intracellular level will
mutate non-dominant DNA into dominant DNA patterns. I had never seen this warning before in any experiments
but the implications were obvious. I felt sick to my stomach. The striations in Simone's skin, our changes
in appetite were just the beginning. In order to prove her father's work, we had in fact proved his distracters
taunts. We had indeed created a master race. The child is the purest form, the parents being genetically remade
in the child's image slowly but with definite result. I went to Simone, sat down beside her and kissed her. She
could tell from my expression that her fears were well founded. Life as we knew it would be limited to the
shores of the villa. God help those foolish enough to invade our privacy. I cradled her in my arms for what would
be an eternity.
Endnotes
This will be the last entry in this journal. As the changes begin to manifest themselves, I find that I no longer
have an interest neither in science nor with any of the exploitive knowledge that men seek to master.

The data of our project is kept in the computer memory banks. Some future generation may still witness our
success. For now, there is no need or desire to make it public. I merely enjoy life now with Simone and our
daughter, Channa. The invasive properties of the DNA effected us slightly differently than Channa, we both still
have use of our legs though are feet are webbed and scaled. The elongated dorsal fin along our spine enables
us to slice through currents with amazing speed. We can both survive in and out of water for any length of time
we seem fit. I began modifications of the grotto including a small canal enabling Channa to enter the grotto
rooms with ease.
She is amazing in her intellect and in her growth. We find that we are linked telepathically. We promote the
use of audible language but really do not need it. I am truly sorry for the deaths attributed to shark attack within
our waters. In time, Channa will learn acceptable behavior and dining habits but it does keep the tourists
away and ensure our privacy. The bodies that tend to wash up on the shore are quickly disposed of by Maria.
Maria and her daughter inhabit the villa. The daughter is the image of her mother as it should be. She was after
all, the true success of my father-in-law's lifework. Sometimes I wonder what gift she was endowed with. Time
for dinner, Maria is making peau bourrée, I can't seem to get enough of it.
End Journal.
Written by M.J. Heckel @ 2015
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When it comes to Scream Queens, there is only one place to
begin, Fay Wray. The petite, auburn haired beauty with hazel
eyes not only has the the honor of being the original Scream
Queen, but also has the distinction of having played in more
films in which she was the only girl than any other actress in
Hollywood. Vina Fay Wray was born on September 15, 1907, on
a ranch near Cardston, Alberta, Canada, to Mormon parents,
Elvina Marguerite Jones and Joseph Heber Wray. Her family left
their ranch in 1910 and moved to the United States, where Fay
began to participate in school plays. She soon became fascinated
by the world of motion pictures. After moving to Los Angeles,
young Fay would soon after make her movie debut by being
cast as an extra, in Hal Roach comedy shorts and B westerns. In
1926, the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers
selected Wray as one of the "WAMPAS Baby Stars" alongside
Joan Crawford, Dolores del Rio and Mary Astor, young women
whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom
In 1927, Fay was contracted to Paramount Pictures. In
1928, director Erich von Stroheim cast her as the main female
lead in his film The Wedding March. While the film
was noted for its high budget and production values, it was
a financial failure, but gave Wray her first lead role. Soon
after, she began working with many of Hollywood’s main
male stars, such as Gary Cooper, William Powell and Ronald
Colman. Wray stayed with Paramount to make more than a
dozen films and to make the transition from silent films to
"talkie" films. Leaving Paramount, Fay was cast in various
horror films. However, her greatest known films were produced
under her deal with RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
It was in 1932 that the Scream Queen seed began to grow,
as Fay became involved in her first horror film, Doctor X,
with Lionel Atwill. For the first time for such a project, the
Fay Wray scream would be heard in a theatre! The Most
Dangerous Game (1932), her first film under RKO, costarred
Joel McCrea was shot at night on the same jungle
sets that were being used for King Kong during the day. Running around in wet clothes was to be Fay’s major
physical activity for many days.

Enter King Kong. According to Wray, Jean Harlow
had been RKO's original choice, but Harlow became
unavailable, Wray was chosen by director Merian C.
Cooper to play the role of Ann Darrow, the blonde
captive of King Kong. Wray was paid $10,000 to
play the role. The film was an immediate commercial
success and reportly saved RKO from bankrupcy,
something that Fay was proud of. Wray's
role would not only become the one with which
she would be most associated but would make her
a horror icon, forever etched in history as the original
Scream Queen. The tremendous success of
King Kong would immortalize this project as a movie
classic and one of the 100 best American movies. The naive charm of its special effects remain potent even
today. And Fay Wray’s timeless beauty is still unforgettable. The movie actually grossed $90,000 on its opening
weekend, a record for the time!
In an interview years later Fay recalled, "Merian C. Cooper
alled me into his office and showed me sketches of jungle
scenes and told me I was going to have the tallest, darkest
leading man in Hollywood, naturally, I thought of Clark Gable
but then he showed me this sketch of a giant ape up the
side of the Empire State Building, and he said, "There's your
leading man." Ms. Wray's co-star was actually an 18-inch
rubber model covered in dyed rabbit fur, augmented by a
full-scale mechanical arm and a bear skin hide that covered
head and shoulders. To make the miniature appear to be 20
times the size of the actress, stop-motion artist Willis O'Brien
devised a unique method of trick photography. He shot
the actress first, then projected this footage onto a small
rear screen. In front of this was placed Kong, who now
seemed as large as he was supposed to be. Next, each frame
of the live action was stopped as animators brought the giant
ape's movements in line with Ms. Wray's and photographed
the two together. "When I shot my scenes, Kong
wasn't there at all. I had to use my imagination, which was
exciting and terrifying at the same time. Acting is about the
imagination, that's the great joy of it. But nothing quite like it had been done before, so I was a little nervous
about how it would all come together." It obviously came together well as King Kong is listed #43 on AFI's
100 GREATEST AMERICAN MOVIES OF ALL TIME.

In keeping with her sense of humor, Fay Wray often
quipped "Every time I'm in New York, I say a little prayer
when passing the Empire State Building. A good friend of
mine died up there. Later in 1933, Fay Wray was still being
threatened on movie screens as she continued playing
helpless heroines, first in The Vampire Bat and then in another
important horror movie milestone, Mystery of the
Wax Museum that would years later be remade as Vincent
Price's iconic film House of Wax. 1933 was to be Fay’s busiest,
as eleven different movies took the screen with her
name in the cast. 1934 was equally busy, with a couple of
fantasy projects, namely The Clairvoyant and Black Moon.
Many films and TV appearences followed over the following
decades including Queen Bee with her fellow WAMPAS
selectee, Joan Crawford. Fay made a final acting appearance
for the television movie Gideon’s Trumpet, alongside
Henry Fonda, in 1980. She was approached by James Cameron
to play the part of Rose Dawson Calvert for his 1997
blockbuster Titanic with Kate Winslet to play her younger
self, but she turned down the role and the part of Rose
was given to Gloria Stuart. She was a special guest at the
70th Academy Awards, the only 1920s Hollywood actress in attendance that evening. Billy Crystal introduced
a clip of her in King Kong (1933) and then came offstage and stood next to Miss Wray in the audience,
and introduced her as the "Beauty who charmed the Beast, the Legendary Fay Wray". Miss Wray was completely
caught off guard, appearing to have not even noticed that Crystal had moved near her when the
lights were turned down for the clip from "King Kong", then rose from
her seat to rapturous applause and waved.
In 2004, Wray was approached by director Peter Jackson to appear in a
small cameo for the 2005 remake of King Kong. She met with Naomi
Watts, who was to play the role of Ann Darrow. She politely declined the
cameo, and claimed the original "Kong" to be the true "King". Wray died
in her sleep of natural causes on August 8, 2004, in her Manhattan apartment,
before filming of the remake commenced. Her friend Rick McKay
said that "she just kind of drifted off quietly as if she was going to
sleep...She was 96 years old. Fay Wray is interred at the Hollywood Forever
Cemetery in Hollywood, California. On August 10, 2004, two days
after her death, the lights on the Empire State Building in New York City
were dimmed for 15 minutes in her memory. Fay Wray is Pictured on
one of four 51¢ Canadian commemorative postage stamps honoring
"Canadians in Hollywood" issued 22 May 2006.

If POP Music is the Main Street sound then Creepshow is the
road outside of town that leads to the abandoned Asylum. A
mix of Garage Rock, Punk, Country and Pychobilly, Creepshow's
music draws you in then sucker punchs you square in the
face. Known for its pulse pounding rythms, smart lyrics and over
the top vocals, Creepshow is known as one of Canada's best Live
Show Bands. The energy you feel at one of their shows is loud,
intense and overwhelming, just the way music should be! Their
music videos are also over the top, with a surreal playfullness
that draws you further and further into the music!
Formed in 2005, the band hails from Burlington, Ontario Canada.
While the lineup has changed over the years, the music hasn't. Whether it was Jen "Hellcat" Blackwood
or Sarah "Sin" Blackwood or now Kenda "Twisted" Legaspi on lead vocals, the Creepshow sound remains as
solid as it was in the beginning.
Sell Your Soul, Creepshow’s first album
featured Jen “Hellcat” Blackwood providing
lead vocals on Hits “Zombie Ate Her
Brain” and “The Garden”.
Run for Your Life, their second album, featured
Jen’s sister Sarah Blackwood on
lead vocals belting out hits “Run for Your
Life” and “Take My Hand”
They All Fall Down, Creepshow’s third album
featured Sarah “Sin” Blackwood
providing lead vocals on Hits “Road to
Nowhere” and “Someday”.
Life After Death, their fourth album, featured
Kenda “Twisted Legaspi on lead vocals
for “Devil’s Son” and “Sinners and
Saints”
Need a song for your Halloween Party? Creepshow’s cover of the Misfits’ “Halloween” is what you’re looking
for! Find it on YouTube. Creepshow’s music is available on Amazon and Itunes.

As this is our first issue and
no one has ever read it before,
we kind of knew that
there wouldn’t be any letters
so we’re just gonna ramble on
a bit and tell you what to do
if you ever feel that you
would like to comment on anything
you’ve read, or maybe
what your thoughts are on
future articles or maybe
what you would like to see in
these pages. Maybe you
have a favorite old movie that
you would like tto see featured or know of a garage band that needs
some publicity. Maybe you’re an aspiring writer that would like to
publish your story. Whatevver, contact us on Facebook at
deadofthenite, or at our email, deadleters@deadofthenite. com. We
can’t promise to publish your letters or stories or ideas but you can
be sure we’ll look at them. I f submitting something please include
a return email so we can contact you as well. Remember, our
postman rings twice. Hope to hear from you!

The 60s were a magical time for kids becoming budding Horror Enthusiasts.
New horror films were coming out weekly, magazines like Famous Monsters
of Filmland were reacquainting a younger generation
with the horror icons of the past and Aurora Models
was in overdrive with model kits of every iconic Hollywood
movie monster as well as some unique additions
that would later be banned. Frankenstein, Dracula,
The Mummy, The Wolfman were just some of the
kits but then there were the Monster Scene kits; The
victim, the guillotine, The Pendulum, the Hanging
Tree, the mad scientist’s lab, Vampirella and the Pain Parlor. This is where
Aurora got in trouble as parents began protesting,
eventually causing most of the monster scene kits
to be banned. In retrospect, building these kits,
(yes I had all of them) led me to a lifelong fascination
of building haunted house props and displays.
Which leads us to the Forgotten Prisoner of Castel-
Mare.
One year when deciding what to do for that year’s haunted house, I decided to go back to my childhood
days and build a life size version of the Forgotten Prisoner of Castel-Mare.
The first thing was to build the backdrop. I built this one 6.5 feet high and 3
feet wide. The back is braced with 1/3 furring strips around the perimeter. The
top was cut freehand with a jigsaw.
The base is 1.5 by 3 ft. OSB screwed to a 1x2 base. The back wall is bolted to
the base on each end with 1/2 “ bolts. For added strength, I cut a 1 ft by 1 ft
section of OSB then cut it diagonally. I screwed these to the sides of the base
and back using drywall screws. I like using polystyrene for faux stones because
it cheap and easy to use. Many Haunters have differing method for created
faux stone. I use a sheetrock saw to cut the foam and Stanley sure form plane
to bevel and distress the foam to make it look more realistic.

For attaching the stones I use Liquid Nails. This is great for foam as it
doesn’t melt the foam. I marked out the OSB and began cutting the
stones. After getting the shape you want bevel the edges with the Sure
Form then distress the front by shaving down differing areas. This creates
a real mess so keep a vacuum cleaner near by and don’t forget to
wear a dust mask while cutting and shaving the foam. Apply a bead of
Liquid Nails on the back of the stone around the perimeter and some in
the middle. When applying the stone to the board press firmer and
move the ’stone’ around to ensure total adhesion. Keep working til all
your stones are attached. It took about 4 hours to complete the background.
Time to start mixing up the Monster Mud. Monster Mud is
nothing more than Joint (Drywall) Compound and Latex Paint mixed in
a 5:1 ratio. Once it dries it can be painted and sealed. Besides the
stone, we'll be using Monster Mud on the clothes to make them set
rigid in place.
So once we had the basic background, we could start building the prisoner. I had
a couple of bones and a skull that I purchased a couple of years ago. You can get
a bag of bones on ebay for about 30 bucks. It will have everythings you need and
you can make the missing ones like I did from styrofoam. Simply draw out the
shape you want, cut it out and shave it with the Sure Form tool until you get the
form you want. Then wrap the bones in gauze and cover with Monster Mud. I
had to make the leg bones this way. It would be easier to buy them. The bones
are pinned in place with 8" lengths of coat hanger, then glued with liquid nails.
The chest is made from a piece of plywood cut to look like ribs then shape the
wood around the ribs to make it rounder. I used a moto-tool with a coarse drum
sander for that. The rib cage is then screwed to another piece of wood to form a
T shape. This is screwed to the backwall See picture right. The waist is just a
round piece of plywood attached to the chest brace. The shoulders, arms and
neck are PVC pipe connected with a 4 way connector and 2 90 degree connectors
for the arms. A piece of Spinal bone was glued to the front of the PVC neck.
The chain is an old Halloween Styrofoam chain. The neck cuff is a piece of lumber
strapping form in a circle with two ends that have holes frilled in them to put a bolt through. This holds
the chain. The wall mount for the chain is a scrap piece of 1/2" x 4" x 4" with truck tie down screwed to
it. A piece of copper grounding wire was used to form the ring, but a towel ring can be used. The bones
are glued to the base and attached at the waist with piano wire. The arm is also attached with piano wire
to the PVC pipe. The rebar for the prison bars was made from tomato stakes found at Lowe's. These are
plastic coated metal pipe found in the garden department. Lastly, the clothes were bought at the Goodwill,
ripped up and stapled to the wooden waist and rib cage. Total cost was about $35.00 and took a couple
of days to build.

Like any holiday, music makes it better! Whether it's for a party, an event, a haunted house or other Halloween
attraction, music is a vital element. However, you can only play Monster Mash or Thriller so many
times before it gets old and most big box stores feature only rip-off music by some karaoke group you've
never heard of. So with that in mind, we've seached our archives for some of the best Halloween compilation
albums that cross different styles and some truly weird one of a kind singles you probably didn't know
existed.
The ultimate Halloween compilation album, "100 Hits of Halloween" is a 4
CD (and 1 Karaoke DVD) set of some the best Halloween music including
Monster Mash, Ghostbusters, and Don't Fear the Reaper. But this compilation
goes further including Frank Sinatra, Tony Martin, Johnny Cash, Roy
Orbison, Laverne Baker alongside of Alice Cooper, Poison, Run-DMC, Will
Smith. This set spans the years from the 30s to the 80s. It also includes a
bonus DVD of Karaoke covers including Thriller and Sympathy for the Devil
to make any party different and fun.
Want something different this year? Consider a throwback party Using
Halloween Nuggets: Monster Sixties A Go-Go. This 99 track set is comprised
solely of Sixties Halloween tunes by Garage Rock groups you've
probably never heard but will enjoy all the more, mixed with movie trailers
to change the tempo. There are some true surprises on this set like Bobby
Bare singing Vampira, or Billy& the Dukes singing "Roland", a tribute song
to Zacherley of Disco Teen and Chiller Theatre. Lord Luther is on here with
Teenage Creature and the Abstracts doing "Nightmare". A must for collector's
of 60s Halloween Music.

A compilation album brought to you by Little Steven's Underground Garage, but
you may know him better as Steven Van Zandt of Bruce Springsteen's "E Street
Band". No question to the songs on this one that include: Bruce Springsteen's
Restless Nights, The Stems doing She's a Monster", I'm the Wolfman by the
Fuzztones, The Chesterfield Kings rendition of Running Through My Nightmares,
John Zacherley's Dinner with Drac, Carl Perkins "Put your Cat Clothes
On" and Donovan's "Season of the Witch". 15 tracks in all of some of the most
ecletic Halloween Songs put on CD. Little Steven delivers a true Halloween A
Go GO.
Who better than Elvira to bring you a
true Mainstream Halloween CDs and
Haunted Hits is one of the
best. Monster Mash, Alice Cooper's
"Welcome to My Nightmare", Jumpin'
Gene Simmons "Haunted House", Dave
Edmunds "Creature from The Black Lagoon",
Ghostbusters, OingoBoingo's "Dead Man's Party just to name a few. Several other compilations by
Elvira are just as good Elvira's Monster Hits featured Elvira's "Monsta Rap"and Revenge of the Monster Hits
featuring Elvira doing "Haunted House.
Dead of the Nite's TOP PICK! If you have only enough money to buy 1
CD, THIS IS THE ONE! Compiled by none other than Rob Zombie himself,
the tracks on Halloween Hootnany are diverse, hard rocking' and fun.
With an intro by John Zacherle follwed by Rob Zombie and the Ghastly
Ones doing Halloween( She gets so Mean) your party will be rocking.
Los Straightjackets turns in a spectacular rendition of the "Munster's
Theme". From The Ghastly Ones "Banshee Beach, Creature Stole my
Surfboard by the Dead Elvi and Ribcage Mambo by Frenchy this CD
jumps from driving Rock to Hep to Surf to Rockbilly withn a macabre
mambo thrown in for good measure. This is the roots of Psychobilly.

Zacherley
The
Cool Ghoul

Growing up atop the Watchung Mountains in NJ offered one
big advantage, the television reception was awesome in the
60s. As a budding horror fan, there was only one name you
needed to know, John Zacherle. Also known in various TV
incarnations as Roland (accent on the Land) and Zacherly,
the Cool Ghoul, Zacherle was THE original East Coast horror
host. At 98, John is now just retired but his fans remain as
dedicated as ever. For the last 50 years His signature ghoulish
makeup and undertaker costume are still unmistakable.
I got to meet John Zacherle when I was only 9, it cemented
my love of not only horror films but of his creativity in presenting
these films in a comedic way. While the West Coast
may have had Vampira and in later years Elvira, on the East
Coast, it will forever be Zacherley.
John Zacherle was born in Philadelphia, PA on September
26, 1918. The son of Bank Clerk, John attendee high school
in the Germantown section of Philly. He graduated from
the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in English Literature
just as WWII began. He enlisted in the Army and
?
served in the African and European theaters, rising to rank of major.
Returning to Philadelphia, John took his time finding just the right job.
He joined Stagecrafters, the local repertoire company. With the Entertainment
industry booming, he soon took a job as a radio announcer.
This led to a part in the western serial, Action in the afternoon. He got
a pat as thee undertaker so the costume department dressed him in a
long black frock coat typical of undertakers in the old west. Little did
they know that they were fitting Zacherley in what would become his
signature look. With Universal releasing their horde of horror films to
television, stations went all out providing sets and costumes to horror
hosts showing this films on local television stations. Someone remembered
Zacherley as the undertaker from Action in the Afternoon and
called Zacherley to host SHOCK Theater on the local Philly station
WCAU. Equipped with his coat, parting his hair in the middle and some ghoulish makeup, Enter Roland.
"Someone remembered me from the western. I never even tried out. I whipped out
the old black coat I wore as the undertaker on the cowboy show."

WCAU's Shock Theater debuted on October 7, 1957 with
Roland as the horror host. Channel 10 went all out with
full set and props. Roland lived in a crypt with his wife
"My Dear" (who remained unseen, lying in her coffin),
his lab assistant, Igor and son Gasport who hung from a
burlap bag. These two characters would remain with him
over the next 50 years.
In the opening sequence, Zacherle as Roland would descend
a long round staircase to the crypt. The producers
erred on the side of goriness, showing fake severed
heads with Hershey's chocolate syrup used for blood
(red blood was not allowed by censors until years later).
Roland would cut-in during the movie to do a gag, like
riding a tombstone, singing a song or just making fun of
the film, while the movie soundtrack kept playing. This
was something completely new and thrilled the television
audiences. Unlike later horror hosts showing “B”
movies, most of the films shown on Shock theater were
Universals best horror films including Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolfman For a lot of kids, this was their
first time being exposed to Universal Horror masterpieces. The show ran for 92 broadcasts through 1958
and made Roland a household name. So much so that when the station ran a meet and greet with Roland,
they expected maybe 1400 to show, instead 14,000 showed up tying up traffic and causing damage to the
station. They never did another meet and greet for Roland again.
John‘s role as Roland was not the only avenue of success. As a Philly Disc
Jockey, John became good friends with Dick Clark and appeared many time
on American Bandstand often filling in for Dick Clark on tours of differnet
cities. It was Dick Clark who dubbed Zacherle with the “Cool Ghoul” nickname.
In 1958, Dave Appell of Cameo records watched his daughter laughing
at Roland on TV. Thus was born a collaboration between Zacherley,
Dick Clark and Dave Appell that resulted in “Dinner With Drac” John Zacherle’s
hit single. Clark first thought the song too gory for American Bandstand
and asked for a toned down version. Eventually both versions would be released
on the 45rpm record as part 1 and part 2.
A dinner was served for three, At Dracula's house by the sea
The hors d'oeuvres were fine, But I choked on my wine
When I learned that the main course was me!

With his contract running out at WCAU and
through the contacts he made after doing Dinner
with Drac, John took a job with WABC in New
York. The show featured the same format as
WCAU but the set was smaller but more detailed.
It was at WABC That Roland was changed to
Zacherley (with the Y). My Dear was changed to
Isobel and many of the gags centered around
Zacherley trying to cure Gasport and Isobel of
their ailments. New York brought many more
opportunities including guest appearences on
the Dave Garraway Show, the Steve Allen Show,
the Jack Paar Show, and the Pat Boone Show .
Zacherley wa still showing up on American Bandstand
especially around Halloween. Zacherley moved from
WABC to WOR Channel 9 then to WPIX that started
an association with Chiller Theater. In 1965 Zacherley
moved to Channel 47 in Newark, NJ to Host Disco-
Teen, the format was like American bandstand except
Zacherley remained in his costume and makeup
often performing funny experiments on the teens in
the audience. The show lasted until 1967.
Merchandising
By the time the mid 60s rolled
around Zacherley was no longer a
phenomena, he was a legend.
Merchandised talked about on
his shows like the Zacherley Map
of Transylvania sold out in
minutes. His Transylvanian Passport
(acquired by sending in labels
from Strawberry Cocao
Marsh Syrup are still rare collectibles
today. There were Zacherley
life size Posters, masks, trading
cards and even his own Aurora
Model. The Zach craze was in
high gear. I can say that I had
Zacherley’s Map of Transylvania

Most of the items at one timeor another. How often do we look back and say, If only I
saved that. These collectibles are highly sought after but impossibly rare to find and
when they can be had, go for big bucks. Two other collectibles were Zacherley’s Midnight
Snacks and Vulture Stew Horror Stories with introductions by Zacherley.
Perhaps, some of the best collectibles still available are the albums and compilations featuring Zacherley.
Throughout the years, Zacherley remained in the spotlight
constantly, Personal Appearances, Telethons,
Halloween Host, Radio Shows, Movies wherever Zacherley
went he drew a crowd, sometimes so big that it
shut down stores and small towns. One appearance at
Macy’s filled the store to overflow. It was the largest
crowd Macy’s had even seen, much larger than there
legendary Christmas sales.
Zacherley was no longer a regional celebrity, He graced
the covers and pages of Famous Monsters of Filmland,
Creepy, Eerie, Fangoria, comic books and other various
magazines. In 1986, Zacherley’s Horrible Horror was
released featuring Zacherley doing what he did best,
on a dungeon set making fun of films, this time just
short clips from all the worst public domain, horror
and sci-fi movies . Later released on DVD, this remains
the ultimate example of why Zacherley is still so popular
today.

The 1990s found Zacherley back in Filmland doing 2 movies for
Frank Hennenlotter, Brain Damage and My favorite, Frankenhooker,
a darkc omedy about a New Jersey mad doctor (James Lorinz)
rebuilds his girlfriend (Patty Mullen) with body parts from exploded
hookers. Zacherley plays a weatherman.
During this time Zacherley signed with Chiller Theater Productions
to host their twice yearly conventions held in New Jersey. The
conventions have proved overwhelming successful reuniting Zacherley
with legions of fans from yesteryear but more importantly a
new generation of fans.
Zacherley would be there entertaining fans, singing with the Dead
Elvi, the Chiller house band and hosting many of his own Shock
Theater films. For 25 years, (50 shows) Zacherley never missed a
show. He performed on stage with the Dead Elvi more than 50
times. In 2015, Zacherley retired at the age of 97. For more than
50 years Zacherley has entertained us, made us laugh and really
made horror and sci-fi films mainstream.
In 2006, indepennt filmmakers John E. Hudgens and Sandy Clark. Brought us American
Scary, A Tribute to the Golden Age of Horror Hosts. The documentary features
60 Horror Hosts from all over the country. Of course Zacherley figures prominently
into the story receiving first billing. From this we learned that the greatest horror
host ever, never saw a horror film before he started at Shock Theater. I think
most of all, like Vincent Price, Zacherley had an unmistakable voice but most of all
he had a laugh that made us laugh. So with that, we’ll leave you with Zacherley’s
famous sign-off...
Goodnight . . .
Whatever You Are!!

Lon Chaney
Man of 1000
Faces