In 1957 Universal Studios released, through Screen Gems, a package of 52 films for syndication in the newly burgeoning television market. The films were pre-1948 classic science fiction and horror movies that had been shown in theaters. The package was called Shock Theater or Shock! In 1958 another package of 20 science fiction and horror films, called Son of Shock, were sold for television syndication.
RKO soon followed with their vault of “B” films. Other packages, such as “Creature Features” and “Nightmare Theater” were added. Some of these packages included English dubbed Mexican films, British horror, severely trimmed Italian Gialli, and various suspense films. Most of these old films were campy low budget “B” movies and shorter than the 90 minute television time slots that were allotted for movies. To pad the showing times many stations had hosts that would introduce the films and incorporate skits before and after commercial breaks.
The hosts were usually employees of the local television stations. Some had sidekicks that helped them with their comedy skits and generally made fun of the movies they were showing. The hosts were mostly men, but there were a few women of note. The first horror host was Vampira, who was played by Maila Nurmi. Her show ran from 1954-1955. Many of her shows were suspense films. This was before the shock syndication so there weren’t many horror films available at the time. Vampira’s persona was based on the Morticia character from Charles Addams comic strip “The Addams Family”.
The various hosts would usually play a horror character or a characterization of a horror persona. Each station had its own host, and each host had his or her own style. Characters like Gorgon the Gruesome, M.T. Graves and Sammy Terry cropped up all over the U.S. on various local stations. Some, like Elvira-Mistress of the Dark and Svengoolie became stars themselves. These late-night fright fests went on from the 50’s, 60’s and into the early 70’s. By the time the 70’s rolled around, however, the late-night horror shows with its unique horror hosts began to wane.
The genre got a boost when cable came about. With all those channels out there, something had to fill them. New horror hosts were needed. The 70’s, 80’s and 90’s brought us characters such as Elvira, Ned the Dead, Count Gore de Vol and, yes, the guys from Mystery Science 3000. Some shows and their hosts lasted less than a year and some lasted decades.
Eventually, these old horror movies and their hosts made the move to the internet. You can still see shows by Ned the Dead, Bobby Gammonster and Sally the Zombie Cheerlead on places like YouTube and Vimeo. Some, like the Cryptkeeper from Tales from the Crypt, even showed up in theatrical releases.
In 2011 Horror Hound Magazine created the Horror Host Hall of Fame. The first inductee to the Hall of Fame was Vampira.
For in-depth details on all your favorite horror hosts check out E-gor’s Chamber of TV Horror. Just follow the link in the link section of The Silver Scream.