Zombos' Closet of Horror

Cinema Insomnia's Lobotober

Okay, I missed part one of this Lobotacular season premiere, but I'll be damned if I miss part two!

The LOBONEWS NETWORK is pleased to announce the premiere of Cinema Insomnia's latest season with the debut of Eric Miller's Mark of the Damned featuring a cameo by none other then your National Horror Host, Mr. Lobo.

Mark of the Damned, Part One will be broadcast at 9pm PST - October 24th nationwide on the AMGtv Network and will be available to over 100 stations coast to coast as well as on Satellite (Galaxy 19, 3991 H). Mark of the Damned, Part Two will premiere Halloween night at the usual time slot of 9pm PST.

Part Two is a journey back to classic Cinema Insomnia and is dedicated to a very special Cinema Insomnia fan named Katie. Mr. Lobo is back in the Void to present a special musical tribute to a brave Mr. Lobo fan who passed away this year. Her story and her journey touched the entire Cinema Insomnia cast and crew, and this episode is dedicated to her. Mr. Lobo also takes the night back with an homage to Creature Features and Horror Host legend, Bob Wilkins. Be sure to tune in for a very special episode with a VERY special surprise guest at the end of the episode. Many questions will be answered, but many more questions will be left unanswered, or will they? Tune in and find out!

• Mark of the Damned Part 1 - Sat Oct. 24th 9pm PST/Midnight EST
• Encore Mark of the Damned Part 1 - Fri. Oct 30th PST /Midnight EST
• Mark of the Damned Part 2 - Sat Oct. 31st 9pm PST/Midnight EST
• Encore Mark of the Damned Part 2 - Fri. Nov. 6th PST /Midnight EST

The shows will also stream at http://www.cinemainsomnia.com/s_cilive.html for live chat and screening with fellow Cinsomniacs and maybe even Mr. Lobo himself!

Helena the Hussy Meets Count Gore de Vol

Helena is a guest this week on Count Gore de Vol's Weekly Web Program at http://www.countgore.com.

Lowdown on Mr. Lobo

These days, it is hard to pin the popular Mr. Lobo down. What with his involvement in one of the upcoming Plan 9 From Outer Space remakes (believe it or not, there are two remakes in the works), hosting of the documentary Virginia Creepers: The Horror Host Tradition of the Old Dominion, and his incessant verve as he guides us through all those bad movies we just misunderstand on Cinema Insomnia, I was lucky to get a few questions in edgewise. Of course, the first thing I had to know was how Miss Mittens, his houseplant, was doing...

I must ask you, how is Miss Mittens doing these days?

She's working with a private gardener and her leaves have "filled out"...she's looking better.

She's was transferred to a new planter after getting out of rehab. She also still has some personal problems that she's working out. She blames me for a lot of it. We're spending some "time apart". We almost thought she wasn't coming back to the show as my co-host. She wants to come back to work. To her credit she's willing to set that aside our differences for the sake of the show. She doesn't want to negatively effect the 10th Anniversary stuff and the new syndicated season.

Helena the Hussy of Horror Strikes

News from Ningen Manga Productions…

Helena, Hussy of Horror has launched her new monthly web series with Drinks With Swamp Thing, a brief look at finding the perfect cocktail for your spring party as well as a review of the 1982 cult classic, Swamp Thing.

Originally done as a one shot for last fall’s Miss Horrorfest contest, Helena soon found new life by shooting an introduction for the festival run of the upcoming Anthem Pictures DVD release, Deadlands 2, Trapped. New Videos will be posted monthly. On the docket are shows about the original Friday the 13th and Jaws 3. For more go to www.HussyOfHorror.com.

A Journey Into Creature Features Begins

This news just in from horror host John Stanley...

Now on DVD! The story of one of the most popular Bay Area television shows ever: CREATURE FEATURES. As told by Bob Wilkins, John Stanley,film critic Bob Shaw, Japanese monster movie expert August Ragone, film maker Ernie Fosselius, Bob's wife Sally, daughter Nancy, son Rob, John's wife Erica, Creature Features Archivist Tom Wyrsch and Planet X magazine publisher Scott Moon.

Take a journey down horror's memory lane and keep America strong!

Packed onto 2 discs are:

WATCH HORROR FILMS, KEEP AMERICA STRONG
This 75-minute documentary - produced by Tom Wyrsch, official archivist and historian of the CREATURE FEATURES TV series - retraces the legendary show, which was one of the most popular in the San Francisco-Bay Area for 13 years.

MONSTER MOVIE GAME
In 1974, to promote John Stanley's new book THE MONSTER MOVIE GAME, Bob Wilkins formed a panel of movie experts to answer questions thrown at them by Stanley. It was pure tongue-in-cheek with Bob Wilkins at his amusing best. "Beat the Clock" and "Jeopardy" were never the same again.

I WAS A TV HORROR HOST: THE JOHN STANLEY STORY
As a companion to the new documentary, WATCH HORROR FILMS, KEEP AMERICA STRONG, John Stanley has created another insider's look at the CREATURE FEATURES legacy from a personalized point of view, molding it with pieces of history, comedy, and special effects.

BOB WILKINS: THE SACRAMENTO YEARS
Produced by Scott Moon and Mr. Lobo. Bob Wilkins began his horror host career at KCRA in Sacramento before he came to the San Francisco-Bay Area, but he remained a TV icon in his old stomping grounds for 15 years (1966-81) by keeping a second show alive at Channel 40 in Sacramento.

CREATURE FEATURES COMEDY PROMOTIONS & OTHER ODDITIES
For six years (1979-84) John Stanley created 30-second promotions for his upcoming shows, spoofing lousy movies and himself -- and often joined by celebrity guests. This is a compilation of some of the best, featuring Buddy Ebsen, Chuck Norris, Angelique Pettyjohn and others. Even the "Bowery Boys" (or a facsimile) make an unusual appearance.

August Ragone is a member of the League of Tana Tea Drinkers and author of the book, EIJI TSUBURAYA: MASTER OF MONSTERS.

John Stanley is the author of I Was a TV Horror Host.

Horror Host Bob Wilkins 1932 - 2009

Creature Features horror host Bob Wilkins passed away on January 7th from complications of Alzheimers disease at the age of 76, in a care facility in Reno, Nevada, surrounded by his loving family.

"Don't stay up late, it's not worth it," Bob Wilkins warned as he leaned back in his yellow rocking chair, smoke wafting from his big cigar. But monster movie fans in Northern California stayed up with him every Saturday night anyway. Creature Features made it's debut on Channel 2 (KTVU) in 1971, and was an immediate success with it's grade- Z horror films and Bob's dry sense of humor. His cool, low-key deadpan helped him rise above it all, elevating films like The Navy Vs. The Night Monsters as well.

Horror host John Stanley, who subsequently took over the Creature Features hosting chores (from 1979 to 1984) from Wilkins, shares the following biographical information with us.

Hey, Where's My Coffin?

Courtesy of the upcoming documentary, Virginia Creepers: The Horror Host Tradition of the Old Dominion. 

Here's a funny story about the Hampton Virginia version of Shock Theater in 1959, when the studio coffin disappeared a few hours before the show and, of course, in those days, the show was live so...

Watch Horror Films – Keep America Strong

Watch Horror Films– Keep America Strong:
A New Creature Features Documentary
Horror Hosts

Just received this press release from John Stanley. The DVD of this event will be available this summer!

 

Thursday, May 15th at 7:00 PM

The Grand Lake Theater
3200 Grand Avenue Oakland, California

Presented by Creatures At Large. Conceived and Produced by Tom Wyrsch, Written and Directed by Michael Monahan. Camera and Sound by Eric Yee, Edited by Anthony Cava and Robert Napton.

Featured interviews: Bob Wilkins, John Stanley, Bob Shaw, Ernie Fossellius, August Ragone, Sally Wilkins, Erica Stanley, Rob Wilkins, Nancy Wilkins, Scott Moon, and Tom Wyrsch

Watch Horror Films – Keep America Strong, a new feature length documentary celebrating the unique and lasting contributions of hosts Bob Wilkins and John Stanley to Bay Area broadcasting, makes its premiere at Oakland’s historic Grand Lake Theater in a benefit screening for the Bob Wilkins Foundation. Special guests at this event will include one-time San Francisco Chronicle entertainment writer John Stanley, Sally Wilkins, Bob Shaw, Ernie (Hardware Wars) Fossellius – with others yet to be announced.

KTVU’s Creature Features (1971–1984) remains the most-loved, best-remembered local program in Bay Area broadcast history. "Watch Horror Films – Keep America Strong!" was the rallying cry of host Bob Wilkins as he lured unsuspecting audiences into viewing the type of film usually found clinging to the bottom of the cinematic barrel.

After nearly eight years enticing viewers with the irresistible promise of the awful, Bob Wilkins passed the torch to John Stanley, author of six editions of the Creature Features Movie Guide, who expanded the creative boundaries of the program, offering a singularly ambitious vision of Creature Features for many years after. John's latest book, I WAS A TV HORROR HOST, is now available and recounts the history of this fabulous Bay Area-based TV series.

Blending newly filmed interviews with crew, family and fans with rare footage unseen since originally aired, Watch Horror Films – Keep America Strong recalls the strange and wonderful era of local television. The film is an affectionate tribute to a special time and place – and to the special people who entertained and inspired a generation of viewers.

In recent years, Bob Wilkins has struggled with the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s Disease. Proceeds from this film will go directly to the Bob Wilkins Foundation to assist in his care.

Tom Wyrsch is the author of The Bob Wilkins Scrapbook and The John Stanley Scrapbook. He is also the Creature Features Archivist.

Michael Monahan is the Associate Producer and Researcher for American Scary (2006) and author of an upcoming book on the national history of the TV horror movie host.

For additional information, please contact:

Tom Wyrsch
(707) 769-1506
tpw1705@aol.com

Michael Monahan
(510) 843-9457
doktorgoulfinger@gmail.com

Count Gore De Vol: Still Counting After All These Years

Dick Dyszel's undying alter-ego, Count Gore De Vol, haunted Washington DC's television screens from 1973 to 1987 as TV horror host for station WDCA. Beginning as the character M.T. Graves on the Bozo the Clown show, he parlayed his monstrous likability into hosting his own popular program, Creature Feature. His satirical approach to politics and the sexual revolution kept his show fresh and on the air until all local programming was canceled by the new owners of the station.

The unstoppable count rose from the grave once more, becoming the first Internet Horror Host to haunt the flickering computer screens, entertaining his devoted, and now international, fans every week.

While not putting together his weekly show, you can find him at conventions, hosting horror film festivals, and doing movies. He is featured in American Scary, a documentary devoted to the horror host phenomenon, and appears as The Narrator in The Dead Matter.

We got a hold of Dick Dyszel and didn't let go until he answered a few questions for your edification pleasure.

Vampira: The Movie (2006)

Vampira's persona was a strange combination of sex and death.
--David J. Skal, Vampira: The Movie

The year is 1954. It's midnight on a KABC-TV Saturday night. A striking, impossibly wasp-waisted woman in a torn black dress glides down a long, dry ice misty, cobwebbed corridor toward the camera, past unlit candelabras. She stops. Suddenly she screams, then looks at the camera with a devilish gleam in her eyes and says "Screaming relaxes me so."

Vampira's short-lived television show--where, in-between showing gems like White Zombie and forgettable B-fare, she would mix a foaming cocktail to "absolutely kill you," or search for her always lost pet spider, Rollo--opened the door for the many male and female horror hosts that followed, and set the tongue-in-cheek, ghoul-cool standard for hosting still seen today. With her phallic-looking nails, plunging v-neck exposed bosom, and sardonic wit, she presented quite the picture of the succubus every straight guy would love to meet in a darkened room.