Goldenagetv

I posted a question to an internet board basically asking people to tell me when was their "Golden Age" of horror on tv.Is it today when you can pop in a vhs or dvd of your favorite spook show anytime?Or is it back
in the old days when you had to fight to stay up all night to see a movie on tv because if you missed it then you may not see it again for six months or a year?
Don't get me wrong.I love the ability to pop in a copy of World Of The Vampires, Theatre Of Death or House Of Dracula at any time.Heck I know that I may never get to see The Strangler Of Blackmoor Castle on tv unless I supply the tape.But there was something special about staying up either with your buddies or by yourself late at night to catch that special movie you had been just dying to see since you spied it in the tv guide.
Growing up in Detroit we not only had horror hosts but it seemed like there was a horror flick playing everyday.Of course the kicker was being able to watch it.
The first horror host I remember was Dr Morgus.He was originally from New Orleans and hosted a show on WJBK in the early 60's(1963 & 1964?).I don't remember what movies he played but he did have a clip of Bette Davis in that white pancake makeup from Baby Jane that just scared the $#@! outta me.I went howling to my parents' room after that.Of course my old man cursed and banned Morgus from our tv.
In 1966 Sir Graves Ghastly(Lawson Deming) arrived at WJBK and stayed until 1982.Sir Graves was decked out in the traditional vampire outfit and sat in his coffin most of the time.He did comedy bits aimed at the kiddies with song parodies like "I Wanna Bite Your Hand".But he had three hours or so every saturday afternoon.
So I was exposed to a lot of the Universals at that time.Nothing like a double feature of The Mummy's Tomb and The Mummy's Curse on a saturday afternoon!He also aired The Manster,Horror Chamber Of Dr Faustus,Four Skulls Of Jonathan Drake,Bowery Boys/East Side Kids spookers,Terror Is A Man and many more.
WJBK also had a daily morning matinee at 9:30.Saw some very strange flicks like The Murder Clinic, Slaughter Of The Vampires etc.They aired Dungeon Of Horror which absolutely grossed me out as a 9 year old.When that leper in the wedding dress came after the hero I just about died.I haven't seen that film since then and am sure I'd be laughing at it now.
WXYZ didn't have any horror hosted shows.But man they laid on the movies!Hands down they had the best films in their vaults.The 4:30 afternoon movie usually had a horror week every six weeks or so.The Creature From The Black Lagoon series aired one week.Majin The Monster Of Terror trilogy, The Colossal Man/Beast and many more.
Late nights were stunning!Trouble was the cool movies aired at 1:30 am & 3am during the week and we couldn't stay up that late on a school night.My buddies and I were agonizing when they aired the entire Nostradamus series one week!TV Guide descriptions like"A vampire plans to eliminate 13 prominent citizens"(Curse Of Nostradamus) or "A vampire plots to kill a police chief"(Blood Of Nostradamus)just fired us up.Dr Mabuse often haunted the airwaves at those ungodly hours with The Black Abbot,The Brainiac and The Mad Executioners.
Ahh but friday and saturday nights were a different story.One friday at 1:30 am WXYZ aired World Of The Vampires.I was beside myself with excitement as the hour approached.Five minutes into the flick the vampires attacked a couple on a lonely road.I hauled arse upstairs to hide under the covers.In 1971 they aired Night of The Living Dead at 11:30 on a saturday night.I made it as far as Barbara finding that half eaten head upstairs before losing it.It was a frantic and scary race up the stairs to bed!

Another fond WXYZ memory is staying over at a buddy's house one friday night.We're in the living room with the tv providing the only light.We're waiting for The Mask Of Fu Manchu to air at 1:30.Well my buddy fell
asleep and I stayed up, enthralled by the sheer evilness Boris Karloff imbued Fu Manchu with.While I didn't understand all of the kinkiness of this flick then(and it IS kinky)I didn't move for 90 minutes.It still
is one of my favorite films to this day.
After much pleading and whining my parents sprung for a portable 9 or 10 inch black and white for my room upstairs.My friends and I were ready for the new horror host in town, The Ghoul.We could sit upstairs all night
long and howl at his juvenile antics.Cheese Whiz, Parma Ohio and "Plunk your magic twanger Froggy" had us in stitches..
The Ghoul was on Channel 50 (a local no budget station) usually on at 10:30 pm saturdays after The Lou Gordon Show.As young teens we thought Lou sucked but we had to tolerate it until "our guy" came on.A lot of
lower budget AIP, Allied Artists etc found the airwaves there, usually on a three times a year rotation.Atom Age Vampire, Frankenstein 1970, From Hell It Came, Blood Of Dracula,Wasp Woman, Screaming Skull,Attack Of The Crab Monsters, The Giant Leeches, Creature From The Haunted Sea, The Hypnotic Eye and that stoopid Mermaids Of Tiburon aired often.Didn't matter if we had seen the film three months ago we watched it anyway.
Today it is all too rare to come across a tv listing for an old favorite late at night.Late night has become the province of the infomercial(thanks a $#@%uva lot Ronnie Reagan!) and our old friends don't show up that often. That's too bad because there is something really special about staying up late to watch an old horror flick.But in the meantime grab an old favorite and put it on.