American Scary - Trailer 2

American Scary is a look at the nation's tradition of horror hosting, from Zacherley to A. Ghastlee Ghoul.

Hosts of all kinds were once a staple of television, and especially local television productions. But as production demands and the availability of cheaper syndicated material changed the local TV business model, local hosts were also one of the first things to go, no matter how popular they were with the viewing public.

With interviews and footage from major hosts from the 1950s to the present day, such as Zacherley, Vampira, Ghoulardi and others, along with memories from celebrities and fans who were influenced by these hosts, you'll follow this American folk art form from its glamorous beginnings, through repeated waves of popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, to its scrappy resurgence and survival in the current age of cable access and the Internet.

American Scary looks to remind people how much fun local TV could be - and maybe could be again.

"American Scary" was released on DVD in February 2009, and can be purchased from Amazon and other retailers. It is also available through iTunes and Netflix.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• american scary
• horror host
• documentary
• zacherley
• vampira
• ghoulardi
• svengoolie
• shock theater
• maila nurmi
• ernie anderson
• The Ghoul
• Tim Conway
• Count Gore
• Bob Burns
• Bob Wilkins
• John Stanley
• Neil Gaiman
• Joe Bob Briggs
• Baron Daemon
• Dr. Creep
• Commander USA
• Big Chuck

[hootyhaha]

Only thing missing out of this was Joe Bob Briggs. They had him comment, but they did not talk about his show which was on longer than any of the other horror hosts shows. That made no sense to me.

Other than that it was a good documentary. Makes you resent Sattelite TV. This stuff could still exist on Cable or Fios TV for sure. It's just up to the executives of each station. Too bad NBC and COMCAST are so ignorant and near sighted to see what people really want. Those 2 only ruin networks.

[ZTeamProductions]

@hootyhaha Originally we'd planned a section on the cable hosts - this would have featured more of Elvira, as well as Commander USA... but as production progressed, we decided to keep the focus more on the local/regional hosts, and that section ended up being cut...

[hootyhaha]

@hootyhaha Sounds like all the better reason for a sequel! :)

[GBS1043]

Gheeze, Stay sick and turn blue, Ghoulardi was the best you fool!

Ghoulardi was the best "Horror" host, because he was "hip", not "scary" and the kids (and so called adults) loved him!

RIP Ernie