Television Horror Movie Hosts: 68 Vampires, Mad Scientists and Other Denizens of the Late-Night Airwaves Examined and Interviewed » (ALTERNATE)

It all began at the stroke of midnight in 1954, when a striking woman in a torn black dress slinked down a cobwebbed, candelabra'd corridor, shrieked hysterically into the camera, then solemnly said, "Good evening, I am Vampira." Since then there has been a long line of television horror movie hosts, and this book covers the major ones in detail, along with styles and show themes. Also chronicled are merchandising, film appearances, fan reactions, and record credits. Classic Images found this work, first published in 1991, "well worth reading."

Science Fiction Chronicle

This is, as you might have suggested from the tile, a history of those creepy hosts of the various Creature Feature programs on television, everything from Zacheley to Commander USA, from Vampira to Elvira. The author covers their carers, their personal styles, films they were involved with, the habit of some of them to edit themselves into the films they showed, and other interesting bits. Although most of the horror hosts played their roles for a laugh, some were quite serious. There's also a section of fictional horror host who originated in films, and shorter pieces on regional characters who never made it to the big time. Lots of black and white photographs and stills. An amusing nostalgia ride for anyone who watched these things in the past.