Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Flash Back- Monsters on TV for Baby Boomers
























































When I was growing up in the 1960's, Saturday at 1:00 after lunch and morning cartoons, meant MONSTER MOVIES with Sir Graves Ghastly. He was a local (channel 2 Detroit, MI.) host for the best monster movies of all time. He was an idol to kids around Michigan, Northwest Ohio and parts of Canada. He was just spooky enough to make it fun and just silly enough to make you smile with his Dracula-wanna-be looks and movie/commercial break antics. He had a segment on his show each week where he would show art that was sent in by kids to the TV channel (to his vampire lair). I always dreamed that my Mom would actually follow through on her many (many, many) promises to send in one of my carefully, painstakingly drawn masterpieces in Crayola!! To no avail. *Sigh*
It didn't matter how many times he repeated the classics. It always made you want to sit through them again with him "watching them along with you"!
There is a wonderful web site for Sir Graves Ghastly. My kids love going to it even though they never saw him host the shows. That was way back in the 1960's!!!!!!!! He always told us to "Turn out the lights...pull down the shade...draw the drapes...curl up in your favorite spot near the telly ..." to watch his monster movie of the day.
Did you have someone on TV in your area where you lived like Sir Graves? What were your favorite monster/spooky movies growing up?
Part of our October here at our house is watching scary movies all month long ( not like Friday the 13th parts 1-99!!, or Nightmare On Elm Street. We're not in to the "chop 'em up" movies). We mostly watch old suspenseful ones or old classics with not so high tech special effects; but we do also watch some of the more modern spooky movies too. Black and white just seems more... purist- sort of speak.
Here is a post I did about Dracula with a link to a super duper Bela Lugosi site.

6 comments:

~Red Tin Heart~ said...

Amy, I love this!!! I watched all of these too. These are some of my favorites. I miss those Saturdays. Sometimes it seems as is it were easier in some ways back then. Thanks for the memories. love nita

Christy T said...

Maybe I should try some of those movies (we don't like the chop e'm up ones, either). I love all the vitage pics. Very cool!

Blondie ~ Vintage Primitives said...

Amy, thinking of Charlie Graves who would dress like Frankenstein each week and wear horrible looking teeth. We always watched the same movies, over and over never minding. I personally like Ghostbusters with Bob Hope. It is still good for me! And I have a thing for The Mummy. Even the new ones with Brandon what's his name - love Mummy movies. Dracula? Wow, the creepiest and best one besides Bela Lugosi is the one from back in the 90's.
I flipped in the 80's to The Lost Boys - one thing I like in a good scarey movie is some levity. Don't like graphic chop 'em up flicks. I agree with Martha and Nita, the vintage ones are the bestest.

Thanks for the memories!

Flea Market Queen said...

I don't really remember anyone on our tv other then Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. I was older though...
Now I need to go way back into my memory bank to remember anyone else!
Priscilla

Kerry and Rachel said...

I love it! I love the old flicks. The B-Horror ones are fun, too. You know the ones withthe giant rabbits or killer ants--too silly! I especially love the old movie posters you posted.

Anonymous said...

Amy-
We had something like your show here in Chicago during the same timeframe, late 60's early 70's, it was called Creature Features. Oh we begged to stay up and watch Lon Chaney Jr as the Wolfman and Bela Lugosi as Dracula.
Thanks for the good memories!