Midnight, 1954. A striking woman in a torn black dress slinks down a cobwebbed, candelabra’d corridor. She stops, shrieks hysterically into the camera, then solemnly says, “Good evening, I am Vampira.”
Her real name is Maila Nurmi and she was the first in a long line of television horror movie hosts, commonly seen on independent stations’ late-night “grade Z” offerings dressed as some zany ghoul or mad scientist.
This book covers the major hosts in detail, along with styles and show themes. Merchandise tie-in and fan reactions are also chronicled. The appendices list film and record credits.

The late Elena M. Watson was an editor for the National Capital Area Skeptical Eye.

Elena M. Watson
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 256
Bibliographic Info: 79 photos, filmographies, discographies, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2000 [1991]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-0940-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1160-0
Imprint: McFarland

“well worth reading”—Classic Images; “factual information is provided…many black-and-white photographs will…delight fans…a must for public and school libraries”—ARBA; “recommended”—SFRA Review; “wonderful”—Midnight Marquee; “a nostalgic treat”—Shock Cinema; “immensely informative and terrifically entertaining”—VideoScope; “in-depth”—Rapport; “[a] wealth of rare stills”—Video Watchdog; “interesting nuggets”—Bite Me.