Chicago TV Horror Movie Shows: From Shock Theatre to Svengoolie

For a gift. It was perfect.

This was a Xmas gift for a family member who is very into these old movies of horror and terror and was very excited about this book. I didn't read it myself, but will after he's done and look forward to the stories behind the stories.

Fun, fun book.

What a collection of childhood memories all in one book! I immediately was drawn to chapter 7, Creature Features which as kids we loved to be scared to watch!! Then I remembered how much fun it was scaring my little brother with the creature feature picture which is shown in this book – I love it . Chapter 10, Screaming Yellow Theater, with the original Svengoolie (inspiration of today’s Son of Svengoolie) I watched, as a kid, every Saturday night on channel 32. To complete my collection, I also purchased The Golden Age of Chicago Children’s Television, and the DVD (Hardrock – Coco – Joe, The Three Little Dwarfs) that I purchased from the Museum of Broadcasting in Chicago, which has all four Christmas shorts digitally remastered! It includes Suzy Snowflake, Frosty the Snowman, and Peter Cotton Tail. I love how all these go together – I feel so lucky to have found them. How cool is that :D

This great book hits on all the intricacies of the EARLY (late 50s - early 60s) era of the "fun stuff" of Chicago TV. I'm not neglecting the later 60s to 70s and beyond, but a book that taps into the legend of Terry Bennett and "Jobblewocky Place" has been long awaited by this longtime fan! And that's just ONE spoke in this genre's wheel of fun! Kudos to authors Okuda and Yurkiw for (grave) digging up this great info and presenting it to those who were there (me!) and those who wished they were! A+++

If you're a person of a certain age, like sixties and over, and you lived in Chicago at that time, this is a great book! There were a number of TV shows that highlighted horror movies, a lot of them b-movies, but the hosts were very entertaining and as a kid I loved to get scared by these movies. A nice trip down memory lane

I've read a similar book that surveyed the nation. This one is more personal, focusing on one city and the reactions of stalwart horror fans to the comings and going of a variety of horror shows, hosted and unhosted. A wonderful blast from the past. And they tell it like they felt it: if they didn't like a horror show host, they explain why not. A gem!

Nice read that bought back memories of my childhood watching these shows with family.