Creature Features Rises From The Grave For Halloween Webcast

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 31, 2012 3:30PM

From 1970 through 1976 WGN-TV’s Creature Features introduced a generation of viewers to the classic Universal Studios horror films, many of which still stand up today as among the best horror films of all time. There was never a host: only a mascot modeled after Lon Chaney’s character in London After Midnight and an opening that (depending on one’s state of mind) still brings chills with talk of “gruesome ghouls and grisly ghosts, wretched souls and cursed hosts,” spoken over Henry Mancini's "Experiment in Terror."

The opening was written by a WGN staffer Karen Verwolf, who shared the story behind her writing the opening and some old scripts with producer and Creature Features fan Dan Siciliano in 2009.

Verwolf left WGN in 1972. Forty years later Siciliano interviews her again as part of a one-time only Creature Features webcast that's streaming right now; The Ghost of Frankenstein is the featured film. (Consider this your decrease in morning work productivity.)

When you're done with that, check out Siciliano's Creature Features tribute page, as well as his page dedicated to Rich Koz's old Son of Svengoolie show.