31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN: BEFORE BOB WILKINS How Terrence's "Shock!" Became a "Nightmare"

Meet the San Francisco Bay Area's First Horror Host... Terrence!


Terrence (Russ Coughlin) and "friend" on the set of "Nightmare"!

Scores of those from Monster Kid Generation in the San Francisco Bay Area still exalt (and rightly so) our beloved horror host, Bob Wilkins, who haunted the airwaves emanating out of Oakland's Jack London Square at KTVU-2 on "Creature Features" during the 1970s (and even longer out of Stockton-Sacramento area). Fewer still have only but dim memories - if at all - of Castle Noir's "Asmodeus" on KEMO-20's "Shock It To Me! Theater." But, they had a predecessor who conjured up nightmares over at KRON-4 now 60 years ago: "Terrence."

In October 1957, Screen Gems (the television subsidiary of Columbia Pictures) released a package of 52 classic Universal Pictures horror titles for syndication to stations nationwide, promoted as "Shock!". These local broadcasts on stations across America created monster ratings in markets with 38% and far more, conjuring new legions of monster kids, as well as creating creatures that would become the fabric of local television for decades to come... The "Horror Host," led by Philadelphia's legendary "cool ghoul," Zacherley.

Meanwhile, in the San Francisco Bay Area, the "Shock" package was picked up by the then-NBC affiliate, KRON-4, marketed to viewers as "Nightmare," hosted by seasoned native broadcaster Russ Coughlin (whom later became the general manager of our local ABC affiliate KGO-7). As Terrence, Coughlin bowed "Nightmare" with James Whale's FRANKENSTEIN on October 3, 1957. The tall, slender Coughlin wore a regular suit, cracked wry monster jokes, broke ratings records, and incited lycanthropic student riots on the campus at UC Berkeley...

It's true - and there's much, much more to the story, so read all about it - beautifully and painstakingly documented in the pages of Michael Monahan (American Scary) and the late Lon Huber (UHF Nocturne)'s exhaustive - and currently out-of-print - history of San Francisco Bay Area Horror Hosts, "Shock It To Me! Golden Ghouls of the Golden Gate" (2011, UHF Nocturne). I harbor an unnatural love for Micheal and Lon's book and I still demand a reprint!

THE 31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN: DAY 5 Zacherley For President (1960)

Cover of the Cool Ghoul's infamous (and rare) 1960 Campaign Book!

On the fifth day of Halloween, my true blood gave to me, five Ghoulish Things, four Severed Limbs, three Shrunken Heads, two Devil Bats, and a Senior Lon Chaney!

THE GHOULTIDE SEASON IS HERE! Harpy Halloween & Beast Witches!

Guys and Ghouls, it's finally that bewitching month of the year again: October! And that means Halloween! It's my favorite time of the year — so, much so, that I celebrate the Ghoultide Season all month long! Each and every day, I will be posting some creepy classic images, monstrous movie posters, and some fang-tastic art by illustrators including Rob Kelly. For those unaware, Rob Kelly is a freelance illustrator from New Jersey, with many psychotronic interests, who has created some amazing tributes to the classic monsters of cinema in the form of wry PSA and re-imagined movie posters — reason enough for us to bow our shrunken heads to him!

This year, I'm also throwing a sinister Samhain Shindig on All Hallow's Eve, SHOCK IT TO ME! HALLOWEEN SPOOKENANNY at the Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco, featuring maniacal music performances by The Undertaker & His Pals, Beachkrieg, and Johnny Legend & His Naked Apes (featuring members of The Mummies and The Chuckleberries), DJ Omar (Shutter, Popscene), Contests, Prizes, Horror Hosts and a more terror than you can shake a bloody stake at! Stay tuned for more details, or visit our official SHOCK IT TO ME! website!

HARPY HALLOWEEN & BEAST WITCHES,WHATEVER YOU ARE!