#horror host

Lawson J. Deming as the eminent Sir Graves Ghastly, emerging from a coffin with his refrain of "Happy Haunting!" on the eponymous series airing on Detroit's WJBK-TV. Ghastly the comedic vampire survived a hanging by Queen Elizabeth four hundred years prior, resurrected to riff on scary movies. Deming's career followed a familiar through line like many Horror Hosts, beginning in Vaudeville, extending to radio, and leading to children's television before opening the door to stardom as a TV emcee.

He essayed multiple characters on the show -- monk sidekick Baruba, Reel McCoy, Tilly Trollhouse, Cool Ghoul, The Glob, and Ghastly's own doppelganger Walter -- for an astonishing sixteen-year run (!) from 1967 to 1983. Rather than airing after-hours, the series was showcased on Saturday afternoons, targeted squarely at the kiddie crowd but also attracting the over-eighteen demographic.