SHOCKing Halloween Countdowns

Since 2017 I’ve been doing an annual countdown of films on my YouTube channel. In these countdowns I post a video a day during the month of October, each about a film within a specific theme. I review the films, talking about the actors, plots, interesting facts, and my thoughts about them. They’ve been a lot of fun to make, and I alter the theme each year. 

Here’s a list of the countdowns we've done to date:

2017 – Anthology films

2018 – Howling Halloween (Werewolf films)

2019 – Ratober (Rat films)

2020 – Edgar Allan Poedown (Edgar Allan Poe adaptations)

2021 – Monsters Gone Wild

2022 – Wheels of Death (Killer vehicles)

2023 – Creepy Crawlies (Bug films)

2024 – Shocktober (Shock! Film Package)

 
The 2024 countdown was my most popular one yet, judging from the views and comments. It was a look at the Shock! Film package of movies that ran on television starting in 1957. That package was made up of 52 films from Universal Studios, made available for the first time to stations across the country and distributed by Screen Gems, a subsidiary of Columbia Pictures. This was a big deal for viewers, as these had never been seen on TV before. Suddenly people could watch movies right in the comfort of their homes – if they were lucky enough to own a television. The medium was new, and not every household had a set. But the lucky ones that did were in for a treat.

 
The Shock! package included films from a variety of genres. The majority were horror films, but there were also science fiction, suspense, and a few spy films thrown in as well. When the package was marketed to stations, Screen Gems sent out a booklet listing all of the available titles, as well as some promotional ideas to make the series a success. Among the ideas suggested was the inclusion of a costumed host to introduce the films. 

The Shock! Package was directly responsible
for the explosion of hosts across the country.

This was the birth of the late-night horror host across the nation. Vampira had broken ground a few years earlier hosting films for a year on a small station in Los Angeles (KABC-TV, 1954-1955). But that was a regional show only seen in LA. The Shock! Package was directly responsible for the explosion of hosts across the country. Following the suggestion in the promotional guide, stations recruited whatever local talent they could find to host these films. It was usually an employee of the station – a weatherman, or booth announcer – and often unpaid. These folks would invent a character, cobble together a cheap costume, and off they went! Each station had their own unique host, and the variety was astounding – vampires, mad scientists, ghouls, madmen – you name it, someone did it in some market somewhere. 

The unexpected side effect of these shows was that the host characters became more popular than the movies! Audiences quickly caught on and began tuning in each week to see what shenanigans their host would get up to. They became THEIR host, and each region love their guy or gal. They became local celebrities, and were flooded with fan letters and actual fans at personal appearances.

 
As I was editing this series the idea came to me to pay tribute to the men and women who hosted these films, in addition to the movies themselves. So, starting with episode 6, I included a brief tribute at the beginning of each episode to different Shock! hosts. I kept the focus on the first-wave horror hosts, those folks that actually hosted the Shock! Package in the 50s and 60s. I naturally started with the greatest horror host of all-time – Zacherley, known at that time as Roland, out of Philadelphia.

At the end of October, a viewer left a message here on the blog asking if I could list all of the films in that package, since I only covered 31 of them in the countdown. I missed that message initially, and apologize for the delay in responding, but have posted the complete list of films below.
 
Dracula (1931)
Frankenstein (1931)
Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)
The Mummy (1932)
The Secret of the Blue Room (1933)
The Invisible Man (1933)
The Black Cat (1934)
Secret of the Chateau (1934)
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935)
The Raven (1935)
The Great Impersonation (1935)
Werewolf of London (1935)
Chinatown Squad (1935)
The Invisible Ray (1936)
Dracula's Daughter (1936)
Night Key (1937)
The Man Who Cried Wolf (1937)
Reported Missing! (1937)
The Spy Ring (1938)
The Last Warning (1938)
Son of Frankenstein (1939)
Mystery of the White Room (1939)
The Witness Vanishes (1939)
The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
Enemy Agent (1940)
The Mummy's Hand (1940)
Man-Made Monster (1941)
A Dangerous Game (1941)
Horror Island (1941)
Sealed Lips (1942)
The Wolf Man (1941)
The Mad Doctor of Market Street (1942)
The Strange Case of Doctor Rx (1942)
Night Monster (1942)
The Mystery of Marie Roget (1942)
The Mummy's Tomb (1942)
Nightmare (1942)
Destination Unknown (1942)
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
The Mad Ghoul (1943)
Son of Dracula (1943)
Calling Dr. Death (1943)
The Mummy's Ghost (1944)
Weird Woman (1944)
Dead Man's Eyes (1944)
The Frozen Ghost (1945)
Pillow of Death (1945)
House of Horrors (1946)
She-Wolf of London (1946)
The Spider Woman Strikes Back (1946)
The Cat Creeps (1946)
Danger Woman (1946)
 
And finally, here is a wrap-up video I shot showing all of the films I covered last year and what I ranked them. Thanks to everyone who tuned in last year. It was a fun topic and very on-point for my interest as a horror host.
 

Shock! Halloween Wrap-up

Thanks again to everyone who tuned in. That was a fun countdown, and we’ll do another one next year!

Stay Mad!