Horror Hosting 101 (& Why it should matter to media researchers)

 

image courtesy of: Retrontario on Substack

What is horror hosting?

Horror hosting is a type of television program where a horror host, often acting as a horror-related character, introduces and commentates on a horror film (Markusen, 2021). The format was pioneered in 1954 by Vampira, a character played by Finnish actress Maila Nurmi, who had the first horror hosting show, The Vampira Show (Watson, 2000; Markusen, 2021). In 1957, a package of 52 horror films known as “Shock!” (Watson, 2000) or “Shock Theater” was made available for showing on local television stations (Watson, 2000; Markusen, 2021). Shock!’s distribution company, Screen Gems, encouraged stations to show the films in a hosted format, which led horror hosting to become a widespread local trend (Markusen, 2021). Similar packages of horror films were released over the years through the 1960s, giving the hosts fresh material to work with (Markusen, 2021). 

When Shock! was first introduced, its films had never before been shown on television, (Markusen, 2021) with many of its titles dating back to the ‘horror wave’ (Watson, 2000) of the 1930s and 40s. By the 1950s, Science Fiction had taken over as the primary popular genre (Watson, 2000). However, the ratings from the Shock! package proved that horror had a large television audience, and the screenings worked to help to revive cultural interest in the genre overall (Watson, 2000). Horror hosting was adopted by stations with large and small markets alike, with many local television stations adopting their own hosts and a few notable examples reaching mass appeal (Markusen, 2020). While the format continues on some scale to this day, horror hosting peaked from its inception to the mid 1970s, after which it declined in concentration and popularity (Markusen, 2020).

Another horror hosting pioneer, John Zacherle (known as Roland or Zacherley), who began hosting in 1957, popularized the format of discussing and parodying the hosted films directly while incorporating characters and skits that sometimes cut into the film mid-scene (Watson, 2000; Markusen, 2021). Each host’s show had a unique character and approach, but many implemented Zacherle’s format to some degree while aiming to add to the experience of watching the film rather than simply introducing it (Markusen, 2021). Zacherle also proved that horror hosts could garner substantial fan followings, gaining 100 fan clubs in his Philadelphia area (Watson, 2000), and a crowd of 13,000 at his first meet and greet (Markusen, 2021). Fan clubs formed around horror hosts later became a common occurrence, which were fueled by interactions between the host and audience through fan mail, public appearances, call-ins and guest spots (Watson, 2000). Though fandom of horror hosting was less prominent during the “second media age” (Bury, 2016) which saw the emergence of the internet and participatory information and communication technologies (ICTs), many fan clubs continued onto the web in the form of fan websites, e-zines (Smith, 1999) and message boards/forums (Chastain, n.d.).

Why should we study it?

As a media format and trend, horror hosting has unique qualities that could contribute to our understanding of host-audience relationships in media, specifically in terms of realness/fictionality, interactivity and communal viewership. Firstly, horror hosts are unique in the way that they utilize a combination of fiction, reality and interactivity in their persona and performance. Many types of performers, such as musicians (Parry, 2015; Nelson, 2016), drag artists (Parry, 2015) and found footage actors (McRobert, 2015; Nelson, 2015), combine aspects of reality and fiction to create unique performances and connect with audiences in new ways. Authors (McRobert, 2015; Parry, 2015; Nelson, 2016) have discussed how these topics are negotiated between audiences and performers, and how aspects of reality included in fiction can help immerse audiences in the performance (McRobert, 2015; Nelson, 2016). 

Horror hosting takes the blend of reality and fictionality a step further by permeating both the fictional story-world and the reality of the audience. Horror hosts often adopt a character that is rooted in horror tropes and references, with common host personas being vampires, werewolves, mad scientists, zombies or ghosts. They also sometimes insert themselves into the films as they play, using green screen effects to add themselves into the story to parody the film. In this way, horror hosts are engrossed in the world of horror and the films that they show. However, the format of horror hosting also established the films as fictional, since the hosts are introducing them and watching them alongside the audience. The hosting format also often incorporates references to real-life events or places, and allows for interaction with the audience through fan mail and public appearances.

Finally, horror hosting is unique in the way it incorporates a type of communal viewing experience through its format. The audience watches the film alongside the host, who often speaks directly to the viewer and discusses the story as it unfolds. This format mimics the experience of watching a film in a communal setting, which can create emotion and meaning that would not arise from solo-viewership (Enli, 2012; Korsvold, 2017; Markusen, 2021). While authors have acknowledged this emotional and meaning-making quality of communal viewership between people in real life (Korsvold, 2017) and hosted reality shows (Enli, 2012), they have not addressed the impact of watching fictional hosted media alongside a fictional on-screen character, especially one who exists in the story-world and can move between the story and reality.

This fictionally-real (Parry, 2015) role, where a host is a fictional character who can jump between the story and the real world, has not been studied by media research yet. I believe that the unique dynamics of the horror host role could provide insight into how audiences are impacted by the qualities of realness and fictionality of a host, in terms of their connection with both the host and the content they are hosting. This would add a new dimension of understanding to the study of how authenticity is negotiated by fans, and how it impacts their fandom and immersion. When the audience interacts with the host, they are also afforded a way to participate in the fictional story world that the host is a part of, which adds a new dimension to the study of host-audience/fan interactions. Study of horror hosting could provide a new understanding of whether fictional communal viewership, like the experience of watching a horror film alongside a fictional host, can have the same meaning-making and emotional impacts as real-life communal viewership.

These findings could be particularly relevant when applied to study of the horror genre, which aims to create fear and shock responses in audiences. Horror is particularly effective emotionally when it incorporates aspects of reality that imply that the film’s danger could somehow impact the audience directly (McRobert, 2015; Nelson, 2016). Horror hosts’ interaction with audiences very literally allow the horrors on screen to permeate reality. Therefore, it would be fruitful to study how the aspects of reality included by the horror host impact the audience’s emotions and reactions. Similarly, studying the unique communal experience of horror hosting shows could help us understand more about what makes horror effective, specifically how different types of communal consumption and interaction between the story and reality may impact audiences.

References

Bury, R. (2016). Technology, fandom and community in the second media age. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 23(6), 627–642. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856516648084

Chastain, G. (n.d.). Monstermad Lab Home Page. E-Gor’s Chamber of TV Horror Hosts. https://egorschamber.com/

Enli, G. S. (2012). From parasocial interaction to social TV: Analysing the Host–Audience Relationship in multi-platform productions. Northern Lights: Film & Media Studies Yearbook, 10(1), 123–137. https://doi.org/10.1386/nl.10.1.123_1

Korsvold, T. (2017). Childhood and children’s retrospective media consumption experiences. Nordicom Review, 38(2), 97–112. https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2017-0394

Markusen, B. (2021). Hosted horror on television: The films and faces of shock theater, creature features and Chiller Theater. McFarland.

McRobert, N. (2015). Mimesis of Media: Found Footage Cinema and the horror of the real. Gothic Studies, 17(2), 137–150. https://doi.org/10.7227/gs.17.2.9

Nelson, L. R. (2016). Choosing illusion: Mediated reality and the spectacle of the idol in Kōji shiraishi’s Shirome. Journal of Japanese and Korean Cinema, 8(2), 140–155. https://doi.org/10.1080/17564905.2016.1222149

Parry, O. G. (2015). Fictional realness: Towards a colloquial performance practice. Performance Research, 20(5), 108–115. https://doi.org/10.1080/13528165.2015.1095983

Smith, M. J. (1999). Strands in the web: Community‐building strategies in online fanzines. The Journal of Popular Culture, 33(2), 87–99. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1999.3302_87.x

Watson, E. M. (2000). Television horror movie hosts: 68 vampires, mad scientists and other denizens of the late-night airwaves examined and interviewed. McFarland.