Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Horror Host 2015 Retrospective: John Stanley

Real name:John Stanley
Years active: 1979-1984, Oakland, CA


Spin-offs are not uncommon, although in the world of horror hosts this can still be unusual. John Stanley came into the world of horror in 1979 for KTVU Channel 2's Creature Features, first as a guest then partner for Bob Wilkins. When Wilkins left for greener pastures (working in marketing for some new wonder kid director named George Lucas), Stanley was picked to be his replacement. 

http://myweb.wvnet.edu/e-gor/tvhorrorhosts/grafix/johnstanley2.jpg



Opting to follow Wilkins example but not to simply ape his character, Stanley skipped the costumes and played it straight. For six years he had the movie going public in the palm of his hand, but it would be a changing market that did Creature Features in and nothing else. The station owners also didn't care for the new slew of horror films coming out, coupled with the changed nature of television by this point and Stanley saw Creature Features laid to rest.





His website can be found here

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