I always been a fan of Horror Hosts, from the days of Saturday Night Dead to Joe Bob and now Svengoolie, there’s many creative ghoulish characters operating their own versions on YouTube playing public domain films, but Sven delivers a lot of amusement and information concerning the films themselves.
JULY SVENGOOLIE NEWS
We are entering the second half of 2023 with this month of July, which includes a notable holiday (I’d say, “may the 4th be with you”, but May seems to have claimed that one) that includes parades, barbeques, and fireworks. We plan to create some fireworks of our own with the long-awaited arrival of the new Sven comic book and a slate of movies that could make you see red — scare you enough to turn your hair white — and hold your breath until you turn blue! Take a look at our July schedule!
8P | 7C EVERY SATURDAY
SVEN’S MOVIE SCHEDULE
JULY 8 – Ghoulies
JULY 15 – Ghoulies II
JULY 22 – The Uninvited
JULY 29 – Haunted Strangler
*Chicago viewers can watch an encore presentation on CW26 the following Saturday at 11am CT!
SVEN’S MONTHLY MESSAGE
Our movies for July are all over the road, from there, we go to two weeks featuring the first two films from an ‘80s series — kicking off with the original Ghoulies, in which musician/actor Michael Des Barres (Murdoc on the original MacGyver series) summons some pesky little demons to bedevil some young people who have inherited his estate. The week after, it’s the first sequel to that film — appropriately named Ghoulies II — in which a travelling carnival finds itself plagued by those same tiny terrors. Be watching during this show for a great guest appearance by a terrific performer channeling… yet another terrific performer!
After that, we move on to a favorite that we are bringing back, and restoring footage to, thanks to our now-expanded time slot: The Uninvited — a spine-chilling story featuring Ray Milland, well before he had x-ray eyes or was infested with frogs, who rents an 18th century house with supernatural tenants! We wind up this mid-summer month with The Haunted Strangler, in which the great Boris Karloff, as a social reformer and novelist, is out to prove the innocence of a man executed as a murderer — only to discover that, not only is he correct — but that said killer is still around! So, this month has a wide variety of scary selections from the 1940s all the way to the 1980s for you to enjoy!
Speaking of enjoyment, we had a really great time at Ozinga Field in Crestwood, IL last month, where I was once again an invited guest of the Windy City Thunderbolts baseball team! With the team — and yours truly, suited up in special Sven-themed jerseys (which were auctioned off online to benefit Make-A-Wish) — we got to meet a legion of fans, many of whom waited in line for over an hour to visit with me!
Okay, we’ve talked about this, and finally… it’s time for the release of the new Svengoolie comic book! Titled Svengoolie: Lost in Time, this special comic from the “Frank Miller Presets” line, features yours truly in the comic tale of an evil scientist (and frustrated would-be horror host) who creates a sinister SvenBot — and sends it back in time to change history and remove some of my TV sidekicks from our show, dooming me to failure, and giving HIM the chance to take over! You will definitely enjoy the artwork, done by such comics luminaries as Christopher Jones, who did the artwork on the Svengoolie Meets the DC Universe comic, as well as comics and children’s book artist Art Baltazar, and our friend Jill Thompson (creator of the “Scary Godmother”) — aided by artist/writer Franco Aureliani. The book will be available in many comic book shops on July 12, and there are variant different covers to choose from and collect. On Friday the 14th, I will be making a quick tour of a couple of Chicago area comics stores to promote the book! Check our appearances section for more information. We think you will enjoy this story, and the fantastic comic art!
By the way, if you’re a fan of comic art, you’ll definitely want to order the first of our 2023 Artist Collection t-shirts, done by Mark Spears! It’s a great item to kick off this year’s collection — check it out in our store (I have a store?)!
In other big appearance news, we will be doing the annual appearance at the Flashback Weekend Horror Convention in Rosemont, IL, early next month — with the biggest news being that we will have a special event with me sharing the stage with our friends, the legendary horror host Joe Bob Briggs, and his lovely mail girl Darcy! I know many of you know him from his cable show MonsterVision in years past, and also caught my visit to Joe Bob’s 100th program on Shudder, and I am so happy to be able to work with him again. It looks like we will not only be chatting together, but celebrity photo opportunities with Joe Bob, Darcy and I together will be available! Again, we will be providing more information later in the month in the appearances section of our website and in our blog.
UPCOMING APPEARANCES
As mentioned, Friday July 14th, we will be making stops at two Chicago area comic shops: first, we will hit Graham Crackers Comics in the Chicago Loop — where a limited number of issues of the comic with a special Jill Thompson cover will be available. We will be there from 11 am to noon ONLY, signing one copy of the book per person. The store advises you to arrive early to get a place in line, since our signing time there is firm. Find more information here: www.grahamcrackers.com under “events”.
Then, we visit Aw Yeah Comics in Skokie, IL, right outside Chicago, from 2 pm to 3 pm — again, ONLY for that hour — with the same rules: one signature per person, no matter how many copies you buy! Check out their website at www.awyeahcomics.com/skokie
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