“You Callled”…Nashville, Tennessee in the early 1970’s had a late Saturday night Horror Host show called Creature Features that would start at 10:30pm on WSM-TV Channel 4. The show would scare and entertaining its viewers, and the host of this show was the amazing Sir Cecil Creape, who, along with his trusty gas lamp, would entertain viewers with his antics. This legendary host was a major icon in Tennessee and would go on to inspire a ton of creative minds including Dr. Gangrene who is also a great host and an icon of Hosting. For those who live in Tennessee and for those Horror Host followers they know just how awesome Sir Ceciel Creape! So if you are ready, grab a cold drink, light the Jack O Lantern, open up all the widows to let a chill in and be prepared to spend a little time this Halloween with Horror Host Icon Sir Cecil Creape!
Sir Cecil Creape is a hunchbacked, balding man who wears strange 60’s style cloths with a cape, had messed up bucking teeth, a massive scar on his forehead and worked in the catacombs beneath the WSM studio that he would do his experiments in. He later would move to the basement of the Grand Ole Opry House. In this basement lab he would conduct experiments, share creepy yet humoroous stories and of course host the night’s movie. Sir Cecil Creape had a calming aspect to his voice when he spoke, almost giving you that false feeling of nothing scary is about to happen before you witnessed the horrors of that night’s film. He also very much had that gift to bond with the viewers as he spoke directly to them and made them feel part of what he had going on. What made him so special was that bond with his viewers as they would flock to him when he would make public appearances around the city. And I would be so bold as to say that he next to Sivad was the state of Tennessee’s two most popular and iconic hosts in that golden age of local TV. Sir Cecil Creape was played by Russ McCown who would play the role off and on for many years and would sadly pass away on January 3,1994 at the age of 65. While gone, Sir Cecil Creape will never be forgotten as his legacy in the world of Horror Hosting with truly never fade.
In September 1971 on WSM-TV Channel 4 out of Nashville, Tennessee a spooky movie show called “Creature Feature” with host Sir Cecil Creape was unleashed on viewers and their lives were forever changed and a must-see show was born. You see kids and adults were drawn into the strange host as well as the films of the evening. No matter how frightening or cheesy the film was, all they knew was that they had to watch and among friends, what happened in the movie was talked about, and most importantly what Sir Cecil Creape was up to. Sadly Creature Feature would end in 1973, but during his time on air Sir Cecil Creape would have his own fan club via WSM and even would make public appearances at local events and a Boy Scouts Patch was created by The Boy Scouts of America Tennessee Council for a very short time. But as I stated, the show’s end came in late 1973 thanks to WSM moving the show’s time slot from 10:30pm Saturday Nights to Saturday days and this was very unwise. But like all good Horror Hosts Sir Cecil Creape could not be kept down and on March 13, 1983 he would return to TV this time on TNN (The Nashville Network) with a show called The Phantom Of The Opry and would switch his location to the catacombs of the Opry House. The quality of his movies dropped, but his antics did not miss a step! And it was great that now a nationwide audience could see him do what he did best and that’s entertain and bring viewers the Horror Movies. The end of The Phantom Of The Opry came in December 1985 when TNN canceled it. While his Horror Hosting days were over, he still would make appearances from time to time in the start of the 90’s on the show “TNN’s Nashville Now” to the delight of all his fans. While both shows Creature Feature and The Phantom Of The Opry only lasted 2 years respectively, they both made a major mark on the genre as well as on Creape’s viewers and fans. And I want you readers to think about that, Sir Cecil Creape had only a total of 4 years as a Horror Host and in that short time he became a true icon in the state of Tennessee as well as in the history books of Horror Hosting. One thing that also makes Sir Cecil Creape so special is that he has a Connection to Dr. Lucifur who was one of the states original Horror Host who hosted Shock Theatre from 1958-1967! As many do not know this outside the state of Tennessee but Dr. Lucifur is the voice you hear that opens the classic episodes of Sir Cecil and throughout the shows run our host would also get packages from Lucifur as well as reference him during skits, showing that these two iconic hosts were indeed connected. And look for a Horror Host Icon update about Dr. Lucifur at some point here on Rotten Ink.
Sir Cecil Creape was so popular that during his time as a Horror Host he would also find himself being a patch for the Boy Scouts Of America in the Nashville area! It was for his Ghoul Patrol and this just showed how important this Horror Host was to his city as besides being honored gracing magazine covers he got a patch issued out to Scouts…what other Horror Host can say they got that Honor? I mean I would have love to see the Dayton, Ohio area Boy Scouts issue a Dr. Creep or Baron Von Porkchop patch…but sadly, I just don’t think that would ever happen. The patch is very much a collector’s item now and fans of the show would love to be able to get one for themselves, but they fetch high prices on Ebay and Etsy and are very rare to come by. I do want to say that his fellow Tennessee host Dr. Gangrene does have one of the patches that he wears very proudly on his lab coat during his show.
Sir Cecil Creape was inducted into the 2015 Class of the Horror Host Hall Of Fame and was inducted by Dr. Gangrene the legendary Tennessee host in his own right, and this only made sense as he was kept the spirit of Sir Cecil alive for decades. The fans in attendance really were happy when Sir Cecil got this honor as many felt it was long overdue. He took his place along with fellow classmates that included Superhost, Baron Von Wolfstein, Rhonda Shear, Gilbert Gottfried and Misty Brew to name a few. And in my opinion Sir Cecil should have been inducted way before this class as he was a true icon in Hosting and inspired many to follow in his footsteps.
As you readers know, I have been a mega fan of Horror Hosts for almost my whole life as I grew up watching the likes of Dr. Creep, Commander USA, Grampa Munster and The Creeper to name a few and over the decades I have discovered, learned about and watched so many hosts and one that I quickly became a fan of was Sir Cecil Creape as he was such a master of hosting as he had that magic touch of making us the viewers feel like we where along for the ride the whole episode, plus is humor was part cheesy but I always also picked up just a hint of playful sinister to pull you into the safe side of Horror, but also scare you just a little. He is also one of those Horror Hosts who made a big impact in the culture of his city as all the youth at the time of his first run use to stay up late to watch his show so that they could talk about it with friends the next time at school as watching Sir Cecil Creape and the movie he presented was the cool thing to do, and because of his show many of his viewers went on to do some great creative things in the world of Horror, Sci-Fi and Entertainment in general. Plus it was like the Nashville area also just opened their arms to Sir Cecil as he was booked for public appearances all over the city and he would always draw a big crowd showing just how much of a local celebrity he was. I also need to say that it’s crazy that Sir Cecil Creape has not gotten the Comic Book treatment as someone out their in the Nashville area needs to make this happen! As I know that here in Ohio one artist named Scott Scarborough who works for Blood Scream Comics would love to make a comic based around him. If you have never seen Sir Cecil Creape, do yourself a favor and find some of his shows on Horror Host Trade Lists, on the Grey Market or find clips of YouTube and give them a watch as you will see just how great he is.
So we are now at the part of this Horror Host Icon update where we take a look at the episodes I own in my collection and sadly I do not own as many as I would like as his stuff is hard to come by as many of the older shows are lost to time and his second run on TNN was when the station first started so many markets did not have it. I want to thank all those who had Horror Host Trade lists that sent these episodes to me over the decades and would like to remind you readers that I will be taking the films plots from our friends at IMDB and I will be writing about the hosts antics from the episodes. So with that, let’s head to the catacombs and see what Sir Cecil Creape has in store for us.
POTO: Mr. Wong Detective
Starring – Boris Karloff & Evelyn Brent Not Rated 1938
Host: Sir Cecil starts the episode off looking at the Underground Classified Ads as he needs to find some work as rent is due and he has no money to pay it. When he does not find one there, he looks through the normal paper and has the idea of selling some of the spooky stuff he has around his dungeon home. He tries then to have a phone interview for a Body Shop and of course gets hung up one when he thinks the job is for human bodies and not automobiles. He then thinks about working for the Blood Bank or even selling some of his blood collection to them but can not part with any of it. After returning from a break he informs us they did not hire him at the Blood Bank after they saw him in person. He then fails to get a job for a preserves company as well as working for a Newspaper Morgue as he thought it was for writers not the papers themselves. In the end he does not find a job and heads home to get some sleep.
Movie: When a chemical manufacturer is killed after asking detective James Wong to help him, Wong investigates this and two subsequent murders. He uncovers an international spy ring hoping to steal the formula for a poison gas being developed by the first victim’s company.
POTO: Terror By Night
Starring – Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce Not Rated 1946
Host: Sir Cecil has a bunch of mail delivered, and he goes through and opens it with stuff like the insurance on his teeth, a message from his twin brother and even more weird junk mail. When he opens up a box, he finds that inside is a banjo and he is confused to why it was sent to him and what it is for. He later gets a phone call from Bud who works for the Opry and who is coming down to deliver a package of candy bat wings that was delivered above and not below, he also gets another message that a coffin with a body (Aunt Vampira) inside has been delivered as well above. Sir Cecil leaves the banjo outside is dungeon and in the end he gets one last call from Bud who has a jar of creeping unknown upstairs for him!
Movie: When the fabled Star of Rhodesia diamond is stolen on a London to Edinburgh train and the son of its owner is murdered, Sherlock Holmes must discover which of his suspicious fellow passengers is responsible.
POTO: White Zombie
Starring – Bela Lugosi & Madge Bellamy Not Rated 1932
Host: Sir Cecil is reading a magazine and finds out that he is fat and decides to order a muscle-building machine from one of the magazines ads. And as he takes us to the start of the movie he starts doing figure exercises. Later his order of exercise machine comes in and he can not even lift 10 pounds without major strain, he is so embarrassed that he rigs up a pulley system to make it look as if he can lift it over his head after a movie break. He then chooses to try and get exercises by listening to a radio show, but the show mostly has commercial breaks so he never gets to work out as while Sir Cecil goes to get his jump rope the show is interrupted by a dance class show!
Movie: A young man turns to a witch doctor to lure the woman he loves away from her fiancé, but instead turns her into a zombie slave.
Note From Matt: Sadly the last segment of this episode is missing
Sir Cecil Creape is a Horror Host whose legacy will live on forever as he was something very special and was a big part of the culture in Nashville, Tennessee during both of his runs on television. And with Dr. Gangrene around who is a mega fan of Sir Cecil I am sure he will never let his memory fade. I wish that more episodes of his show would be around as they are great watches and his style of hosting just draws you in as a viewer. I for one am a big fan of Sir Cecil Creape and it was a very big honor for me to be able to do this Horror Host Icon update about him. But for our next update we will be meeting back here at this very blog for the big Halloween update and this year it’s going to be a fun one as we will be talking about the 1979 killer bat film Nightwing and the Photo Novel Comic based on it! So until next time, read a Horror Comic of three, watch a Horror Movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you on Halloween as the bats are coming!
