In 1957, Universal Pictures syndicated a television package of fifty-two classic horror movies released by Screen Gems called Shock Theatre. The package included the original Dracula, Frankenstein, Mummy, and Wolfman movies. Shock Theatre premiered with Lugosi's Dracula in Detroit on WXYZ channel seven at 11:30 pm on Friday, February 7, 1958.
Each syndicated television market had their own host. Detroit had one of the first horror movie personalities in the country. The show was hosted by Mr. X--Tom "Doc" Dougall--a classically trained actor who taught English at the Detroit Institute of Technology and moonlighted as a vampire on Friday nights. Unlike later horror movie hosts who would spoof their roles or riff on the movies they showed, Dougall was grimly serious and set a solemn tone for what was to follow. What most people don't know about Professor Dougall is that he co-wrote several Lone Ranger and Green Hornet scripts for WXYZ radio.
The opening of the show was memorable, but I was only nine years old when I started staying up every Friday night to see the classic monsters and mad-scientists--The Invisible Man comes to mind. This is how I remember the opening:
There was something positively unholy about the show which made it an instant success with my generation of ghoulish Detroit Baby Boomers. The show's ominous organ music set the mood for the audience. The piece was listed only as #7 on a recording of Video Moods licensed for commercial television and not available to the public.
No video link to Detroit's Shock Theatre's opening has surfaced, but the above newspaper ad for the show gives an idea of the facial dissolve special effect. If anyone knows where I can find a link, Gmail me so I can add it to this post. Thanks.
Detroit's Baby Boomer Kid Show Hosts:
https://fornology.blogspot.com/2017/12/detroit-baby-boomer-kids-show-hosts.html
I STILL CAN'T BELEIVE THAT AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, NO TAPE OR FILM OR KINESCOPE EXISTS OF MR.X AND THE SHOCK OPENING...CERTAINLY HAS BEEN A VOID IN THIS LIFE AS IT HAD SUCH AN IMPACT ON ME AS A 7 YEAR OLD...IS THERE ANY HOPE THAT SOMETHING WILL SURFACE??? PLEASE DON'T STOP LOOKING...I PROMISE I WON'T EITHER...Michael dePrisco
ReplyDeleteMe either! Still looking!
DeleteHow many time did I adjust the rabbit ears to watch on the black and white TV for and with my Dad and I to watch Mr X - Shock theater show. I remember my mom saying it is time to go to bed and my dad saying let him stay up. I was 7-8 back in the day. There I was watching classic Horror TV shows.
ReplyDeleteAs I remember I think there was also a coffin that opened up also.
Another great TV show was crated called the Soupy Sales show with White fang and black fang. But that is for another post.
I remember hopping on a bus in Detroit and going downtown to see Psycho (1960) I was 10 years old. Saturday matinees were I think .50 cents to get in and buy popcorn for 15 cents a box and at the start of the movie when the lights went down the whole theater would Frisbee/ collapse there popcorn boxes and helicopter them at the screen.
oh man; thanks for the good memories of my chid hood
Me too. Born in the D in 1953 (but glad I left later). "The Kramer" theater was many blocks from my house but we occasionally walked up there on a Saturday. I remember one where the 9 ft tall Frankenstein monster himself walked out on the stage before the movie. We lived on Central Ave just off Fort street. Went to Beard elementary school on Waterman st. Soupy was cool TV too!
DeleteMy brother and I would stay up late to watch this show while my parents were out bowling. One night the show was so scary I started crying and beg my brother to turn it off. He wouldn't. I ended up calling my parents at the bowling alley and they had to have him get on the phone so they could scold him and tell him to turn off the show. I don't think he ever forgave me, LOL! I still remember some of the movies that we saw and a couple I even bought on DVD in later years so I could watch them again. The Ape Man comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteI remember this show so well. I was 8 at the time in Toledo and was able just get reception. I waited anxiously all week to see what the next movie was and didn't care how many times I watched Dracula, Frankenstein, etc.. I became a great fan of Bela Lugosi because of Shock Theater and 2 weeks ago on a trip to CA I was able to visit his grave. Thank you Gregory for publishing this article.
ReplyDeleteI have the same memories as Mr. Tompkins. It was the thrill of the week to watch this show. It didn't matter what movie was being shown; it was the fun of staying up late, preferably alone in the dark in the living room. If my mom had made some popcorn, it was even better. I miss that TV program so much!
ReplyDeleteEpsillon, I have the same memories as you. Don't know how I managed to stay up so late to watch this show, but I did. And our other TV was in the dark basement which added to the effects. Great childhood memories for sure. I think it came on around 11:30 or midnight on Fridays.
ReplyDeleteTB, the basement! Perfect! Even better if was an unfinished basement. In 1959 I would have been 13 and living in Windsor. Shock Theatre, The Twilight Zone, Soupy Sales and the Fox Theatre in Detroit. All just a small part of a wonderful childhood that I remember dearly.
DeleteI attended the Detroit Institute of Technology back in 1967 and took a speech class from Dr. Dougall. Sometimes he would come to class drunk and we could get him to recite "Lock your doors, close your windows, and dim your lights. Prepare for Shock." It was a gas because I remembered how frightful he made me feel when the show aired. I remember my cousin and I would sit behind the TV to watch Shock theater and peeking at the screen ever so often when movies like Frankenstein or the Mummy were on.
ReplyDeleteI also had Dr Dougall for a couple classes at DIT in 72 or so. He was great and a true professional. And yes he came in buzzed a few times...But so did I...lol
DeleteLoved Shock theater as a kid...
Close your doors, lock all of your windows, dim all your lights and prepare for SHOCK THEATER! I was 5...scared the living * out of me! 🤣🤣🤣🤣. This brought back so many memories!
ReplyDeleteBring it back
DeleteOooooh, the memories...it was fun to watch those horror movies with the family while having a snack, and getting the living daylights scared out of you. I live in Chicago now but I cherish those memories of watching Shock theatre while munching on an Angelo's coney island (a Flint, Michigan specialty).
ReplyDeleteI just discovered this message board, and I remember Shock Theatre. Funny you mentioned Angelo's Coney Islands, 'cause I remember eating them while watching Shock Theatre, too! Oooh, weren't those coneys good! I was born and raised in Flint and I now live in Chicago (soon to return to Michigan).
DeleteOh how I remember SHOCK THEATER with MR X! The show started in 1958 and the first one me and my brothers watched was THE MUMMY with BORIS KARLOFF!!! My mother took out a box of WHITMAN SAMPLER'S and shut off the lights!!! I watched SHOCK THEATER until the end. One summer it came on every night...and sometimes there would be a SUPER SHOCK which played right after the first show at 11:00pm! Here's what MR X would say before the picture started; "AND BEFORE WE RELEASE THE FORCES OF EVIL! GUARD YOUR SELVES AGAINST THEM! CLOSE YOUR WINDOWS! DIM YOUR LIGHTS! LOCK YOUR DOORS! INSULATE YOURSELVES AGAINST SHOCK!!! Then his face would turn into a skull!!! Such a wonderful time!!!
ReplyDeleteSomebody just MUST find the video of that open ! I've been searching YouTube for more that 12 years!
DeleteI remember it a little different.....1957 and early 1958. "Lock your doors, shut (or maybe bar)
ReplyDeleteyour windows, insulate yourself against SHOCK ! With a bolt of crackling lightning ! Wow i loved it
And then his face would morph into a skull 😱🤣🤣🤣
DeleteYes I remember watching "Shock" Theatre when my family visited my great aunt Marie in Wheatley, Ontario. Used to scare the crap out of me to, but I still remember.
ReplyDeleteI watched that show religiously ! Loved it. I was about 10 or 11 yrs old. Lived on Detroit's west side. Saw it on channel 7 ! It was the best of times!!
ReplyDeleteMe too, Sea Hunt was on just before it
DeleteMiss those days
Yes Yes!!!
DeleteOMG, yes, Sea Hunt! I remember that! The warm-up, getting cozy in front of the Tv for Shock Theatre. Yes it WAS channel 7 for me too. This blog brings back such amazing memories. Someone mentioned "The Mummy" and I was there too in front of the TV that night!
DeleteHow about the music for the show?
ReplyDeleteI was 7 when Shock first came on. I clearly remember Mr X's opening monologue ending with "Insulate yourself against shock". I remember he broke his arm or wrist once and appeared on a few shows wearing a sling. Shock came on at 11:30. Soupy Sales had an adult oriented talk/humor show just before it (I think it started at 11:15). I remember after the first time I saw Lugosi's Dracula on Shock I went to bed that night with a Rosary around my neck. Thanks to you all for the great memories.
ReplyDeleteMy father took me to the Studio in Southfield Michigan. And I remember Mr. X having the cast on his arm. My dad took me to meet him and I didn’t want nothing to do with him. Scared!. Lol
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ReplyDeleteOMG -- I was watching Shock Theatre as an impressionable 7-yr old -- scared stiff yet also fascinated. Many scary movies, nothing cute or camp about it. "The Black Cat," which culminated with Bela Lugosi flaying Boris Karloff alive, is the scariest movie I have ever seen. I recall Shock Theatre starting with an out-of-focus skull that gradually came into focus. Or was it the other way around? I watched in the dark with my older brother and sister in LaSalle, MI, eight miles north of the Ohio state line.
ReplyDeleteI use to watch shock theater with my grandmaw every Saturday night. I absolutely loved it.
ReplyDeletewhat a joy to read that what great memories scared us as kids but we loved it........innocence. would love to see a clip of mr x he was a classic
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ReplyDelete?
Yes it was a great TV program SCARY!!!!
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I had the pleasure of talking his class at DIT and prior to that absolutely loved Shock Theater!I have a love for all those classic Universal horror films that will never die!(pardon the expression)
ReplyDeleteYes!!
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ReplyDeleteI had forgotten this show!!!! Thanks so much for these memories, Greg!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing everyone. I'm crashing this thread as a youngster (59) but an artist and devout monster kid, though I came late to the game. Fascinating to hear about Mr. X. I'm from Detroit and grew up with Sir Graves Ghastly who was much cheese, and later, The Ghoul - who was bananas!
ReplyDeleteMy Dearborn family loved Shock Theater and watched it religiously. Soupy Sales had an odd show preceding that where he was “Cuda Dux”, a type of mystic swamy! Hilarious. No tv line that these days!
ReplyDeleteI used to tease my brother. He was scared of the opening because as the words were being said there was a blur on the screen that got sharper and sharper and in the end when the said the last line of the intro it would be a clear picture of a skull.
ReplyDeleteHe hid behind a chair and I was suppose to tell him when it was over, but the volume was turned down and just as the skull would appear, I would tell him its over, turn up the volume and the skull was there.
Too funny. He fell for it several times and would cry that I said I had I promised not to do that. BUT I DID! 😆
Born and raised in Detroit, i watched both Soupy Sales having lunchtime at home and then running back to school AND
ReplyDeleteShock Theatre on Friday Night. My dad came home at that time from work and my bro and I watched it. The deal was last one downstairs had to turn off the lights, so you can guess what happened. Lol
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