The Son of Ghoul is a

horror host A horror host is a person who acts as the host or presenter of a program where horror films and low-budget B movies are shown on television or the Internet. Usually the host assumes a horror-themed persona, often a campy or humorous one. Generall ...

played by Keven Scarpino, appearing on ''The Son of Ghoul Show'' based in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

, where a

B movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...

is presented along with comedy sketches. In 2020, he was inducted into the

Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award, often called the Rondo Award, is an annual award founded in 2002 that honors journalism, scholarship and film preservation in the horror genre, particularly of classic horror film and their modern-day counterp ...

' Monster Kid Hall of Fame.

History

Scarpino's original inspiration came from

Ernie Anderson Ernest Earle Anderson (November 12, 1923 – February 6, 1997) was an American radio and television personality, horror host, and announcer. Known for his portrayal of "Ghoulardi", the host of late night horror films on WJW Channel 8 on Cleve ...

's popular 1960s host character

Ghoulardi Ghoulardi was a fictional character created and portrayed by voice announcer, actor and disc jockey Ernie Anderson as the horror host of ''Shock Theater'' at WJW-TV, Channel 8 (a.k.a. "TV-8") the CBS Affiliate station in Cleveland, Ohio, from J ...

. At a 1982 look-alike contest sponsored by Anderson's successor, ''The Ghoul'' (played by

Ron Sweed Ronald D. Sweed (January 23, 1949 – April 1, 2019) was an American entertainer and author, known for his late-night television horror host character "The Ghoul". Early life and career Sweed was born on January 23, 1949, in Euclid, Ohio. His mo ...

), Scarpino won first prize and was given the title, "Son of Ghoul" by Sweed himself. Shortly thereafter, he began working at

WOAC WRLM, virtual channel 47 (UHF digital channel 24), is a Tri-State Christian Television (TCT) owned-and-operated station licensed to Canton, Ohio, United States, and serving the Cleveland– Akron television market. The station's transmitter ...

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes and ...

, where he became familiar with

The Cool Ghoul The Cool Ghoul was a popular radio and TV character and horror movie host in Cincinnati, Ohio, created and portrayed by Dick Von Hoene, a Cincinnati native. With his trademark shout "Bleah, bleah, BLEAAAHHH!" and his inimitable tongue-flutterin ...

, another Ghoulardi-inspired television host played by George Cavender. Scarpino was hired as a technician on Cavender's show, "Thriller Theater", and was later given small parts in sketches.part 1
; see also parts 2-3
/ref> Cavender departed WOAC and ''Thriller Theater'' in 1986, and Scarpino auditioned along with others to become the show's next host. He got the job, and later renamed it ''The Son of Ghoul Show''. In 1995, WOAC was sold and switched to a home-shopping format, and Scarpino moved the show to the relatively new WAOH-LP, where the show was based until 2022. As of March 2019, the show started airing on Canton's WIVM TV-39 & WIVX TV-13 and WIVN TV-29 in Newcomerstown. Via WIVM, it is carried on Spectrum Cable channel 989 in the Stark county area and channel 15 in Tuscarawas, Holmes & Carroll counties in Ohio. MCTV Massillon Wooster Cable carry WIVM as well on channel 128.Son of Ghoul celebrates 20 years: Special telecast at 5 p.m. today will look back on show highlights. ''Akron Beacon Journal'', 16 June 2006. The Son of Ghoul can be streamed via the Internet through the Livestream website and selecting the WIVM Live Stream. The Son of Ghoul Show is broadcast Saturday and Sunday from 8PM to 10PM Eastern Time.

Lawsuit

In the late 1980s, Ron Sweed sued Scarpino, alleging that Scarpino stole Sweed's character. The lawsuit was dismissed on the grounds that the character similarities (e.g. their ghoulish appearance and hosting style) were too broad to be protected.

Sidekicks

Scarpino's long-time sidekick was Ron "Fidge" Huffman, known for having

dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition wherein an organism is exceptionally small, and mostly occurs in the animal kingdom. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dw ...

. Huffman died of alcohol poisoning in 2003,NewsNet 5
(

WEWS-TV WEWS-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC. It has been owned by the E. W. Scripps Company since its inception in 1946, making it one of two stations that have been built and signed on by Sc ...

) and his place was taken by "Jungle Bob".

Notes

External links

* *
TahoeNetworkTV.com
Horror movie television series Horror hosts Television in Cleveland {{tv-char-stub

History

Lawsuit

Sidekicks

See also

Notes

External links