Creature Feature
Another victory in my gradual battle to reclaim my adolescence….I received an email today from Roberta Solomon– better known to folks who were growing up in the Kansas City area between 1981-1988 as Crematia Mortem, the “ghostess with the mostest” host of KSHB-TV’s “Creature Feature” which ran on Friday nights.
I had tracked down her address (found through her current voice-over work), and sent her an email asking if she knew whether or not episodes of her program had been archived by anyone. (I’ve been dying to get ahold of even just a couple of episodes, since they formed such a huge part of the best memories of my high-school years)
She said that she’s got some stuff, and she thinks that her Director might have archived a few, and that she’s been thinking of putting together something—because so many people contact her, she feels that it might be time for a “Crematia comeback.”
Horror hosts used to be a huge part of late-night broadcasting on small local channels, a trend which pretty much died towards the end of the 80s with the invention of the Infomercial—where channels could be paid for their airtime, instead of having to fill the time themselves. I’m sure it’s just another example of my rapidly-approaching middle-age and the accompanying nostalgia, but I miss being able to turn on a cheesy old monster movie, and groan at the goofy antics of a ghoulish host, rife with bad puns and wobbly sets.
So, I’m still looking for tapes. But I’ve got an email from Crematia, and that’s cool.