R.I.P. John Zacherle

Sad news. Legendary horror host Zacherley has died. I met him at the Monster Bash back in 2006. 

"Good night, whatever you are!"

Zacherley and me.

From the WFMU blog:

The great John Zacherle, known to generations of horror fans as Zacherley, "The Cool Ghoul," has passed away at 98. The news came tonight as author Tom Weaver, a close friend of the Zacherle family, began informing colleagues of the the sad news, and an outpouring of tributes has already begun across the internet. 

A veteran of World War II, Zacherle started working at WCAU in Philadelphia in 1954, and in 1957, he got the job of being Philly's first late night horror movie host on Shock Theater, creating the character of Roland (pronounced Ro-LAND), who talked to his dead wife in her coffin. An association with Dick Clark, whose American Bandstand was based in Philadelphia, led to the recording of "Dinner With Drac" in 1958. He moved to New York's WABC in '59, became known as Zacherley and his show was renamed Zacherley At Large. He later hosted the Newark teenage dance show Disc-O-Teen, and was a DJ on WNEW and then WPLJ, where he stayed for ten years. 

Considered by many to be the greatest TV horror host of all-time, Zacherele has spent the last several decades appearing on TV, radio, and film and making personal appearances at conventions and special events. 

When I went to take a picture of his banner, he put his hand in the air. :)

I had him autograph his classic Monster Mash album

I bought his new CD at the time and he autographed it, also.