Back on Friday night, November 13 1959, "Ronald" first rose from a coffin at 11:30 bringing Shock Theater to the Tidewater area of Virginia.  In fact, Shock Theater debuted the night WVEC . . . Channel 13  . . . first aired on that frequency.  Since the debut of Channel 13 was on Friday the 13th, it seemed a natural thing to take advantage of their package of vintage horror classics with a horror hosted show.

After a little thought, creator and main ghoul Jerry Sandford, felt "Ronald" might be a nice southern counterpart to Philly's Roland.  The show was an immediate success and each week in the first year, Ronald would rise from the dead live . . . which is to say the show was live . . . and each episode began with the same opening.  After slowly lifting himself from his pine box Ronald would rasp out in a slow, ghostly voice, "Good evening friends.  Thus with a strange mix of eeriness and southern hospitality, Ronald would invite his audience to join him for a little bed time story.  This was a recipe for success with a devoted audience, especially kids, who were very happy to be just a little creeped out from 1959 to 1964 when the show ended.

Ronald was originally a solo act, but like many shows, his popularity inspired expansion.  Early on his assistant, Igor (seen in the mask in the picture above), was a fixture.  So was the book seen in the picture.  At the beginning of each episode, Ronald would open the book to find the story to tell . . . about a count who fed on the blood of the living in a far off land, or a man who turned into a wolf when the wolfbane bloomed.  He also used his bumps to tie in the details of the previous or preceding segment of the film.  This approach was a natural outgrowth of Sandford's position as film editor for the station, since he always knew exactly what was coming in each segment.  There was a sense of seriousness to this, but at the same time the show never took itself too seriously.

In addition to Igor, WVEC's Shock Theater,  featured a few regular guests including a character known as "The Cool Ghoul," a bereted, goateed, undead hip cat with a beatnik sensibility.  Unfortunately, no known pictures exist of the character.  Also appearing was the lovely woman seen to the right, but sadly, no one remembers her name . . . .  After all, it was 50 years ago!

Another feature of the show was Ronald's coffin, which essentially had a life of its own.  Among various adventures, the coffin was once stolen before a few hours before the show.  The studio had the floors cleaned in the afternoon and everything had been moved outside.  When the coffin was missing, Jerry--in full Ronald makeup--began going door to door in the neighborhood asking, "Have you seen my coffin?"  Even funnier perhaps is where it was found . . . in a shopping center across the street where three teenagers had put it up and were charging the princely sum of a quarter a piece for people to sit in Ronald's coffin for a minute.  Apparently, they had a line down the block!

Ronald's final appearance was actually in a 1968 Halloween special, but unfortunately, the footage from this event as well as all other shows has been lost to time.  However, Ronald lives on for many people who watched him as youngsters and local viewers need to keep a close eye out for a rebirth of Shock Theater.  More on that as things take shape . . .

FAN CONTRIBUTIONS

I noticed that you mentioned that there were no surviving clips of SHOCK or photos of the "Cool Ghoul". Well, I happen to at least have about a two minute long audio clip of the opening theme from SHOCK that I recorded on my older brother's reel-to-reel tape recorder sometime in the early sixties.  

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After the theme song plays (with a couple of background comments from my other brother), you hear the entrance of the Cool Ghoul and the sound effects as he opens Ronald's coffin. Unfortunately, the clip ends before Ronald says his famous "Good evening, friends" line.

I noticed that you mentioned that there were no surviving clips of SHOCK or photos of the "Cool Ghoul". Well, I happen to at least have about a two minute long audio clip of the opening theme from SHOCK that I recorded on my older brother's reel-to-reel tape recorder sometime in the early sixties.

After the theme song plays (with a couple of background comments from my other brother), you hear the entrance of the Cool Ghoul and the sound effects as he opens Ronald's coffin. Unfortunately, the clip ends before Ronald says his famous "Good evening, friends" line.

I had this recording on an old, crumbling reel-to-reel tape that I had saved for over 45 years, and finally transferred to my PC as an MP3 file. If you'd be interested in hearing it, I'd be glad to share it with you.

You also asked on the web site about any one who may have been overlooked in the film. I don't know if this counts, but I had a one time Halloween special (similar to Shock Theatre) back in 1986 (and rerun in 1987) on WJPR Channel 21 in Lynchburg. It was called MONSTERPIECE THEATRE and it was done as a pilot for a possible series to be run on Friday nights on that station. (See attachment) We needed sponsors to continue, but the money never came, so we only did the one show. My character was known as "Alistair Grimm". I have an old VHS copy of the show, which I may someday put on a DVD. The movie that we presented was "The Night Stalker" with Darren McGavin.

I also remember Dr. Madblood and Mike Arlo, who used to hang out at Earl Edwards Magic Shop in Norfolk. Earl and his daughter Donna were our neighbors when I was kid. Donna was a regular on the Madblood Show.

Our story begins late in 1963, as a military family finds lodgings in a small Virginia town, living off base in Portsmouth, Virginia.  I was ten years old, a tomboy, and loved playing Cowboys n’ Indians way more than playing dress-up with dolls and their tiny outfits.

Having noticed that my sister (older by five years) was allowed to stay up MUCH later than me, and curious as to what she and my Mom were laughing and talking about out there in the living room, I begged to be allowed to stay up later on the weekends and join them. Thus was my introduction to the cult of late night monster movies and, more importantly, late night monster movie hosts.

I do not remember the movie I saw, but etched into my brain and soul were the opening credits of ‘SHOCK THEATER!’ Mom had moved the TV (on it’s rickety rolling stand) into the dining room, and she and my sister were putting the finishing touches on a small cheesecake they’d made from a mix. I’d never had cheesecake either, and was scoffing at the layer of ‘icky’ sour cream they were spreading over the finished pie when the show started.

In the midst of whining “Who eats soured cream?!?” I heard a smooth yet raspy voice croon ‘Good Eeeeeeeeeeevning Freeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnz”…..my jaw dropped, my heart pounded and I didn’t know whether to run screaming for my bedcovers or scramble into Mom’s lap like a startled spider monkey. But I knew if I did either one, I’d forfeit my shiny-new membership in the ‘get to stay up late’ club, so I desperately tried to remain nonchalant as Ronald The Ghoul introduced the evening’s entertainment. I was mesmerized, terrified, and actually trembling as I (so I thought) surreptitiously kept my sister or my Mom between the TV and me at all times. His scarred eyebrow was fascinating…the large carbuncles on his face gave me the willies…and those HUGE staring EYES seemed to look into my brain!!! And yet, his melodic, almost gentle voice told me I was safe, and that even though he’d take me down a new and scary path, he would not leave me there alone and afraid.

I ended up talking with my sister and Mom during the movie, and then snapping to attention whenever Ronald appeared. I was hooked, I was giddy with excitement, and I don’t think I slept that night….and I could not WAIT for next Saturday to roll around again. When we were transferred to other bases for the rest of my Dad’s military career, I always had two goals once we were ensconced: Find a riding stable, and find a channel that had a monster movie on Saturday night!

‘Ronald’ has become part of the fabric of our family tapestry. My siblings and Mom have said ‘Good eeeeeeeeeevvvning freeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnz’ to each other constantly over the years. Jerry Sandford’s ‘Ronald’ set the standard by which I judge all other monster movie hosts, and they usually come up short. AND finding out from my sister years later that he was also ‘Bungles The Clown’ on the morning kiddie show rocked my world!

The crowning glory of all of this is that I have had the privilege of corresponding with Mr. Sandford himself and that Jerry (I get to call him Jerry!!!) is a most gracious, eloquent, delightful man.  Having him in my life is icing on the cake…sour cream icing, to be exact…which was also a fabulous discovery that night…who knew how fantastically tasty it is to put sour cream on cheesecake!?!?!

--P. J. Jenkinson