"The Hilarious House of Frightenstein" and its host, Count Frightenstein are in a category all their own. This was not a hosted movie show, but more a show targeted at children, but capturing all the fun and spooky aspects of the traditional horror hosted shows. "The Hilarious House of Frightenstein" was hosted by Billy Van as Count Frightenstein assisted by: Fishka Rais - Igor, Big Guy as - Mini-Count, Vincent Price - The Narrator. Other regulars were played by: Joe Torbay - various characters, Julius Sumner Miller - The Professsor, Mitch Markowitz - various characters. William Allan Van Evera (Billy Van) was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and died in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on 6 January 2003. Van was a well known comedian, actor (including voice) and singer, appearing or providing the voice in many movies and televisions series including: "The Wayne and Shuster Hour" "The Sonny and Cher Show" "Eureka" "Law & Order" "The Horror Hall of Fame" in which he played the hunchback "Zuckman", assistant to the host, Vincent Price For further information on "The Horror Hall of Fame", click on the below link: In 1971, CHCH-TV & The Markowitz Corp produced 130 episodes of "The Hilarious House of Frightenstein". They completed all episodes during a nine month period. Rather than making an episode at a time, they would shoot all the required footage for each character for each episode, and later would edit together these clips to form each episode. The show was designed for children and featured segments that were fun and usually educational. The story arc was that Count Frightenstein, was the thirteenth son of Count Dracula. When he failed to revive Brucie J. Monster, he was exiled to Castle Frightenstein in Frankenstone, Canada. Igor, and Mini-Count, assist the Count to revive Brucie, which always fails. The show was continual re-screened throughout Canada and parts of the USA for some 25 years. Throughout the series, Van was able to demonstrate his versatility through playing 11 different characters in each episode. For a full list of characters click here: Check out the merchandise Portrait of "Count Frightenstein" by Dave Dunlap. Portrait of "Count Frightenstein" by Bradley Beard. "Count Frightenstein" - biography (taken from Bradley Beard's Facebook page) "Another lovely day begins, for ghosts and ghouls with greenish skin. So close your eyes and you will find that you've arrived in Frightenstein. Perhaps the Count will find a way to make his monster work to-day. For if he solves this monster-mania, he can return to Transylvania! So welcome where the sun won't shine, to the castle of Count Frightenstein!". Tonight I present Count Frightenstein, star of The Hilarious House of Frightenstein, a Canadian children's program produced by Hamilton, Ontario's independent station CHCH-TV in 1971. Billy Van starred as Count Frightenstein as well as portraying a majority of the characters on the show. Vincent Price starred in introductions to the shows different segments, over 400 in all which he filmed in 4 days. The series consists of 130 episodes which were all filmed in a nine month period. Even though this was not a horror hosted show, Count Frightenstein was inducted into the 2015 Horror Host Hall of Fame. "The castle lights are growing dim. There's no one left but me and him. When next we meet in Frankenstone...don't come alone." In 2015, Billy Van - "Count Frightenstein", was inducted into "The Official Horror Host Hall of Fame". As the series has been continuously shown in Canada since 1971, on the 31st of October 2016, Norfolk County presented a Certificate of Recognition to Mitch Markowitz. Fortunately, most of the series is available on YouTube and Tubi-TV Click on image to access

The opening audio of the show

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