CREATURE FEATURE
FRIGHT THEATRE
SATURDAY NIGHT FRIGHTS
SHOCK THEATRE

DICK BENNICK - "DR. PAUL BEARER"
JIM WISE - "ANNOUNCER" (HORROR, INC)
TOM HAMPER - "GRAVES" (HORROR, INC)
WARNER SMITHERS - "VAMPIRE" (HORROR, INC)

Dick Bennick was born on 3 November 1928 in Ashville, North carolina, USA and passed away on 15 February 1995 in Winter Haven, Florida, USA. Between 1966 and the 1990's, Bennick hosted five different horror movies, as well as making personal appearances. The shows: 1) "Shock Theatre" - presented movies on WGHP, Channel 8 Winston-Salem, North Carolina from 1966 until 1971. 2) "Horror, Inc." - presented movies on KSTP-TV in Saint Paul, Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1974. 3) "Fright Theatre" - presented movies on WTOG-TV, Channel 44 St. Petersburg/Tampa, Florida from 1973 until 1977. 4) "Creature Feature" - presented movies on WGHP then WTOG from 1971 until the 1990's. 5) "Saturday Night Frights" - presented movies on WTOG-TV Channel 44 in the mid 1980's. "Shock Theatre" was a hosted horror movie show with Dick Bennick as firstly "Count Shockula" (1966-1966) and later "Dr. Paul Bearer" (1966-1971) presenting movies on Friday or Saturday nights around 11:15pm or 11:30 pm on WGHP, Channel 8 Winston-Salem, North Carolina from 1966 until 1971. The show had morphed from the non-hosted show "Schock Theatre" on WGHP, running from 1963-1966. No one was noticing "Count Shockula", so Dick Bennick came up with the idea to invent a new character - "Dr. Paul Bearer", who would kill off "Count Shockula"on the show. For more information on Count Shockula, click on the below link: "Horror, Inc" "Horror, Inc." was a hosted /non hosted horror movie show with a variety of hosts and announcers presenting movies on KSTP-TV in Saint Paul, Minneapolis, Minnesota from 8 November 1969 until the mid to late 1970's. Over the years, there have been a variety of hosts including "Dr. Paul Bearer" and "Graves". From E-gors Chamber of TV Horror Hosts: "The first incarnation didn't have a host, but it featured the great voice-over talent of Mr. Jim Wise, who worked at KSTP radio". "The person exiting the coffin at the beginning and returning to the grave at the end, was Warner Smithers, who was then a floor director". Dick Bennick as "Dr. Paul Bearer " hosted the show during the summer of 1974. "For a couple of seasons in the mid to late 70's, Tom Hamper hosted the show on tape as "Graves." He was supposed to be a "vampire butler" or some such creature. He and a couple of pals acted out little skits between the movie segments. When that format ran out of gas, the station resumed the old "no host" format, until the series went off the air in the late 1970's. "The narrator would then read the following words: Lurking among the corpses are the body-snatchers, plotting their next venture into the graveyard.... the blood in your veins will run cold, your spine will tingle when you join us for an excursion through Horror Incorporated! This open and close ran for many a Saturday night in the early 1970's". The following is the opening for "Horror Incorporated": "Horror, Inc." - opening from The Professor's Scary Clips on Vimeo. The show went through a reboot from September 2000 until 2002, then again from September 2002 until 28 February 2004 under the title of "Horror Incorporated". In 2000, "Horror, Inc" was later revived as "Horror Incoporated", hosted by "Count Dracula". For more information on Count Dracula's "Horror Incoporated", click on the below link: In 2002, "Horror, Inc" was again rebooted as "Horror Incoporated", hosted by "Uncle Ghoulie". For more information on Uncle Ghoulie's "Horror Incoporated", click on the below link: Portrait of "Dr. Paul Bearer" by Dave Dunlap.

Portrait of "Dr. Paul Bearer" by Bradley Beard.
"Dr. Paul Bearer" - biography (taken from Bradley Beard's Facebook page)"

"How do you kill Count Shockula?" Today I present Dr. Paul Bearer, the horror host with that secret knowledge. In 1966 Count Shockula became the host of Shock Theatre in North Carolina on station WGHP and despite an appearance in Famous Monsters of Filmland issue #45, the Count's ratings remained low. The TV station ran a contest to kill Count Shockula and when Dr. Paul Bearer showed up to do the dirty work, a legend was born. Dr. Paul Bearer hosted Creature Feature on station WTOG in St. Petersburg, FL from 1973 until 1995. He relied on horrifically bad puns and manipulated his glass eye as part of his persona. In 1993, Tampa mayor Sandy Freedman named October 30 as "Dr. Paul Bearer Day". In 1995, Dick Bennick Sr., the creator of Shockula and Bearer, passed away during open heart surgery. I dedicate this post to his memory. In the words of Dr. Paul Bearer, "I'll be lurking for you..." tomorrow. A reboot of "Creature Feature" was launched with Russell Warner as "Professor Paul Bearer" on WTOG-TV Channel 44 in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA during October of 2004. In 2015, a new reboot was launched under the title of "Tombstone Tales" with Richard Koon as "Dr. Paul Bearer II". For more information on "Professor Paul Bearer", please use the below link: For more information on "Dr. Paul Bearer II", please use the below link:

In 2012, Dick Bennick - "Dr. Paul Bearer" of "Creature Feature",
was inducted into "The Official Horror Host Hall of Fame".

The following is the opening for "Creature Feature":

"Creature Feature" - opening from The Professor's Scary Clips on Vimeo.