NIGHTMARE THEATER

BOB CROWLEY - "THE GRIM REAPER"

"Nightmare Theater" was a hosted horror movie show with Bob Crowley as "The Grim Reaper" hosting horror and science fiction movies on KENS-TV Channel 5, in San Antonio, Texas, USA from 13 September 1980 until 12 July 1982, on Saturday nights at 10:30am. From "Remembering 'Project Terror,' San Antonio's original late-night horror movie show" by Rene A. Guzman: The Grim Reaper, the faceless, hooded host who cracked jokes as sharp as his scythe. KENS-TV announcer Bob Crowley played the droll a" with a cardigan over his cloak and a whodunnit mystery in the vein of "Who Shot J.R.?" from the hit CBS series "Dallas." (Naturally, the "Nightmare" sendup was called "Who Shot G.R.?") Even scarier, Crowley initially performed his Reaper segments on live TV. Longtime KENS news anchor Deborah Knapp went to MacArthur High School with Crowley when he was a drama student. She remembered wrapping up many a Saturday night newscast at KENS as Crowley walked into the studio in full Reaper gear, practicing his bits for the night. "Bob just had a wicked sense of humor," Knapp said. "He had just so much fun with that role." "Nightmare Theater" ended July 12, 1982, with a rebroadcast of 1954's "Gorilla at Large," a simian murder mystery shot in 3D. Crowley went on to pursue work in radio. He died in 2020 at age 64. Bob Crowley From San Antonio Radio Hall of Fame: Bob Crowley spent his childhood listening to KONO 86 and by high school had decided to make a career as a radio announcer. While taking speech lessons and acting in plays, he met Bob Jolley who hired him as announcer for his program on KLRN-TV. Next KBAT's Bill Hoadley offered to mentor Bob, letting him practice on the equipment, make tapes, and file records at the station. In 1973 Bob attended the University of Houston where he worked at the campus station and briefly at KLOL. In 1974, Bob returned to San Antonio to work part-time at KITY-FM. A year later, he was heard on KTFM as Barney Stone. Bob worked at 4 more stations in 4 years including as Music Director at legendary KEXL. In 1979 he was involved with Catholic Radio, producing the English Mass that aired live on KCCW. Over the next 5 years, Bob did overnight news at KONO, was station announcer for KENS-TV, worked weekends at KISS and had a part-time job at KLLS. He was also News Director at KSAQ and news anchor at KRNN and at WOAI. In 1987, Bob moved to Austin where he created a radio division for a statewide television news organization. He returned to San Antonio to sell time at KENS-AM before moving to Dallas. Bob served as chairman of the San Antonio Cable Advisory board and served on the boards of the Austin Society of Professional Journalists and ACTV community television. Bob passed away in April 2020. The following are clips from the show: "Nightmare Theater" - clips from The Professor's Scary Clips on Vimeo.

LINKS

Internet Movie Data Base "Nightmare Theater"	San Antonio Express_News "Remembering 'Project Terror,'"	Internet Movie Data Base "Bob Crowley"
Geekademia "The Grim Reaper"	San Antonio Radio Hall of Fame "Bob Crowley"	E-gors Chamber of TV Horror Hosts "The Grim Reaper"

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