Horror Host Icon: Count Floyd

Horror Hosts can be viewed all types of ways from major broadcast TV, all the way to old home media tapes found at a local thrift shop and all types of hosts are out there waiting for their viewers to join them on a spooky journey through the night’s creature feature. Not to even mention the different styles of Horror Host shows that have entertained viewers for decades as most Hosts presents movies of all type of cult statues, but not all Horror Hosts guide us through movies…some are hosts on sketch comedy shows and one of the best Horror Hosts from that style of hosting hands down is Count Floyd of SCTV who has entertained viewers with his goofy howl and cheesy skits he hosted, and to be honest Count Floyd has been apart of my childhood and even in my 40’s his antics still are entertaining me. So it’s with great honor that I bring to you Horror Host Icon: Count Floyd, an update that is perfect for my Hall Of Fame Anniversary updates.

Monster Chiller Horror Theater started on SCTV back in 1980’s and was “aired” on a very low-quality TV Station called SCTV that was ran by a very cheap program director who would get some of the worst and even none horror films to have host Count Floyd struggle to hype for viewers that were mostly kids. He was given very poorly made features that starred character Dr. Tongue, and the gimmick was they were in 3-D! And while the movies were pure stinkers, Count Floyd tried his best to build the film up as scary and spooky…even though he knows they are terrible. But while his show was so cheaply made and his films bottom of the barrel, he was the favorite Horror Host for such people as Space Ghost and Ed Grimley! But really Monster Chiller Horror Theater started on Canadian skit comedy show SCTV that ran from 1976-1984 and featured some amazing talented comedians like John Candy, Rick Moranis, Martin Short, Dave Thomas, Harold Ramis and Eugene Levy and brought us characters like The McKenzie Brothers, Dr. Tongue, Ed Grimley and of course Count Floyd. SCTV was like Saturday Night Live and when on air had a solid viewership as it was silly light-hearted goofy comedy. So while not a real Horror Host show Monster Chiller Horror Theater has truly left its mark on fans a viewers and made Count Floyd a kids favorite Host character.

Count Floyd is a vampire who wears a white turtleneck shirt, a cheap cape and has a painted on widows peak with no fangs. He lives in a castle and sleeps in a coffin and loves to greet his viewers with a very loud and off pitch werewolf howl flowed by a jolly chuckle. And Count Floyd is a true icon in the world of TV Parody as well as Horror Hosting as his Monster Chiller Horror Theater skits on SCTV brought him a cult following as well as brought attention and eyes on the Horror Hosts of the world. Count Floyd on SCTV was played news anchor and reporter Floyd Robertson who had to do double duty for the station and had no clue about Horror Hosting and had zero idea on what makes a vampire a vampire! Count Floyd would make the best of his super cheap movies that he was forced to show and did his best to entertain his live audience when they were on set. Sadly his time on SCTV would end in 1984 but this did not stop him as Count Floyd would go on to star in many direct to video programs that included many for kids that would teach them about stranger danger and fire safety. During the band Rush’s “Signals” and “Grace Under Pressure” tours a video of Count Floyd would play and he would introduce the song “The Weapon”! Back in 1987 he would be the pitchman for The Bat a roller coaster from Canada’s Wonderland Amusement Park. In 1987 Count Floyd would host a free weekend of Cinemax bringing his brand of Horror Host humor to families all over America. He would appear on the 1988 cartoon show “The Completely Mental Misadventures Of Ed Grimley” as well as “Cartoon Planet” and be introduced by Space Ghost. In 1999 on TNT Monstervision Count Floyd was a guest host along with Rhonda Shear of USA Up All Night to join Joe Bob Briggs on his Halloween special hosting “In The Mouth Of Madness” also in 1999 Count Floyd appeared in the CBC TV Film “Must Be Santa” that was directed by Brad Turner. The band The Wet Secrets for their music video “Nightlife” had Count Floyd appear and go up against sparkly bloodsuckers. Count Floyd is a true icon of TV and yes I would say Horror Hosting and this goofy Vampire that howls has brought so much laughs to so many people.

The man that was behind Horror Host Count Floyd is Joe Flaherty who is a great comedian and actor that was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 21, 1941, and started his career as a comedian when he moved to Chicago and worked for the Second City Theater. Also while in Chi-Town he appeared on National Lampoon Radio Hour from 1973-1974. After a run in Chicago came to an end Joe moved to Toronto, Canada as he had a goal to help set up a Second City Theatre group there, and so was born the TV show SCTV that he was not only an actor on but also a writer for, and on this show is were Count Floyd was born and he would be on the show from 1976-1984. And during this time and after Joe became a character actor starring in many amazing movies like 1941, Stripes, Heavy Metal, One Crazy Summer, Back To The Future Part II, Happy Gilmore and Detroit Rock City to name a few. I should also say that he was in the film Used Cars from 1980 that not only starred Kurt Russell but also fellow Horror Host Al “Grampa Munster” Lewis! He also stayed active in TV Shows with roles in Freaks And Geeks, That 70’s Show, The King Of Queens and Married With Children. He also stayed with playing Count Floyd for many projects as I stated before keeping him alive for new generations to discover. In 2014 he even starred in the music video Nightlife by the band Wet Secrets. And besides acting Joe also was a faculty member of Humber College where he was on program the advisory committee as well as taught of comedy-writing course. While Joe is in his late 70’s he still remains active in acting as well as makes pubic appearances at conventions. Joe Flaherty is a great comedian and was a big part of my childhood as Count Floyd and his many acting roles.

Like all Horror Host the Count also had his own strange co-hosts that helped bring his SCTV segments to life, but these co-hosts are not like your normal style as they were also the stars in many of his terrible movies he would have to show and of course I am talking about Dr. Tongue and his hunchback assistant Bruno! You see these two actors who are much like the characters they play in the films and are in good with Count Floyd, the gimmick to each Dr. Tongue film is that they are in 3-D and Count Floyd will sell you the 3-D Glasses at a high price in order to fully enjoy the film…as you can see they are all kind of in on a scam! Dr. Tongue was played by John Candy and Bruno was plated by Eugene Levy, both actors of course went on to be household names in the world of comedy. The Pittsburgh Midget was another of Floyd’s sidekicks, he was a short goofy guy who wore a cape and would sometimes recommend or bring the nights film. The Pittsburgh Midget was played by Paul Flaherty who was the brother of Joe Flaherty aka Count Floyd himself and that’s one cool fact indeed! So as you can see these sidekicks and co-hosts helped make Monster Chiller Horror Theater something truly special for viewers.

While not a traditional style Horror Host Count Floyd was very important to his fans, as he has sparked lots of great merchandise over the years. This goofy vampire’s image has graced T-Shirts, Buttons, photos, art and of course home media. In fact over the years I myself have a good collection of Count Floyd merchandise from his releases of specials I have on VHS and DVD, I have T-Shirts, a magnet and a CD of his musical release. Count Floyd is a legend and I for one think the world needs more Floyd items for fans to collect…come on Funko, make a Pop!

As you readers know this year marks 10 Years of the Horror Host Hall Of Fame at HorrorHound Weekend and this year 10 Hosts will make it into the Hall Of Fame to mark the 10 years this amazing event has taken place! And I am happy to report that the board who elects the ballot has placed Count Floyd on it! He is joined by such amazing names like The Shroud of Nightmare Theater, Mr. Lobo, Doc Sanguinary and Baron Daemon to name a few on the ballot! Make sure to keep your eyes on this update as when and if he is inducted by votes I will update this update and talk about who inducted him in and more!

Growing up I first found out about Count Floyd via old reruns of SCTV that I would catch on TV from time to time, but my main fandom of the character came from his segments on the animated show “The Completely Mental Misadventures Of Ed Grimley” and even later I found a VHS copy of “How To Make Funny Home Videos” that was hosted by Count Floyd and we will cover it later in this update. Being a Horror Host and Horror Movie fan I found myself being a massive fan of Count Floyd as he was funny and his howl always cracks me up as its so awkward and off pitch, in fact Juliet will tell you I go around our house doing his goofy howl. Not to mention Count Floyd always came off as a Horror Host who tried his best to make the cheap situation he is in entertaining for his viewers, and being friends with many and even working on many shows we all know that this sometimes is the truth when the Host is saddled with a stinker of a film and they have to up their game in order to save the show. What is crazy is I really mark out when I see Count Floyd on shows or even in clips on the web, its crazy that a Horror Host parody is a true icon of Hosting in my eyes. In 2018 it was stated that Count Floyd was going to be at the October Monster Bash convention and I was super happy when I found out as I could get the time off work as could Juliet and we made the plan to drive down and see the legend himself as I so wanted to get my picture with him! But sadly me meeting Count Floyd was not to be as he cancelled due to illness and was never re-added to the guest list…and it’s a shame as I really do hope to one day meet him. So to sum it all up I am a big fan of Count Floyd and think his antics on his “show” Monster Chiller Horror Theater is fantastic and funny, he should be in the Horror Host Hall Of Fame and is a true icon in all media.

So as you can see, Count Floyd is like no other Horror Host I have ever covered here on Rotten Ink as he is a Host in only character sake in comedy shows, but to be he really is an Icon! We are now at the point of the update that we will be taking a look at shows that I have that featuring Count Floyd. Like always I will not be giving these episodes a star rating and watching most of these again after many years was lots of fun. So if you are ready to Howwwwwllllll with Count Floyd lets get to his comedy antics.

Count Floyd: Kid Safe
Starring – Andrea Martin & Stephen Lee     Not Rated   1988

Host: Count Floyd comes from his coffin and welcomes the viewers to another episode of Monster Chiller Horror Theater and hypes up the nights film Kid Safe! After the safety video Count Floyd hypes the monsters that appear at the end and tells kids to stay safe.

Movie: Kathy is a young girl who left home on a dark and stormy night, and she does all types of things she should not do like drink alcohol, burns toast, opens the door to strangers and with the help of a police officer, paramedic and firefighter she learns what to do in case of emergency. After they leave Kathy don’t answer the door to the likes of a werewolf, alien, Jason Voorhees, The Mummy and a witch!

Count Floyd: How To Make Funny Home Videos
Starring – Count Floyd & Carolyn Scott     Not Rated     1990

Host/Movie: Count Floyd has found that his Horror Host show is not making any money so armed with his camcorder he decides that he is going to show us the viewer on how to make funny home videos that you can send to TV Stations and try and win prizes and money! And Count Floyd shares some easy and cheap ways to make things funny, and uses his son Junior, Baby Floyd and even his dog Duke as subjects to show you his ways. And his wife is mad, as she throughout the video wants him to clean the grill and hang up decorations for his daughter Sissy’s Birthday! And his poor neighbor is also the target of many of Count Floyd’s silly tricks! In the end he uses the magic of his camera to get ready for the party and after causing so much trouble for his neighbor is punched in the face and falls into the pool.

The Smoke Detectives
Starring – Robyn Clark & Steven Crayton       Not Rated     1990

Host/Movie: A club of young kids are called The Smoke Detectives who solve crimes that have to do with fire safety and they are called to the old spooky house and are greeted by the owner Horror Host Count Floyd! And the kids spend time showing Count Floyd all of the fire hazards his old house has and even things he does, and while they check he tries his best to scare them with a story of The Fire Monster! The kids give Count Floyd a checklist of all the things he can do to make his old house safer, and even make him watch a video about safety and he makes all the changes needed. In the end The Smoke Detectives come back and visit Count Floyd who is now a firefighter and becomes a member of The Fire Detectives himself.

While Count Floyd never hosted any real movies and was mostly a character used for TV Show SCTV as a comedy segment, he still has made his mark in the world of Horror Hosting as his antics helped bring eyes to the art. Plus he was very kid friendly and appeared in many educational films that were seen all over America given kids a taste of Horror Hosting. And I must say that while he is not a traditional Horror Host, he is still one of my favorites as I grew up seeing him and he has always brought be great joy. But for our next update we will once more be leaving the world of hosting and will get back to comics, well comic strips, as I will be taking a look at Ziggy! So until next time read a comic or three, watch a Horror Movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host. And this Sunday make sure to grab the Sunday Funnies and give the comic strips a read.

Ride The Demoncycle Straight To Hades!

Welcome back to Rotten Ink, my blog that covers all types of fun stuff in the world of comic books and beyond and as well things from my past, present and future.  On this quick update I want to talk a little about bicycles! That’s right, we all have so many great memories of bike riding around the neighborhood with friends in our youth or even maybe taking our bike on a trail and seeing nature all around us! And here at Rotten Ink, we are all going for a bike ride together…a bike ride from HELL as we take a look at The Demoncycle and his promo comic that tries to scare readers into bike safety! So grab your water bottle, put on your sweatband as I am ready to head out on a ride around the comic stores and want to share the chilling tell of The Demoncycle!!!

Growing up I had a bike that was blood red and had white handlebar grips with a silver sparkle seat. On the back reflector I placed a Michael Jackson sticker and on the wheels I had some cool reflectors that I got from cereal boxes. I can remember three of the reflectors I had on the wheels: one was Garfield, one was a robot and one was Tony The Tiger. My bike was super old and if I remember, my parents got it for me from a thrift store or possibly a garage sale and while super old, it was pretty cool looking. I can remember the training wheel days and then learning to ride on two wheels….and well I really stunk at riding a bike and crashed so much and so often that it lead to lots of frustration for me. And because of that frustration I never rode the bike around and missed out on all types of cool adventures as I grew up in a small town and it would have been a great time to ride around, but I missed out doing so all cause I sucked at bike riding. The older I got, the less I even wanted to ride a bike as driving a car was more my thing. My old bike was donated to one of my dad’s friend’s kids and I never have owned a bike since, and at this point being in my very early 40’s I doubt if I ever get one. Bikes are very cool and I wished that I would have rode mine way more often as they are a great way for people to get around. Sadly I do not have any pictures of my old bike, but I did find some pics of the reflectors so check them out, and no they are not the exact ones I owned but look just like them.

While in school at Waynesville we had so many safety classes that would have us learning about Stranger Danger, Say No To Drugs, Fire Safety, Bike Safety, Halloween Safety, Tornado Safety, 911 Use and even War Time Bomb Safety! And man some of these things was so much fun to watch as who doesn’t remember “Cartoon All Stars To The Rescue” an amazing animated special that brought together so many animated characters together to warn you about the dangers of drugs…and man it has stuck with me for all these years as who don’t want to be told to Say No To Drugs from the likes of Daffy Duck, The Smurfs, Muppet Babies, Alf, Garfield, Winnie The Pooh, Tigger, Bugs Bunny and Alvin And The Chipmunks to name a few! I can also remember Count Floyd and The Smoke Detectives teaching me what to do during a fire. Plus who can forget the go under your desk in case of a tornado, go single file into the hallway in case of a missile being dropped and cover our heads as well as watching episodes of Rescue 911 and being told that is what you need to do during an emergency. And of course there is the amazing Safety Pup that graced the milk cartons at lunch that gave us tips. And who can forget that promo safety comics that had heroes and comic characters like Spider-Man, Supergirl and Andy Capp teaching us a life lesson in what to do and what to avoid. In other words growing up in the 80’s and 90’s I was bombarded with safety lessons and I wonder if it’s the same today for kids in school?

Safety is very important and coming off the virus crisis of 2020 it’s super important to educate the youth of America of ways to stay safe. And speaking of being safe, that brings us to our review of this very cool promo comic that was released by “Highway Safety Division Of Virginia” as a way to try and save lives of kids by educating them on the right things to do while riding their bikes. I want to thank a seller on Etsy for having this comic in stock and making this update possible. And like always, I need to remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if your ready and your blood don’t turn to cold from fright we have to take a wild ride with The Demoncycle!

Danny And The Demoncycle # 1  **1/2
Released in 1955     Cover Price FREE    Commercial Comics     # 1 of 1

Danny Skooter is a kid with a bad attitude and once he jumps on his bike he is a real terror to all those around him! While riding his bike recklessly one day, he ends up causing car wrecks as well as hurts an old man walking with a cane, and Danny doesn’t care as he just wants to be a daredevil biker rider! Well his carelessness ends up hurting him as he crashes into another bike and is thrown from it and gets a concussion and is take to the hospital, and when he wakes up he finds that his Doctor is really The Devil who gives him a new high speed bike that is also a demon! The Demoncycle makes it that Danny can not remove his feet from the peddles or his hands from the handlebars and the creatures takes off with the boy forced to take a joy ride from Hell. The Demoncycle takes Danny into many dangerous routes that includes the highway, closed roads, train tracks and bridges, all the while the Demoncycle is being wreckless and scaring Danny, and finally on the bridge the pair lose control and fall into the ice river below it. Danny once more wakes up in the hospital and the Demoncycle and The Devil Doctor were just a dream and Danny tells him parents that he learned his lesson and will follow all the rules of the road from now on, and grows up a biker rider who follows his dreams and the law.

Okay, let’s all just say it first The Demoncycle and The Devil Doctor are awesome and turn this safety promo comic almost into a Horror Comic! The plot of The Devil making a promise to an uncaring human who is selfish is true stuff of Silent Horror Cinema! The plot has a young kid who loves to ride his bike, but follows none of the rules of the road and ends up hurting others and himself and winds up in the hospital and has a nightmare about a demon possessed bike that leads him on a path to death…and of course once he wakes up he changes his life and wants to follow the rules from now on! Our youngster and rule breaker is Danny Skooter, a brat of a kid who cares nothing about others and for the most part don’t even care about his own wellbeing, but of course he has a change of heart when he has a terrible nightmare that scares him into a caring person. Danny is that kid that we all knew growing up who had everything handed to them and yet still treated everyone around them like they did not matter and somehow the world owed them. The Demoncycle is also cold and don’t care about the safety of Danny or other people and only cares about speed and being always on the go! I love the fact that when Danny is begging for it to stop the Demoncycle just keeps on going with no care of safety at all! The Devil Doctor is sneaking around the hospital and just looking to make some deals with the sick, injured and dying…somehow I could see this being used in an episode of the Twilight Zone, Outer Limits or even Tales From The Darkside! Plus The Devil has so much happiness as he watches the The Demoncycle ride off with young Danny on it and having no control on where it goes! The cover for this promo comic is amazing and very eye catching and I am sure had people thinking it was a Horror Comic, really this would be such an amazing old Horror Comic and who knows maybe one day if it’s possible Blood Scream Comics will make an issue or two based on it. I am not sure who did the interior art but it’s well done and very fitting for the time. Over all Danny And The Demoncycle is a well done safety promo comic that does have a good message as well as brings in horror elements that will please fans of classic style spooky stories of The Devil, check out the artwork below to see the style.

I hope that everyone reading this has learned two very important lessons that this comic tried so hard to teach us: don’t take a gift from The Devil and never, ever get on a Demoncycle as you will have no control of your fate…oh and I guess I should say the message is be safe while riding your bike. All joking aside, if you are a bike rider be safe while on the roads and for those in cars you as well be safe and watch out for bicyclist as they have rights on the road to. But all this safety talk is driving me crazy as I am starting to feel like Smokey The Bear or Safety Pup telling you my readers all about it so for my next update we are leaving safety behind as well will travel to the station SCTV and take a stroll around the set of Monster Chiller Horror Theatre and take a look at a Horror Host Icon that howls like a werewolf but is a vampire and I am talking about Count Floyd! So until next time, read a comic or three, watch a cartoon or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you in a few weeks as this is one Horror Host that I cannot wait to chat about.