Tag Archives: Mardi Gras

The Axeman: The Killer Of New Orleans

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A chill is in the air, and we are getting so close to October and Halloween time so I figured we would take a look at a graphic novel based on an unknown killer from the early 1900’s. This killer claimed he was not human and loved the sound of jazz music and would stalk his victims at night, but as quickly as the murders started, they also stopped. I am a true crime buff and always enjoy reading a good novel about an unknown killer, and next to Zodiac Killer and Phantom Killer of Texarkana, The Axeman of New Orleans – this strange case of an unidentified killer – has always peeked my interest.  I was curious about who he was and why he did what he did. So for this update we will be taking a look at the information Rick Geary collected to try and bring to life in his graphic novel based on this sadistic brutal killer. So lock your doors and shut your windows as Rotten Ink takes a look at The Axeman who tormented New Orleans.

The Ax of The Axeman

On May 22, 1918 in New Orleans, Italian grocer Joseph Maggio and his wife Catherine were asleep in their bed when The Axeman entered the home, slit their throats with a straight razor and then bashed them in the head with an axe. Catherine’s wound to her neck was so bad that her head was almost severed from her body, while Joseph lived for a short time after his brother found the victims and was able to get him help. On June 27th 1918, the killer struck again when he attacked and nearly killed Louis Besumer and his mistress Harriet Lowe.  Both were hit with a hatchet but were found in time by a delivery driver named John Zanca. Sadly, Lowe would later die from surgery linked to her attack, and Besumer would go on to be a suspect in his own attack as well as a German spy and was arrested and died in jail. On August 5th 1918, the killer struck again.  This time his victim was a 28 year old pregnant woman who he bashed in the face repeatedly cutting her scalp wide open, and if she hadn’t been found by her husband, she could have bled to death.  Five days later, the Axeman attacked and murdered Joseph Romano in his home with two ax blows to the head.  Romano was found by his two nieces, who were able to get him help, but sadly he died two days later from trauma. Charles Cortimiglia and his wife Rosie and baby daughter Mary were attacked on March 10th 1919.  All were hit with an ax, and Mary passed away while Charles and Rosie were treated and released. On March 13th 1919, a letter was sent by the Axe-Man claiming he would not kill anyone who played jazz all night and that he was in fact not human but a demon among many other claims. On August 10th, 1919, Steve Boca was attacked in his home with an ax and was lucky enough to survive. 19 year old Sarah Laumann was found in her home with ax wounds to her head and several of her teeth knocked out; she would survive the attack. The Axe-Man’s final target was Mike Pepitone, who was killed with ax blows to his head. Over the years of his attacks many people were suspects and some were even arrested but none were ever proven to be the real killer.  A letter was written by the killer claiming unworldly things, and he was even compared to fictional character Mr. Hyde. One thing is for sure, he was never caught and if he truly was a demon or a monster, he still might be out their waiting to strike again.

Axeman Trading CardAxemans Jazzaxeman shadow

So there is a quick run down of all the mayhem this killer caused in New Orleans, but his crimes and infamous style of murder also went on to be in many media projects besides this graphic novel. In 1919, a song called The Mysterious Axman’s Jazz (Don’t Scare Me Papa) was written by Joseph John Davilla. Gumbo Ya-Ya: A Collection Of Louisiana Folk Tales, a book with a chapter about the Axe-Man, was released in 1945. In 1984, The Beasts of Bourdon released their first album called The Axeman’s Jazz after the killer. 1991 saw a fiction novel based on the murders called The Axeman’s Jazz written by Julie Smith. In issue # 94 of Swamp Thing, DC Comics also did a take on the Axeman. 1992 saw the release of True Crime trading cards, and in the second series, The Axeman was a featured card. English band Fila Brazillia used parts of the Axeman’s letter as lyrics in their 1998 song Tunstall And Californian Haddock. In 2004, I wrote a movie script for Independent B Movie called The Return Of The Axeman that was to take place in modern times and have the killer back, killing college age people on a trip to a rural farmhouse.  Sadly, the script was not picked by the group to turn into a movie. Red, White And Blood is a 2012 novel by Christopher Farnsworth that has an evil spirit called the Boogeyman who body jumps into people throughout history and was written to be inside the Axeman during his murders. A year later in 2013, The Axeman, played by Danny Huston, was a character in the TV series American Horror Story: Coven. Ray Celestin wrote a fiction detective novel called The Axeman’s Jazz in 2014. And this is just a drop in the hat of the stuff this case has influenced.  It’s a shame that the real case never had an ending like all these media projects did as it would have been nice for the killer to have been brought to justice and his victims to have seen their tormentor captured.

Gumbo Ya-Ya, A Collection of Louisiana Folk Tales bookBeasts of Bourbon CDThe Axemans Jazz Book

So as you can see, The Axeman has chopped his way into history as well as in to the comic world as he not only has this graphic novel based on his crimes but also inspired an issue of Swamp Thing! I think it’s time for the main event, and I need to remind you all that I grade these issues on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comic stays to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if you’re ready, let’s try to solve this case and see what Rick Geary has in store for us this Halloween update season!

The Terrible AxeMan Of New Orleans GN

The Terrible Axe-Man Of New Orleans  ***1/2
Released in 2010     Cover Price $15.99     NBM Publishing   #1 of 1

The story begins with a history of Louisiana, how it became a state, how New Orleans came about and who it was named after as well as some of the ups and downs throughout the city’s history. It covers the culture that grew in the city from music like blues and jazz to Mardi Gras all the way to the Union holding it during the Civil War and terrors that stalked the nights like Needleman, a chap who injected poison into his victims and even Jack The Clipper, a freak who liked to cut schoolgirls hair in theaters and buses. But our main story starts in 1918 when Andrew awakens to hear thuds and strange noises coming from his brother’s room.  Upon checking on him, Andrew finds that his brother is dead as is his wife in what is described at the bloodiest crime scene in the city’s history! A razor was used and found on the bed as was an ax that was left in the bathtub.  Nothing was stolen from the house, and the killer got in by using a chisel on the back door’s lower panel and crawling in, and even more oddly, a strange message is left on the sidewalk in chalk that is linked to the crime. Andrew and his other brother Jake are arrested for the murders but are both later cleared of the charges.  As one old time police officer remembers, some cases from 1911 that had Italian grocers being killed in this fashion, and the Mafia and a group called The Black Hand became the suspects. More murders and attacks accrue, many with the killer using the victims’ own axes or hatchets to attack them with as well as entering via door panels or open back windows. Many people are accused of the crimes and all are proven not guilty, and the lucky ones who live through the attacks are unable to describe the killer. One case with survivors has the wife accusing another family who runs a store that competes with their own, and it seems as if anyone can be a suspect! Over time people start buying guns, and The Axeman fails at many attempts at breaking into houses.  Things seem to go back to normal until he attacks a family and murders an infant child! He then sends a letter to the Times-Picayune on March 14th 1919 stating he is a demon who chooses to kill whenever he wants and that he will strike on the following Tuesday and will murder anyone who is not playing jazz as he is very fond of that style of music.  All over town that night jazz music echoes, and the killer does not strike. The Axeman strikes once again in 1919 but also during this year he is run off by aware townspeople who react and scare away the killer before he can claim a life. And after killing a total of six people and wounding six others, the killings just stop, and The Axeman fades away into the shadows and memories of New Orleans. On December 2nd 1920, a man named Joseph Mumphre was shot and killed on a sidewalk in Los Angeles by Rose Pepitone, who was the wife of the Axeman’s final victim.  She claims that Joseph was the Axeman and that she wanted nothing but revenge on him for killing her husband; others don’t think this was the case at all. So ends the story of The Axeman who could have died a man or lives on as a demon roaming the world looking for his next time to strike terror.

This graphic novel is a well-done true crime spectacular that will wrap you up into trying to figure out who was the Axe-Man of New Orleans and also lets you look at the horrific crimes he committed in glorious black and white art. The comic covers a very brief history of Louisiana and New Orleans and then goes into the horrific acts committed by the Axeman and gives you dates and facts about each crime and even a little history about the poor victims. While it’s about a brutal killer, this graphic novel does not go overboard on the blood and gore, but that’s not to say that the red stuff don’t flow from wounds nor splatter walls cause it does, just very tastefully. The interesting part about this is that in 1911, years before the official Axeman attacks, horrific murders with the same M.O. were committed showing that this killer could have had even more victims than reported, and it also brings light to the fact someone in New Orleans really disliked Italian grocers. But the million dollar question that this graphic novel really gets you thinking about is who was The Axeman as the suspects are plenty and almost all of them at some time were ruled out even if they had motive to commit the murders.  Plus the thought of several murderers all doing the crimes to look like one also comes to my mind when reading it. But I really do think the main suspect, and probably the man who was the Axeman of New Orleans, was Joseph Mumphre.  When he was in jail, the killings stopped for a brief time, and then once he moved away to L.A. the killing were done.  This is clearly the main suspect and the right one for the police to have kept an eye on even though they didn’t, and it took the widow of one of the victims to give him justice at the end of a bullet. Rick Geary’s artwork is fantastic and captures the mood and feel of this grim subject and brings a touch of class to such a horrible crime in American history. If you’re a comic book fan and love true crime, this is a great read on a late fall night, really worth checking out.  After reading this one, I ordered more of his work, and I am sure you will see them pop up here on Rotten Ink as future updates. Below is some art from this graphic novel of the Axeman, so sit back and give it a look, and you also might want to look over your shoulder because who knows, he might still be out there!

The Terrible AxeMan Of New Orleans Art 1

We finished this a little early, and I know you want to be scared a little more from this Pre-Halloween update so we will take a look at Swamp Thing # 94! I have been a fan of Swamp Thing for many years, and when I was a kid I had The Saga Of Swamp Thing # 1 comic and thought I had a true collectors item…now being 36 and a comic store connoisseur, I see that that issue is not worth the thousands of dollars I thought it would be when I was that comic collecting youth. Also, thanks Lone Star Comics for having this in stock so that I could cover this issue for this update!

Swamp Thing 94

Swamp Thing # 94   **
Released in 1990     Cover Price $1.50     DC Comics    # 94 of 171

The Axeman is back and has killed in the small town of Houma during Mardi Gras leaving the bodies in the swamp where they are found by Swamp Thing. In town is a jazz band named Cocodrie whose lead singer has gotten an ax from a fan that holds magical powers of music for every blood drop on it.  This ax really came from a descendent of the original Axeman of New Orleans who wants the legacy of the killings and the spreading of jazz music to continue. Abby Holland, the wife of Swamp Thing, wants him to come to the big concert tonight as she thinks no one will notice him as everyone will be in costume and too drunk to care.  All the while murders are happing, and the new Axeman is collecting blood and setting jazz music free from the hearts of his victims.  You see, while the singer plays the jazz, the killer does his thing and murders poor people in their homes. The killer is being pushed by a giant purple demon who is getting joy of the madness and terror these killings are causing. While at the concert Abby has to leave as her baby daughter starts to cry because the infant can see the demon.  This makes them the target of the Axeman, and just as he is about to chop them up, Swamp Thing appears and beats not only the killer but also the demon.  This marks the end of the terror of the Axeman as even the band’s singer is effected by the defeat.

This issue while good is a disappointment and clearly a filler issue in this series as both Swamp Thing and The Axeman of New Orleans are after thoughts to the demon who is the cause of the murders as well as the lead singer of Cocodrie and his love for his musical ax and wanting to be the top jazz musician in the world. The plot is this a demon who us the man behind making a man become an ax murder is back and is using a new batch of goons to commit the crimes is stopped once Swamp Thing gets wind of what’s going down and saves his wife who was the next target to be chopped up. Swamp Thing in this issue is disgusted by the murders and wants to seek answers to what kind of demon could be pushing a person to do these acts, he also takes no mercy on how quick he takes down The Axeman! Abby Holland is a free spirited woman who loves her family and also loves running around the swamp naked and trying to get Swamp Thing to do normal activities. The Axeman has two different types of axes one for killing and one for making music and when he kills he wants to be a brutal as possible and targets many woman this time around, really like how the killer is related to the original axeman and that a demon is really calling the shots just as the letter stated back in 1919. The Cocodrie are used a filler to help spread Jazz music and the lead singer is the pawn in a sick game of promised fame and fortune, I mean who ever has heard of a magical musical wood chopping ax? The issue has some horror elements as people are chopped up and a Demon jumps for joy when people are killed, the downside is the story is weak and has a lame pay off with Swamp Thing stopping the Axeman with ease and at no point is he or Abby really in any danger! The major plus side to the issue is that they use the song The Mysterious Axman’s Jazz (Don’t Scare Me Papa) as the motivation of the killer and his musical butthead lacky. The artwork is done by Kelley Jones and the story is done by Doug Wheeler and while a little lacking they both are fitting for this Swamp Thing filler issue. Over all I am a Swamp Thing fan I just was let down by this issue and I think it might have been my own fault as I might have over hyped it in my head.

Swamp Thing 94 Art 1Swamp Thing 94 Art 2Swamp Thing 94 Art 3

So this Halloween season while zombies, vampires and werewolves might scare you late nights in movies, comics, video games and novels know that the real horrors of the world are people like The Axeman of New Orleans who stalk the innocent to satisfy their sick bloodlust! Our next update I am very happy to say that the first update for October is going to be Panic Beats another very cool comic based on a Paul Naschy film! So until then watch a horror film or two, read a horror comic or three and support your local Horror Host as this time of the year is made for having a good scare or two.

Panic Beats Logo

Horror Host Icon: Morgus The Magnificent

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On January 3, 1959, the House of Shock opened for business with Morgus the Magnificent hitting the airwaves on News Orleans’ WWL-TV.  For the next half-century Morgus would delight monster kids (and their kids and grandkids) in his home city of New Orleans as well as New York and Detroit via syndication.  Greetings, friends of science and members of the higher order!  It’s Juliet, proud to report for blogging duty to talk about this very special horror host that was part of my family’s late night movie experience as Rotten Ink brings you Horror Host Icon: Morgus the Magnificent.  horror_morgus

Momus Alexander Morgus was descended from a long line of scientists dating all the way back to Morgus the First who it is said was the architect of the Great Pyramid.  Morgus, the 96th of his name, attended the Vasco Da Gama Medical School (the Caribbean’s finest – where he later served as the chair of quantum mechanics and far-out physics) and currently serves as the head of the Momus Alexander Morgus Institute (MAMI) and is a member of the “higher order.”  He’s the author of several volumes of scientific research including New Hope for the Dead and Molecules I Have Known as well as the inventor of many technological breakthroughs. The early years of horror hosting, alas, aren’t as well documented as they could be, but from what I can tell, it looks like Morgus was the first host who wasn’t a ghoul or vampire and was also the first host to structure his show in an episodic fashion rather than a more sketch or stand-up style.  Each episode of the House of Shock had Morgus unleashing a new experiment, and if you took the movie out, the segments would be almost like an episode of a modern day sitcom.  This is the same structure Matt and Baron Von Porkchop use for Terrifying Tales of the Macabre. The man behind Morgus was Sid Noel, a WWL radio personality and actor who both created and played the character.  Morgus’ main assistant in his experiments was Chopsley, a tall masked executioner who never spoke. Like Dr. Creep’s sidekick Duffy the Dog, Chopsley was portrayed by a variety of actors over the years, but the original Chopsley was Tommy George, a 6-foot-7 Bernard Parish motorcycle cop, who’s now deceased.  Another mainstay of the Old Ice House (and my mother’s favorite character) was Eric, a talking human skull who alerted Morgus to presence of visitors and was known to agree with his master.

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In 1962, Morgus starred in the first feature film centered around a horror host as his hosting character (Vampira was in Plan 9 From Outer Space in 1959, but that film wasn’t centered around her horror host persona) in The Wacky World of Dr. Morgus.  It’s a fabulous B movie that has Morgus creating an Instant People Machine to help with easy travel.  People go into the device and are turned into sand for easy shipping around the world where they are then reconstituted into people using another of Morgus’ devices.  In true Cold War-era fashion, spies from the vaguely Soviet nation of Microvania want to use the device for nefarious purposes all the while a super stereotypically reporter, “Pencils,” is hot on the trail of breaking the whole story wide open.  The film recently, finally, got a proper DVD release after floating around the gray market for decades, and I’m proud to report that I’m writing this blog in the shadow of a cinema-sized poster for The Wacky World of Dr. Morgus (the yellow image below) that hangs in a place of honor in the apartment.

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In 1964, Sid Noel took Morgus to Detroit to produce a series of episodes for Storer Broadcasting as well as do an afternoon weather sketch.  The Detroit show was called Morgus Presents and only lasted in the Motor City until 1965 when Noel and Morgus returned to New Orleans to pursue a syndication deal, paving the way for Lawson J. Deming and Sir Graves Ghastly to take up Detroit’s horror hosting mantle.  Upon returning to New Orleans, Morgus followed the same formula he had in Detroit, a daily weather report using his Morgusso-Electromagnetic-Weather-Prognosticator and episodes of Morgus Presents (this time in color).  But that was also short-lived, and it would be 1986 until Morgus resumed production with another iteration of Morgus Presents.  The premise, set and characters were basically the same save for a few timely updates including Eric’s upgrade to E.R.I.C. (the Eon Research Infinity Computer), whose memory banks held all the world’s knowledge – basically classic Eric was attached to an Apple II.  There were 52 episodes of Morgus Presents produced between 1986 and 1989, and as you’ll see below, this is the series you’ll more than likely be watching if you track down old Morgus episodes.

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When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, Mogus’ whereabouts were unknown for a brief period after the storm, leaving fans extremely worried.  Luckily, Morgus sent word that he was indeed okay and looking forward to returning to New Orleans TV sometime in the future.  In 2011, Morgus the Magnificent was inducted into the Horror Host Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class that also included Vampira, Zachlery, Dr. Creep and many others.  That same year, the Mystery of Morgus, a documentary on the host’s legacy, aired on WVUE-TV in New Orleans.  Reruns of Morgus continue to air in New Orleans under the name Morgus Presents: The House Of Shock, but Sid Noel has been keeping busy too.  In the 90s, he created “Uncle Noel’s Fun Fables,” a character building reading program for public school kids.  In 2013, Noel partnered with the New Orleans Public Library system to create The Internet Story Club of America, an online vault of stories for children as well as resources for parents and teachers.

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Morgus’ popularity transcended far beyond the TV set and the silver screen.  One of his most notable contributions to a none-film medium is the pop song “Morgus the Magnificent” by Morgus and the Ghouls.  The aforementioned Ghouls were actually New Orleans music royalty Dr. John and Frankie Ford.  Dr. John also has a separate song called “Morgus The Magnificent” on his Mos’ Scocious Anthology.   Modern New Orleans funk band Galactic also pays homage to Morgus in “Friends of Science” on their Ya-Ka-May album.  In grand New Orleans tradition, Morgus has been featured on Mardi Gras doubloons and has been honored by many of the carnival krewes including Endymion and Athenians.  Not to be left out of the Morgus action, a Detroit newspaper had a short-lived comic strip based on the good doctor.  It’s also worth noting that George Noory of Coast to Coast AM cites Morgus as a major influence and has had him as a guest on the show several times.

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So how does someone born and raised in Ohio become slightly obsessed with Morgus the Magnificent?  Is it the Michigan connection?  Nope.  As I mentioned when I wrote about Anne Rice’s The Witching Hour, my mom is originally from New Orleans so in addition to spending some time there as a child to visit my grandparents and other family and friends who lived in the Big Easy, from a fairly early age I became really enamored with the city because of the stories she’d tell me about her childhood there.  Morgus was a part of that childhood.  My mom and my uncle both remember Morgus as being appointment viewing when they were younger, and had the ritual of sharing a bottle of Coke while watching the show – though according to my mom, you couldn’t drink it until the show began.  My mom even told me that when she moved to Ohio as an adult, she was really excited to discover Dr. Creep and Shock Theatre because she had such fond memories of Morgus, and though Shock Theatre was more sketch-based than episodic, I can see some similarities between the hosts.  But actually, Eric (who’s “just a skull”) is her all-time favorite – and now my adopted favorite as I’ve been delving into the Morgus Presents episodes, though I’m also super fond of Mogus himself (for the record, Matt is a Chopsley man).  Watching the Morgus Presents episodes have also made me truly appreciate what drew my mom to Morgus; the humor is right up her (and my) alley with a perfect mix of smarts and slapstick that’s a tad absurdist and just a little dark.

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And now, friends of science, it’s time to delve into some episodes featuring Morgus the Magnificent.  As I mentioned above, these are all episodes of the 80s Morgus Presents series as it’s nearly impossible to find any of Morgus’ older material, which is a shame because I’d love to see some of the episodes my mom watched as a kid.  Nonetheless (and lucky for us), the 80s episodes are pretty hilarious and well worth a watch.  As usual, I’ll be describing the host segments while the movie’s description comes to us via IMDB.

morgus brides of dracula dvd

Morgus Presents: Brides of Dracula
Starring – Peter Cushing & Martita Hunt     Not Rated     1960

Host: Morgus is getting ready to unveil his latest scientific achievement, a one-hour solution for baldness. He’s going to transplant the scalp of a donor onto the bald person while still allowing the donor to regrow his hair in less than an hour. Just as he’s about to show off the treatment, there’s a knock at the door, and in his first appearance, Wiley Faye, shows up and introduces himself. Faye has been watching Morgus on television and wants to be his manager. When Wiley hears about Morgus’ baldness solution, he calls up bald billionaire Cornelius Goodrich and arranges for him to come over. Before Cornelius arrives, the hair donor shows up. After a few minutes of negotiation, Larry is prepped for the transplant. Wiley and Cornelius arrive soon after, and Cornelius volunteers to receive the transplanted hair. After the surgery, Morgus has to pay Larry, but Cornelius isn’t awake yet. Wile tells Morgus to write the check and that Cornelius will cover it. But Cornelius only makes donations to people who are married. So Morgus has Chopsley bring out Zelda, a rather zombie-esque young woman who was in the room where he keeps former patients. Cornelius asks Morgus what he’d do with an unlimited amount of money, and Morgus tells him about his dream of Morgusity, a science city. Cornelius writes the check, but it’s his policy to always give the check to the wife of the family – so he enters the room marked Keep Out where Zelda and the other patients reside….

Movie: A young teacher on her way to a position in Transylvania helps a young man escape the shackles his mother has put on him. In so doing she innocently unleashes the horrors of the undead once again on the populace, including those at her school for ladies. Luckily for some, Dr Van Helsing is already on his way

morgus CREATURE walks among us dvdMorgus Presents: The Creature Walks Among Us
Starring – Jeff Morrow & Rex Reason     Unrated     1956

Host: Morgus is finally going to open up the secret room (the one marked “Keep Out” at the far end of the lab). He explains that vampire are real, though not like we see in Hollywood, and that there’s a blood shortage to feed them. Morgus has been breeding all-weather mosquitos that he sends out to sample blood from people living in the city. He then recalls the mosquitos and puts them into a device to extract the blood to feed Victoria and other vampires like her. So Morgus implores the viewers to open their windows and contribute their blood to science. He explains the conditions of vampirism and says that if you have the symptoms, you should visit the lab for blood treatment. For those who aren’t experiencing the conditions of vampirism, Morgus and E.R.I.C. have set up a special hotline (555-Morgus) to volunteer to be mailed leeches to contribute blood for the afflicted. The calls begins coming in and Chopsley works hard to pack leeches as Morgus presses more mosquitos. We meet Norman, another vampire in Morgus’ care. More sufferers of vampirism show up at the lab, but the mosquitos aren’t coming in as fast as they need to and soon Morgus has a bigger problem, the blood machine is leaking. In an effort to get more donations quickly, Morgus offers some entertainment – just like on all the other telethons. He, Chopsley and E.R.I.C. sing Home on the Range. A man from pest control arrives, saying he’s killed all of the mosquitos at the request of Alma Fetish, Morgus’ landlady. As Morgus tries to explain to the man what he’s done, the vampires attack.

Movie: In this third Gill-Man feature, the Creature is captured and turned into an air-breather by a rich mad scientist. This makes the Creature very unhappy, and he escapes, killing people and setting fires in the process.

morgus dracula dvd

Morgus Presents: Dracula
Starring – Bela Lugosi & Helen Chandler    Unrated   1931

Host: Morgus tells the viewers that this may be the last time they see him. He’s asked the governor to send over the state’s best minds to join him in a journey to the future. Using his Morgo-Megafreezer, Morgus explains that he’ll cryogenically freeze himself and his volunteers to then be unfreezed in the future. Naturally, Morgus will go to the future so he needs someone to take his place in the present and sets about unfreezing his grandfather who’s encased in a block of ice. While Grandpa Morgus recovers from the unfreezing, distinguished scientists show up at the lab to be frozen. Alma Fetish interrupts to complain about the noise, but soon Bill Anderson, an accountant shows up, with a get-rich-quick scheme for when they’re unfrozen. Unfortunately Grandpa Morgus doesn’t recover well so Morgus arranges for Wiley Faye to take care of his business in the current era while he’s frozen. Wiley will also help run the museum that Morgus proposes will open in the lab while everyone is frozen.

Movie: After a harrowing ride through the Carpathian mountains in eastern Europe, Renfield enters castle Dracula to finalize the transferral of Carfax Abbey in London to Count Dracula, who is in actuality a vampire. Renfield is drugged by the eerily hypnotic count, and turned into one of his thralls, protecting him during his sea voyage to London. After sucking the blood and turning the young Lucy Weston into a vampire, Dracula turns his attention to her friend Mina Seward, daughter of Dr. Seward who then calls in a specialist, Dr. Van Helsing, to diagnose the sudden deterioration of Mina’s health. Van Helsing, realizing that Dracula is indeed a vampire, tries to prepare Mina’s fiance, John Harker, and Dr. Seward for what is to come and the measures that will have to be taken to prevent Mina from becoming one of the undead.

Morgus Eyes Of Charles Sand dvd

Morgus Presents: The Eyes of Charles Sand
Starring – Peter Haskell & Joan Bennett     Not Rated     1972

Host: We pick up from a prior cliffhanger (from the Godzilla Raids Again episode) with the real Morgus outside the lab listening in to his evil clone angrily proclaim that he’s placed his Morgusaroid clones throughout the city strapped with explosives, but the real Morgus has a plan. He’s going to sneak into the lab through the secret bookcase passageway and will pretend to be one of the clones. Evil Morgus decides to create more Morgusaroids to try to grow his evil empire to the state capital. The new clone is a bit scrawny so Evil Morgus decides to arm a new clone and picks the real Morgus who succeeded in sneaking into the lab. Chopsley boxes him up for shipment to the governor with a bomb attached. A workman comes to take the box away and hearing Morgus’ screams, frees him. Morgus defuses the bomb and heads out the window to sneak back into the lab. Evil Morgus rails against the TV station for cutting off his evil speeches and gets ready to send a clone strapped with dynamite to the station. The governor calls and concedes the state to Evil Morgus, who now decides to go after the whole country. Evil Morgus hops on to the cloning machine to create more clones of himself, but the real Morgus reverses the polarity of the machine and zaps Evil Morgus into oblivion. Morgus recalls the clones to the lab for their subsequent donation to the army along with a donation of Chopsley clones to the sanitation department. The first Chopsley clone makes himself right at home and locks himself in the original Chopsley’s hide-y hole behind Morgus’ chalkboard. Morgus has a deal to sell the cloning machine to the government, and a representative from the pro-football scouting organization shows up to strike a deal for one of the Chopsleys. When he asks a Chopsley to sign the contract, they all being fighting over it and smash Morgus’ cloning machine.

Movie: A young man inherits the ability to see visions beyond the grave. He helps a girl investigate her brother’s alleged murder.

Morgus Frankenstein Conquers The World DVD

Morgus Presents: Frankenstein Conquers The World
Starring – Tadao Takashima & Nick Adams     Not Rated     1965

Host: Morgus is ready to make history as aliens make first contact with the inhabitants of the Old Ice House. The aliens communicate through music, which Morgus employs E.R.I.C. to translate, but the TV station interrupts this momentous occasion by starting the night’s movie. When we return, Eric has translated the message; it’s pi. The aliens continue to communicate, addressing Morgus by name and telling him that to prepare for a cultural exchange. Morgus realizes that they mean a cultural representative of the Earth, and of course nominates himself. As Morgus prepares for space, he explains that the aliens must be highly advanced and will bring peace to the Earth, which he’ll help negotiate. Part of the preparations include rigging up a system for Morgus to eat liquified bologna sandwiches in space via a rubber glove and having Chopsley stuff Morgus into a dryer to see how he can withstand the g-force of launching into space. Morgus calls Wiley Faye, and tells him to get the media over to the Old Ice House as soon as possible. E.R.I.C. informs them that the aliens are getting closer as Morgus begins to pack for his journey and the first reporter arrives to interview Morgus. The alien arrives with a bang, and flashes the sign of the higher order before freezing Morgus to scan him. Morgus is unsure how to communicate with the alien, but Chopsley makes some headway with a game of tic-tac-toe. While Morgus is getting ready to go, the alien says that it doesn’t want Morgus, it actually wants E.R.I.C. and in his place, they send alien-version of the skull hooked to a computer in his place.

Movie: During WWII, a human heart taken from a certain lab in Europe (Dr. Frankenstein’s) is kept in a Japanese lab, when it gets exposed to the radiation of the bombing of Hiroshima. The heart grows in size, mutates and sprouts appendages, and eventually grows into a complete body and escapes. Later, a feral boy with a certain physical deformity (a large head with a flat top) is captured by scientists who refer to the boy as Frankenstein. The creature grows to the height of 20 feet, escapes again, fights police and army, and is practically indestructible. Later, a reptilian monster goes on a rampage. Eventually the Frankenstein creature and the reptile face off in a terrible battle.

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Morgus Presents: Godzilla
Starring – Takashi Shimura & Akihiko Hirata    Unrated   1954

Host: Morgus is trying to get a hold of the president because our country’s biggest weapon is at risk. Morgus goes on to explain that the battle of the future is the battle of the brains. Therefore Morgus has created a device to help preserve the best brains of the nation, giving up their bodies to hook into a device that resembles a giant E.R.I.C. Morgus calls forth the great brains of the nation, especially those of the higher order, to come to the lab and volunteer for this service while Morgus continues to try to call the president. Chopsley offers up his own brain, but Morgus says that in fact Chopsley’s brain is too valuable to preserve in this fashion (because it’s never been used). Someone calls in and suggests that Morgus preserve his own brain. E.R.I.C. chimes in with his agreement so Morgus talks Chopsley through performing the surgery and transporting Morgus’s head onto the device. From his position on the device (and looking rather like E.R.I.C.), Morgus expresses his dismay that no one has volunteered to preserve their brain at the Mt. Morgus Brain Preserve. Chopsley’s solution is to make bumper stickers that proclaim “I Heart My Brain.” An FBI agent arrives because Morgus has been calling the White House talking about the end of the world. The agent says he’ll take Morgus to see the president, but gets grossed out and runs into the room marked “Keep Out” when he sees Morgus’ headless body sitting at the lab table. Morgus goes on to explain that once the brain is separated from the body, it becomes more powerful and demonstrates this by sweeping the lab with his mind and then fools Chopsley into playing chess with his headless body. Morgus finally decides to replace his head on his body, but when he ordered Chopsley to do so, E.R.I.C. interrupts and reminds Chopsley of their deal – a body for E.R.I.C. and he’ll fix Chopsley’s face. With his skull on Morgus’ body, E.R.I.C. when accepts a phonecall from the president inviting Eric the Excellent for a visit to the White House.

Movie: A 164-foot-tall (50-meter-tall) monster reptile with radioactive breath is revived, thanks to nuclear testing. It goes on a mad rampage, destroying Tokyo – can it be stopped? Should it be killed?

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Morgus Presents: Godzilla Raids Again
Starring – Hiroshi Koizumi & Setsuko Wakayama    Unrated    1955

Host: E.R.I.C. introduces the show because Morgus is still under arrest from the previous episode. Soon Morgus and Chopsley arrive in handcuffs, and Morgus explains a bright idea from Wiley Faye and his cloning machine, which was used to create the Morgusaroid clones, had caught the attention of the law. But now Morgus sets about the business of creating more Morgusaroids to sell to the public. There are different models ranging from the very basic un-housebroken Morgusaroid to a fully customizable model. While Chopsley feeds them (they only require dog food and water), Morgus shows a video by order of the judge that released him, of the Morgusaroids doing community service throughout New Orleans. The newly trained Morgusaroids are prepared for shipping, and a rock and roll musician shows up seeking Morgusroids to fill out his band. The Morgusroids rock out, and Morgus makes a sale. But Morgus cautions that they need to be careful with the duplicator machine’s intelligence control. Before he can explain further, a woman arrives to buy a Morgusaroid to serve as her permanent escort. The orders for Morgusroids keep coming in so Morgus hops back onto the duplicator. Chopsley gets distracted by the phone ringing and a Morgusaroid flips the wrong switch (the intelligence switch) and creates an evil version of Morgus. A man from the department of labor shows up to arrest Morgus for employing clones that are only 10 minutes old, and when he tries to warn him about the Evil Morgus, the man takes the Real Morgus away. Evil Morgus closes the show by vowing to take over the city.

Movie: Koji Kobayashi, a spotter for a Japanese fishing fleet crash lands his plane on a barren island. His best friend, Shoichi Tsukioka, manages to find him and lands his plane next to his so he can be rescued. The two pilots are shocked when they see two giant monsters waging war before falling into the ocean. The two pilots race back to Japan to inform the government what they saw. Soon the world comes to the realization, that a monster closely related to the original Godzilla is on the loose as well as a new monster named Angilas. Soon, the two monsters arrive in Osaka where they resume their battle. Will the two monsters destroy Osaka before they ultimately destroy each other?

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Morgus Presents: Godzilla vs. Mothra
Starring – Akira Takarada & Hiroshi Koizumi    Not Rated   1964

Host: Morgus promises that the evening’s experiment will answer all of our unanswered questions about physics. He reveals an invisible table, created with a special formula of liquid molecules that when treated properly will vibrate and make an object invisible. Morgus quickly proceeds from solid molecules in solid objects to animals, showing off his invisible hamster named Albert, which he then makes almost reappear with yet another formula. A visitor appears at the lab, Claude, an invisible scientist who turned himself as such during a botched experiment. Claude wants Morgus to perfect his visibility formula and cure him. But the formula must be injected directly into the adrenal gland so Morgus performs invisible surgery on Claude who begins blinking in and out of view. The operation doesn’t appear to work so Morgus wraps up Claude like the Invisible Man. The next thing they try is to give Claude the formula orally after-which he freaks out and starts throwing things at Morgus. He and Chopsley finally get Claude calmed down (and sedated) and use clown makeup to fool him into thinking he’s invisible. While Claude jogs to supposedly make the medicine work, Morgus waits for the doctors from the sanitarium that he’s had his fans call for Claude. The doctors arrive, but Claude’s unwrapped himself and disappeared, and the doctors think Morgus is the crazy one.

Movie: A greedy developer has placed huge machines to suck dry a part of the ocean near Tokyo so he can put luxury condos there. After a storm, a giant egg washes up on the beach nearby and is immediately put on public display. The developer’s plans go awry when he disrupts Godzilla’s rest and the monster goes stomping through Tokyo again. It’s up to the elderly Mothra, and then to its two offspring, to save Tokyo from destruction.

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Morgus Presents: Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster
Starring – Akira Takarada & Kumi Mizuno     Not Rated    1966

Host: Morgus sends Chopsley to the store for sandwiches saying that there’s precious little time to eat while they finish their latest scientist breakthrough. As he greets the viewers, Morgus alerts journalists in the audience that they’ll want to pay special attention because this invention will give them an edge on the competition. The Morgusoscopic Prognosticator allows you to see into the future and find out what’s going to happen before it happens – so, among other things, news reporter could know the news before it happens. The Prognosticator works by employing Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, which Morgus take it upon himself to teach the viewers about, and spits out the future readings via the computer E.R.I.C. is wired to. Morgus uses the machine to predict a nearby fire, which moments later in started by Chopsley, who is barbecuing in the hallway. Once the firemen leave, the chief stays behind to ask Morgus how he knew to call for help ahead of time. Morgus demonstrates the machine successfully, but as the chief leaves, his landlord Alma Fetish pays him a visit. She’s fed up with Morgus’ experiments, but he cons her into helping him by rigging her up with a camera so he can break the news as it happens using the machine’s predictions. Morgus launches the Futuristic News with himself as chief correspondent, Alma as roving reporter and Chopsley as the weatherman. As a car pulls up, Morgus is excited because he thinks the station manager is coming to write him a check for the Prognosticator and the Futuristic News service. Morgus uses the machine to see what kind of contract the manager will offer, but it tells him that a well known TV scientist will die live on the air in 1 minute. Morgus tells the viewers not to worry as he keels over. Morgus’ ghost watches in a panic as the station manager arrive with the contract.

Movie: Some teenagers want to obtain a boat to find a brother. When they look around a boat without permission, they find a thief who takes them on his escape. They are caught in a storm and arrive at Letchi Island where natives of Infant Island have been enslaved by the terrorist organisation Red Bamboo. Red Bamboo runs a heavy water factory to process a juice which holds off the monster, Ebirah, which otherwise traps them on the island. The young men meet beautiful but tough Daiyo and wake up Godzilla to put an end to the Red Bamboo.

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Morgus Presents: House of Frankenstein
Starring – Boris Karloff & Lon Chaney Jr.     Not Rated     1944

Host: Morgus is ready to shake up the medical world with his revolutionary DIY Clinics, where the average person can learn to diagnose and treat their own ailments using books and video cassettes made by Morgus himself. Patients begin to arrive at Morgus’ clinic including a woman about to have a baby, a man with a bloody injury and a woman who needs Morgus’ help to lose weight. Two babies are delivered, and a man named Perry Hoolihan arrives, suffering from halitosis. Morgus preps Perry for surgery (yes, for bad breath), and after a few explosions, he’s sent to recovery with aspirin (Morgus’ cure for everything). The clinic quickly fills up with patients in recovery (taking aspirin distributed by Chopsley) and Morgus reminds a man removing his own appendix to wear gloves. As more patients come to the Clinic, Morgus tries to get them up with television (via a telescope looking into the window of an adjacent building) and hospital food. Meanwhile, babies continue to be delivered and Morgus invites the doctors of the world to become franchisees of his DIY Clinic. Mr. Carter, the man who removed his own appendix, is recovering and Morgus urges him to take aspirin. But another patient is having a bad reaction and Morgus realizes that Chopsley’s been giving boric acid (roach powder) to all of the patients instead of aspirin, making them all drop…like roaches.

Movie: After escaping from an asylum the mad Dr. Niemann and his hunch back assistant revive Count Dracula, the Wolf Man and the Frankenstein monster in order to extract revenge upon their many enemies.

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Morgus Presents: Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Starring – Kevin McCarthy & Dana Wynter   Not Rated    1956

Host: Morgus proclaims that the world is running out of food. The world’s population is growing and so are human beings – like Chosley, who Morgus declares is far too tall. Morgus has two experiments for the evening that will allow food to grow larger and people to grow smaller. After some persuasion, Chopsley agrees to be part of the experiment and enters a compression chamber to become half his size. Morgus and the smaller Chopsley move on to the next experiment of trying to make food larger, but as they get started, Chopsley proves rather useless because he’s no longer strong and is too short to reach anything on the lab’s top shelves. As Morgus grows a watermelon to 3 times its size, a man from the phone company arrives to collect on the payphone in the lab. The man mentions that he hates his job and always wanted to be a jockey but he’s too tall. Of course Morgus and his invention can help. He shrinks the man, who leaves the collection money with Morgus. As Morgus grows more vegetables, Chopsley pouts about being small, and the small telephone man and his wife return. The wife is furious and wants Morgus to make her husband big again, but instead Morgus talks her into getting into the compression machine too with the promise of being thinner. Mr. Wallace from the Defense Department arrives, and Morgus strikes up a deal with him to get this new technology to the Secretary of Defense. Meanwhile, Chopsley attempts to inject himself with the serum for the watermelon so he can grow large again. Morgus tries to stop him but ends up injecting himself and growing into a giant.

Movie: Dr Miles Bennell returns his small town practice to find several of his patients suffering the paranoid delusion that their friends or relatives are impostors. He is initially skeptical, especially when the alleged dopplegängers are able to answer detailed questions about their victim’s lives, but he is eventually persuaded that something odd has happened and determines to find out what is causing this phenomenon.

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Morgus Presents: Son of Godzilla
Starring – Tadao Talashima & Akira Kudo    Not Rated    1967

Host: Morgus is very excited to welcome the stock brokers in the audience as his latest invention will make millions for the lucky investor. He’s created a perpetual motion machine using bionics so that the human heart is the source of the perpetual energy or MAMI Energy. Of course, the machine won’t be powered by the heart of a living human; a corpse is delivered, and Chopsley sets about connecting it to the machine. Morgus explains that the body requires no fuel other than plain water, and then calls out the press for printing an article calling him “The Weakest Link” (placed next to the funnies). Using a car battery, Morgus and Chopsley jumpstart the body and the machine. Shortly after it starts, they’ve created enough energy to power a fan. A workman arrives to read the gas meter and sneaks some photos of the machine in operation, and soon afterward, JP Randolph arrives from OEC to present Morgus with an award, The Oil Energy Cartel Peace Prize. Randolph says that OEC has authorized Morgus to make a donation of his machine to them, and they’ll of course give him $100,000. But they’re not planning on giving the donation to the people, rather they want to keep it away from the public. Luckily, Morgus calls a “code 3” and Chopsley hauls Randolph away. As Chosley returns, Morgus notices that the corpse is beginning to smell, but they’re interrupted by the arrival of the bug man who’s there to spray (and looks suspiciously like the gas meter reader and takes pictures of the machine just like him). Later, Morgus is making arrangements with the press, and a building inspector (with the same accent and look as the others) visits and snoops around, After he leaves, Morgus fields some audience questions via the phone in the lab about the device, and unfortunately we don’t know how things turn out because our copy of this episode ends with the movie.

Movie: A group of scientists are on tropical Solgel Island in the Pacific to conduct weather control experiments. Just before they begin, they find giant preying mantises measuring 25 feet tall called Kamakaras. They decide to go ahead with the experiments, but a malfunction in one of the devices and as a result a radioactive storm that pushes the temperature up to two hundred degrees. The storm also causes the mantises to grow even bigger to 100 feet tall. The mantises then make their way to a huge mound where they uncover a giant egg which contains a young Godzilla, later named Minilla. Eventually, Godzilla shows up and saves his offspring. The rest of the movie features Godzilla taking care of and teaching his young son the skills that will eventually help him to become the new “King of Monsters” as well as fighting the Kamakaras and a giant spider named Kumoga.

Morgus Terror Of Mechagodzilla DVD

Morgus Presents: Terror Of Mechagodzilla
Starring – Tomoko Ai & Goro Mutsumi     Not Rated    1975

Host: Morgus is catching up on fanmail, which includes many propositions from his female viewers. But alas, Mogus has an announcement. As the last of the Momus A. Morguses (Morgusi?), he must marry and produce an heir. With the help of his manager, Wiley Faye, the perfect candidate to be the bride of Morgus will arrive at the lab later in the show. But all is not well, as Chopsley packs his bag to leave. During the movie, Morgus convinces Chopsley to stay, and the executioner is helping his boss spruce up his hair as Wiley arrives with not one, but three perfect candidates. Morgus conducts a blind interview and chooses his bride, but he’s not to wed her; he needs her genes. DOA, the woman Morgus is to marry is in pieces on his lab table. He eventually assembles and revives her, and he sets to work teaching her to speak so that she can say their wedding vows. Later that evening, Morgus follows the advice of his father’s book, The Morgus Mating Manual, and tries to court DOA, but Chopsley’s stolen most of the diagrams from the book. Wiley returns with the rest of the wedding supplies and guests. As the Justice of the Peace begins the ceremony, he asks if there are any objections and the bride speaks up saying that she wants Chopsley instead, and Morgus is left chasing after the happy couple.

Movie: Aliens from a dying galaxy plan to destroy our cities and build their new home on Earth. Their weapon is Mechagodzilla, a 400-foot-tall robot armed with powerful lasers and guided missiles. Only Godzilla is mighty enough to stop the colossal machine, but when Professor Mafune joins the aliens, not even Godzilla will be able to defeat them. Mafune controls Titanosaurus, a gigantic amphibious dinosaur, through a biochemical connection with his cyborg daughter, Katsura. Godzilla is no match for Titanosaurus and Mechagodzilla together, but Interpol agents have discovered Titanosaurus’ weakness, which may give Godzilla the fighting chance he needs to save the world!

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Morgus Presents: The Wolfman
Starring – Claude Rains & Lon Chaney Jr.      Not Rated     1941

Host: Morgus has a brand new invention with which to rock the scientific community. He’s solved the problem of transportation with a machine that will modify the matter of people and turn them into a sand-like substance for easy shipping and transportation. Chopsley returns from Alma Fetish’s apartment with a frozen turkey for demonstration purposes and brings along Michael the dog. Morgus puts the turkey into the machine and delivers the particles to the Morguso-Restorator machine to demonstrate how matter is then rehydrated and put back together. Morgus then decides to demonstrate the machine on a live source, Michael. Some of the resulting sand lands on the floor, and when Morgus puts it into the Restorator machine, Michael returns as a smaller dog but is safely returned to Alma. The next test subject is Kid Diamond, a local rock star, who insists that Morgus try out the machine first. After a successful test, Kid is turned to sand and placed in a labeled jar on Morgus’ shelf ready for shipment to Mexico City. The next visitor is Jack Smith, a shady character who want Morgus to send some jewels through the machine for shipment to his “dear old mother in Mexico City.” Jack had intended to fly to Mexico City, but Morgus is happy to send him right through the machine and then sends Chopsley down to the police station with the jars of the jewels and thief. Morgus is in the midst of arranging for the jars and the Restorator to be shipped to Mexico City when a policeman arrives, confused about Chopsley’s delivery. Morgus restores the thief, who’s promptly arrested. Then members of a bowling team arrive and ask to be sent to Mexico City. He passes the jars off the Chopsley and tells him to up to “put all four in the box.” So Chopsley dumps the contents of the jars into a box, mixing up all of the sand. Morgus attempts to restore all four people from the mixed up sand and creates a giant blob monster made of their matter. Note: this episode’s plot is very similar to that of the feature film.

Movie: Upon the death of his brother, Larry Talbot returns from America to his ancestral home in Wales. He visits a gypsy camp with village girl Jenny Williams, who is attacked by Bela, a gypsy who has turned into a werewolf. Larry kills the werewolf but is bitten during the fight. Bela’s mother tells him that this will cause him to become a werewolf at each full moon. Larry confesses his plight to his unbelieving father, Sir John, who then joins the villagers in a hunt for the wolf. Transformed by the full moon, Larry heads for the forest and a fateful meeting with both Sir John and Gwen Conliffe.

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And there you have it, Friends of Science, my look at Morgus the Magnificent.  I hope you enjoyed getting to know or getting reacquainted with this legend of horror hosting.  It was really interesting to me, as I researched Morgus’ on air history, to see the affection for him in multiple cities – most notably New Orleans and Detroit.  We tend to think of horror hosts, especially those early hosts, as being so of their city, and while Morgus is certainly of New Orleans, the character and the writing of the show is of such quality that it’s easy to see why viewers in other cities could so easily adopt him as their own.  Very special thanks to Matt for asking me to write about Morgus and for his persistence in tracking down the episodes for me. For the next update, I’ll be retreating back to my own little corners of the web and handing the reigns back over to Matt who will have you peeking under your bed and into your closet when he covers the Boogieman.  Until then, pleasant dreams….

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