BATTY INDUCTEE NUMBER 5

MY FIFTH INDUCTEE IS APPROPRIATELY THE COOL GHOUL.  In 1958, Philadelphia record label Cameo-Parkway was having a great deal of success with acts ranging from Chubby Checker to Bobby Rydell.  Also at the time, the "Shock Theater" package of classic Universal horror films was being released to TV stations for the first time and WCAU-TV's John Zacherle was getting national fame as groundbreaking TV horror host Roland (later name-changed to Zacherley the Cool Ghoul).  Always savvy Cameo-Parkway decided to take some of their biggest hit records, remove the vocals, write new spooky lyrics and put out a Zacherley album.  Little did they know that the single would go to #7 on the Billboard Pop Charts.  That's why my fifth inductee into the Batty Halloween Hall of Fame is...

DINNER WITH DRAC PT. 1 by ZACHERLEY

As a teenager, my mother had watched Zacherley on SHOCK THEATER and she had told me stories about it.  Then when I was still in single digits, I magically came across the Zacherley "MONSTER MASH" LP and it's become a favourite of mine.  "Dinner With Drac" is a song that most people have heard of -- even if sometimes they mistakenly attribute it to Bobby "Boris" Pickett!  John Zacherle is still going strong, bless him; still making appearances at the Chiller Theater horror convention every year.  No one deserves to be in the Hall of Fame more.