Jackson Free Press

"Greetings, animals." A gaunt witch stared through the television screen at late-night viewers in Jackson, taunting them for several years in the early 1970s.

Long before "Elvira" or countless other late-night horror-movie hosts, Jackson had its own mistress of the night. Scarticia hosted "Horrible Movie," a weekly scary movie series on Saturdays on WAPT Channel 16 starting in 1971, showing classic monster films.

For many viewers, the show was their first introduction to films like "Dracula" (1931), "Frankenstein" (1931), "Wolfman" (1941), "The Mummy" (1932), "King Kong" (1933), "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954) and "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935).

Scarticia was a most unpleasant woman with a wicked and dark sense of humor. The actress was Annette (who refuses to give her last name), a secretary at WAPT.

She had a sidekick, Scoop Gravely, who was sort of her servant and a gravedigger. Legendary local dee-jay Ed Hobgood played the role. Scoop wore a fedora with a "press" card stuck in the side—he was always trying to get a scoop on a supernatural story.

Soon, teens and older folks began having "Horrible Movie" parties. Scarticia and Scoop introduced the film and came back on before and after each commercial break. They would say how stupid the movie was and make fun of the actors and even the fans who wrote in with a stunning amount of fan mail each week. The nastier the hosts were, the more we liked it.

The show ended in 1974, and Scarticia disappeared. Annette spent 40 years in the TV business and retired to an undisclosed town. She had some final words for her old fans: "Rock on, animals."

Previous Comments

ID

165830

Comment

Great article on a great tv program!

Author

Beaver1

Date

2012-01-24T12:24:35-06:00