INITIAL PROJECT PLANS + CONNECTIONS

 My plan for my MA project is to create a documentary film on the topic of "horror hosting", focusing on the interactivity and cultural specificity of the trend and how those factors impacted local communities. I will also provide a background/brief history of the topic including how the trend is being continued today. I am hoping to interview former and current local horror hosts as well as broadcasting professionals, and potentially audience members/fans from across the country to get their perspectives on what it was like to be part of the trend, how it impacted their lives, and how it was impactful to their community. I will gather as much archive footage as I can find to show examples of the trend and illustrate its local connections. I am also considering writing about my thesis topic in my Communication Research methods class so that I can generate resources and information to help me frame my project. The framing, structure, and generally the approach to producing the documentary aren't yet clear to me, but I think that with research I'll figure it out.

While it is hard to ignore the most well-known horror hosts who found international fame, such as Elvira, Zacherley, Vampira and Svengoolie, I want to focus very specifically on how the trend was localized. I anticipate some challenges in researching this topic because the bulk of the sources I have found focus on the trend on an international scale, speaking to the biggest stars about their success and impact. However, I have found some examples of people writing and creating media about their local hosts (a documentary entitled Virginia Creepers: The Horror Host Tradition of the Old Dominion and a book entitled Chicago TV horror movie shows : from Shock Theatre to Svengoolie), which could definitely be useful in finding information about specific examples. Additionally, there have been some attempts to create databases or a 'hall of fame' of horror hosts (as with the horror host hall of fame and the book Television horror movie hosts : 68 vampires, mad scientists, and other denizens of the late-night airwaves examined and interviewed) which will be very helpful for pinpointing the best examples to research and highlight.

The past graduate project that is most similar to what I hope to achieve is Monster Representations by Giana Marinelli. I have not yet had the opportunity to watch Giana's project, but I did reach out to her on Linkedin to ask whether I could watch it and discuss it with her. Based on the description, both the form and the topic of Giana's project seem to be similar to my idea. Monster Representations discusses the ways that the horror genre represents marginalized groups and identities using the "monstrous other" which can contribute to negative stereotypes and stigma. The film interviews horror fans and people involved in the film industry to discuss these representations in their lives and in the context of the horror community, highlighting the opposition within the community between the gatekeeping and problematic media and those who prioritize diversity and inclusion (Marinelli, 2021).

The topic of Monster Representations connects to topics that I have researched and written about in the past, so it is definitely of interest to me. It is similar to my topic because it takes examples of horror media and puts them in a larger context of community and representation, connecting them to their real-world impacts. The form of the project, including interviews and both present and past examples, is also similar to what I hope to achieve.

References

Horror Host Hall of Fame. (n.d.). https://www.horror-host.com/

Marinelli, G. (2021). Monster Representations. 2021 Grad Booklet. [PDF]

Okuda, T., & Yurkiw, M. (2016). Chicago TV Horror movie shows: From “shock theatre” to “Svengoolie.” Southern Illinois University Press.

Watson, E. M. (2000). Television horror movie hosts: 68 vampires, mad scientists and other denizens of the late-night airwaves examined and interviewed. McFarland.

What is Virginia Creepers?. Virginia Creepers: The Horror Host Tradition of the Old Dominion. (2011, November 26). https://web.archive.org/web/20111217044954/http://www.virginiacreepersmovie.com/