Ferdy II
Real name: Carl Ames
Years active: 1967-1968
Yes, Ferdy somehow had a legacy. If you want to get technical, this particular host had no name, but he was still hosting Ferdie's Inferno, so the old name stuck. Sadly there only seems to be a few photos left of this host but no footage.
Silent Night, Deadly Night (2025), dir. Mike P. Nelson, Wonderwheel Entertainment
Huh. Not sure we needed another one, but why not at this point?
Ferdy
Real name: Jack Crowley
Years active: 1964 to 1967
We've had mad scientists, vampires, ghouls, and general weirdos, but appliance salesmen?
Ferdie's Inferno ran on WMTV-TV Channel 15 out of Madison, although the show started out as the unhosted Nightshade & Old Lace Theatre.
The new title came from the station's sponsor, Ferd Mattoli. Crowley was the white faced host until Mattoli opted to leave Wisconsin for health reasons, but there was another...
Halloween II (1981), dir. Rick Rosenthal, Dino De Laurentiis Corporation
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A film that could only be brought about via lawsuit. Seriously, John Carpenter got himself into a spot of trouble. Irwin Yarblans, who produced the first film and had the idea of a psycho stalking babysitters, had a handshake agreement with Carpenter about doing his next picture, which he assumed would be a sequel. When word got back to him that John would focus on some flick about vengeful ghosts, the lawyers were sent for, and this was the resulting agreement.
Mr. Mephisto
Real name: Dick Flanigan
Years active: 1969-1988
Here's another guy from Madison. Hosting Lenny's Inferno on WMTV-TV Channel 15 out of Madison from 1969 to 1982, he came back later in 1988 on WCGV-TV Channel 24 but the new Lenny's Inferno wouldn't last the summer.
He seemed to be a less a mad scientist and more of a general creep. Good makeup job though.
The Lady Vanishes (1979), dir. Anthony Page, Hammer Film Productions
Welp, that is it. By this point, Hammer had pretty much done everything they could do but in the end it just didn't matter. The company would limp into the 80's, albeit in a smaller format, so why not end it by remaking a classic?
Dr. Destruction
Real name: Dale Wamboldt
Years active: 2001 to present
One of the newer hosts, still around as best as I can tell. Dr. Desstruction's Crimson Theatre made its debut on Kenosha Community Television Channel 14 out of Kenosha. In 2002 the show made the move to other community access stations across Wisconsion.
The good doctor is also a hall of fame inductee, so there's that. Honestly seems delightfully old school and that's fine. Glad to see the tradition still going.
