The Book is Back!

In Friday’s blog, I mentioned that I had heard a rumor that the excellent book by Ted Okuda and Mark Yurkiw- “Chicago TV Horror Movie Shows: from Shock Theatre to Svengoolie”- might finally get another printing. The popular book, which went through a few printings, has been unavailable for quite a while, but still in demand- I have gotten a lot of e-mails from people who wanted to find a copy, only to be told it was sold out; and, as I mentioned, sometimes a fan will bring a copy to one of my appearances to be signed- and a lot of the folks who see it want to know where they can get a copy! Sadly, unless some out-of-the way bookstore might have a copy left, they were just not available. (Since I have a few friends who always wanted the book, when the Borders stores went out of business in our area, I hit a couple of them, hoping they might have had a copy left in their storage-but, no such luck.) Late yesterday- I received confirmation from both our friend John of the “Horrorbles” horror and sci fi collectibles store, and from one of the book’s authors himself, Ted Okuda, that the Lake Claremont Press IS indeed about to launch another printing of the book! We’ve been told that POD (print on demand) files have been created- and that the first batch of physical copies will most likely be available by next week! The book is the first- and best- comprehensive book about Chicago’s history of horror movie shows, hosted and non-hosted, from 1957 onwards. From Marvin (Terry Bennett) of the original “Shock Theatre” on our local ABC station through to the era of the original Svengoolie, Jerry G. Bishop, to the torch-passing to me as “Son of Svengoolie”, you get the full history- I know this book will answer a lot of the questions I’ve been asked by our new fans around the country, since we’ve been made available to just about the entire nation on the Me-TV network! You get to see rare photos, production stills, promotional posters and cards, print ads, and more-plus, chapters on collectibles and lists of movies shown on various Chicago shows. Though I don’t think they are able to update the information about me to mention our move to national broadcasting, everything right up to that point is all right there! The book is very well-written, loaded with information, and a very entertaining read. Remember that specific title- “Chicago TV Horror Movie Shows: from Shock Theatre to Svengoolie”- published by Lake Claremont Press. Who knows- once it’s back in circulation- maybe there will be a special signing event somewhere… I read an article in the Chicago Tribune a couple days ago about a group of people who , during certain times of the year, make early morning rounds of various downtown buildings to check on the many small birds who accidentally fly into the facades of buildings, fooled by the light from inside and indoor trees and fountains in buildings. The small birds fly during the night to avoid predators, and unfortunately smash into the buildings, many dying or seriously injuring themselves. Reading that reminded me of when I was working with Jerry G. Bishop on a radio morning show- and, when we’d be heading in to the Chicago Merchandise Mart building where the radio studios were, seeing so many beautiful colorful little birds lying on the sidewalk. I had never seen this before, and it made me very sad. So, please-managers of these big buildings –PLEASE attempt to turn the interior lights down or off in your buildings, whenever possible.