IMAGE CREATED BY KEVIN KELLY

This January marks the 63^rd anniversary of Shocker Theater where Ernie Anderson as the host “Ghoulardi” offered commentary on featured horror shows from 1963 to 1966 on WJW-TV8 in Cleveland.

   (Plain Press January 2026) January 18, 2026, marks the 63rd anniversary of Shock Theater. The show aired in 1963, at 11:20 at night, during one of the coldest and snowiest winters. However, because the WJW-TV8 station had not decided on a name for the host of the show, the powers that be decided to hold a public contest at the up-coming Cleveland Boat Show on January 26, 1963. The name of the contest was called “choose the name” of the host. The TV network set up a booth and received 17,000 entries out of 100,000 people that attended the Boat Show that year. The name chosen was, “Ghoulardi”.

   Ghoulardi made his first appearance on WJW-TV 8 in Cleveland, Ohio. His name was Ernie Anderson, and he was a Cleveland sensation, from 1963 to 1966. The show aired 1950’s horror movies. It included intermissions of Ghoulardi’s sly comments on how bad the movie actually was, as jazz music played in the background.

   Many do not know that, when Ernie Anderson first appeared as “Ghoulardi”, on Shock Theater, he had a faucet attached to the side of his head. Due to it leaving a nasty red mark they discontinued that prop.

   Many adults loathed him, but the teenagers worshiped him. Unfortunately, what younger minds perceived from his message was that it was cool to be rebellious and make fun of others. Because the Friday night show was live, the TV 8 station manager was constantly worried about what Ghoulardi would say next. Eventually, towards the end of 1966, Ernie Anderson headed out to Hollywood to break into the entertainment business. Others have come and gone since, trying to gain the same high status that Ghoulardi gripped Northeastern Ohio with, but no one would ever come close to the same unique style that helped him gain such popularity.

   Because of popular demand, the “Ghoulardi” documentary will air once again on the Spectrum Tri-C Channel 1025 through the month of January 2026, Monday nights at 9PM. The video can also be seen on COX Cable Channel 45, Saturdays at 6pm. For more information, you can contact Kevin@shockerEnterprises.com or call 440-888-8327. Please check out: ShockerEnterprises.com.