Pre-Halloween Haunting Begins Tonight with "13 Ghosts"!

Tonight on MeTV- it’s our pre-Halloween treat, made tricky by that gimmicky guru of horror, William Castle- when a family inherits a house inhabited by sinister spirits, with so many secrets-  and a number of nasty  dangers that add up to- “13 Ghosts”!

This 1960 films begins with some sad times-  Cyrus  Zorba is having financial difficulties, his furniture is being repossessed, and his family is feeling low- unfortunately, on the very birthday of son Buck. Buck’s birthday wish seems to set off some strange circumstances- starting with the message arriving that an old uncle who was into the occult has passed away- and left his sprawling old mansion to Cyrus!

Cyrus and wife Hilda meet with lawyer Benjamin Rush, who gives them something else the departed uncle left for them- a strange steampunk-looking pair of viewing glasses. They get to their new home, which is completely furnished- and , as they celebrate their good fortune – other than realizing that Unc’s old housekeeper, a rather creepy woman, comes with the property-  daughter Medea decides to use a Ouija board- which reveals that there are ghosts in the house- ghosts that the uncle supposedly collected from all over the world! Not only that- but these wraiths are supposedly deadly!

It doesn’t take long for the ghosts to start to reveal themselves- thanks to those weird glasses that the family has inherited. Cyrus discovers a hidden room- and some of the frightful spirits- which encourages him to visit with an old friend at the museum he works at, to try to find some answers. The creepy old housekeeper also has some answers- as more dangers manifest, and the secret of a vast fortune hidden somewhere in the house encourages more evil!

This film, which was remade in a pretty decent version in 2001, is a perfect example of Castle’s  use of a gimmick- this one utilizing the process of “Illusion-O” and the famed “ghost viewers” that allowed only the bravest theatre goers to see the ghosts- and prevented the squeamish from viewing them. We’ll explain just how that worked, and introduce you to a cast that includes “Wizard of Oz”s wicked witch of the West, Margaret Hamilton , Martin Milner, Rosemary DeCamp- and , of course, the hammy Castle himself. We’ll give you a rundown of the list of ghosts, and bring you a new song!

"13 Ghosts" will appear tonight on MeTV at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central- and, if you're not sure of the channel or time of the broadcast where you are, consult your local listings or www.metv.com .  MeTv invites you to jump on Twitter during the show and  live Tweet with the many fans  who use the hashtag  #svengoolie  - and often get us trending nationally. Our Chicago viewers get an encore of  "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein"  at 11 am on WCIU, the U.

This is a busy day on our Halloween appearance tour- we hit one of our favorites, the Volo Auto Museum in Volo, IL at noon- and then, late night, join in the 21 and over costume fun at Cube nightclub in the Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, IL starting at 11 pm, for signing and hosting the costume contest. Please make sure you follow the costume rules if you plan to attend ( no weapons, no masks, or face paint).

We’ll also be “radio-active” next week- Monday night, Sven alter ego Rich Koz and executive producer Jim Roche will be doing an on-air shift on WGN radio (720 AM) from 11 pm to 1 am- with some special guests! Then on Halloween- Sven is back at WGN to visit Bill and Wendy at 11:35 am. Plus- Sven will be appearing all day on MeTV-FM ( 87.7) – and on Sirius XM’s “70s on 7” channel ! Don’t forget that Sven has been asked to help host the Chicago Bulls game at the United Center on Halloween night.

Don’t forget that we’ve now gotten on Instagram-  @ RealSvengoolie  …like I needed more social media to handle! LOL

Start your Halloween early with a visit from”13 Ghosts” tonight!