So Long, Jack- I Mean- Hello, “Francis in the Haunted House” Tonight!

A ghost is a ghost, at most, at most- and someone who meets one might just be toast- unless the fool can avoid the ghoul- with the famous talking mule! Sorry, Mr. Ed fans- but my whole point here is to introduce you to the star of tonight’s movie on Me-TV- a predecessor of TV’s talking horse, the star of a whole series of movies- Francis the Talking Mule- who teams up with a guy who was once the “greatest star in the world”- Mickey Rooney- in a hassle about a supposedly haunted castle- in “Francis in the Haunted House”! Mickey’s a fine young man who works for the mayor of his small town- and his fiancée is set to inherit the afore-mentioned castle- when the ghost of Macleod Castle appears-and, according to legend, every time it appears- someone dies! Sure enough, one of the fiancée’s lawyers is killed in a car accident- or- WAS it an accident? Rooney is contacted by a mysterious character from his past, who claims to have witnessed the suspicious “accident”- and is shocked to find out it’s the mule he used to ride at his uncle’s farm- and- that it can TALK! He heads to the castle, warning his fiancée and the investigating police that murder is afoot, and that it may not be safe for his love to stay in the castle- which prompts her guardian to mention that there’s a clause that indicates if she doesn’t stay in the castle for six months- the castle will be turned over to- the town Rooney works for! The guardian hints that the Mickster may just have an ulterior motive- while Rooney worries about his lady’s safety! Rooney gets inside information from his talking four-legged friend- but it just makes the police suspect HE has something to do with all the murder and mayhem! Surprisingly, he can’t get them to understand- or believe- that he’s getting his information from a talking mule! Meanwhile, the ghost re-appears, more people disappear, and hidden chambers and tunnels are revealed in the castle- will Rooney end up in jail- or murdered?! This movie was the last one in the “Francis” series- and we’ll tell you all about why it’s different from the previous ones, as well as other information on the cast and effects! We’ll also suggest some updated vehicles for the talking mule, and more. “Francis in the Haunted House” will appear on your TV screen via the Me-TV network tonight at 10 pm eastern- 9 pm central-1 am on San Francisco’s KOFY- and at whatever time it’s listed in your area. Meanwhile, for the Chicago viewing audience- you get one last crack at “The Mummy’s Ghost” on our WCIU broadcast at 11 am-and, at 3 pm, those lucky enough to have the U Too channel will see “Scream, Blacula, Scream” (for those in other areas who will inevitably ask when we’ll run that on Me-TV- we do not currently have the rights to broadcast it nationally- we’ll work on that…) One final plug for “G-Fest”- I’m at the big Godzilla/ giant Japanese monster convention today from 1 to 3 pm. We MUST stop autographs at 3, so I encourage you to get in line early, so you won’t be disappointed ! We will have a limited number of t-shirts and button sets available for sale. “G-Fest” is at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare on River Road in Rosemont- you can find details at www.g-fan.com/ Next weekend- we return to Horrorbles! More on that soon…