Take It from Vincent Price-Getting Scared by This Movie Will Unleash “The Tingler”- Tonight!

“Svengoolie’s Halloween BOO-nanza” heads back into the scary gimmick-laden world of William Castle tonight on MeTV-featuring the great Vincent Price discovering a creepy creature that supposedly lies patiently dormant inside us all-until we are given a strong fright- which unleashes the power of- “the Tingler”!

This 1959 horror introduces us to Price as Dr. Warren Chapin, (not to be confused with child actor Lauren Chapin from the old “Father Knows Best” series). He’s a pathologist, struggling to continue his research on the effects of fear on humans between his stressful interactions with his beautiful, but unfaithful and scheming wife. He finds comfort in the more pleasant relationship he has with his wife’s younger sister, and with her boyfriend, who helps Chapin in his work.

When Dr. Chapin does an autopsy on a man who went to the electric chair-he is shocked (no, not like the victim!) to find the man’s spine has been shattered- because mere electricity would not do that. Chapin theorizes that something tied in with fear itself made that happen- and so, playing off the fact that one’s spine tingles in situations of fright-he names that something “the Tingler”.

He meets the executed man’s brother- Ollie- a weird little man who runs a theatre specializing in silent films. Ironically, Ollie’s wife is also silent- a deaf mute- and while the doctor is visiting them and accidentally cuts himself, the woman faints dead away at the sight of his blood! Chapin theorizes that she does so as a release from her fear- and wonders if, since she is unable to scream- perhaps it is screaming that diminishes the Tingler’s power. He heads home, only to observe his wife cheating with some other man. Figuring he has a chance to check his screaming theory, he stages a confrontation that will definitely trigger fear in the horrid woman. After the faux frightful encounter, he x-rays her, which shows him that some bizarre centipede-like creature grows on the spine as fear sets in- ladies and gentlemen, he has discovered the actual Tingler!

Chapin, eager to learn more about fear, subjects himself to an LSD trip (the first ever depicted on film!)- but, to no avail. Meanwhile, quite the opposite happens at the apartment of Ollie and his wife- when she awakens to all sorts of unexplainable horrors- and the poor mute woman DIES of fright! Ollie brings her body to Chapin, who performs an autopsy- and finds the now-enlarged live Tingler on her spine. He removes it and, after some slight turmoil, imprisons it in a box. Of course, the Tingler escapes, and ends up on the loose again and again- eventually in the silent movie theater, where Chapin’s theory that the only defense against the creature is to scream gets put to the ultimate test!

This is another film that Sven fans have asked to see again- and both those familiar with Castle’s films and first-time viewers will enjoy the exploitative horror. Just as we explained the gimmick used in Castle’s “13 Ghosts”, this time we explain how Castle’s presentation of his process for this movie called “Percept-o” worked- plus, we introduce you to our cast, and offer you a home tutorial that will tickle your tonsils- as well as bringing you a song! We also discuss the appearance of some color in the black and white movie- about which there are all sorts of theories, some incredibly far-fetched!

"The Tingler” starts tingling tonight on MeTV at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central, or if you’re unsure of when we run in your area, check time and channel in your local listings or at www.metv.com. MeTV reminds you to join the legions of Sven fans live-Tweeting during the show on Twitter- and make sure to always use the hashtag #svengoolie – that helps insure that we end up in the top trending topics being tweeted about on Twitter during our airtime. In the Chicago viewing area, "It! The Terror from Beyond Space" blasts off, one last time, at 11 am on CW26.

We need to say thank you to the amazing number of fans who came to see us at the New York Comic Con last weekend- our MeTV booth was kept busy by the long lines for us stretching all along the convention floor! We’ll talk about this great event more in the next monthly newsletter coming out November 1st (sign up for free by clicking on the banner for it here on our website)- including the exciting information about the Sven comic books coming out next year!

‘Tis the season to trick-or-treat yourself to some Svengoolie merchandise-including all our fantastic artists shirts, the Sven button-up shirt, the new Sven/Kerwyn bobble head, new Svengoolie Uncrypted button set, and more! Just head to our ( “I have a-“) store on our website!

And- if you think THAT sends a tingle of excitement down your spine- tune in to MeTV tonight- and be ready to scream for your life!