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The legendary horror icon Rich Koz (aka Svengoolie) has returned to television as part of MeTV‘s October slate of scary movies. Beginning Saturday, October 8, the block is scheduled to premiere It! Terror From Beyond Space, followed by The Addams Family [October 9], The Twilight Zone [October 16], Alfred Hitchcock Presents [October 23], and, of course, Kolchak: The Night Stalker. As part of New York Comic Con 2022, the horror meister sat down with Damian Holbrook in the TV Insider and TV Guide Magazine video suite to discuss Svengoolie’s Halloween BOOnanza, his origins, his favorite horror movies, and the greater Sven Universe, which is inhabited by thousands of his most loyal fans. When asked about his start as a local TV host making jabs at horror movies, he explained it all began with the original Svengoolie in Chicago, Jerry G. Bishop, a radio and TV guy Koz was working with and writing for at the time.

Aaron Sagers Oct 18, 2019

The horror movie show host is lending his likeness to the DC Universe to stand alongside its iconic heroes.

Move over, Batman, there’s a new hero in the DC Universe with a secret identity who wears black, sports black eye makeup, hangs out in a cavernous setting, and is associated with bats. Of course I am referring to Svengoolie, the horror movie show host who emerged from the gotham that is Chicago, and can now be found in the pages of DC comics with the story “Svengoolie Meets The DC Universe.”

With the alter ego of Rich Koz, Svengoolie’s eponymous comedy show airs Saturdays nationwide on MeTV, where he introduces classic horror flicks, tells jokes, shares trivia, and has a recurring gag with rubber chickens. Koz has portrayed the character since 1979, when he took over for the original Svengoolie, Jerry G. Bishop. Last month, DC...

By Michael Juvinall, MoreHorror.com

Horror movie host Rich Koz, a fixture on Chicago television for over 32 years playing the wise-cracking “Svengoolie”, is recovering from a heart attack.

According to the Chicago Media Blog, Koz, 60, was stricken at his home Saturday night and was admitted to a Chicago hospital, where he was being treated Monday.

On his Svengoolie Twitter and Facebook accounts Sunday, the following message was posted: “After a very busy Halloween holiday season, I’ll be taking a short reprieve from updating my blog. Daily updates will return soon!”

Koz, who has a history of heart problems, suffered a heart attack in March 2002. He returned to work two months later after undergoing two angioplasty procedures. “Maybe it’s a good thing that rubber chickens are cholesterol-free,” he quipped at the time.

“Rich’s condition is improving and his family has asked for privacy at this time,” Neal Sabin,...

Horror fans today are spoiled. With the vast array of films available on DVD and Blu-ray via storefronts like Best Buy and Fye, online outlets like Amazon and Deep Discount, and rental/streaming services such as Netflix, there are few films that are unattainable. Virtually anything one might hear of is available some way, somewhere. But it wasn't always so...

Back at a time before disc (or VHS for that matter), the only way - and I mean the Only way - to see classic and not so classic genre pictures was on broadcast television. As a kid, I remember getting the local TV Guide and a yellow highlighter and systematically going through the listings, marking each and every show time of movies I'd heard about either from friends or ones that were obliquely mentioned in Forry Ackerman's Famous Monsters of Filmland . I would meticulously go over each entry...