Monster Mash Halloween Event and Reissues

Zacherle, who just celebrated his 92nd birthday, will be on hand to sign autographs and greet fans many of whom spent significant chunks of their childhood glued to the monster and horror films he hosted on local television in Philadelphia and New York in the 1950s and 1960s.

His "monster" hit "Dinner With Drac" was released in 1958 on the Cameo label and thus began a most unlikely recording career. He recorded the two albums for Cameo and have been reissued on a "twofer" CD this week by Collectors Choice Music in association with ABKCO Records.

We reached Zach in his New York laboratory the other day where he noted, "For me, everyday is Halloween; that's how I look at the world. I don't even have to get dressed up!" Zacherle, who now spells his name 'Zacherley,' recalled that as a child growing up in Germantown, PA, Halloween costumes worn by trick or treaters in those days were decidedly non-gory. "Kids would come to the door dress as cowboys," he recalled. "There's little room these days for cowboys on Halloween," says Zach who is excited about the re-release of his albums. "We always do a little show at the Chiller Theatre Expo, my dear friend Rosemary DiPietra will perform 'Hurry Bury Baby,' one of the great songs we recorded for Cameo." The track is part of the Monster Mash/Scary Tales collection and was, in fact, recorded after hours at Cameo's studios on Broad Street in Philadelphia. "They put me in a tiny room, kind of a closet, to do the vocals: it was about the size of a casket," Zacherle recollected. The song is a parody of another Cameo biggie, The Dovells' "Hully Gully Baby," and, in fact, uses the songs original backing tracks.

Zach would like all of his fans to know that he's doing well and hopes to see them at the Expo and is delighted that his recordings have come back, so to speak, from the dead.