Old horror hosts die hard. Even years after they take one final bow and the curtain closes, we still obsess over them. Time seems irrelevant. Five years ago, ten years ago, twenty years ago, etc. It doesn't matter. They seem as though frozen in history, encased in memory, as an essential part of childhood. For me this was Dr. Gruesome and Skeeter of "Dr. Gruesome's Movie Morgue," a local show broadcasting out of Fox Richmond in Virginia. And many have been the times when I've pondered the fate of the players behind the play. Fortunately, I wonder no more.
For Dr. Gruesome, Mark Bartholomew, and his hunchbacked sidekick Skeeter, Matthew Pak, have seen a resurrection as of late. For through Bartholomew, by Dr. Gruesome's own hand, there is now penned "Dr. Gruesome's Cartoon Movie Morgue." Bartholomew started out as an art director and recently has utilized these talents to give his interpretation of where Dr. Gruesome and Skeeter would be now. And much to delight of fans, up to the old same antics in cartoon form made freely available at Bartholomew's website drgruesome.com.
In the TV series, Skeeter was always the butt of the joke. A stooge who always bore the brunt of abuse by the dreadful doctor. But never in an outright violent manner, but more like an old-time cartoon road-runner dropping an anvil upon some poor hapless coyote. The doc would always termed such mishaps as "experiments," a term Skeeter was far less inclined to concur with.
Ironically, I, myself, only have one clear memory of the show on the air. It was not even part of the original run but a Halloween special produced in 2007 years after its cancellation by some unscrupulous, tasteless executive who could not appreciated true art if it clawed its way out of a cemetery and relieved itself in the executive's lounge.
Well, that executive is all but forgotten, but Dr. Gruesome and Skeeter, live on.
Even though it was just one memory. It was a good one. And strangely enough I recall it so clearly, crystal even, as though my memory was rebroadcasting in 4K Ultra HD despite no such thing existing way back when.
But out of all the things that made this particular moment standout to me the most was the sheer excitement crossing my older brother's face. The exhilaration in his voice, his almost reverence, his exclamation of "Don't you know who this is!?" In effect, he acted as some weird, movie-morgue hypeman. And, he spoke so earnestly that I felt I was missing out. I wanted to be in "the know" and nothing would deter me from finding out for myself.
And because of that one memory, the sight of a horror host feels me with nostalgia of simple days long ago. And had I not had that experience, it would not be quite the same.
Now, here I am today, while not nearly there yet, I am contemplating my own venture into this unique and truly one of a kind art form.
So it was no small degree of gratitude to you Dr. Gruesome, and yes, even to you Skeeter, I thank you both for making me feel like teenager again every time some mad scientist clonks a hunchback over the head in some ill-contrived quote-unquote "experiment."
Here's to you.
Please Visit: drgruesome.com
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