The Ghosts of Hanley House
Halloween Month rolls along!
In the middle 1980s/ Way down on Level 31 …
Before MST3K there was The Texas 27 Film Vault! Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of this neglected cult show from the 1980s. My interview with Randy Clower, my research through VERY old newspapers and emailed memories from my fellow Film Vault Corps fans have helped to reconstruct elements of the show’s history.
EPISODE ORIGINALLY BROADCAST: Saturday October 26th, 1985 from 10:30pm to 1:00am.
SERIAL: Before showing and mocking the movie Randy Clower and Richard Malmos, our Film Vault Technicians First Class showed and mocked a chapter of the 1940 serial Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe.
FILM VAULT LORE: Randy and Richard’s presentation of Ghosts of Hanley House has occupied a very odd niche in pop-culture trivia for quite a long time. To those of us who remember The Texas 27 Film Vault this episode is famous as “the one where Psychotronic‘s Michael Weldon seems to have confused T27FV with MST3K.”
In Weldon’s 1996 book The Psychotronic Video Guide he refers to Ghosts of Hanley House as having been riffed on by the folks at Mystery Science Theater 3000. Actually MST3K NEVER showed Ghosts of Hanley House but The Texas 27 Film Vault DID. Weldon was a fan of Movie Host shows like Ghoulardi, Zacherley, Elvira and others, so it’s possible he had also sampled episodes of Randy and Richard’s show in the 80s but the subsequent years blurred his memory to the point where he confused T27FV with MST3K in this instance.
It would be a very easy mistake to make given the similarities between the shows.
THE MOVIE: Continue reading
Regular readers of Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog are very familiar with the disgust that drove me away from that increasingly hate-filled and intolerant party of fascists called Democrats. They’re also familiar with the #WALKAWAY movement of former Democrats and the way many of us have made YT videos about our reasons for leaving that party. 
Democrats have become everything they pretended to oppose. They are violent hatemongers who pretend to lecture others about violence and hatred. They hound people from the work force and try to hound them from public life for merely expressing opinions with which Democrat fascists disagree. 
SOMEONE’S “O” HAD TO GO – In a battle of unbeaten teams the KEISER UNIVERSITY SEAHAWKS traveled to face the SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY FIRE. After a 14-14 tie in the opening Quarter the Seahawks led 24-14 at the Half. From there the Fire pulled to within 3 points but no further as Keiser improved to 4-0 with a 31-28 triumph.
INSTANT CLASSIC IN ATCHISON – The BENEDICTINE COLLEGE RAVENS welcomed the PERU STATE BOBCATS yesterday. A 14-7 1st Quarter lead for the Ravens became a 21-21 tie at Halftime. The 3rd Quarter ended with Benedictine College up 28-27 over the Bobcats before winning it 31-27 when all was said and done.
CRUSADE IN MISSOURI – The EVANGEL UNIVERSITY CRUSADERS took on the visiting CLARKE UNIVERSITY PRIDE in this game. The Crusaders led 7-6 in the 1st Quarter and 21-6 at the break before the Pride fought to within 21-13 in the 3rd. Evangel University flexed their muscles in the 4th for a 28-13 victory. 
WEREWOLF BY NIGHT Vol 1 #1 (September 1972) 
The latest Gallup Poll results showed that FIFTY-SIX PERCENT of Americans believe they are better off now, under de facto Third Party President Donald Trump, than they were 4 years ago. That 56% is an ALL-TIME HIGH this close to an election. (links below) 
The previous 49 installments of Fool Killer lore have seen the neglected folk figure in a variety of roles: 
A KISS OF JUDAS (1894) – Written by “X.L.” (Julian Osgood Field). Adapted from Moldavian folk tales, this story tells us that the descendants of Judas walk among us. They are evil people with sinister designs on the people they target. At will they can commit suicide and return from the dead. The Judas-Spawn can then approach their terrified victim and plant a “Judas Kiss” on them, which kills them. The Roman numeral XXX (for the Thirty Pieces of Silver) appears on the dead bodies of their victims. 
