Fright Night on Channel 9: Saturday Night Horror Films on New York's WOR-TV, 1973-1987

by James Arena

From 1973 to 1987, Fright Night was a fixture of the late Saturday evening schedule on independent New York television station WOR-TV, Channel 9. A genre fan's nightmare come true, the modestly produced showcase featured horror films both classic and obscure, from Universal and RKO golden oldies such as  Frankenstein   Meets The Wolfman, King Kong and Dracula's Daughter  to lesser-known delights, including  Wild Women of Wongo ,  The Living Coffin and  Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things .  Fright Night suffered no delusions of grandeur and never claimed to be anything more than what it great entertainment on a Saturday night. This thorough and affectionate tribute to Fright Night 's glory days includes a complete listing (and critiques) of all films shown on the series, as well as discussion of WOR-TV's other horror movie programs from the 1970s and 1980s. Details of how the program was developed over 16 years are revealed in depth. Also featured are interviews with the major surviving players, including Fright Night creator Lawrence P. Casey and cult film producer Samuel M. Sherman ( Brain of Blood ).

Genres: Film

216 pages, Paperback

First published November 21, 2011

About the author

James Arena is a New York-based published author and commentator who has been featured on MSNBC, FOX, SiriusXM, Clear Channel, and other major communications networks. He is the author of STARS OF 80s DANCE POP - THE EUROPEAN EDITION, which features interviews with over 50 international music legends from 9 nations. Arena is also the creator of FIRST LEGENDS OF DISCO and FIRST LADIES OF DISCO, books that placed the spotlight on major pioneering artists of the classic disco music era. James has interviewed over 120 stars of dance music. His first published work was FRIGHT NIGHT ON CHANNEL 9, runner up for book-of-the-year honors at the Rondo Awards. He is a former executive with Bertelsmann Direct North America.

Reviews

[Ron Panarotti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who's now at least 45 or older will certainly remember how different TV was back in the 1970s and '80s. You had to get up to change the channel, by turning a dial on the set. Home video and premium cable did not exist, never mind the Internet and streaming.

If you lived in the New York tri-state area, there were three independent TV stations that showed lots of movies and other programming, often an offbeat alternative to the more polished, bigger-budget fare on the three major networks. For lots of people my age and older, this is a fondly remembered age of TV that, sadly, we'll never see again.

James Arena's "Fright Night on Channel 9" perfectly captures that era. New York's Channel 9, or WOR-TV as it was also known, is remembered for things like "Bowling for Dollars," "Romper Room," "The Joe Franklin Show" and showing lots of movies, around the clock.

One of the movie programs was dedicated exclusively to horror films. It was called "Fright Night" and aired late on Saturday nights from 1973 to 1987.

I'm sorry to say I never knew about this program when it originally aired, but one of the great things about this book is that it includes a complete listing of all the movies that were shown -- many of which are available on DVD or YouTube today.

So thanks to services like Netflix, you can still make it to the party, decades later (although it's not quite the same without the TV station's opening bumper and the quirky commercials from back then for businesses like Crazy Eddie and The Money Store).

Major kudos to Arena for the painstaking research. His passion for this subject is evident, and this is a book no horror film fan should be without.

The other great aspect of this book is the behind-the-scenes look at how Channel 9 operated, thanks to extensive interviews with people who worked there and played a major role in Fright Night's development.

The three best chapters deal with Samuel M. Sherman, a movie distributor who was involved in a lot of drive-in films that were aired on Channel 9. His account of what it was like to be a movie producer and distributor back in the days when drive-ins were all over the American landscape are a highlight of the book.

If you're a nostalgia lover, this book is a great way to turn back the clock and enjoy a quirkier, maybe more innocent time before CGI, when low-budget films had a charm all their own -- and you could tune in to a show like "Fright Night" late on Saturday night never quite knowing what to expect, as many of the film choices often pushed the envelope.

I cannot praise this book enough. It is aimed at a certain niche audience, but anyone can enjoy it if you love horror films and quirky television from decades past.

[J. Todd Kingrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a teenager in the early-t0-mid 1980s I stumbled across WOR-TV on my grandparent's cable service. We lived in Virginia so to get an independent station from New York was amazing to me. I discovered "Doctor Who" on WOR-TV, and after watching WWF one Saturday evening I was thrilled to discover "Fright Night." Reading Arena's book was like a trip back in time. I'm sorry I missed the 1970s when "Fright Night" was in its prime, but I'm so thankful I was able to find it when I did. For readers who may fall into that same circumstance, I highly recommend this book. The first half is something of a play-by-play of how WOR-TV and "Fright Night" came into existence; the second half is dedicated to the weekly listings of what was shown. It's a nice touch, but unless you're desperate to know the name of that obscure film you watched back in March of 1977, it might seem like padding in order to get a bigger page count. Still, the extensive interviews with surviving WOR-TV employees, and the author's personal communications with the station back in the day, bring the independent station to life and causes us to remember what it was like to have to wait for the broadcast...and hope it was what the TV Guide listed...in the days before streaming services and physical media.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a devoted horror movie fan but enjoyed them a lot on TV as a kid. I read this book because I enjoyed James Arena's other books on dance music, and was curious about this strange entry in his series. "Fright Night" is a lot of fun to read, very entertaining and surprisingly informative considering it is such a unique and obscure subject--a small indie NYC TV station from the 70s and 80s that seemed to show almost only (or mostly) horror movies. The book has a terrific sense of humor about all of it. Would make a good documentary film. Recommended book.

[Judy Pancoast · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a treasure trove for horror fans “of a certain age.” My local TV stations showed their own collections of horror movies- many of which are mentioned in this book- and I also saw several of Fright Night’s featured films at our Drive-In, so this romp down memory lane was truly fun. It’s also a terrific reference, especially when you see all those films listed on Shudder and you don’t know if they’re worth watching or not. This book should have a place in the library of every horror fan, whether or not you grew up in Channel 9’s coverage area!

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were a couple of false starts with my reading and a couple of needing to review what was previously read. But it's a solid look at the business behind a Horror dedicated TV show.

[Chris Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite section is the long list of movies shown on Fright Night. Television will never be this good again.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Arena's loving and thorough look at the old Saturday Fright Night block is a reminder of how much fun TV used to be for those of us old enough to remember it!

Read my whole review here: http://thisoldhauntedhouse.com/?p=417