The Cool Ghoul

The Cool Ghoul was a very popular radio and TV character and horror movie host in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Cool Ghoul was created and portrayed by Dick Von Hoene, a Cincinnati native. With his trademark shout "Bleah, bleah, BLEAAAHHH!" and his inimitable tongue-fluttering "Bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl...", The Cool Ghoul was an icon of Cincinnati television, radio and local pop culture for over four decades.

When not donning the makeup and wig on the classic 1970s horror movie show "Scream-In", Von Hoene doubled as a news anchor doing updates on WXIX, Channel 19, and later did other news, radio, and public affairs shows in Cincinnati and northern Kentucky, including "Northern Kentucky Magazine", which he was hosting at the time of his death.

The Birth of The Cool Ghoul

The Cool Ghoul's origins date back to 1961 when Von Hoene was working at WCPO Radio on a show called "Bob Smith's Monster Mash". Around that time The Cool Ghoul started appearing in comedy routines Von Hoene wrote for colleague and puppeteer Larry Smith.

By 1969, Von Hoene had moved into television, working at what would later become WXIX in Cincinnati. It was at this time that Von Hoene developed a costume for the character. Initially the character proved to be a little too scary for children, so Von Hoene altered the character to make The Cool Ghoul more silly than scary.

The legend behind the wig

The Cool Ghoul's wig, a bright orange-reddish coiffure, became the trademark for Von Hoene's character. Many years later Von Hoene was told that it was only the rear half of a wig that costumer Dana Bruce made for a customer who was subsequently killed in a car crash. After the woman's death, the wig had been cut in half--the front from the back--and the front part was reportedly placed on the woman's body in the coffin.

"Scream-In"

During the early 1970s, The Cool Ghoul hosted his own Saturday night horror movie show, "Scream-In" "(the name taken from Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In)". The Cool Ghoul's campy sense of humor endeared him to young and old fans alike. Von Hoene could do an uncanny vocal impersonation of horror icon Boris Karloff, and so he was also the off-screen voice announcer for the show. The Cool Ghoul was visited often by other characters, including Larry Smith's Hattie the Witch. In 1971, Von Hoene released "The Cool Ghoul's Phantasmagorical Funky Fonograf Record", featuring a parody of the 1920s standard "Has Anybody Seen My Gal?" called "Ten Foot Two, Eyes Of Glue (Has Anybody Seen My Ghoul)".

By the time "Scream-In" left Channel 19, The Cool Ghoul had become so popular that he continued to make numerous public appearances for years to come, including occasional commercials and annual TV appearances almost every Halloween, and was even hired for private parties and gatherings. As The Cool Ghoul, Von Hoene also took part in various fundraisers in and around Cincinnati with the Cincinnati Royals basketball team, and even with the Cincinnati Reds (The Cool Ghoul was given a "number zero" jersey by the Reds).

In the early 1980s, Von Hoene exported The Cool Ghoul to a TV station in New Bern, North Carolina, earning a new generation of fans in the process.

Personal Life & Death

Von Hoene was a Cincinnati native, raised in Madisonville and lived most of his life in Price Hill, both Cincinnati suburbs. He earned a B.A. in history and a M.A. in theater from the University of Cincinnati. Dick Von Hoene died of a heart attack on February 4, 2004, and was buried at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati.

ources & External Links

[http://www.fox19.com/Global/category.asp?C=92942&nav=menu63_5_2 Fox 19 "Time Capsule", includes video tribute to The Cool Ghoul]
[http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/02/05/loc_vonhoene05new.html "Cincinnati Enquirer" obituary of VonHoene]
[http://www.larrysmithpuppets.com/coolghoul.html Puppeteer Larry Smith's website; includes numerous photos of and other links about The Cool Ghoul]