I remember KVVU and KBHV and the vegas Vampire on "Shock Theater"

I am still looking for one of his 45 rpm records. I remember him cutting the ribbon on supermarkets and hosting the local Muscular Dystrophy telethons.

The Vegas Vampire was Jim Parker. He hosted the horror films that were shown on the weekends on Channel 5 when it was an independent station. I, too, remember him making him many personal appearances dressed in costume and make-up. Last I heard, he had become a pharma rep. Which might be very apropo, all things considered.

I remember him all too well! Nothing made you want to crap your pants (as a kid) than that opening B&W montage through the cemetary gates with the hand coming out of the ground. It's bad enough being a little kid & seeing that on TV. But it's even worse when I was driving with my dad & who pulls up next to us??? Yep, old VV with the KVVU hearse!!!! Never trust your parents when they say it's only television!!

I would love to see some of that footage again! I wonder if its buried in the vaults of the KVVU archive somewhere???

As a kid in the late 60 s and early 70s I lived in the same apartment complex as Jim Parker (and funny enough Candy Johnson also - she was the crazy dancer in all of the Beach Blanket movies) Jim sort of took me in and I was on his show several time doing lame magic tricks as "Billy the Beast" I remember driving with him to the studio in his hearse. It sure would be great to have a tape of one of those segments.

I have a my space page for the Vegas Vampire. He is still undead and kickin. I talked to him the other day. He is a great person. Stop by the page and leave him a comment. I too am looking for any old footage of the show. I would love to see him do some personnal apearances again.

http://www.myspace.com/vegasvampirefanpage

oops

Hi all. I edited the Wikipedia entry on KVVU to add the Vegas Vampire to the list of Past Non-News Personalities there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KVVU-TV#Past_Non-News_Personalities

If I can get enough information on him, I'll write a full Wikipedia entry.
Cheers!

in the early seventies i lived near the casa vegas apartments on vegas valley drive,i used to see the vegas vampire there i wasn't sure if he lived there or was always visiting someone anyhow the other kids and i used to get thrilled everytime we saw him.

Mr NeutronSF,
if you would like more info on Jim Parker take a look at my site. I would love to see him get his own Wikipedia entry!

I lived in the trailer park behind KVVU.
Beware the "Henderson cloud"

Here is a link to my first stab at a Wikipedia entry on the Vegas Vampire.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegas_Vampire

I would like to encourage all fans of the Vegas Vampire to call, write, and just plain bug the TV and radio stations to bring the Veggas Vampire back to Las Vegas for Halloween. I have spoken to him and he is willing if a station will put him on. Bring back Shock Theater for Halloween this year.
Wouldn't it be great for channel 5 to put him back on? if only for Saturday Nights in October.
Check out the Vegas Vampire's web page:
http://www.myspace.com/vegasvampirefanpage

I worked with Jim during his shows, along with Phil Bonk, Bill Larsen, Tom Cross, and Al Henderson to name a few. It was a riot behind the scenes. Some of his commercials were live, and we would eat the the props! Of course Jim drove his hearse around town...

Jack,
Contact me via my email addy. i would love to talk with you more about Jim Parker and those crazy days of the Vegas Vampire.

I posted some Vegas Vampire videos on YouTube. I have the only existing videos that remain. Bill Blum (Billy the Beast) will be thrilled to find a segment with him included.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNlwAYpmOG4

Hi Don,
OMG! Thank you for posting those! Sorry it took me over 2 years to come back to this site and see your post. So cool!!!