The Horror Host is a narrator who presents harrowing tales to his audience. This eerie character first appeared on radio serials, creating continuity between otherwise unrelated stories. They then spread to horror comics, most notably EC Comics titles like Tales From The Crypt. Soon they appeared in movies as well as television. In the early days of television, there were hundreds of local presenters on low-budget shows based around cheap B-Movies. The most famous examples today are probably Elvira Mistress Of The Dark and The Crypt Keeper. Sometimes, the host trope was used to tie together otherwise unrelated material into a single episode for broadcast.

He often takes a sadistic glee in the events of the story, and cannot resist making the implication that the reader might meet a similarly dire fate. He may become an Interactive Narrator, but is usually content to stay at home, whether it be a tomb, a featureless void hung with paintings, or a broom closet with a cardboard coffin. The Horror Host is usually sadistic, may be grotesque in some manner, and may even have a disturbing backstory of their own, but ultimately they are presenters, not actors. Their personalities are revealed in various skits, often featuring Black Comedy, morbid props, and the Incredibly Lame Pun. These asides usually comment on the themes and morals featured in the episode, making this an example of a Framing Device.

Instead of a Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant, the presenter may be The Stoic, and remain aloof. The one thing they won't be is scared. More recently, this character has been fictionalized, appearing as a 'type' in films and movies, or being parodied by characters within a show, often as the introduction to a Halloween Episode.

==Examples==

Comic Books

• EC Comics
  • The Crypt Keeper in Tales from the Crypt, its Live Action Adaptation Tales From The Crypt and its Animated Adaptation Tales From The Crypt Keeper.
  • The Vault Keeper in Vault of Horror.
  • The Old Witch in The Haunt of Fear

• DC Comics. Most of DC Comics Horror Hosts went on to be supporting characters in Sandman.
  • Cain And Abel in House Of Mystery and House of Secrets
  • Lucien in Tales of Ghost Castle.
  • Destiny in Weird Mystery Tales
  • The Three Witches in The Witching Hour
  • Eve in Secrets of Sinister House and later Weird Mystery Tales
  • The Mad Mod Witch in The Unexpected.
  • Judge Gallows in The Unexpected (who wasn't used by Neil Gaiman)
  • Charity in Forbidden Tales From Dark Mansion (who also wasn't used by Gaiman, but did go on to appear in James Robinson's Starman)

• Warren Publishing
  • Uncle Creepy in Creepy
  • Cousin Eerie in Eerie
  • Vampirella for the first eight issues of Vampirella, after which she was reinvented as a main character.

• 2000 AD
  • Judge Edwina Strange in "Judge Edwina's Strange Cases"
  • Henry Dubble in "Tales of the Black Museum"

Film

• Boris Karloff hosted Black Sabbath as an unhinged version of himself, as well as starring in the third of the featured short films.

Radio

• Raymond of The Inner Sanctum, he of the creaking door, Hurricane Of Puns, and final wish of "Pleasant dreeeams?" Often bantered with his Mandatory Plug co-host, the Lipton Tea Lady.
• The Mysterious Traveler, voiced by Maurice Tarplin, who told his stories on a train.
• The Strange Dr Weird, also voiced by Maurice Tarplin, and who was based in "the house on the other side of the cemetery".
• The Man In Black, voiced by Valentine Dyall in The BBC's Appointment With Fear and The Movie The Man In Black. And by Mark Gatiss in The Remake of the radio series The Man In Black.
• The Whistler of the same show, known for his eerie whistled theme tune and always having one last twist revealed in The Stinger.

Television

• Big Chuck and Li'l John
• Elvira Mistress Of The Dark (who was the host of DC's House of Mystery in The Eighties)
• Ghoulardi, who spawned
  • The Ghoul
  • The Cool Ghoul
    • Son of Ghoul
• Marvin
• Svengoolie
• Vampira
• Zacherly

The Stoic

• Rod Serling, both on The Twilight Zone and Night Gallery.

Webcomics

• Every now and then, a somewhat creepy storyteller-narrator character appears on Jack to tell disturbing stories. He often gives his own thoughts while the story is in progress.

Web Original

• In the Homestar Runner toon "Doomy Tales of the Macabre", Strong Sad plays this role, suggesting various horrific fates to befall his friends.

Western Animation

• The Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy had a sarcastic and creepy host of this type for one episode
• Mary Shelleys Frankenhole has a live-action introduction to each episode which lovingly parodies the low budget Horror Host
• Tales From The Crypt Keeper