Overday!

Here's one I missed.  A friend sent me the obit of Ron Sweed, aka The Ghoul, who died, fittingly, on April Fools' Day.

If you grew up at the right time and place--a few cities, but especially Detroit--you knew The Ghoul.  He was a highly popular weekly TV host of bad horror movies.  He wore a fright wig, sunglasses with only one lens and a fake goatee. (The character was inspired by a previous Cleveland horror host Ghoulardi.)

The Ghoul had little budget, but a lot of energy.  He'd add sound bites to the film to mock it.  And in between he'd do comedy routines.  His most popular character was Froggy, a rubber frog he'd abuse in different ways, often blowing it up with firecrackers. (Firecrackers were big for The Ghoul.  Kids would build model cars and send them in, begging him to blow them up.)

He had a lot of catch phrases. He liked to invoke "Parma," for some reason.  And he regularly said "Overday!," which was apparently a positive thing.  And Froggy's catch phrase was "Hiya hiya hiya!"

He also had a lot go-to musical cues.  For instance, Froggy's theme was "Night Owl Blues" by the Lovin' Spoonful.  He also liked the Osmond's "He's The Light, He's The Light Of The World" and John Lennon's "Well Well Well."



So here's to you, Ghoul.  We won't forget.