Larry Underwood: Horror Movie Host aka Dr. Gangrene

Do you like scary movies? Larry Underwood sure does. He remembers growing up in Nashville watching Frankenstein and Creature From the Black Lagoon movies on television. The way those monster movies were sometimes introduced to the audience, by way of a "horror host" (like Elvira, Mistress of the Dark or Svengoolie) was also a big part of the appeal, setting up the "shock package" of creature features or out-there sci-fi movies. Nashville has a long lineage of horror hosts, from Dr. Lucifur in the 1950s doing live skits to Sir Cecil Creape, who supposedly lived in the catacombs beneath the WSMV TV studio. Larry joined that pantheon as Dr. Gangrene, a mad scientist of sorts, and he's also written a book about it all, titled Masters of Terrormonies, documenting the characters and behind-the-scenes hijinks that have kept this beloved lo-fi tradition going for decades. Guest: Larry Underwood, aka Dr. Gangrene, author of Masters of Terrormonies Host: Demetria Kalodimos Producer: Steve Haruch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices