If you grew up as a “monster kid” in Massachusetts in the 1970s and '80s, you were almost certainly a fan of Creature Double Feature, the weekly airing of back-to-back horror and monster films on WLVI-TV 56 every Saturday afternoon.

Although Creature Double Feature was heavy on the Godzilla films, it’s also where I was introduced to many of the horror films and characters I would grow to love throughout my life, and certainly shaped who I became as both a horror fan and as a paranormal researcher.

In fact, when Ernie Boch briefly brought back Creature Double Feature in 2006, we invited him on to WBSM’s Spooky Southcoast to share memories of the original run and the movies it would show each Saturday beginning at 1 p.m., always with the introduction by booth announcer “Tom Evans” (whose real name is Neil MacNevin) and the song “Toccata” by Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

Fun fact: when I was a kid, I wanted to be “Tom Evans” when I grew up. I would sit in my room and pretend to be the WLVI booth announcer, introducing the upcoming shows and practicing the station sign-on and sign-off. Needless to say, I also envisioned myself someday announcing Creature Double Feature’s lineup of films, even for years after the program went off the air.

Creature Double Feature began on Channel 56 as The 4 O’Clock Movie in 1972, airing the station’s collection of Godzilla films, before eventually getting a run on late nights as Creature Feature. Soon after, it moved to Saturday afternoons and became Creature Double Feature, and the rest is Boston TV history.

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Comedian Dana Gould, who grew up in Hopedale, Massachusetts in the 1960s and '70s, recently posted a photo on his Facebook page of him wearing a Creature Double Feature t-shirt, featuring the Boris Karloff version of Frankenstein’s monster. Once I saw it, I knew I had to get one for myself, so I tracked down the website that had it and ordered one immediately.

It arrived earlier this week, and I posted a photo to my own social media to share my excitement about my coolest new shirt. The next thing I knew, everyone was asking me where to get one of their own, and sharing their own memories of watching Creature Double Feature growing up.

It’s a special group, we “monster kids” who spent our Saturday afternoons choosing to be inside watching Godzilla take on other giant creatures rather than being outside running around or riding our bicycles. I’ll wear my new t-shirt with pride knowing that I’m part of those who got to experience Creature Double Feature in all its glory.

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