With the crack of lightning, the rumble of thunder, and the strains of a Bach fugue reverberating through his dank castle, viewers around the world know it’s time for Count Gore De Vol! Beginning with his first appearance on Washington DC television in 1973, the Count provides viewers with a dose of horror, a dash of humor, and some of Hollywood’s worst public domain horror films. Since becoming the first horror host on the Internet in 1998 with Creature Feature the Weekly Web Program at www.countgore.com, Gore also brings viewers celebrity interviews, book, video, music and movie reviews, contests, extensive listings of horror history, convention listings and the list goes on.
Fans votes awarded Creature Feature the Weekly Web Program the 2004 Rondo award for “Best Horror Website” and the 2009 Rondo Award for “Favorite Horror Host,” and in 2013 Count Gore De Vol was brought into the Rondo “Monster Kid Hall of Fame!” In 2009 Count Gore De Vol was the subject of a feature length documentary of his career entitled Every Other Day is Halloween, and was featured in two other documentaries about Horror Hosting; American Scary and Virginia Creepers.
But who is the dark figure and self proclaimed sex symbol to the world? The story started in Paducah, Kentucky, where in 1971, he began his horror host career under the pseudonym of M.T. Graves. Eighteen months later, he became the horror host to the nation’s capital as Count Gore De Vol. For 15 years on WDCA-TV, he made Saturday night’s a guilty pleasure for thousands of viewers, many times surpassing Saturday Night Live in the ratings! But with a change of ownership, Gore slipped out of view in 1987. Then in 1998, everything changed as he became the first horror host of the Internet with Creature Feature the Weekly Web Program!
For over 15 years, this program has grown and expanded to incorporate a number of contributors from around the country, including several other horror hosts. He has interviewed and worked with such horror celebrities as Bruce Campbell, Forrest J. Ackerman, Dee Wallace, Sid Haig, Reggie Bannister and Don Coscarelli. Thanks to the Internet, Gore is no longer limited to a single market or country. Some of his reviews have even been quoted on the covers of video releases in the UK!
Count Gore is played by actor Dick Dyszel, who also produces the program. The video segments are shot in his own high definition studio in suburban Virginia. In addition to portraying The Count, Dyszel produced and hosted several award winning children’s programs for WDCA-TV and has appeared in several feature films including, The Alien Factor, Nightbeast, Galaxy Invader, Cremains, Countess Dracula’s Orgy of Blood, and The Dead Matter!