The Creature Features Movie Guide by John Stanley

Wilkins did that for a year or two before deciding he wanted to host only the late-nightĬreature Features show. Wilkins, in the mid-1970s, had become so popular onĬhannel 2 that the station asked him to be its weatherman on its flagship 10 p.m. He was already friends with Wilkins, who had been hostingĬreature Features for KTVU since 1971. While Stanley was working steadily for the Chronicle, he was making a name for himselfĪs entertainment critic. Stanley has interviewed hundreds of celebrities and movie stars. During his long tenure as anĮntertainment critic for the Chronicle, along with his five years as Creature Features host, “I’ve been having a lot of fun through the years,” Stanley said. His others include 1977’s “Nightmare in Blood,” “Joe Bob’s Drive-In Theater” fromġ987 and “John Stanley Meets Jack the Ripper and 25 Other Deadly Encounters” from 2011. His books include six editions of the long-running “Creature Features Movie Guide,” an A-to-ZĮncyclopedia reviewing the genre’s horror, fantasy and science fiction flicks through theĭecades. Stanley is also a noted publisher, having written 18 books since he started his own publishing company in 1981. He had just finished a photo session with a university photographer for the Alumni Hall On the day of the interview for this story, Stanley, now 79, was looking dapper. Home on the San Mateo County peninsula, where he lives minutes from the Pacific “I’m so truly honored by this,” Stanley said over lunch at a restaurant not far from his His newspaper career lasted nearly three decades from the Soon after, he would go on to become an entertainment critic for the Sanįrancisco Chronicle. Stanley graduated from the school in 1962 with a bachelor of artsĭegree in literature. In Bay Area television, Stanley joins the likes of Fred Van Amburg, Dave McElhatton, Ken Bastida and Dennis O’Donnell, to The Hall of Fame list is long and illustrious, including people from every industry, every walk of life.

That is the day he was inducted into the 2019 Alumni Hall of Fame for San Francisco State University at a dinner ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco. Not only has it been exactly 40 years since Stanley first graced Bay Area TV screens as the second host of Creature Features, something special happened to him Nov. Stanley hosted the show - which aired science fiction and horror movies late into Friday and Saturday nights - from 1979 to 1984, succeeding Bob Wilkins, the show’s original host who practically hand-picked him to take over hosting duties upon his retirement.Īnd as far as checking in with Stanley around Halloween, visiting with him right now is actually very timely.

The Creature Features Movie Guide by John Stanley