When I first heard that Meadowbrook Mall would be host to a first-ever “Zombie Walk” last Saturday I was pretty certain that it would draw a big crowd. As the date approached, I wondered just how big of a crowd it would be.

 

My mind didn’t change because I thought it was a bad idea; far from it. I’ve seen more than one member of my own family completely infatuated with the Walking Dead television series. Rather, the date and time conflicted with two major events – a nationally televised home West Virginia University football game and the Bridgeport High School homecoming.

 

As it turns out, there were plenty of dead folks still out there. From almost all accounts, there were several hundred of them that drug their bodies through the mall last Saturday evening.

 

While the “zombie” phenomenon might be somewhat new, the fact that folks are infatuated with things that might scare them – monsters let’s call them – is far from new. And in this area and all throughout the tri-state area, folks in my generation and perhaps a generation prior have one man to thank for it – Bill Cardille.

 

You may remember him as Chilly Billy Cardille. Certainly, that’s the name I remember and as the Zombies have now left Meadowbrook Mall and we’re just about a month away from Halloween, I thought it would be entirely appropriate to discuss a man who was such a large part of many of our lives growing up.

 

Long before humanity had the pleasure of watching the Kardashians and the Real Housewives – and if you can’t note the sarcasm there, my apologies – as part of television’s 100-plus channel lineup, the television knob pre-remote control days in my home started at around channel 2 and end somewhere near 13. I believe it was on Channel 11, which was first WIIC and then I believe (and still is) WPXI out of Pittsburgh, Cardille had “Chiller Theatre” late into Saturday night and well into Sunday morning. It was there he became known as “Chilly Billy.”

 

For whatever reason, it was something big between my father and I. Many Saturdays he would ask me if I was ready to watch whatever was being featured from Frankenstein to the Creature from the Black Lagoon or whatever horror or science fiction flick was available and I would attempt to stay up. This was actually back when I could fall asleep and stay asleep.

 

For 20 years the show was on the air doing its best to frighten you and old alike. In fact, it lasted from 1963 up until 1983 and perhaps my biggest regret is falling asleep with several of my friends as part of a sleepover that included as its centerpiece staying up with chips and popcorn to watch the Japanese version of Godzilla vs. King Kong. To this day, even though it’s readily available, I’ve never watched the movie as sort of homage to a missed opportunity from my youth.

 

I digress.

 

To the best of my brief research, Cardille is still alive today and roughly 86 years old. Although I thought about writing this blog closer to the time of Halloween, I noticed that tomorrow is the four-year anniversary of “Bill Cardille Day” done by proclamation by the Pittsburgh City Council.

 

You know what; every day should be a Bill Cardille Day. He offered programming back in a much simpler time in a much gentler format in a genre that was meant to scare people. He did it all without profanity, scantily clad women and without any of the non-reality that reality television offers us today.

 

Turns out after all these years, Bill Cardille, or Chilly Billy, was never someone to be afraid of. Rather, he was someone to look up to. Thanks Chilly Billy for all the memories that helped make my younger years special.

 

Editor’s Note: Please list any movies you may have remembered watching on his show in the comments section below.