Monster Mania Day 23: Zeke The Plumber (Salute Your Shorts)

Written by Stu Cooper

October always has me reflecting on my childhood and Halloween memories I had as a child. My mind starts to wonder and I start thinking about things that I found disturbing at a young age. Something that always comes to mind is an episode of "Salute Your Shorts" I remember seeing on Nick. I'm not sure how old I was, but it was back when they did the runs of that show, "Dude Ranch", "My Brother and Me", and "Are you Afraid of the Dark". The episode revolved around the kids at Camp Anawana sitting around a fire, telling the story of a man named "Zeke The Plumber" who supposedly haunted the camp. The story was meant to be humorous and for kids but was actually a quite disturbing.

Zeke was a man who fought in the military and got his nose chewed off by a bird while stationed in another country. He eventually ended up at Camp Anawana where he became the janitor and spent his days unclogging toilets. This was the ideal job for him considering he had no nose and could not smell! The creepy part comes later when Zeke begins haunting the campers. He baits them in promising them wishes, but then he goes "into their head" with his plunger and pulls out memories that embarrass them. Pretty scary stuff! There is just something about the costume the character wears that makes him particularly creepy.