10 Spooky Commercials Starring Vincent Price

From the 1930s through the 1980s, Vincent Price was an incredibly prolific actor who was best known for his distinctively spooky voice and his performances in a range of classic (and not-so-classic) horror movies.

Price—who was born on May 27, 1911—appeared in everything from the original versions of House of Wax (1953), The Fly (1958), and House on Haunted Hill (1959) to 1959’s campy The Tingler, a novelty 3D movie in which theatergoers’ seats vibrated at scary moments throughout the film. His final on-film performance was in Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands (1990).

But the horror legend didn’t just appear in movies; Price was also a prolific commercial actor. In the 1970s and 1980s, Price lent his image or voice to ads for wine coolers, board games, candy bars, and even the American Dairy Association. Full of haunted mansions, spooky music, and clever wordplay (“prices that won’t scare you!”), most of the commercials put Price’s spine-chilling pedigree front and center. Check out 10 of our favorites.

1. Tilex

“It’s alive!” The mildew, that is. Fortunately, Vincent Price has the solution: Tilex instant mildew remover. It’ll rid your haunted mansion of even the most resilient mildews.

2. The Antique Guild

This 1979 ad for antique furniture packs an impressive number of spooky jokes into just 30 seconds of airtime.

3. Milton Bradley's Stay Alive

Price plays up the creepiness for this 1981 spot for a Milton Bradley board game called Stay Alive. Sitting in a mysterious castle on a dark and stormy night, Price warns viewers that the game can be “quite deadly.”

4. Polaroid Videocassettes

Price appeared in yet another haunted house commercial, this one from 1984. This time, he's shilling for quite an old-school product: videocassettes that clean your VCR as they play.

5. Peter Paul's Peanut Butter With No Jelly

The all-peanut butter “Peanut Butter With No Jelly” candy bar improved upon the classic PB&J by removing extraneous ingredients like bread and jelly.

6. Sun Country Wine Coolers

In 1985, a company called Sun Country inexplicably decided to put Vincent Price in a polar bear costume and then play some old-fashioned haunted house music to sell their wine coolers.

7. The Enchanted World

Once again appearing in an eerie mansion, with cryptic music in the background, Price advertises a not-particularly-petrifying series of myths and legends for Time Life Books in this 1985 commercial.

8. Easter Seals Halloween coupons

Billed as a “safe,” “fun” alternative to giving out actual candy on Halloween, these coupons are a worried parent’s dream.

9. Chips Ahoy

For those in the mood for a frightfully good treat, Price lent his voice to this 1985 cookie commercial.

10. The American Dairy Association

Price appeared in this dairy commercial in 1982, warning consumers against “false” dairy products, and reminding them to look for the official “American Dairy Association” seal.

A version of this story originally ran in 2015 and has been updated for 2022.