'DR. ACULA' SAVORING LIBEL LAWSUIT VICTORY.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Staff Writer

Proclaiming ghoulishly that ``Dr. Acula lives,'' horror film cult figure Forrest J. Ackerman celebrated a Van Nuys jury verdict Wednesday that awarded him $724,500 in a civil lawsuit.

The Superior Court jury ruled against the publisher of ``Famous Monsters of Filmland'' magazine, saying he owed Ackerman pay for his writings, wrongly claimed ownership of his pen name ``Dr. Acula,'' and committed libel by saying he was merely a hired contributor, not an editor.

The 83-year-old Ackerman - who counted on testimony from science fiction guru Ray Bradbury, director John Landis and KISS rock star Gene Simmons - said he might use the money to open a museum of his extensive collection of horror memorabilia.

``This will go a long way to my dream of opening a museum for the public,'' Ackerman said, while signing autographs for jurors. ``The first thing is - am I going to be able to collect the money?''

Magazine publisher Ray Ferry said he is optimistic the verdict would be overturned on appeal.

``This case was one of sympathy vs. fact,'' Ferry said. ``It's what you get when you paint the poor old man against the young entrepreneur.''

Jurors saw it differently.

``We, the jury, saw him as 'Dr. Acula.' For over 60 years this man has been the voice of 'Famous Monsters of Filmland' and 'Dr. Acula,' '' said jury forewoman Teresa Cassidy, 41, of Valley Village.

The jury also rejected Ferry's countersuit claiming Ackerman stalked him through harassing behavior and violated a trademark by using ``Dr. Acula.''

``He was stealing his persona, his character, his very essence,'' Cassidy said.

Juror Richard Havner, 63, of Reseda said Ackerman had a right to feel slighted when his contribution to the revived magazine was questioned.

``It was an inference of senility - that he's in his 80s and is kind of losing it,'' Havner said.

The jury awarded Ackerman $88,000 for libel and $54,000 for breach of contract and services rendered. In all, the compensatory damages verdict totaled $382,500, including $184,000 for trademark infringement and other claims related to the dispute over ``Dr. Acula,'' a play on the word Dracula that Ackerman said he coined in 1939.

Jurors tacked on $342,000 in punitive damages, a figure they said they settled on after much debate. While a verdict in civil court can be reached if nine of the 12 jurors agree, the jury was unanimous on most of these issues.

The four-year legal battle has pitted Ackerman, founding editor of ``Famous Monsters of Filmland'' magazine from 1958 to 1982, against Ferry, the magazine's new owner and publisher. The two had a falling out as they worked to revive the magazine in 1993.

``We left a lot of hard factual evidence out of our case because we thought it would get ugly, but that will now come out on appeal,'' Ferry said.

Landis and Bradbury testified on Ackerman's behalf at trial that he has long been known to his fans worldwide as ``Dr. Acula.''

Simmons was expected to give similar testimony but did not testify because of scheduling conflicts, said Ackerman's attorney, Jacqueline Appelbaum.

Ferry said the damages award will not threaten the future of his magazine, which he publishes out of North Hills.

Until the appeal is resolved, Ferry said, he will continue to use ``Dr. Acula'' in the magazine. He insisted at trial that his right to the phrase grew out of his ownership of the magazine and all of its trademark styles and traditions.

Throughout the trial, Ackerman wore some of the prized pieces from his vast collection of memorabilia - Bela Lugosi's ``Crest of Count Dracula'' ring on one finger and Boris Karloff's ring from ``The Mummy'' on another.

For decades, he has tried to find a permanent display for the 300,000- item collection of horror and science fiction memorabilia that fills his 18-room Los Feliz house.

The collection, a focus of the trial, is home to Lugosi's Dracula cape, the Martian machine from ``War of the Worlds'' and other curios.

If he cannot afford a new home for the collection, Ackerman said, he might use the damages to fly some friends in from overseas to see the collection.

``I would also like to publish some books, maybe a story of my life or a book of my fantastic movie posters,'' he said.

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Photo: (color) Ackerman