He grew up in a troubled family in Indiana with relatives who owned a funeral home, and frequently stated he became comfortable with sleeping in caskets in the storeroom.

He began buying time on a local Los Angeles television station in the early 1950s to run infomercials for his Criswell Family Vitamins.

He published predictions in three issues of Spaceway magazine (February 1955, April 1955, and June 1955), as well as in a weekly syndicated newspaper article starting on September 6, 1951.

In it, he claimed that Denver, Colorado, would be struck by a ray from space that would cause all metal to adopt the qualities of rubber, leading to horrific accidents at amusement parks.

[8] Sources say that Criswell never claimed to be a real psychic; however, those who knew him, including actress and fellow Plan 9 alumna Maila Nurmi ("Vampira"), believed he was.

"[citation needed] Criswell married a former speakeasy dancer named Halo Meadows, who once appeared on You Bet Your Life, and whom Coulombe describes as "quite mad": "Mrs Criswell had a huge standard poodle (named "Buttercup") which she was convinced was the reincarnation of her cousin Thomas.

[9] Criswell and West were great friends and she would lavish him with home-cooked food which she had delivered to the studio that he shared with Maila Nurmi ("Vampira").