GATEWAYS [PART 1]: VHS HORROR AISLES.

When it comes to the earliest memories of forming an interest in “horror”, meaning a fascination with creature features, ghoulie dudes, scream queens and nasty things that go bump in the night, the easy answer is Halloween. Once you start at a young age dressing up as The Wolfman, Phantom of the Opera, Jason Voorhees and Jack Skellington, it’s probably safe to say you’ve opened up a gateway. Fast forward a year and Pops TNUC takes me to see KISS, which completely seals the deal. Life-sized monsters on stage with explosions, fire and blood. Not to mention I saw my first pair of random boobs that night. Whether or not I was conscious of it, I was swirling into a spooky vortex.

But when I really think about it, there were a few specific instances plucked out of my youth that if Uncle TNUC was to lay back on a psychiatrics’ leather sofa to perform a study on his brain, these would jump right out. My parents weren’t Vincent Price and Elvira. They didn’t watch horror movies, so like many others I had to seek this stuff out on my own or have it naturally fall on my lap.

These are my gateways to horror…

GATEWAYS [PART 1]: VHS AISLES OF THE VIDEO STORE.

This first gateway is an easy one! How many Friday nights did I find myself wandering past the comedy and action adventure sections of the video rental store to take a peek at those dastardly VHS covers in the HORROR section? Too many to imagine.

Just finding the courage to pick up the VHS clamshell of Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 and imagine what sort of complete psychopath would actually watch this movie was enough for me. But the fascination was already there. These movies had artwork that was so over the top and beyond what my young impressionable brain could handle at the time. Just simply walking down the horror aisles with my older sister and not renting a single thing was a form of entertainment. I’ll never forget seeing the VHS covers for Killer Klowns From Outerspace, Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things, Rumpelstiltskin and Jason Goes to Hell while thinking, “you must be a certified maniac to watch this stuff”.

While I was bordering on fear and curiosity, I’d return home from the video store and be thinking about these movies. Who actually made them? Who watches them? Most importantly…when will I be watching them?

For some musical accompaniment to this first installment of “gateways”, here’s an upbeat number from the 1987 movie The Stepfather. Another bonafide VHS rental classic.

TNUC welcomes you to the 2023 HALLOWEEN SEASON!

I hope you enjoy the next round of g a t e w a y s and be sure to leave your own personal early experiences in the comments section.