GATEWAYS [PART 4]: SCARECROW SKATEBOARDS.

Around the years 1997 and 1998, I spent more time watching this skateboard video than actually skateboarding. More time than probably interacting with my own family. In fact when I really break it down, as much as I loved skateboarding, the thing I cherished even more was everything that came with it. The videos, clothing, friend hangouts (fiend club), free stickers, free catalogs. You know, “the culture”…

GATEWAYS [PART 4]: SCARECROW SKATEBOARDS.

But we’re not here to talk about skateboarding. Speaking in terms of HORROR, the company Scarecrow Skateboard’s ‘Disturb Not the Sleep of Death’ VHS is probably the most impressionable 35 minutes my life during those formidable years. Not only was this video my introduction to ghoulish punk rock (The Misfits, The Damned) but the entire aesthetic of this tape was California skater kids doing their version of a low budget, old school horror movie.

I was pretty invested in skate culture so I can report that no one was doing horror themes at that time. In between skating and during random moments of the video there were B&W scenes from old hammer films and shot-on-video crappy effects that just flat out ruled. I remember a scene with a coffin opening and blood clearly squirting from a huge ketchup bottle.

As mentioned before, the first time I heard The Misfits was on this tape. The first time I heard SLAYER was on this tape — which began a slow, deep dive into heavy metal and things that weren’t played on the radio (basically anything beyond Metallica).

I absolutely LOVED Scarecrow. Everything they created provided me a beginners prelude to spookiness. From the elements of gothic horror to just random shitty photos graveyards in their advertisements. The company really set itself apart from the rest of the pack at the time. From my recollection they were the only ones paying any sort of homage to classic horror. My favorite skater of theirs was Jason Adams who pretty much personified the whole thing about Scarecrow. Twelve year old me loved that his name was a combination of that Jason Voorhees fella and a member of the Addams family (I think?).

The first skateboard I ever owned was the purple one on the left. Below are some advertisements from magazines like Thrasher!

My friends and I would watch the Scarecrow video countless times and then go reenact scenes in the driveway. We figured if these older kids could do it, why not give it a whirl and eventually we’ll get there. Well, what we lacked in sk8-or-die talent we made up for with camcorder creations. Videos were made a lot during those days. Skateboarding, reenactments of VH1’s Behind The Music, sneaking up on my sister, following the cat around, messing with the pizza delivery man, backyard wrestling and little tales of terror.

G a t e w a y s is local crusty historian Uncle T exploring his past and finding out what guided us on this journey into horror. Join us for other chapters:
Gateways [PART 1]: VHS Aisles of the Video Store
Gateways [PART 2]: Psycho Lunch
Gateways [PART 3]: Jaycees Haunted House
Gateways [Part 5]: Children of the Corn