Lost in the 80s

I know that Horror cinema existed for a long time before the 80s happened, but for me that decade will always be “The Decade of Horror.” A little bit of the 70s, too, as I got my first exposure to the genre then, in the early days of my childhood. My parents let me watch my first Monster movie before I was even old enough to now remember it. (They’ve told me about it, but they can’t remember what the movie was; the first movie I can REMEMBER watching was the 1933 KING KONG.) In the 80s, my love for the scary stuff grew to include the classic slashers. First came Michael, then Jason, then Freddy, Leatherface, Chucky, etc. and etc. (And yes, I was still “technically” too young to be watching those movies.) The advent of the VCR in the mid-to-late 80s changed everything. Before it, we had to wait for our local TV station to air one of those old classics late at night or on a Saturday afternoon, and the only way to see one of the slasher flicks was in the theater or on cable (which few people had, back then). For this reason I will always associate Horror movies with VHS tapes.

I think I was too eager, like everyone else, to cast aside my VCR and VHS tapes when DVD technology made it and them obsolete. In truth I miss them now. I miss the smell of a warm VHS tape, freshly ejected from the VCR (after courteously rewinding, naturally!). I miss those trips to the video store, wherein I would peruse the shelves for treasures. (The lady who owned our video store of choice, “Video Showcase,” would save me Horror movie posters.) That’s why I love this idea, here: repurposing old VHS tapes as lamps. The creator is, according to her Etsy profile, taking a break. She must have gotten a LOT of orders for these. I expect she’ll be getting a lot more, now that I’ve shown you all they exist. I mean, how could anybody who was a Horror-loving kid in the 80s NOT want one?

Published
Categorized as darkness

By TheCheezman

WAYNE MILLER is the owner and creative director of Evil Cheez Productions (www.evilcheezproductions.com - www.evilcheezproductions.blogspot.com - www.facebook.com/evilcheezproductions) specializing in theatrical performances and haunted attractions. He has written, produced and directed over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. And he really likes vampires and werewolves. Like, a LOT.

Leave a Reply