During the late 80’s and into the 90’s while everybody else was outside playing with friends at the schoolyard and obnoxiously loitering malls and grocery store parking lots, I was at home celebrating my teendom by watching horror movies and collecting horror movie memorabilia.
I had already been intrigued by horror and the macabre when I hit double digits as I was busy renting horror movies on VHS long before Blockbuster was a household name. In 1992 I accepted my freedom as a 14 year old by escaping to manhattan all on my own and spending the entire weekend meeting the masters of horror of the time (Clive Barker, Tom Savini, Kane Hodder, Robert Englund, Dario Argento, Angus Scrimm, John Russo amongst many more) at the FantaCo and Fangoria presents; Weekend of Horrors. It was tremendous!
Content and HR Creator, Frank Giugliano
It may be slightly hyperbole to say but I also lived for the ride-through haunted house at our local amusement park Adventureland and rejoiced when Halloween approached as it was and still is my favorite holiday. I never cared much about dressing up in scary costume but more so, I remember being intoxicated by the smell of damp and decaying, orange-toned fallen leaves and the feeling of the crisp autumn coolness against my skin.
The ultimate feeling of anticipation was for Halloween because I knew I’d soon have a pillowcase full of candy.
If I look back even further, during the mid 80’s, my parents gave me and my older sister the freedom to rent any horror movie we wished to see, regardless of rating. Very rarely did we have to put the large VHS, cardboard box back on the shelf, and when it did happen it was most likely that Rose, the manager (or owner) of the mom and pop video store we frequented, secretly mouthed “no” to my mom, which indicated gratuitous nudity or a particularly inappropriate scene. I can count the amount of times this happened and even to this day, I prefer to steer clear of movies that exploit people with gratuitous nudity and sexual violence.
While I have never pursued a career in horror, writing, journalism or anything I have ever really been good at, I now find myself at a perfect place and time to begin this journey. With my extensive knowledge of the genre and unparalleled passion which guides me, it has never been easier to create this community for like-minded, horror enthusiasts like me.
Horror Revival 