From Zombos' Closet

Meet the Horror Bloggers: Freddy In Space

Many fans of horror, amateur and professional alike, have devoted themselves to blogging about the thrills, chills, and no-frills side of the genre as seen in cinema and print. In this ongoing series that highlights the writers behind the blogs, we meet the unique personalities and talents that make the online horror scene so engaging. Up close and personal.

In this installment, blogger Johnny Boots of Freddy In Space reminds us of when colorful VHS tapes ruled the shelves, and all the straight to shelf DVD crap crowding the shelves today was only a twinkle in a lucrative genre's eyes.

My earliest horror memories pretty much all revolve around one character; Freddy Krueger. I have many fond memories of watching the Nightmare on Elm Street movies with my mom when I was probably far too young to be watching a burnt-faced razor-gloved man in a Christmas sweater slice and dice horny young sleeping teens. But that was my childhood and I cherish it to this day. Thankfully none of the movies ended up damaging me too bad, although I know some people that would disagree with that...

I can remember going into Blockbuster, what seemed like several times a week, and perusing the selection of sun faded horror VHS tapes, tapes I still hold on to and collect. My eyes would inevitably always end up on the section of flicks adorned with the image of Freddy Krueger and I would actually try and convince myself that I hadn't seen all of 'his' movies yet. I knew deep down that I had, and several times over a piece at that, but I wanted so badly to believe that one day a new Freddy adventure would magically pop up on the shelf. Sadly, it wouldn't be till many many years later that my wish actually came true. And you better believe that in 2003 when Freddy vs Jason came out, say what you want about the movie, it made me feel like that little creepy antisocial Freddy loving kid again, albeit in a much less appealing Blockbuster environment. That's what it's all about for me.

Meet the Horror Bloggers: Love Train for the Tenebrous Empire

Many fans of horror, amateur and professional alike, have devoted themselves to blogging about the thrills, chills, and no-frills side of the genre as seen in cinema and print. In this ongoing series that highlights the writers behind the blogs, we meet the unique personalities and talents that make the online horror scene so engaging. Up close and personal.

In this installment, League of Tana Tea Drinkers' member Tenebrous Kate of Love Train for the Tenebrous Empire tells us about her love for the unusual. Hop aboard!

Between my Halloween-themed birthday parties, early interest in the creepiest fairy tales, and exposure to my Dad's incredible impersonation of Bela Lugosi's Dracula, I was pretty much fated from infancy to be some flavor of spooky. My youthful dreams of earning a living as a vampire hunter were squashed (I read pretty much every book filed under the Parapsychology & Occult section of my local library), so by the time I was fourteen, I began delving into the wild world of horror cinema in earnest.

Applying the same sort of tenacity to my movie-viewing that I'd put into my childhood reading, I methodically worked my way through the "Horror" category at a number of video rental stores. Unlike a lot of my horror-loving colleagues, I entirely missed out on the slasher flick craze due to parental protectiveness and a notoriously weak stomach for on-screen depictions of blood-and-guts. After dipping a toe in the waters of explicit fright films with "Suspiria" (I'd read laudatory words about this movie most likely in an issue of "Cinefantastique" or "Video Watchdog"), my love affair with off-the-wall exploitation epics was born.

Meet the Horror Bloggers: Cinema Suicide

Many fans of horror, amateur and professional alike, have devoted themselves to blogging about the thrills, chills, and no-frills side of the genre as seen in cinema and print. In this ongoing series that highlights the writers behind the blogs, we meet the unique personalities and talents that make the online horror scene so engaging. Up close and personal.

In this installment, League of Tana Tea Drinkers' member Bryan White of Cinema Suicide tells us how he leveraged his love of horror into free stuff, a successful blog, and a lifelong passion.

My family picked up stakes when I was seven years old and moved us from Binghamton, New York, to the Lovecraftian seaside of Marblehead, Massachusetts. It took me no time at all to seek out the channels with the best cartoons and in the process of this Saturday morning exploration, I found something that Binghamton didn't have. At least not to my knowledge. This morbid discovery also managed to silently change my life in ways I wouldn't understand until I was well into my 20's.

The Creature Double Feature on WLVI was your classic afternoon monster matinee on TV. Bookended by an echoplex voice-over set to Emerson, Lake and Palmer, The Creature Double Feature introduced me to vampires with British accents, men in rubber monster suits stomping on models of Japanese cities and more pie plates decked out to look like flying saucers than you could possibly ever conceive of. It was all in good fun and just shocking enough to scare the crap out of a 7 year old; enough to keep me coming back week after week in hopes of seeing Karloff, Price, and Lee again.