An Old Fan Re-Discovers Gold

I used to be a horror fan.

My memory is that (it) began a long, long time ago. I had been faithfully watching horror flix and the like on TV. Omaha had an awesome horror series called "Creature Feature with Dr. San Guinary" that ran from 1971-1981. This was the gateway drug to this particular brand of medicine.

I remember seeing “To the Devil a Daughter”, “The Exorcist”, and “A Bell From Hell” and countless others on TV, and I will never forget seeing “Jaws” in the theater. In all seriousness I am one of who knows how many people, whose irrational fear of sharks-in-tubs, sharks-in-lakes, flying sharks (really?!!) and deep water in general. That f*#ked me up.

Here are a few others in ‘not-necessarily-the-order-I-saw-them’:

Night Of the Living Dead (1968)
Carrie (1976)
To The Devil a Daughter (1976)
The Exorcist (1973)
Carrie (1976)
A Bell From Hell (1973)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 remake)
Prophecy (1979)
The Last House on the Left (1972)
Halloween (1978)

So, I effectively worked my way up to 1980 and the opening of “Friday the 13th”. I remember seeing the trailer on TV and freaking out. There was a tremendous buzz amongst a certain group of us and we built ourselves into a frenzy; passing by the theater to check out the poster; constant chatter about what was going on with the ‘guy’ with the black gloves who kills the chick in the woods.

Then I saw it in the theater with a good friend. That’s when (it) really began.

It's worth mentioning that we had both survived “KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park” (read: a wicked kick in the nuts) which was a previous ‘event’ we were up in arms about. In my defense let me say that at no point during that mess did I inhale.

We were desperately in need of a good shit-in-the-pants movie. Or so we thought. The story that unfolded was, and remains, wicked on so many levels.; some of which weren't apparent until after Jason's debut in part two. The opening 'screwdriver' sequence wasted me and I was obsessed.

After I left college I drifted into the slow burn of a ‘used to be’ fan; not really conscious of that fact. Who knows how or why these things happen. I maintained a quota comprised mainly of the standard Hollywood fare, but really missed the boat on several things including a shit-ton of Italian horror that I know I’m gonna love.

For this renewed passion, and the discovery of the massive collection of really good cinema I have yet to discover, I guess I blame Adam Curry, the world of horror podcasts and more specifically BGHorror.

Awesome!

BTW – My wife is growing another alien in her belly 8-|