(Re)Discovery

I picked up Tod Browning’s classic, Dracula, on DVD recently and watched it early one morning before work. That really got me thinking about the fun of re-discovering things that I love and experiencing them many years removed from my initial encounters. My good friend Shloggs and I had a great conversation a few weeks prior to this writing. We discussed the Universal Monsters and it sparked my interest in them all over again. I recalled how much fun it was seeing them as a child. For some reason, I lost touch with those films over the years and did not have them in my collection. That oversight, however, is in the process of correction.

My relationship with the horror genre has its genesis in my childhood. Back in those days, cable had not yet made its way to our community. We depended upon a pole mounted antenna for our television viewing. Our reception was at times spotty and required occasional movement of the antenna to improve it. The big three network affiliates were the extent of our choices. ABC, NBC, and CBS. Those, my friends, were it. The ABC affiliate, WOWK, offered a late night horror program called Chiller. It aired on Saturday nights at 11:30 pm and featured black and white horror films until the wee hours of the dawn. Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Invisible Man, and The Mummy were all in rotation. These tragic figures all came to life through the glow of our television's cathode ray tube. My young, impressionable mind became immersed in the Gothic proceedings. I am sure there were more films that I saw, I just cannot remember them presently. Now that I think about it, WOWK used to air TV ads for then current horror films during Chiller. I vividly remember being at my big Sister’s house and seeing a TV Spot for Lucio Fulci’s Zombie. It terrified me!! Petrified, I sank into the couch, afraid those hideous creatures would arrive at any minute. Much to my delight as an adult, that very TV Spot is on the Blue Underground DVD and was so much fun to see again.

CBS was a great source of horror television in those days. I was only eight years old at the time but my Mom was cool about letting me watch horror programs as she enjoyed them herself. She let me stay up with her on a cold November night in 1979 to watch the world television premiere of a new vampire flick titled Salem’s Lot. That film scared the hell out of me! It is still one of my favorite Vampire films. I stayed awake for most of the night with my head under the cover in fear that Danny Glick would be scratching at the glass. Floating in a strange mist with eyes aglow and fangs bared. Ah, the innocence of childhood. Little did I realize it then, but those were such wonderful times. Remember the CBS Late Movie? They would air awesome programming on Friday nights. Check out this clip to get an idea of what it was like:









Almost invariably, we would make the eight hour drive to my Aunt’s house in Tennessee for a week long visit each summer. These times were hugely important in my appreciation of horror films as well. We did not yet have a VHS machine but my Aunt did. She, like my Mom, enjoyed horror films and would rent them for us. They allowed us to witness graphic depictions of carnage and mayhem while immediately shielding our eyes should nudity occur. Anyhow, my cousins and I all turned out to be well-adjusted, perfectly sane adults, so no harm done. I have wonderful memories of being in her living room and watching Creepshow for the first time. The “Comic Book comes to life” presentation completely enveloped my attention and kept my eyes glued to the screen. My older brother used to have one of those HUGE satellite dishes(remember those)in his yard. Here was another source for exploring uncharted horror waters. Thanks to the now defunct satellite network SelecTV, I encountered a frozen wasteland of gripping terror and paranoid mistrust courtesy of John Carpenter’s The Thing. The same channel introduced me to the lycanthropic misadventures of David Kessler in An American Werewolf in London. Showtime was available via satellite then as well and was another source for un-cut introductions to horror titles. I refer specifically to my initial viewing of Lucio Fulci’s The Gates of Hell. It was shown under that title, not City of the Living Dead. I had no idea what was in store. Head drilling, tears of blood, teleporting corpses, brain ripping, and of course, intestinal tract regurgitation. When I was not staring in utter disbelief at the images before my eyes, I was turning my head in revulsion. Only to have my gaze drawn back again as if by some irresistible magnetic influence. You know, like when you try not look at a car wreck. Thankfully, it was explained to me that this was all artificial or I may have suffered extreme mental distress. Thanks to my cousin in Michigan, I became aware of the Romero zombie films. She is about ten years older than me so she got to see Dawn of the Dead on its original theatrical run. During one of her visits to Kentucky, she related to me the tale of this film that had corpses retuning to life, biting chunks out of people, and tearing the entrails from their bodies. I was immediately hooked and astonished by this story. I HAD to find this film!! No theatrical experience for me, but I had my first viewing on VHS in 1984 and never looked back. It has since become my absolute favorite horror film of all time.

I can look back with fondness now while I was terrified by those films at the time. I suppose that is why I still enjoy horror as an adult. It is inextricably linked to my formative years and all the wonderful memories associated with them. Whether I experienced tales of horror in the form of the printed page, a spinning reel of celluloid, or by the glow of a television’s cathode ray tube, all were incredible fun.

It was inevitable that I chose to discuss this topic for blog entry # 2. Those times have been on my mind as of late. I hope that these words will help you to re-discover something you cherish. It does not have to be a horror film or a song specifically. Maybe you will recall a long forgotten occurrence that will bring a smile to your face. If so, then this writing has served its purpose. I hope it has entertained you as well. I bid you all happy reminiscence and thanks for reading.