On episode 10 of Our First Fears, debut novelist and creator of monsters, Trevor Henderson and I head to the rear section of the video rental stores of our youths to paw through some of our favorite, and freakiest, VHS horror movie cover art. Specifically, Street Trash, Zombie, The Stuff, The Gate, Suspiria, Alligator, and Fright Night. 

We talk about what these poster images have in common, about the artists who made them, and what about them scared us so badly. We get into the “melt-movie” subgenre, how modern fears spread in a post video-store world, and how fun it was to discover gateway horror titles at our school book fairs. 

Trevor’s first novel, Scarewaves, is filled with his trademark, nightmare-inducing monsters. It’s being published by Scholastic. Arriving on shelves, October 3rd, 2023. Ask your favorite bookshop to reserve you a copy!

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(Content Warnings: We talk about some R-rated exploitation & B-grade horror films from the 70s and 80s. There’s mention of violence, harm to kids, melting bodies, death and other totally grody stuff. Use discretion.)