Please Rewind: VHS & The Cult of Nostalgia
As a young girl in the 1980s I wasn’t able to watch horror films in the cinema due to the age restrictions (boooo hisss) but what I did own is a huge beast of a VHS player and a small collection of horror tapes that belonged to my parents. So in my younger years, I was always happy to watch them again and again and again. Then I left home to go to university and along came DVDs and I began a collection of my own but it never felt the same somehow. If ever I saw a videotape in a charity shop or in a friend’s collection I would always greet them with affection, they come with great nostalgia for me, and right now tape collecting is gaining popularity. But why do you have that affection?
The digital realm feels rather empty to me. I have experienced it many times when I have binged a series or watched a film and I just move on to the next thing. It is so easy to move on, just scroll along and select the next thing. The option to do this wasn't available to me as a child but that physical element of the VHS tape was special. You would pore over it, thumb the cover until it faded, it was all about the artwork too, the artwork was always so bizarre but brilliant..it was tangible.
I love tangible. I don’t like the idea of digital music because I love to read the liner notes and check out the artwork. Kindles - I just cannot get on with them at all because I love books and their covers, their fonts and smells and if I could write this newsletter, print it, and send it to you all - I bloody well would!!
But please do not get me wrong, I am no Luddite because the power of the internet has brought me so much joy over the years! I have unearthed some classic horror via YouTube, I have uncovered films I have always heard of but never seen, I find new blogs from horror fans, and of course I continue to write online about my passion!
Image via - https://www.instagram.com/nostalgia.video/
In these weird times, these frightening times when we have all got to step up and be adults we need to realise that even adults need some relief and if that is bringing comfort to the soul and watching old horror films on VHS then why the hell not? Collecting VHS, sourcing the many masks of Michael Myers, or maybe purchasing A Nightmare on Elm Street pyjama set because you loved Freddy as a kid – do it! I cannot think of a better time to get lost in a world where your inner child thanks you for giving it some time.
My tip? Stay spooky…FOREVER!
