Tons of of VHS tapes are meticulously organized and displayed. Storage rock tunes blare as friends scour the collections. Excessive-spirited exchanges about “Scream” and “Halloween” fill the air. This isn’t Blockbuster in 1999. It’s a horror VHS swap in 2025.
The occasion happened at Slasher World, a horror-themed store full of life-size replicas of the likes of Freddy Krueger and Leatherface that opened in August. Attire, motion figures and equipment are on the market, however Slasher World within the Fairfax neighborhood is supposed to function a house base for horror followers, just like the so-called “tape heads” on the VHS swap.
Kiko Bailey stands subsequent to a large bust of Artwork the Clown from “Terrifier.”
(Solomon O. Smith / For The Instances)
“One in every of my large motives for opening [Slasher World] was, I simply love the horror neighborhood a lot,” says proprietor Kiko Bailey. “I actually really feel like we’d like a secure house — a spot to fulfill up with like-minded folks and in a pleasant horror vibe. I feel it’s so necessary proper now and to simply convey folks collectively.”
Slasher World opened with the return of Slashback Video, which can sound acquainted to sure native horror followers. The idea started as an exhibit in 2017 on the Mystic Museum, a horror hub in Burbank. As soon as a brief exhibit, which incorporates a plethora of VHS covers, together with classics like “The Shining,” “Carrie” and “Hellraiser” to the obscure like “Ghoulies,” “Dolly Dearest” and “Troll,” Slashback Video is now on everlasting show at Slasher World. It has additionally grown to incorporate worldwide variations of VHS covers. Bailey, who has Japanese ancestry, says the additions underscore how horror fandom is common.
Video covers are on show on the Slashback Video exhibit.
(Solomon O. Smith / For The Instances)
Alex von Klemperer, a tape vendor generally known as Retro UFO and organizer of the swap, says the occasion provides a tactile factor to the exhibit.
“I simply thought, ‘Nicely, now we have this exhibit the place the tapes aren’t on the market; they’re for present. And now we have these distributors who truly promote lots of these tapes which can be on show so that individuals can truly take [them] house,” he provides.
For some on the tape occasion, rewinding to a different time is greater than a interest. It’s a lifestyle — one which the unique Slashback Video exhibit helped enrich.
“I noticed what Kiko did at Slashback the primary time it opened in 2017, and it simply actually seemed superb and impressed me,” says Matt Landsman, a tape vendor generally known as Matt’s Mortuary. “I used to be already type of amassing tapes, however that was the push that I wanted to start out amassing them extra critically.”
A large copy of the claw-gloved hand of Freddy Krueger reaches out over Slasher World merchandise.
(Solomon O. Smith / For The Instances)
Slasher World’s placing big bust of Artwork the Clown is the very first thing greeting guests.
(Solomon O. Smith / For The Instances)
In the present day, Landsman is the movie programmer at Be Form Video, a throwback video retailer in Burbank, and supervisor of Quentin Tarantino’s Video Archives Cinema Membership on the Vista.
“[Slashback Video] is sort of a heavenly imaginative and prescient of how you want your lounge may very well be or what it was like rising up. It’s kind of like an idealized video retailer, and that impressed me down a literal profession path. Which may not try this for everybody, nevertheless it may encourage them to put in writing a horror film, or it would spark some type of nostalgic fascination,” Landsman says. “And clearly, [Bailey’s] constructed it out into rather more than a video retailer. Now, it’s a neighborhood house. It’s an exhibit for horror followers.”
Tape distributors Angela Medina and Miguel Alonso of Low cost Thrill Retro hang around at a tape swap at Slasher World as a buyer checks out films subsequent to a mannequin of the Candyman.
(Solomon O. Smith / For The Instances)
Tape distributors Angela Medina and Miguel Alonso of Low cost Thrill Retro have been amassing VHS tapes for 5 years. The joys of coming throughout a hard-to-find movie is enjoyable for them, however they are saying, extra importantly, bodily media reminds them of their youth and brings them consolation.
When requested why a tape swap like that is necessary for the neighborhood, Alonso says, “It retains every thing alive.”
The shop “looks like such a house” to Bailey. And he or she needs it to really feel like house for individuals who go to too.
For the long run, Bailey envisions extra occasions, corresponding to meet and greets, artwork reveals and events. In the future she’d love a second location elsewhere.
“I really feel like that is my life objective,” Bailey says. “I really like being that place to return hang around, make a buddy, be artistic, have artwork reveals.”
Kiko Bailey reveals off the huge number of basic covers within the Slashback Video exhibit.
(Solomon O. Smith / For The Instances)
Slasher World is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day. It’s situated at 7660 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles. Admission to Slashback Video is $13. For extra info, go to the shop’s web site or Instagram.
