As most of you know, I'm a fan of the 1960s Monster Kid era. My first book on the history of Don Post Studios was tied into that era and I have read every book and watched every documentary on the era. I came along at the tail end of it though, so I've always had to look at it as a historian rather than a first hand participant. One fact these books and documentaries always include, and I have never agreed with, is that the Monster Kid era ended for good in 1977 when Star Wars triggered the sci-fi boom. I've always seen it is as a mere lull between waves. I thought it was about time that someone took a look back at the role of monsters in 1980s pop culture because there are significant parallells between the two waves, or two eras if you prefer. The more I thought about it, the more I really wanted to see it done.
As most of you also know, my latest book, the first volume of the history of Distortions Unlimited, is tied up in production limbo and the second volume on hold indefinitely. That's left me with a bit of time on my hands so I figured I'd start working on an outline and an introduction. Rather than write something dry and academic, which has never been my style, I'm thinking of writing this in the first person and sharing some personal anecdotes along the way. A lot more objective information than a memoir, but more personal than a history textbook.
This is where you guys come in. I'm going to share the first draft of my introduction here and ask you for some feedback. I know the grammar and sentence structure needs work. I'm just trying to get ideas onto paper at this point. Do you guys think this is even a good idea? Should I forget it and go back to writing about rubber monster heads? I'm also open to suggestions for a title.
Here it is...I'm looking forward to your feedback:
It all began
in October of 1957. Screen Gems, the
television subsidy of Columbia Pictures, released the Shock Theater package of
52 pre-1948 Universal Classic horror movies for television syndication. Shock Theater was an instant success, with viewership
in 5 key markets (New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco Philadelphia, and San
Antonio) reporting a boost in ratings ranging from 35% to 1,125%. The following year, Screen Gems released the
Son of Shock Theater package added another 20 films from both Universal and
Columbia.
Seemingly
overnight, children across America were obsessed with monsters. Every weekend evening, they would be glued to
their televisions to watch horror movies, often introduced by their local
horror host. The job of the horror host
was twofold. First, they had to make the
horror kid-friendly and remind the parents that it was all clean fun. Second, and more importantly, they had to pad
out the film's presentation to a standard time slot given that these films varied
in time from just under an hour to over an hour and a half.
This
explosion in the popularity of monsters was a phenomenon which did not go
unnoticed. Within several years, these children
had Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, Aurora model kits of the classic
monsters, and monster masks which let them become their favorite monsters. Through the 1960s, the number of products to
enthrall the hordes of monster-loving kids grew exponentially. These kids were, and are still, known as
Monster Kids.
Today, we
have a number of books and documentaries about the Monster Kid phenomenon that
started in the '50s and peaked in the '60s.
These all present the Monster Kid phenomenon as something that was permanently
extinguished as quickly as it began with the release of Star Wars in May of
1977, which saw Dracula and Van Helsing replaced in children's imaginations by Darth
Vader and Luke Skywalker. Being a kid in
1977, I remember how obsessed we all were with Star Wars. Even Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine,
the religious text of Monster Kids everywhere, was filled with Star Wars
articles that we devoured.
Did Star
Wars usher in a sci-fi boom that displaced horror as the popular genre among kids
and teenagers? Yes, absolutely. But did it actually spell the end of Monster Kid-dom? Not a chance!
We Monster
Kids of the '80s have generally been looked down upon and dismissed by the first
wave of Monster Kids. Every single book
and documentary about the Monster Kid phenomenon treats it as a one shot deal
that ended in 1977. I don't buy into
that. If we've learned anything from
horror movies, it's that monsters never stay dead. The late 1970s sci-fi boom was not the end,
but a lull between waves. It's time that
the second wave was acknowledged and this book is hopefully the first of many
to tell our story.
Our monsters
were different than the classics, in that they weren't tragic characters we
empathized with and felt sorry for. In
the early to mid 1970s, before Star Wars came along, horror began to shift
towards grittier, more realistic movies.
Films like The Last House on the Left and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
introduced moviegoers to monsters who were ruthless, soulless killers who
terrified us as we watched them on the screen then stalked us in our
nightmares. Our horror movies in the
'80s were marked by special effects sequences that made our movie viewing
experiences akin to watching a magic show where the fun was in trying to figure
out the tricks. Special effects artists,
almost all of whom were first wave Monster Kids themselves, became our
idols.
Where
television was the piece of technology that fed the first wave of Monster Kids,
we had the VCR. Most of us received our
education in horror movies from our local mom & pop video store. How many times did we discover something we
loved only because the horror movie we wanted was already rented out? If you have ever stood in a small video
store, looking at all the VHS covers, frantically trying to make up your mind
while your parents told you it was time to go, this book is for you.
Thanks to
MTV, we watched Michael Jackson dance with zombies and listened to Freddy
Krueger rapping. We pored over issues of
Fangoria magazine and both of Tom Savini's Grande Illusions books (we are still
patiently waiting for Book III, Tom). We
faced a purple Jason Voorhees on our
Nintendo only to be repeatedly told that we and our friends were dead. Most of you reading this will be silently
nodding and agreeing with me when I say that the '80s were a great time to be a
kid who loved monsters. Join me for a
trip down memory lane as we revisit these days and proudly say "We're the
Monster Kids of the '80s and this is our story".
