I don’t like to get personal often, but the occasion begs the exception.
Horror Press turned two today, and I’d be remiss not to take this opportunity to express my gratitude. Not only for Horror Press, which has given me a platform to share my nerdy thoughts on horror with others, but to the fans who actually take the time to read what we write, watch the videos we put out, listen to the podcast, and everything else.
I’m typically not big on social media because I’m such a closed-off person.
But Horror Press was only 3 months old when I came aboard, and any opportunity I can take to shout Horror Press from the rooftops, I will.
You see, James-Michael Fleites, the Curator of All Things Horror Press, told me a long time ago that he started this website so that people could see horror from a wide range of perspectives, giving a voice to underrepresented voices in horror.
Since then, Horror Press has grown and still continues to grow, giving unique voices a platform to share their thoughts on the genre we love so much.
I’m so proud to be a part of this small business that doesn’t have a hateful bone in its body.
So when I first started writing for Horror Press, I immediately made a Twitter account to achieve the aforementioned shouting from the rooftops.
Diana Prince AKA Darcy the Mail Girl
Almost immediately, I caught wind of The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs on Shudder.
I truthfully had never watched it before.
But it was a chance to watch a creepy double feature, and tweet along with other horror fans watching it live. Also, a huge shout out to Joe Bob Briggs’ co-host, my idol, Diana Prince, aka rcy the Mail Girl.
Before I go on, it’s paramount to understand what a lonely, depressed adolescent I was. The scary stories I read and the horror movies I watched were the company I kept.
During a particularly lonely, sad time in my life, I watched Night of The Living Dead for the first time. It became a core memory for me – how I spent the film alone, barely paying attention, just losing my mind by myself in my room.
The time in my life was so low, that I had no interest in watching the movie ever again. No matter the time that passed or the company I’d have, I was positive that watching it again would take me back to that dark, hollow, lonely feeling.
Fast forward 16 years later, and as I readied myself on Twitter for my first experience with The Last Drive-In, what would be showing than The Night of the Living Dead?
The whole time watching, I was struck by the contrast in experiences. How I’d gone from watching the movie alone as a lonely suicidal teen, to now watching the film as a wife and mother of 3, with a whole community of horror fans and my new Horror Press family directly at my fingertips.
I’m equally as amazed today as I was then, at how funny life is.
Of course, I was physically still watching it alone -I’m the only nut in my house that really wants to watch The Last Drive In – but emotionally, it felt like a stadium was beside me, watching too. It was then that I realized I was home. Home with all my fellow horror fans. Alone but not alone, some of my favorite kind of company.
The internet is a powerful thing, isn’t it?
Being able to share the experience is one of my favorite parts of working for Horror Press. I’ve always been weird and have a hard time fitting in places. But I’ve found a home in Horror Press, and I see family in our fans.
So, to any horror fan out there who feels alone, I hope Horror Press can do for you every day what that first episode of The Last Drive-In and everything since did for me. We are a little horror community right at your fingertips, and we love it when you join in the conversation with us.
Welcome home, horror fan.
Thank you for all that you do in helping to keep this small business alive, and thriving.
Here’s to this one and many more; Happy birthday Horror Press!