Growing up in the late ’70s and early ’80s, if someone had told me “One day all the horror and sci-fi you can think of would be at your fingertips”, I would have laughed at them. Back then, we didn’t have the internet to supply us with our fixes. We had Famous Monsters of Filmland and Starlog, two great magazines to meet our needs. And they were only published monthly! We had Creature Double Feature and it’s like to educate us on the weekend about all our favorite monsters. I remember going to thrift stores, used bookstores, and flea markets, scouring the isles of stuff in hope of some comic or toy to make the trip worthwhile. Come to think of it, I still do that. But these days, we have the wonders of Facebook to bring so much of this closer to our fingertips. I set my Facebook page back 24 hours, and decided to take a peek at how easy it is enjoy this genre that I love so much.
For starters, I popped up the page for Halloween Radio (http://www.facebook.com/halloweenmusic). I love listening to this station when I’m writing, and I was able to find it through Facebook. The great thing about Facebook being a social networking tool, is the friends you can make. On my Monsters & Memories page, I have many like-minded Horror and Sci-Fi friends. It’s great to see the pictures they post of action figures, statues, and other memorabilia they get. Not to mention just some really good photography from a horror perspective. One great page is Horror Photography (http://www.facebook.com/pages/HorrorPhotography/199072580152845). Some of them also do some really awesome make-up jobs and transformed into vampires, zombies, and some I’m not sure what they are but they scare the crap out of me. When I was younger and had friends that took pictures, we would have to wait for our parents to develop the pictures, and then remember to bring them to school. Nice to be able to see them instantly now.
Horror hosts are also fun to interact with on Facebook. When I was little, I didn’t know much about Horror Hosts. I only knew the echoey voice of Creature Double Feature and then Elviria a few years later. I knew there were Horror Hosts all across America throughout the years. They are all really accessible, and nice to talk with. You can keep updated with what their shows are doing, and where they might be appearing. A good page for this and a great club is Horror Hosts And Their Fans (https://www.facebook.com/groups/270743746275535/).
I was (and still am) a huge Star Wars fan growing up. Back then, we just had speculation about where the saga was going. We would get articles and a few magazine specials. I remember a magazine special called “Starblazer” that ran a whole issue on where the series was going to go with Return of The Jedi and beyond. Just crazy things like: Sybil Danning was going to play a Sith Lady, and Han Solo or Chewbacca would be revealed to be a Jedi. None of which ever came through. Through the magic of Star Wars’ Facebook page, we are getting many behind the scenes documentaries on all the films in anticipation of the Blu-Ray releases of the movies. How much is one of those players going to cost me now?
One of the best things about being a Horror fan in the Facebook age is the movies! There’s so much out there that people post for you to enjoy. Looking over the last day alone, I can watch: Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe, new indie films like Southern Comfort and The Driver, Countess Dracula, The Bat, Alice Sweet Alice, and Critters to name a few. A great page to see some of these films are Grindhouse Horrors (http://www.facebook.com/ghorrors).
And the discussions! What used to be banished to the playground with your friends or in between bells in the halls, can now be carried out with all different people. All you need is someone to post a question asking what the last horror movie was they saw, and the discussion with a ton of people goes from there.
I asked Roger Froilan, founder of HorrorHaven.com and The Fright Channel about building the online station before and after the Facebook age.
He said, “it was much harder getting the word out before Facebook. Now, between Facebook & Twitter we have been getting the word out exponentially. Also, the web technology has improved to the point where only a small amount of money can create what ten years ago would have been HUGE investment dollars.” The Fright Channel is on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/TheFrightChannel. They’re a great channel which showcases Horror programming the way it used to be presented. Roger also takes a turn as Uncle Death, you should check out their page!
And as for those old Famous Monsters magazine, they’re still out there. They have a page too: http://www.facebook.com/FMOFL?ref=ts. They update about their upcoming issues, show old movie trailers, and just continue to keep us informed about our favorite monsters. It’s nice to be able to come back full circle to where it started for me.
Facebook is a great tool if you are a Horror and Sci-Fi fan, and I am always looking for greater pages to check out and friends to converse with. You can find Ed Davis’ Monsters & Memories on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100002697024439. I’ll look forward to hearing from you soon, and thanks for strolling through some of the great spots on Facebook. This, by no means, is a comprehensive list of all the best spots out there. The great thing about Facebook is discovering what’s out there.
Don’t forget to check out The Fright Channel at http://www.horrorhaven.com!!
