I’ve always loved VHS artwork, I mean I’m sure it’s the same for a lot of people who grew up in that era.
For me though it was always Horror VHS artwork that I found to be the best, it always had the best artwork and as a child it also had an exciting yet scary effect on me.
For those of us who grew up going to video shops, we have memories of browsing the aisles and picking up a film solely based on what was on the cover (though that didn’t guarantee a good film).
So here is my top twenty Horror VHS covers (the list is not in a favouritism order):
Blood Diner (1987)
Two brothers are entrusted by their uncle to uphold the ritualistic cannibalism of the ancient cult of Sheetar. In order to do so, they have to prepare a feast of sacrifice for the resurrection of their goddess.
Chopping Mall (1986)
A group of young shopping mall employees stay behind for a late night party in one of the stores. When the mall goes on lock-down before they can get out, the robot security system malfunctions, and goes on a killing spree.
Sleepaway Camp (1983)
Angela Baker, a shy, traumatized young girl, is sent to summer camp with her cousin. Shortly after her arrival, anyone with sinister or less than honourable intentions gets their comeuppance.
The Evil Dead (1981)
Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.
The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)
A female high school student’s slumber party turns into a bloodbath, as a newly escaped psychotic serial killer wielding a power drill prowls her neighbourhood.
Fright Night (1985)
A teenager discovers that the newcomer in his neighbourhood is a vampire, so he turns to an actor in a television horror show for help dealing with the undead.
Maniac (1980)
A psychotic man, troubled by his childhood abuse, loose in New York City, kills young women and takes their scalps as his trophies. Will he find the perfect woman in a photographer, and end his killing spree?
Street Trash (1987)
A liquor store owner sells alcoholic beverages to homeless people, unaware of what the bottles actually contain: toxic brew.
Pumpkinhead (1988)
After a tragic accident, a man conjures up a towering, vengeful demon called Pumpkinhead to destroy a group of unsuspecting teenagers.
Kingdom Of The Spiders (1977)
In rural Arizona, countless killer tarantulas are migrating through a farm town, killing every living thing in their path. The town’s veterinarian will do everything in his power to survive the onslaught.
The Howling (1981)
After a bizarre and near deadly encounter with a serial killer, a television newswoman is sent to a remote mountain resort whose residents may not be what they seem.
The Video Dead (1987)
A family takes delivery of a new television set, unaware that it is the gateway by which killer zombies enter the world.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Two siblings and three of their friends en-route to visit their grandfather’s grave in Texas fall victim to a family of cannibalistic psychopaths.
I Spit On Your Grave (1978)
An aspiring writer is repeatedly gang-raped, humiliated, and left for dead by four men whom she systematically hunts down to seek revenge.
Hellraiser (1987)
A woman discovers the newly resurrected, partially formed, body of her brother-in-law. She starts killing for him to revitalize his body so he can escape the demonic beings that are pursuing him after he escaped their sadistic underworld.
Night Of The Demons (1988)
Ten teenagers party at an abandoned funeral parlor on Halloween night. When an evil force awakens, demonic spirits keep them from leaving and turn their gathering into a living Hell.
Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
During a rescue mission into the Amazon rainforest, a professor stumbles across lost film shot by a missing documentary crew.
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
The monstrous spirit of a slain child murderer seeks revenge by invading the dreams of teenagers whose parents were responsible for his untimely death.
The Return Of The Living Dead (1985)
When two bumbling employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, the vapours cause the dead to rise again as zombies.
Child’s Play (1988)
A single mother gives her son a much sought-after doll for his birthday, only to discover that it is possessed by the soul of a serial killer.
Honourable mentions:
Xtro (1983)
An alien creature impregnates a woman who gives birth to a man that was abducted by aliens three years ago. The man reconnects with his wife and son for a sinister purpose.
C.H.U.D. (1984)
A bizarre series of sudden disappearances on the streets of New York City seems to point toward something unsavoury living in the sewers.
A serial killer who drains his victims’ blood is on the loose in London. The police follow him to a house owned by an eccentric scientist.
Claws (1977)
Hunters wound a grizzly bear in a national forest in Alaska. Soon after, the wounded bear goes off and kills several other hunters, hikers, campers, the sheriff and a little boy scout. Jason Evers sets out to stop it in the frozen plains of the Alaska mountains.
Friday The 13th (1980)
A group of camp counsellors are stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant while trying to reopen a summer camp which was the site of a child’s drowning and a grisly double murder years before.
I cannot begin to describe how hard this was to do, I could’ve done a top fifty list so I really had to whittle it down. I’d love to hear what your favourites are. Just write it in the comment box below.
Raz's Midnight Macabre 