Written and directed by David A. Weiner
Featuring Tom Atkins, Doug Bradley and John Bloom
Running time: 4 hours and 24 minutes

by Nikk Nelson

One day, circa 1990 or 1991, when I was in first grade, the PE teacher Mr. Honor substituted for our class. Years later, when I would grow up to be a teacher, I realized that day he had absolutely no plan. So, we played Junior Outburst. It’s a game I don’t see around anymore. Basically, it was like a board game version of Family Feud. The “host” had a game card with a topic on it like ‘Side Dishes at a Barbecue’ and the ten most popular answers were on the card. As the players guessed correctly, the host would click off the tabs on the cardholder next to words like ‘Potato Salad’ and however many you got right in a minute were the points you earned for your team. That day, Mr. Honor put the card ‘Popular Horror Movies’ into the cardholder and started the timer. All anyone heard for the next thirty seconds was me naming horror movies and Mr. Honor clicking the cardholder. I got all ten. A week later, my mom was called in for a conference with my principal who was “concerned” and recommended I be kept from viewing “such violence and filth”. But my mom knew it was already too late. I was a diehard horror fan and there was no turning back.