Halloween 2K26 - My Favorite Horror VHS Covers: Vol. 1
Halloween 🎃Like most horror fans of my age, I got my horror education from the shelves of a video store. In many cases, the movies I rented were based on the amazing cover art they contained. The 80’s horror films were notorious for having cover art that had very little to do with the actual movie, since a lot of the time peopled rented based solely on what they saw on the front and back of the box.
I thought it’d be fun to look back on some of my favorite VHS cover boxes. Some of these are movies I owned, some I rented, and some I wish I would have rented. They’ll be presented in no particular order and just randomly as they come to mind. I hope to make this a regular addition to the blog going forward.
The Dead Pit
This was a movie I still have yet to see, but the VHS box was burned into my skull at a young age. What made it so special is that the face of the character was three dimensional and came out of the box. If that wasn’t cool enough, you could press a certain part of the box and make the creatures eyes glow green thanks to two small light bulbs. (Displayed above is the non-3D version of the cover but you should be able to get the gist.)
Blockbuster Presents Halloween
This is not a great release of Halloween. In fact, it’s a cheap transfer that looked horrific in comparison to the Anchor Bay letterbox edition I bought a few years later. But this was the way I first saw Halloween and for that reason alone, this cover art will always remain one of my favorite (although its arguably one of the lamest). Blockbuster bought the rights to Halloween between 1995-1997 before Anchor Bay stepped in and gave the movie the proper respect that it deserved.
Ants
I'm sure you'll be able to tell why Ants really stuck in my memory for so long. I was a pre-teen boy and this cover grabbed my attention like no other. It took me quite a few years to finally see Ants and ya know, it wasn't half bad.
Sleepaway Camp 2
Here is one of those covers that was misleading. I rented Sleepaway Camp 2 solely on this cover art and for whatever reason I assumed Freddy and Jason would be making an appearance (and possibly being killed by the woman on the cover.) Of course, that did not happen, but I did find a fun, campy, slasher that quickly became one of my favorites.
Ghost Town
This is another movie I've never seen. I think the artwork is just so perfect, with the cowboy skeleton scrolling through town. It's one of those films that I'm pretty sure the artwork is better than the actual film, and hopefully one day I'll get around to actually watching it.
Jack Frost
Jack Frost had one of the most memorable boxes, not because it was a killer snow man, but because it was lenticular, which means it changed images as you moved it. So, at one point it was a simple innocent snowman, then you'd move the box and it would turn into a vicious killer snowman.
Despite the cool box, I think everyone realized this movie was gonna suck, and it indeed did. I didn't watch it until a few years ago and my only real fond memory of this movie playing with the box in the video store.
Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam is another horror film that probably had very little redeeming value, but it also had a cool ventricular box. The film was distributed by the same company as Jack Frost and they decided to go with the same marketing ploy on this horror film as well. I've yet to see Uncle Sam and arguably, never will.
The Fly
The 1986 Cronenberg classic, The Fly was one of those films that I didn't know much about when I was young but I loved the cover art. It told you just about everything you needed to know about the movie and was creepy and intriguing.
Evil Dead
So, this probably isn't the Evil Dead VHS tape that most people think of when they think of Evil Dead. But for me, this was my first introduction to the film. Evil Dead went out of print in the 90's and it was one of the most sought after movies. Everywhere you went online you had people trading bootlegs and asking if you had a copy of Evil Dead. Then finally, in 1998, after three years of looking, I ran across this Anchor Bay re-release at Walmart of all places.
Dawn of the Dead: Director's Cut
This version of Dawn of the Dead came in one of those iconic Anchor Bay clamshells of the late 90's. I first saw Night of the Living Dead after renting it while visiting my grandmother in the late 90's. After enjoying it, I knew I wanted to see the follow up so while browsing the entertainment section at K-Mart, I ran across this version of the film and bought it for $11.99. I went home and watched it, and loved it, and it quickly became one of m all-time favorite horror films.