I was visiting my favorite Horror geek haberdashery, Nightmare Toys, the other day, and what to my wondering eyes did I spy upon the shelf but a VHS tape. A brand new one, just released, with a big box. Shrink-wrapped in plastic and everything. The movie was Fulci’s ZOMBIE, aka ZOMBI, aka ZOMBIE 2, aka ZOMBI 2. (You all know the story behind the confusing game of musical titles where this one is concerned, right?) I asked the owner and she assured me that it wasn’t an illusion. It was a ZOMBIE VHS. And it wasn’t cheap.
Then, the next day I was at, of all places, Target. And there was a VHS tape on the shelves! (It wasn’t ZOMBIE.) I couldn’t quite believe it. The same way that hipsters have latched onto vinyl records, resulting in vinyl records making a comeback, it seems that VHS tapes are now on the cusp of a similar return. Should we have all kept our VCRs? And all those VHS tapes we replaced with DVDs–before even DVDs became “outdated technology”? Look, I get the whole “retro” thing. I am an embodiment of retro. Let me capitalize that: Retro. But what’s next, if we keep resurrecting obsolete tech? Will the Atari 2600 replace the Playstation 17?
I don’t even own a VCR anymore. And I found myself tempted to buy that damn ZOMBIE VHS tape. Why? WHY?!