VHS is a friend of The Reaper!
There seems to be an inextricable marriage between horror and metal. The aesthetics and values meld together like something along the line of proverbial beer and nachos. So, when my brother from another mother showed up in my basement last weekend with the UK heavy metal awesomeness that is GRIM REAPER – “FEAR NO EVIL” on Lp, you know it was time to kick back a few cold ones, spin that slab o’ sinister sounds and bang our heads, air guitar in hand.
Who's gonna pay for this window, Reaper Dude? Damn... nice bike, though...
But what fell out of the Lp sleeve as I was unloading the record was something I couldn’t have been more delighted to find: a GRIM REAPER giveaway sponsored by Media Home Entertainment where you could not only win bitchin’ GRIM REAPER goodies, but get this: the grand prize winner scored an RCA VLT 250 VCR and a collection of five, count ‘em FIVE, Media VHS tapes including NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, HALLOWEEN, THE DORM THAT DRIPPED BLOOD, BLOOD BEACH and, of course, REEFER MADNESS to round it all out. Of course, we all know why…
REEFER MADNESS stepped out back for... ermm... "a smoke break"
And even if you didn’t win the grand prize, hell, you could still score some kick-ass goodies: Second prize is your very own set of the five killer Media video titles listed above, Third prize is a GRIM REAPER baseball jersey (!?) and fourth prize is a GRIM REAPER head band. DAMN! I want ALL of this stuff!
Winning the contest seemed easy enough. All you needed to do was answer the six questions listed on the back of the insert and send it to the Media Entertainment contest trolls. The questions are too damn easy if you’re any kind of self-respecting metalhead, but thoroughly entertaining (check out the scan!) My favorite multiple choice inquiry is # 5! My answer: Who cares!! But the absolute best must have been the responses to question # 6. This is where the answers will be judged on “creativity, originality, imagination and writing skills.” Man, if we could only see the collection of answers for this one! (See the end of this post for my 20 word answer!)
And without a doubt you know GRIM REAPER did not miss out on an opportunity to thrust their branded wares out to their rabid fan base. And how righteous it is! A bunch of shirts, a photo pack, a fan club and let’s not forget that baseball jersey and headband! DAMN! I STILL want ALL this stuff!
Bitchin’ ups to GRIM REAPER not only for having one of the coolest names in the history of UK heavy metal, but also for teaming up with Media Home Entertainment and creating one of the most kick-ass video-related contests I’ve seen to date. When I get my time machine, I’m going straight back to 1985 and entering Reaper Madness with this twenty word answer:
”Travel the land in my airbrushed Reaper metal van, gather my metal brethren and rock those aliens back to planet LAME-ASS!”
Okay, so that’s twenty-one words. But that’s what I’d be doing! How are YOU going to prove that you’re a rock n’ roll maniac and save the world from a non-metal existence!?
Josh Schafer