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Memoirs From a Picture Show is a semi-regular column from the Merry-Go-Round staff chronicling memories, miracles, and anomalies from our time spent in cinemas around the globe. You’ve read about movies; now it’s time to read about seeing those movies in theaters.
My friend Jon and I like to put our horror movie fandom through the wringer. We’ve attended numerous horror marathons at various theaters and drive-ins, both together and separately. There’s nothing quite like sitting through four or five spooky films surrounded by other like-minded horror nerds and weirdos—all gasping at jump scares and laughing at cheesy dialogue and cheering the names of horror movie legends when they pop up on screen. It’s an experience you can’t get from streaming movies on the couch.
We don’t get to hang out much since I moved to Chicago in 2024, but I’ve known Jon for around 20 years. We met while working at the record store where I spent my 20s; we were roommates for a bit, and later, he helped get me hired for a short stint at the comic shop he managed. He’s one of the kindest friends I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. A lifelong fan of grunge music, comic books, obscure video games, weird movies, and that lovable Mondays-hating orange cat Garfield, Jon is the kind of positive guy who always sees the best in people, even when they are the absolute worst. He’s also been the host of the long-running monthly cult classic movie night STRANGE BREW at the Arkadin Cinema in St. Louis. I sent him a half-joking text earlier this year suggesting that we grab tickets for Music Box of Horrors, a 24-hour horror movie festival that Music Box Theatre puts on every year in Chicago, and, of course, he was game. I bought us a pair the moment they went on sale in the spring.
I haven’t always been a fan of horror. As a child born with the with the anxiety of a nervous old Chihuahua, I was far too frightened at the notion of seeing even a scene from a horror movie. My mom let me watch GHOSTBUSTERS 2 when I was four, and by the end, I was so panicked that she had to tell me she’d left a note “that only ghosts could see” on the front door of our house, telling them to bugger off. Not long after, I caught a late-night commercial for CHILD’S PLAY 2, which showed a still of killer doll Chucky about to snip off the head of a jack-in-the-box with a giant pair of scissors, an image that haunted me in my nightmares for years to come.
In grade school, I caught a gory snippet of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 5: THE DREAM CHILD on cable, and while it made my heart pound, I kept flipping back just to get another hit of adrenaline straight into my heart. Another glimpse of well-crafted gore that I refused to admit was rather exciting to see, even if I wouldn’t be able to shut my eyes when lying in bed that night.
Around the same time, I also started watching a lot of movie magic shows that showcased practical special effects in film. It was a way to see the interesting parts of horror—the makeup and mechanics of actors transforming into strange creatures, bloody messes of body parts, and horrific deaths captured on camera—without dealing with the spooky atmosphere, tense music, or blood-curdling screams. It was fascinating to see how they brought such twisted nightmares to life with practical effects.
In my junior year of high school, I started hanging out with an eclectic dude named Chris. He had an uncle obsessed with horror who subjected him to VHS viewings of all the classics growing up. I was still hesitant to try to wade through the muck of horror until Chris showed me George A. Romero’s DAWN OF THE DEAD, sharing tidbits of trivia throughout. It spoke to my love of practical effects and prompted me to do a deep dive into the monstrous work of Tom Savini.
I devoured all kinds of horror movies over the next two decades of my life, whether good, bad, or good-bad. I’ll watch it all. Horror movies are a way for me to experience controlled anxiety. No matter how shocking, it’s freeing to be able to distract my worrying brain from this cruel world that can so often cause never-ending fear and unease that never hits a climax. It just builds and builds. Scary movies provide an outlet. Tension builds, but there’s always an endpoint. Also, sometimes horror movies are cheesy as Hell, with bad dialogue, terrible acting, or cheap effects, and the joy and laughter they bring can be just as freeing.
Last year, I was lucky enough to attend a screening of Romero’s film at the Music Box, with star Ken Foree in attendance. I’d never seen DAWN on film, and it was a fantastic experience to see that incredible ‘70s shopping mall filled with comically bright red blood and pale blue zombie faces stretched across a movie screen. Immediately after, I became a paid member of the theatre to help keep the place screening incredible movies on film. Plus, it netted me free refills on popcorn and soda, which is a nice bonus when you eventually decide to spend an entire day there.
Saturday, October 18th
I woke up at 6 A.M. the day of the festival to stretch and exercise. I was born with a rare bone disorder that causes my joints and spine constant pain, which is a different kind of horror I’ve lived with every day for the entire 40 years I’ve spent on this earth. Standard theater seats, like those at the Music Box, can make sitting still for even one film a challenge. I needed to limber up, even if it meant losing a few extra hours of slumber. I brought along a firm pillow to put behind my back for some added relief, popped a couple of Ibuprofen every few hours, and made sure to get up to stretch and walk around between movies. Ultimately, I didn’t care how Hellish my body might feel by the end. If I hobbled out of the Music Box looking like I had been mangled in a Cronenberg film, it would all be worth it.
11:00 A.M.
Jon and I arrived at the theater to see a bustling crowd already lined up outside and hanging out in the lobby, browsing the wares of the fest’s vendors, signing up to get flash tattoos by which to remember forever their arduous 24 hours spent sitting in such a beautiful theatre full of other horror nerds. We found a couple of seats towards the back and settled in for the long day ahead.
12:00 P.M. – THE BAT (1926)
This is how you kick off a 24-hour movie marathon with a bang: Make your first film a silent movie soundtracked live by a mesmerizing ambient score from the Maxx McGathey Trio, led by the titular composer. I convinced Jon to pop a weed gummy with me before the movie started, a move I do not regret in the slightest. THE BAT is best known for being the film that greatly inspired artist Bob Kane to create Batman. The film’s comedy felt remarkably modern in some of its humor, and it elicited a couple of solid belly laughs. I can’t imagine I’d find half as much joy in it without the drone, crack, buzz, and swirl from McGathey. That’s what swirled it all together for me. Magnificent.
1:50 P.M. – THE BORROWER (1991)
THE BORROWER was hands down my favorite film of the entire day. A bug-like alien is devolved into a human and stranded on Earth. For reasons unclear to me—or that I can’t remember—his head explodes, and he keeps having to “borrow” new ones. This is the only horror film for which I can justify a dog dying. I won’t spoil it, other than to say it happens off-screen and leads to one of the hardest I’ve ever laughed in public. Two movies in, and my tailbone was on fire. It was hard to sit still. I hoped the person behind me wasn’t too annoyed by the constant shifting I had to do for tiny moments of relief.
4:00 P.M. – LENORA: A CHILD’S TALE OF THE SUPERNATURAL (1973)
The guy who introduced this one was really, really excited to talk about this obscure, creepy little film featuring zombies (I guess?), vampires, and the worst monsters in all of cinema: grown men talking like creeps to a little girl. Ick.
5:45 P.M. – MATANGO (1963)
Jon hyped this one up a lot, and it did not disappoint. It starts off a bit slowly with a group of tourists who find themselves stranded on a deserted island with no food. They eventually eat the only thing available, mushrooms that appear to be growing everywhere, and, well, they start to turn into mushroom people. You really can’t go wrong with mushroom people. It was wild and made me wish we had taken mushrooms beforehand—anything to light up my brain and distract me from the pain.
7:35 P.M. – CLEARCUT (1991)
This is about the time Jon and I decided we needed to eat something more substantial than candy, soda, and popcorn. We had phenomenal smash burgers from a local pop-up called Roger & Rose that we ate outside under an umbrella in the pouring rain by the light of THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS playing on a projection screen in their back garden. Jon did his Duolingo lessons and then we talked about the fucked-up state of the world and losing relatives you once had great respect for because they’re now mindless MAGA zombies. Life in America is its own little horror flick, huh? When are those credits going to roll?
While we did miss at least half of CLEARCUT, the Canadian horror-thinker starring the legendary Grant Greene, we did get to see a lot of him fucking up the shitty white billionaire head of a logging company. It felt extremely … Relevant. Before the next film, the wonderful Music Box staffer who MC’d most of the event made an announcement that they had noticed people on their phones, and if you can’t sit through a whole movie without checking your phone, maybe they needed to take off. They also said we were all there to enjoy the movies and no one wanted to hear anyone else’s shitty running commentary. The Music Box Theatre fucking rules.
9:30 P.M. – MR. STATIC (2024)
This short was made by a filmmaker friend of the theatre, a commentary on the dangers of scrolling through horrible things on social media. It was well produced but was a bit more on the torture porn side of horror, which I don’t really enjoy. I think I picked up my second bag of Peanut M&M’s during the director Q&A.
10:05 P.M. – INFERNO (1980)
I’m not a big fan of Argento. His movies are odd to watch, in their strange, overly saturated Technicolor way, but have laughable dialogue and not much plot to follow. I vibed with it as long as I could. In a scene towards the end, a man stuffed some very real, very upset cats into a bag; that was absolutely horrible to sit through. It was the only time I had to shut my eyes and ears. Just awful.
Sunday, October 19th
12:15 A.M. – JASON X (2001)
This movie was dumb, but all the FRIDAY THE 13TH movies are dumb, and I love them so. I’ve always put this one towards the bottom of the pile in my ranking of Jason flicks, just above the time he took Manhattan. I’m happy to report that JASON X is actually one of the best if you watch it in a packed theater full of rowdy horror weirdos. All the awful jokes hit, the gore was fun, and there was plenty of unnecessary nudity that defines this classic slasher franchise. Did I mention this is the one where Jason goes to space? Yep. Someone in the crowd suggested an alternate title could be JASON AND THE ASTRONAUTS. Bravo, to them, I say.
2:20 A.M. – THE X-FILES – “Home” (1996)
A banned episode from S4 of the very popular sci-fi show, a show I did not watch growing up. I took this opportunity to rest my eyes. When it was over we wandered outside to take in the chilly air and step in puddles from the earlier storm. Some folks were smoking cigarettes. One gal had an entire joint to herself. As a former cigarette smoker, the smell absolutely disgusts me, but I also occasionally enjoy standing near the smell reminiscing. My eyes were half open and before heading back to my seat, I ask the wonderful staff at the snack counter what my coffee options are.
“Just drip,” they tell me.
“That sounds great,” I say and try to put creamer and sugar in it even though it is much too full and the temperature of fresh lava. It’s not very good, but I drink it anyway, thinking surely it will get me through the next movie.
3:20 A.M. – IT’S ALIVE III: ISLAND OF THE ALIVE (1987)
I had been really looking forward to this based solely on its hilarious title. Little did I know it would feature feral, muscular babies Hellbent on murder. Michael Moriarty was making some bold choices, giving an absolutely bonkers performance, and every time I see one of the awful baby puppets it makes me laugh. Every. Single. Time. Until I realize I’m like the only person laughing anymore.
This is where things started to get a bit hazy … I was uncontrollably nodding off like the rest of the theatre seemed to be. Every time I blinked, chunks of time disappeared. From what I gleaned from the story, a judge orders all the babies to live on an island so they can’t kill anyone. Is that right? That seems insane. I faded in and out as the monster babies crawled around in the sand. The next time I opened my eyes the credits were rolling.
5:15 A.M. – SILENT DEATH (1981)
Introduced as a recently discovered, long-lost slasher film made 10 years before what was previously thought to be the first of the slasher genre. The MC described the movie as “a vibe,” but watching it felt like a fever dream. I think I almost immediately fell asleep, only stirring a few times to see a scene of a man and woman walking together. It plays like part of a montage, except it just kept going. They’re walking outside and holding hands and their mouths were moving but the only sound was some pleasant music twinkling away. And they kept walking and it felt like 10 minutes had passed before I dozed off again. Since the coffee didn’t work, I grabbed another cup of coffee to see if that coffee would help the other coffee get going.
6:35 A.M. – PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 (2011)
I love jump scares. The tension that builds and builds while I feel my breath stop and my chest tighten. I always know they’re coming, yet I still react to them as if it truly was a shock. Jump scares are like little organisms of fear rushing through your body and I love them. I don’t think the PARANORMAL ACTIVITY movies are all that good, but I watch every one because ghosty movies are almost entirely jump scares and paranormal shit in movies just creeps me way the fuck out. I consider the third film to be the best of the bunch, though I had watched it sometime in the last year and decided I could easily sleep through it. Jon took his pillow and snuck to the last row so he could lean it against the wall. I stayed put and shut my eyes to drift.
Except that I couldn’t. These movies have multiple ghost-caused door slams and the volume in the theatre was deafening for this one. And then I noticed I was shivering for the first time since we arrived, not because of the ghosts, but because someone decided to crank the A/C for a while. That or the Music Box Theatre is haunted. It was quite … Chilling. When it was over, we walked outside and were shocked to find it was bright out again.
8:30 A.M. – HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE (1996)
Here’s where the coffee finally kicked in and I hit my third wind. A HELLRAISER movie is often a good time, even at their worst. It featured a young Adam Scott, that Pinhead guy, and a lot of convoluted story that spanned a thousand years or so. Did I mention this is the one where Pinhead goes to space? Yep.
10:20 A.M. – THE THREE STOOGES WE WANT OUR MUMMY (1938) / ABBOT & COSTELLO MEET THE MUMMY (1955)
And here’s where they tried to ease us back to life. All I could think about was how much my spine hurt and how I was ready to get these over with. After the mummy stuff wrapped (pause for laughter), those still left in the theater gathered under the marquee for the annual survivors photo. I made sure we got right up front. I needed hard proof that we completed this insane task. As we waited, Jon asked what he always asks after we see a movie or a band together.
“So, what did you think of the experience?”
“It was … Jon, it was so much fun spending that much time with you, but I never want to do a marathon that long ever again. I think we can walk away from this with a new friendship record and stick to shorter ‘thons.”
I ordered us a Lyft back to Union Station so Jon could catch his train back to St. Louis and I could head back to the suburbs on the Metra. My body was angry and sore, but content. I was so glad to spend over 24 hours with one of my favorite people in the whole world. It was an experience I will never, ever forget, and one that I feel like I’m still recovering from two weeks later.
Jon and I have been texting more regularly, sharing movie deep-dives and niche memes. Did I admit to him a few days ago that I would consider putting myself through the marathon again next year? Yup.
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