CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (3/24/20): THE 80s SLASHER LIBRARIAN

CHRIS' QUARANTINE RECOMMENDATION OF THE DAY (3/24/20): THE 80s SLASHER LIBRARIAN


By Chris La Vigna (@Chris_LaVigna)

The 80s Slasher Librarian is here for all of your horror audiobook screams...er, I mean, needs!



Some of you might not know this, but back in the day, movie novelizations were a prolific sub section of the literary market. I myself remember buying the novelization to Sam Raimi's 2002 SPIDERMAN film at a Scholastic book fair as a kid, reading through the whole thing in two days because I was so excited for the movie that I was willing to read it before I saw it. And there are countless examples of filmic stories being re-told in prose, particularly in the horror and sci-fi genres. Hell, ask any die-hard STAR WARS fan about the entire secondary universe that exists within all of the novelizations and tie-in books...

While the glory days of movie novelizations have long since passed, out there in the wilds of the world wide web, there's one man who is keeping the niche world of pulp horror novels alive and well. His name is Joshua La Rue, but on YouTube he goes by the handle THE 80s SLASHER LIBRARIAN.

La Rue, a pro-wrestler forced into early retirement by an in-ring injury (read the interview I linked to his name, the man's got quite a story!), has a passion for horror literature, and a massive collection of obscure horror movie novelizations and tie-in tomes to back it up with. Like many horror nerds, he's frustrated by how hard it is to get a hold of many of these books, so he's performing a great service: turning his collection into a series of audiobooks that you can listen to for free on YouTube!



LaRue is a great performer, doing his best to give each character their own distinct voice. He also tosses in some music and sound effects to enhance the experience (expect the to hear the classic "Ki Ki Ki Ma Ma Ma" sound when listening to his readings of any FRIDAY THE 13TH novelizations).  He usually uploads a book chapter by chapter, taking some time at the end to discuss the book he's reading a bit. He also has unabridged uploads where you can listen to the entire book in one video. And his selection is impressive! WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE, JASON X, CHILD'S PLAY 2, FINAL DESTINATION tie-ins, and much to my personal delight, several entries in the FRIDAY THE 13TH 80s pulp novel series.

If you love audiobooks, and dig classic horror franchises, I cannot recommend La Rue's channel enough. He's read more than forty books to date, with no signs of slowing down. A perusal of the comments under his videos show that he's also very active when it comes to interacting with his subscribers. Everything about this channel feels like a true labor of love, coupled with a genuine talent and flair for storytelling and presentation. So if you're looking for some fun, spooky reading, look no further than THE 80s SLASHER LIBRARIAN. Tell him Chris sent ya! He'll have no idea what that means, but it'll be nice anyway!!



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