Remembering Big Mike

The first person to get me into movies was my dad.

Growing up, we were fortunate enough to have cable and premium channels.

I grew up in a household that had HBO and Showtime before cutting the cord was in our collective consciousness.

At home, my dad had about two dozen or so VHS tapes.

Looking back, my first horror movie fright wasn't even from watching a movie.

My dad had a Nightmare on Elm Street VHS and it scared the shit out of me.

This would have to have been when I was about 4 or 5 in like 1990.

And I think my mind was too young to kind of process the imagery on the box.

But I'll never forget Freddie's shimmering gloves across the frightened girl's face.

She was struck in terror and so was I.

Movies were a big deal for us, but not in a showy way.

It was just what we

gravitated towards.

In the early 90s, new movies would premiere on Showtime and HBO on Friday and Saturday nights.

When Blockbuster became a cultural staple, we weren't immune.

Those became weekly traditions, whether it was catching a new movie on HBO, Showtime, or new movies and Sega Genesis games at Blockbuster.

That became our little ritual growing up.