Elizabeth Williams says she feels like a kid again when visiting Burbank’s “horror row.” She’s waiting on the sidewalk with a small crowd for one of the area’s themed shops to open.
For decades, this two-block radius of the Magnolia Park neighborhood has been known as a place where horror fans and Halloween enthusiasts can get their fix year-round. The nickname reflects the small businesses that sell Halloween costumes and decorations, supplies for witchcraft, novelties, and books. Each attempts to capture the imagination of everyone, from hard-core fans to curious pedestrians.
Williams, a resident of Phoenix, Ariz., visits the shops at least once a year. She calls herself a fan of the classics — with a tattoo of the Bride of Frankenstein to prove it. As a teen, she got hooked on the genre, reading Goosebumps and Stephen King novels, and watching Nickelodeon’s Are You Afraid of the Dark? “I grew up in an era where it was fun to be scared,” she says.
Psychologists say some people feel happier after a scare, while others find it allows for coping with real life anxieties. Horror fans and morbidly curious individuals were more resilient and able to better handle the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to researchers at the Recreational Fear Lab in Denmark.
Cole Ray (left), Jahleel Gardner (center), and Indiana Leary are employees of the Mystic Museum. Photo by Megan Jamerson/KCRW.
For others, the genre is a lifestyle, says Jahleel Gardner, store manager of the Mystic Museum, a novelty shop and exhibit space. He says some of his customers dress up throughout the year, a behavior he likens to the excitement others feel for sports and music. “There are fanatics in everything,” he says.
A display of vintage ouija boards are part of the permanent collection at the Mystic Museum. Photo by Megan Jamerson/KCRW.
The Mystic Museum sells items devoted to witchcraft, 1980s slasher films, and Victorian era oddities like taxidermied animals. It also has two rotating exhibit spaces. A celebration of early 2000s slashers, and the cult classic 1981 film Evil Dead are currently on display. There’s also a permanent collection of vintage items like ouija boards and a Zoltar fortune telling machine.
Del Howison sells horror books, magazines, and novelty items at his store Dark Delicacies. Photo by Megan Jamerson/KCRW.
For doubters who say the genre only appeals to base survival instincts, Dark Delicacies bookstore owner Del Howison has a rebuttal. “Horror is a great way to express what’s going on in society,” he says.
Howison and his wife Sue Howison are self-taught experts in the genre. When they opened their bookstore in 1994, it was Burbank’s first horror-themed shop. Nearly 30 years later, they are a well-known destination for writer, actor, and artist signings. Their loyal fans include Academy Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro.
Howison points to the 1958 monster movie The Case of the Faceless Man to demonstrate the connection between horror and social anxiety. This was also the first spooky film he can remember watching as a child without his parents at the theater. It was a thrill to peeking through his hands during the scary parts.
As an adult looking back, he sees how those monster films were using the fear of the “other.” American culture at the time was all about conformity, and if you didn’t fit the norm, he says, the message was clear that something was wrong with you. “You don't know that you're being indoctrinated into that because it's just everyday life.”
Howison also sees a relationship between anxiety over the HIV and AIDS epidemic and the rise of vampire stories, and footage of the 9/11 survivors covered in ash in New York City with the rise of zombie stories. He is starting to see post-pandemic plague stories .
While Howison enjoys analyzing the genre, his primary focus at the shop is helping others enjoy the fun of fear.
“You only got one life,” says Howison. “You might as well have fun living it.”