NOTE: the author of this book now writes under her true name Emma Alice Johnson)
I love doing book reviews, so for the upcoming spooky season I thought I’d tackle a couple of my recent favorites, starting with this short little karo syrup-blood covered gem.
Neon Trash is a fictional tribute to bad movies. Not Hollywood bad- as the author makes very clear in her introduction- but shoestring-budget bad. The grimiest films from the golden age of VHS, made outside the big studios and often done by people with little directing experience. Films overflowing with tons of cheap liquid-latex monsters, cartoonish gore, and gratuitous nudity. The bizarre movies one finds in catalogs at the back of yellowed fanzines moldering in cardboard boxes in a comic shop basement. Movies that showed once in a cheap downtown theater with sticky floors, then went straight to bootleg tapes with static, bad tracking, and lurid titles written on the side in Sharpie. Titles like “Meatface Massacre”, “One More Cannibal”, “Werewolf Beach Party”, and that ultimate of trashy 80s treasures- “Neon Meltoids”.
Most of the book is a “guide” to these fictitious films, summarized with delightfully gross and crass descriptions. The names and plots may be entirely made up, but they definitely capture the feel of vintage schlock horror. And as Johnson explains, just reading the weird summaries of such trashy films is often the best part.
The book also includes fictional interviews with some of the scream queens, weirdo actors, deranged directors and other staff of these monstrosities. There’s even a narrative story by Johnson about their quest to find a rare VHS tape of the quintessential 80s trash flick, “Neon Meltoids”.
The adventure doesn’t go well…
BUT the book does end with a special treat for collectors- a partial script of a previously lost scene from the titular film.
At only 60 pages, Neon Trash is a super-quick read that perfectly encapsulates the feel of grody 80s garbage horror. It appears to be currently out of print, but hopefully Johnson will re-issue it soon. In the meantime you can find used copies on Amazon
And find more stuff by Johnson on her website
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