Something a little different this time around, a review of
and recommendation for a web site I thought some of you might be interested in.
The site is Kitley’s Krypt and it’s all things horror related. Put together by
Jon Kitley, I’ve been aware of the site for some time now. Jon and my son
became acquaintances by both attending the Cinema Wasteland horror fan
convention years back and through that meeting I learned of his web site. I’ve
been going there weekly ever since.
For those who don’t know I’ll say up front that I am indeed
a horror fan. I’m not one of those late to the game group out there who knew
nothing of horror until the trilogy of Michael Myers/Freddy Kreuger/Leatherface
came into being. I started long ago sitting in front of a black and white
screen watching late night horror host Ghoulardi on the Cleveland station while
growing up in Akron, OH. That morphed into years of watching Big Chuck and Hoolihan.
Through those shows and other Cleveland stations I grew up watching the
classics and the biggest stars of horror, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Lon
Chaney Jr. To this day I rarely pass up a chance to watch ABBOT AND COSTELLO
MEET FRANKENSTEIN and even turned on my horror loving great great niece to that
film. From those classic black and white
flicks to the full color horrors from Hammer Studios I’ve been a horror fan for
many years.
Which brings us to Kitley’s Krypt. There are a huge number
of horror movie sites online that you can choose to go to. Many of them are
good, some are so so and honestly I’ve not seen too many terrible ones. Some
are sponsored by the magazines that focus on horror like Horrorhound of
Fangoria. Some have created industries unto themselves. For me those have a
polished atmosphere that feels corporate though. While they do provide
information I don’t get that feeling that they love the genre so much as they
can profit from it. No so with Kitley’s Krypt.
Jon is an avid horror fan. Like me he goes back to the
classics as well as the newer items coming out. The web site also has that feel
as well, as if it was made for fans of the genre as opposed to someone sitting
at a desk in some high rise office telling underlings what he wants next month.
Jon does it himself. He does a good job of it. And he’s been doing it enough
years that fans have come to trust him when it comes to things horror.
He’s developed enough of a fan base that he now writes a
monthly column for the afore mentioned Horrorhound (don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t
bad mouthing the magazine, a fave of mine, but talking about the polished look
of web sites in general) called “They Came From The Krypt” which won the Rondo
Hatton Award for best column in 2014. He’s
been nominated again this year. He wrote part of the book HIDDEN HORROR. Let’s
just say he knows his horror.
So there is some background on Jon, what about the site?
Well the site is wonderful for fans who like all things horror, not just one
item. While the site has been recently revamped it has offered fans things like
updates on famous horror connected icons/performers/behind the scenes people
who have recently passed. It offers reviews of horror items from books to
soundtracks to movies. It has interviews. It has history. It talks about books
and toys that are horror related. It passes along news items about everything
from coming movies to coming events. I especially love the information passed
along about various drive-ins doing special showings of all night horror movie
marathons. Hopefully I can attend one of these days…er nights. If gives you
history. Each month is a contest to identify a picture that Jon posts. And
there is plenty of convention news. Part of that is because you can find Jon at
those conventions selling items and partly because he actually loves to attend
them. Did I mention that Jon loves horror films?
Jon will also let you know about the Krypt family that happens
at various times. Yes this might include his real family (who would think in
today’s world you’d find someone with a loving and supportive wife when it
comes to your favorite thing!) but his extended family as well. They get together
for their own movie nights, at special screenings and for various parties most
notably Turkey Day Marathons. One such party they gathered items for the local
food pantry. I guess horror fans aren’t all that dangerous after all eh?
In the end the thing about the web site is that it offers a chance
for fans to hear about things from a fan’s perspective rather than from a CEO
looking to top off that quarter’s sales figures. Jon loves horror and it shows.
If you love horror then all I can do is recommend this web site. If nothing else
you’ll get a glimpse of some of the horror items being released during the
year. My guess is that most local libraries don’t carry all of the books you’ll
find being released that Jon mentions. I’ll bet most Toys R Us stores don’t
carry all these toys. Redbox doesn’t carry all of the movies discussed. But if
you want to learn more about these items and more then check out the site. Who
knows, you might end up becoming part of the Kryptic Army.
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