(KRON) – The days of renting a VHS from a Blockbuster, Movie Gallery or other regional video rental store are a thing of the past, but that doesn’t mean the old tapes have been completely forgotten.
In fact, some movie buffs and collectors are keeping the love of VHS alive — or in some cases, undead.
This Halloween, horror fans and Hollywood historians will have the chance to bid on and take home some iconic horror and thriller films during Heritage Auction‘s VHS Horror Showcase auction.
The October auction features more than 100 lots of classic VHS tapes with some of the most iconic monster, slasher, demon and zombie flicks in history, each one “sealed, slabbed and graded.”
Included are some one-of-a-kind items, like an early copy of Sam Raimi’s “The Evil Dead,” Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws,” and one of three known Betamax copies of John Carpenter’s original “Halloween.”
The lot actually includes two of the earliest “Halloween” releases ever: both the Beta edition from 1978 and a rare 1981 VHS featuring an infamous misspelling of Michael Myers’ name on the back.
There are also extremely rare copies of “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes,” “Carrie,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” and John Carpenter’s other iconic thriller, “The Thing.”
Because the tapes are still sealed and in pristine condition, Heritage describes this auction as a chance to own some truly rare pieces that honestly have no right being in their current condition.
“They were meant to be opened and watched repeatedly, especially those early tapes, which were rented out of strip-mall mom-and-pop shops and cost upwards of $100 to own,” Heritage writes of the collection. “None of these were meant to last safe and watermark-sealed well into the 21st century.”
To see the collection, and to place a bid if you dare, click here. The auction is scheduled to end on Oct. 31.
