For the Good Guys: A Lifelong Love of Silver Bullet

My love for Stephen King’s Silver Bullet began on October 26, 1988. It was a Wednesday night, and I was eleven years old. Every Wednesday, my parents went to their respective churches (Mom was Catholic, Dad a Methodist) for choir practice, which meant I had the house to myself from about 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Coincidentally, Wednesday nights were also when our local UHF channel 31 aired horror movies at 8 p.m.

That particular night’s movie was Silver Bullet. I had seen it once before on VHS, but this time I was ready as I wanted to tape it and keep it. So there I was at 8 p.m., parked in front of the TV, ready to be terrified all over again. By the time the credits rolled, I was completely freaked out and counting the minutes until my parents came home. But there was something about that movie — Marty on his motorized wheelchair, the eerie music, the sense of adventure — that hooked me. I don’t think I watched it again until the following fall, but once I did, it became tradition.

Every autumn, usually in September, I’d pop in Silver Bullet and watch it. Usually it was on a Saturday afternoon while I played with my Hot Wheels or action figures. Afterwards, I’d ride my bike through the neighborhood or the woods, soaking in the fall air and pretending I was Marty on his Silver Bullet, tearing through the leaves. I did that every year without fail. Silver Bullet became synonymous with fall.

Eventually, I replaced my taped VHS with the official release (which had more gore and language but sadly cut out the commercials—including that creepy Halloween II TV spot that always gave me chills). Over the years, I upgraded again and again; DVD, German Blu-ray, Scream Factory Blu, and now the 4K. But one thing stayed the same: every year, I watched it.

Around 2015 or 2016, I met my friend Jeremy on Twitter while talking about Silver Bullet. He was a Fright-Rags customer, and we quickly bonded over our shared love for the film. That turned into a yearly tradition, watching it “together” every October, even if we were hundreds of miles apart. We even split a bottle of 1985 Wild Turkey (the year the movie came out) to toast Uncle Red whenever we’d watch. This past June, we met up in Wilmington, North Carolina, to visit the filming locations and watch the movie inside Marty’s actual garage, thanks to Kenny Caperton and On Set Cinema. And soon, Jeremy and his wife are coming up to hang out with my wife and me to see a screening of Silver Bullet we are sponsoring at a local theater... on the movie’s actual 40th anniversary.

But maybe my most cherished Silver Bullet memory came just last year, when I met Jay Chattaway.

The score has always been a huge part of why this movie means so much to me, it’s one of my favorite soundtracks and a constant in my autumn playlists. Last August, Jeremy mentioned that he had emailed Jay to get his vinyl signed, and while we were planning our upcoming Jaws 50th anniversary trip to Martha’s Vineyard, he mentioned that Jay's address was near where we'd be staying. That seemed too good to be true. I reached out, and to my surprise, Jay responded. He told me if he was around when we visited, he’d be happy to meet up. Fast forward to late June — I got to spend a few hours with him at his home. Jeremy couldn’t make the trip, but Jay signed both of our records, shared stories, and then, without any prompting, sat down at his piano and started playing the Silver Bullet theme.

I won’t lie, I teared up. I filmed it and sent it to Jeremy so he could share in the moment, even from afar.

Silver Bullet means a lot to me. I quote it constantly, and outside of Halloween and maybe E.T., it feels like part of who I am. It’s tied to childhood innocence and my love for the genre and everything I would eventually invoke to start Fright-Rags. It’s also something that’s connected me with people and experiences I never would have imagined.

So yeah... this one’s for the good guys.

Ben Scrivens, Owner
Fright-Rags, Inc.

PS: Our SILVER BULLET Anniversary shirts are now available to order! Brand-new designs inspired by the '85 classic. 👉 Check it out!