By KEVIN HOOVER
RUE MORGUE’S history is as rich and diverse as the genre itself. As custodians of horror in culture and entertainment, every issue dating back to the magazine’s inception in 1997 has served as a written account of horror’s output year after year. And nearly three decades in the journalism game produces a lot of content. Seriously, 220+ issues means thousands of interviews and reviews, and it’s a lineage that veteran podcasters and fellow historians REVIVAL HOUSE commemorate every other Friday night.
REVIVAL HOUSE is the collective established by childhood friends Aaron Lipscomb and Todd Westerlin. Having bonded over a shared reverence of Pet Sematary 2 and Hellraiser while in grade school, the duo sought out ways to create spaces and experiences where the most resolute fans can commune. Their drive gave life to what was originally the Behind the Mask podcast, launched in 2011. In the fifteen years since, that salvo has matured into a full-fledged media company producing various content across YouTube, Substack, Spotify and other platforms.
REVIVAL HOUSE co-creator Aaron Lipscomb.
For Aaron, a love of horror was firmly entrenched during his formative years—though perhaps even sooner than for most: as a three-year-old with parents who didn’t mind a few late nights of their toddler cutting his teeth—literally— while under the sinister spell of Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger. “My upbringing wasn’t the easiest, so I honestly couldn’t relate to what The Cosby Show was selling,” says Lipscomb. “I gravitated toward heavier subject matter that was more relatable. Stuff that wasn’t afraid to explore what was really happening in the world, on the news and within my own four walls. I found that with horror and equally as much in bands like Black Sabbath, Metallica and Judas Priest.”
REVIVAL HOUSE co-creator Todd Westerlin.
Todd, an IT professional with roots in the audio-visual sector, recognized that creating a digital footprint was a natural progression of the ardor that he and Aaron shared. “I was always the horror nerd: showing up to school in a Texas Chainsaw Massacre or a Dawn of the Dead shirt, trading VHS tapes and discovering hidden gems nobody else had heard of. Aaron and I embraced our horror fandom even back when people looked at you like a weirdo for wearing a Fulci Zombie shirt. We bonded over these films because they gave us an escape from shitty parents and that connection never went away.”
REVIVAL HOUSE produces various podcasts, videos, live streams, events and interviews. This includes live shows every Wednesday and Friday night with flagship programming like Crypt Night Live—a dedicated deep dive into Tales from the Crypt—as well as myriad original film commentaries and interviews with the filmmakers, artists and personalities who’ve shaped the industry. And every other Friday night, the team pores over the pages of one of the more than 220 issues of RUE MORGUE magazine. The splatterific stylings of the Gore-Met; getting down and dirty in Bowen’s Basement; revisiting retrospectives from two decades ago about John Carpenter’s The Thing and even waxing nostalgic about ads for brands gone by (Rotten Cotton, anyone?). The team explores an issue from cover to cover in each episode to enlighten viewers that, even in a digital age, there’s still a bi-monthly print encyclopedia of genre coverage available for anyone interested.
“Our ultimate goal is to teach the next generation of horror fans about the history of this genre,” states Westerlin. “The highs, the lows and everything in between. How horror has evolved and genuinely changed people’s lives for the better.”
Learn more about REVIVAL HOUSE and watch new and past episodes of Friday Night at the Morgue.
