New Zealand is home to The Monster Mailman, a.k.a. artist Mike Beer, who has generated a worldwide following for his horror nostalgia pieces, such as his HANDMADE VHS KEYCHAINS AND CASES. These totally rad collectibles will ensure you never get locked out of the house again. Beer caught the horror bug early in life when he decided to sneak a peek at his cousin’s VHS copy of Sam Raimi’s classic Evil Dead 2. Since that day, he has devoted his life to the genre.
Mailman relayed a few of his fond memories of visiting video stores during their heyday and why he pays homage to the great era of VHS in his artwork: “My business comes from a place of pure passion and love for a time that was magical and full of excitement,” he says, “and I just want people who had similar memories from their youth to be reminded of how epic the 80’s and 90’s were by the products I make, and hope that I can portray a piece of nostalgia that some of us will never forget”.
The Monster Mailman’s HANDMADE VHS KEYCHAINS are created with molds that are sculpted on the inside to look just like the video shells that housed classic films. Custom stickers are added to the sculpted shell to make it look like an old video store rental, complete with visible wear and tear. These mini-tapes also have a Monster Mailman tag attached to them on a chain, for easy attachment of keys. The cases and video shell are also dusted in paint to make them appear worn and dirty.
The minitapes go hand in hand with specialized mini cases, natch, complete with film cover artwork and those old retro stickers that rentals displayed. More mind-blowing is the fact that the tapes fit in the boxes, which is The Monster Mailman showing his dedication and love of these pieces. These pieces for the most part are made to order and any interested potential customers can contact The Monster Mailman via Instagram, to ask him to make a custom keychain of your choice (An Etsy website is in the works, so stay tuned for that to make requests on too).
So if you enjoy the retro look and feel of old VHS tapes, why not attach one of these creature features to those precious keys, so that they never go missing again. And please remember, to be kind and rewind, err remember to give thanks to the one and only Monster Mailman and also check out his custom horror apparel up for sale.
For Prices on Handmade Horror Keychains, please message The Monster Mailman via Instagram (until the Etsy site is up and running)
