Reviewing: Serial Killer Shop
As regular readers know, I like to give a nod to worthy writers from time to time, but I’ve never reviewed a t-shirt website until today – and I’m happy to change that with Serial Killer Shop. This site has a fantastic range of off-color, black-humored, horror-themed t-shirts (and other garments) with sharp designs, clever messages, and jolting graphics. Cult horror movies, true crime, black humor, serial killers, and fringe culture feature heavily in this campy collection, which primarily consists of black tees with blazing white graphics (not unlike the chiaroscuro illustrations that I do for Oldstyle Tales), sometimes with grisly splashes of crimson.
Among the horror movies alluded to in this menagerie of garments are: The Shining, Silence of the Lambs, Psycho, Beetlejuice, American Psycho, Sleepy Hollow (a favorite of mine), Friday the 13th, Hellraiser, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Evil Dead, The Exorcist, Child’s Play, The Witch, Se7en, Alien, and more. It also provides tees that salute general fringe culture, referencing subterranean cult movies like Donnie Darko, The Big Lebowski, Fight Club, No Country for Old Men, Edward Scissorhands, Zoolander, Pulp Fiction, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and even Back to the Future and Home Alone. There are also pop culture references to true crimes, serial killers, and conspiracy theories (including a rather cheeky “John Wayne Gacy” tee featuring the Duke in Gacy’s ghoulish makeup). And it isn’t just tees: its magnets, beanies, hats, stickers, and graphics.
As a movie buff and a horror nerd (oh, by the way, they have a hat that broadcasts your status as “HORROR NERD” for those of us who are loud and proud), I have to say I absolutely love this collection. And, as always, I’m not getting paid to promote this brand – I just really think it offers a unique, clever, attractive, and sometimes hilarious service to horror geekdom and general fringe culture.
These tees and other accessories are well made, beautifully designed, and – my favorite perk – they genuinely engage with the culture they represent: these graphics were designed with love by true fans, not mass produced to make money. So if you have a horror movie, true crime, or cult film that you’d like to represent in your wardrobe, I’m sure that Serial Killer Shop will have something in store for you. Give it a gander!