The foulest stench is in the air, the funk of forty years since the universally proclaimed “King of Pop” released the infamous music video “Thriller”, a badass tune on his 1982 album of the same name, nationally to audiences everywhere, smells as fresh as it did since we first saw zombies dance across TV screens in 1983.

I was only a year and a half old when the “greatest video of all time” debuted on December 2nd, 1983 so I have no recollection of any first-time viewer accounts. What I do remember, however, is before the age of five being absolutely fucking terrified of this little short film/music video. The hilarious part about all of it is, I was NO stranger to the horror genre as I, myself, grew up in a household of horror fanatics; being raised on Universal Monsters, JAWS, and John Carpenter’s Halloween on heavy rotation via my father who gave no fucks on teaching his darling daughter early on about the glorious horror genre before I was able to even use the toilet on my own.

That’s some goddamn commitment. Bless that man.

That being said, I was pretty desensitized to a lot early on, and it took a lot to get that kind of fear going via a horror film. However, there was ONE thing I was scared shitless of early on- Werewolves. Thanks to a little movie called SILVER BULLET, my parents and grandparents had rented the film somewhere, I wanna say around 1986, and me being the curious little shit I am, sat in on most of it until I freaked out at the infamous church scene, crying my eyeballs out at the visions of everyone, including kids turning into werewolves. That memory stuck with me forever and induced nightmares for months where I would have night terrors of either me, or my parents transforming into hairy-murderous lycanthropes. A few years later, I turned that fear into comfort being the sociopath I am, and SILVER BULLET was in my personal steady rotation, so much so I went to sleep with it almost every night for months on end. I can’t explain it, but all of that is true. Perhaps it was some sort of way of fighting those fearful feelings. I’m 41 years old and to remember vividly nightmares I had when I was 4 fucking years old, shows you how extreme that shit was. Eh, anyways, this all had to be said for a little context so I can explain the next part: YES I WAS SCARED SHITLESS OF THRILLER AS WELL thanks to that werewolf scene.

But only that part alone, before the actual music video started to take off. I fucking loved the zombies, the dance, everything else going on. Just not the goddamn werewolf scene or the very end stare with those yellow eyes.

Big fat fucking nope for me.

My dad, again bless his heart, tried to soothe my fears by telling me a great big fat lie how he was one of the zombies in the music video. Yep. You read that right. The man claimed to be one of those dancing dead fucks. Nice thought, but the only dance moves I ever saw him do was the robot, so I wasn’t buying it.

While I may have been no stranger to the horror genre before ever seeing the 14-minute masterful music video directed by John Landis (An American Werewolf in London, Innocent Blood), for an entire generation of kids who didn’t know Michael Myers from Jason Voorhees, they got their first taste of the horror genre in a wildly popular song turned into a short film that anyone, who is anyone saw. It was groundbreaking to say the very least, and a gateway of curiosity for kids and young adults to explore the genre of horror films. “Thriller” led to a massive interest in renting films like, of course, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF OF LONDON, and George Romero’s zombie flicks like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and DAWN OF THE DEAD by a younger generation and sparked a resurgence, especially of those films mentioned. As for me, “Thriller” was actually my introduction to Vincent Price. While the first part of the video scared the crap out of me, his voiceover was so damn soothing to my anxiety- and I’ve been obsessed with the guy ever since.

40 years later, the land marking video still has a strong impact and on its Ruby Anniversary, Showtime is releasing a documentary that airs on December 2nd, 2023 which takes fans back in time to experience the making of the record-breaking album and the release of the accompanying short film that forever redefined the music video format and introduced a new generation to the world of horror.

Now, let’s roll those shoulders, give a quick head jolt, and celebrate this fantastic piece of horror history!