With the advent of the internet (and to some extent, Hot Topic), there has never been a shortage of shirts showcasing the pop culture that we love. My t-shirt drawer is filled with clever puns and fantastic designs to help showcase my love of all things nerdy.
But what about horror? Sure, there are a handful of companies out there that specialize in horror-themed apparel, but not all of it is great. Some is, but not all.
A few years ago, though, I discovered Fright-Rags, an amazing little company located in New York that makes some pretty incredible clothing based on the horror films and franchises we know and love. And I’m not just saying that for the sake of this interview; I am a HUGE fan of their work. In fact, I am writing this wearing one of their Halloween III shirts and their cozy Evil Dead 2 lounge pants. So, yeah, I am singing their praises because I mean it.
In the last year or so, I feel as if Fright-Rags has exploded even more, taking their business to the next level by nabbing some fantastic licenses and producing some high-quality products. Never in my life did I think I would wake up at 6AM on a Wednesday morning to purchase clothes before they sell out, but Fright-Rags has caused me to do so plenty of times.
The Fright-Rags Team
Not that they need any more exposure these days, but I reached out to Ben Scrivens, owner of the company, to ask some questions about Fright-Rags and to help spread their gospel a bit more.
HORRORBUZZ: How did you create Fright-Rags to begin with? What was the genesis of its origin?
BEN SCRIVENS: I’ve always had the urge to create; whether it was books, movies, comics…anything at all. However, I was never really good at being consistent. I would have ideas and start something, but never follow through with much of anything.
In the summer of 2003, I was an active member of all sorts of forums online, mostly about horror movies and prop makers. I had always wanted a high-quality Michael Myers mask, or Jason hockey mask, and so on. I started to follow a few guys who made great props.
One in particular was Justin Mabry of Nightowl Productions (now co-founder of Trick or Treat Studios). I had an itch to create something but wasn’t sure what…
I had always been into weird and goofy shirts, and I realized I didn’t have any horror shirts. I looked online and only found a few, but nothing I would personally wear, so I used my background in graphic design to come up with a few ideas. I showed them to Justin, he put them up on his forum to get feedback, and people seemed to dig them. Over the course of Labor Day weekend in 2003, I came up with a name, basic logo, coded a website, and ordered $600 in t-shirts with no idea how I was going to sell them all. The rest, as they say, is history.
HORRORBUZZ: Did you have a background in making shirts to begin with? Or was that something that came from Fright-Rags?
BEN SCRIVENS: I had some experience in screen printing, having taken it in high school and college; just enough knowledge to know how to prepare separated files for my printer.
HORRORBUZZ: And now Fright-Rags is a full-fledged business! How many folks do you employ overall?
BEN SCRIVENS: Including myself, there are seven of us at Fright-Rags.
HORRORBUZZ: You have some truly killer designs. Like I mentioned in my first email to you, the Halloween III ones are amazing, I bought them all. How does the design process go?
BEN SCRIVENS: It’s different with every artist and property; sometimes we have a fully fleshed out idea that we present to the artist, other times we allow the artist to come up with concepts. We then have to submit them to the studio for approval. Then, we proceed to the final if they are approved, and any changes that are needed are made.
HORRORBUZZ: You guys not only do shirts, but pants, pins, and even masks. What is it about these films and properties that makes you want to immortalize them on shirts and other apparel?
BEN SCRIVENS: It’s all about nostalgia. We try to evoke that in everything we do, whether it’s shirts, pins, socks, trading cards, and so on. We want to showcase the talents of great artists and elevate our favorite films with original artwork, or images that you’ve seen a hundred times but are presented in some sort of unique way. If we are sitting around thinking of ideas and one of us mentions something that makes us all go “ooooooooohhhh!”, then that’s a good sign we are headed into the right direction. When we cannot wait to have it ourselves, then we know we are onto something.
HORRORBUZZ: What are your favorite horror films?
BEN SCRIVENS: I love all types of horror, but I’m a slasher kid at heart. Halloween is my favorite movie of all time; but Evil Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Night of the Living Dead, and Silver Bullet are consistently in my top 5 favorite horror films.
HORRORBUZZ: Are there any properties that are dreams for you, that you’d like to acquire the rights to?
BEN SCRIVENS: I would love to work with the catalog at Warner Brothers; Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and tons of other films they have there. We’ve done homages to them in the past, but I would absolutely love to get the licenses so we could really sink our teeth into them. We’ve been in talks…
HORRORBUZZ: Any clues for what we can expect from Fright-Rags in 2018?
BEN SCRIVENS: We’ve got tons of stuff in the works…tons of more shirts, socks, pins, and more with newly acquired licenses. We are also creating more wax pack trading cards.
Ben also sent along this video that teases some great, new stuff, including Ash Vs. Evil Dead, Silence of the Lambs, Die Hard, and more!
A big thanks to Ben for taking the time to answer my questions.
Be sure to visit them online at www.fright-rags.com for all sorts of fantastic stuff. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.
