The Two Gay Geeks 🏳️🌈 have a chat with Ben Scrivens, founder and owner at Fright Rags dot com, your destination for genre T-Shirts and merchandise. He tells us how he discovered horror and how he got into the T-Shirt business, it is a fascinating story. Have a listen and we hope you enjoy this as much as we did.
About Ben Scrivens
Technically, Fright-Rags started in 2003. But the reality is, its beginnings go back even further…to October 31, 1981 in the back of a family-owned deli. I was four years old, and my parents picked me and my siblings up from trick-or-treating to go to their friends’ place for a small Halloween get-together. Our friends lived behind the store they owned, and we made our way through the deli, and into what was their living room. Their kids were much older than me, as were my siblings, so they all ran off together to play. I contentedly sat down and counted my evening haul. Once I was done, I was bored…so I approached my mom, tugged on her shirt and pleaded with her to go home. They were having a good time playing cards and definitely not ready to leave, so she just looked at me and said, Go watch some tv, dear.”
I walked over to the family tv set, turned it on, and sat down about 10 inches away from the screen. That’s when I heard it. The screen was black and the music came on…then the pumpkin. And that music. I couldn’t stop watching. Then the words…”John Carpenter’s Halloween”. There I sat for the next two hours, approximately 10 inches from the screen, and completely mesmerized. The funny thing is, I don’t remember being scared – just completely taken in by it all. Once it was done, I wanted more… Thus began my love affair with horror which continues to this day.
About Fright Rags
Fast forward to 2003; I had been at my graphic design job for a year and had some creative steam to let off. I spent a lot of my free time conversing with other horror fans on various forums (this was way before Facebook, and even MySpace), and I noticed this really cool community of fan made props and art. Some amazing things were being made; Freddy gloves, Michael Myers masks, Jason masks, etc. It sparked something in me that wants to create… But I didn’t have those kind of skills. I was, however, a graphic designer. Also, I’d had an affinity for interesting t-shirts since I was a kid; it was my souvenir of choice on vacations, and I’d always look for different ones that represented things I like such as skateboarding, BMX bikes, movie characters, etc. Then i got to thinking – I don’t really have any horror shirts. I combed the internet to see what kind of horror shirts were out there and while I found some, they weren’t my style. So, I started coming up with my own designs. Once I had a few done, I talked to a friend of mine – Justin Mabry who runs Nightowl Productions and is also co-founder of Trick or Treat Studios – and he encouraged me to share them on his forum, which I was an active member on. The feedback was not only instant, but overwhelmingly positive.
So, over the course of Labor Day weekend in 2003, I came up with a name, basic logo, and website. Then, I plunked down $600 (way more money than I could afford) on my very first run of shirts and held my breath. That Friday, September 2, 2003, I received my first ever order. I was in business. Since then, our focus has always been on making the most kick-ass t-shirts, and backing them with the best possible service. To do that it takes a team effort, and I have been extremely fortunate to work with not only amazing artists, but the people who come to work here every day. Together, we put our heart and soul into everything we do, and are grateful to you for giving us the opportunity to do what we do. Thank you, and stay tuned…we have such shirts to show you…
Visit Fright Rags here
In our second segment, we chat about The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus that we just watched. We also highlight recent articles posted to the tggeeks.com in the past week. As always we have our birthdays and we have the ever-popular feedback segment.
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Show Notes / Links:
- TG Geeks Episode 244
- Fanbase Press Announces QUINCE: THE DEFINITIVE BILINGUAL EDITION and NUCLEAR POWER in Celebration of Its 10th Anniversary
- Ben’s Breakdown | Apocalypse Later International Fantastic Film Festival Review
- Dr. Zombie – Monster Family Physician #71
- Keith’s Korner | The Shoreless Sea Review
- Sesame Street 50 Year Anniversary Celebration on HBO November 9th
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Trailer and Featurette
- Dekkoo Original Series The Third Releases October 24th
- News Sushi #85: Morsels of News from Japan and Beyond
- Ben’s “Gay” Breakdown | Ice Blues delivers a thrilling ride with laughs thrown in!
Thank You:
- The Arkle Times Post Dispatch News – The Human Arkle on Twitter @arkle — Be sure to take a look at Arkle’s other venture: Arkle Studios presents Shameless Cash Grab
- Special thanks go the Facebook Group moderators of “Gay Geeks Afterhours” for encouraging us to share our content there, and there URL is www.facebook.com/groups/gaygeeksafterhours/.
- Here’s a special shout out to “The Gay Geek” for graciously allowing us to post our episodes in their Facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/thegaygeek. And a special Thank You to Jeremiah Reeves, the moderator, for being such a great guy.
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