Blood Over Texas Gets Fleshy

Ah, the Eighties. When slashers minced and mangled, bodies were horrors, and poltergeists spent all their time harassing Midwestern families. Good times, good times, and local horror society Blood Over Texas wants to resurrect them with Splatterdrome, a celebration of all things terrible and technological.

Founder Bunny Voodoo calls BOT "the Chamber of Commerce for the horror community." They've made a name for themselves recently with their killers in Austin photo ops, where the big three (Jason, Michael, and Leatherface) take to the streets of Austin (and yes, there is something alarming about Leatherface going for barbecue).

But tonight, the horror isn't coming to you, and it's not just any old vintage mutilation. Instead, BOT is taking over the North Door and rebooting the era of cyberhorror and technoterror, when every machine was out to get you. From the demonic database of Evil Speak to the killcrazed workout equipment of Death Spa, it seemed like malevolence was cast into every cog and soldered into every circuit.

For Voodoo, it's all because the Eighties were "the 'me' generation. It was a decade of excess, and technology only added to the obsession. The more gadgets and 'toys' you had the better." For Voodoo, and a generation of gorehounds, it meant easy access to real terrors. As "an only child, and a latch-key one at that," she admits to growing up in front of the the glowing screen. "Back then they actually had scary-ass movies on TV. I remember Salem's Lot freaked me out."

The flipside of all those new toys - big screen TVs, videos and video games, microwaves, cellphones, and the first home computers - becoming so ubiquitous was that "it quickly consumed the average person," said Voodoo. "So that leads us to horror movies, which have historically been a reflection of the current society's fears of the unknown. So it wasn't too far off to think that this sudden and all-consuming obsession with technology would turn into a fear. What if there was evil within the technology?"

This was also the era of synth rock, and squeaky keyboards become the standard soundtrack for onscreen mayhem. That's why Sept. 22, in between DJ sets by Split Signals, the video remixes by VJ Greekfire will be accompanied by live soundtracking from movie and gamer theme reinventors Bitforce and John Carpenter-style spooky synthers Millennial Grave, while the incontestable grindpop weirdness of Peach Fish will be providing their own sonne et sange et lumiere. In fact, without them, there would be no event. Voodoo says, "I knew I had to get them all together. Since all of them have a strong synth sound, it lent itself to more of a technology-based event. And Splatterdrome was born."

There'll also be a silent auction, featuring rare and discontinued prints from Odd City, tickets to the upcoming touring production of Evil Dead: The Musical, and a seat at the upcoming sculpting and mask-making class by local splatter king (and star of SyFy's Face Off) Matt Valentine. Plus, BOT's allies in bloody, burlesque obsessions, Dolls From the Crypt, will also be selling raffle tickets, if you're feeling like the odds are in your favor.

Voodoo and her Blood-y clan are gambling that tonight's event will bring more people into the fold, and see them leaving with BOT membership cards. She warns: "We are all passionate about horror and we know there are many others out there. And we'll find them, one body at a time."

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Blood over Texas presents Splatterdome, Aug. 22, 9pm-2am. The North Door, 502 Brushy. $8, $5 for Blood Over Texas members. More info at www.bloodovertexas.com and www.facebook.com/bloodovertexasATX.