White Center's Tomb of Treasure Unearths Horror Classics on Physical Media

When I first walked into Tomb of Treasure, light spilled into dark space with black- and purple-painted walls.

The sounds of a campy 1986 horror classic Chopping Mall came from a giant flatscreen in the corner, and a life-size, (fake) chainsaw-wielding animatronic Leatherface lurked in the back of the store. The entire space was packed to the brim with horror-themed physical media, from stickers to DVDs and books. In other words, it was a horror film fan's heaven (or hell, depending).

Owned and operated by White Center-based collector Violet Blanchard, Tomb of Treasure is the preeminent horror store of Rat City, which opened for business on Sept. 13 — not a Friday, unfortunately — in the space right next to Puffy Pandy on the main drag of 16th Avenue Southwest.

The Tomb has everything that might tickle a horror fan's fancy: original soundtracks from horror films like Friday the 13th or Carrie on cassette tape and vinyl; vintage mass-market horror novels by Stephen King and R.L. Stine; used DVDs, 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and DVD re-releases from boutique distributors like Vinegar Syndrome and Severin; tons of VHS tapes representing a variety of genres; zines, horror magazines, art, tees, collectible toys, costumes, and other rarities.

"I love physical media," said Blanchard. In times when corporate streaming behemoths like Netflix or Peacock control what films or TV shows are available to subscribers at the drop of a witch's hat, viewers determining their own taste and libraries is ever more important. "I feel like you should have ownership of the things you love," she said.

Tomb of Treasure's roots stretch back to 2021, when Blanchard first started an online-only version of the store during the thick of the pandemic. She's been an avid physical media collector her whole life, and — after selling her VHS collection in her 20s — started seriously re-accumulating tapes 10 years ago, sourcing stuff online or at garage sales or thrift stores. "My VHS collection got insane," she said. "It took over my whole house."

Seeing the rising popularity of boutique labels like Vinegar Syndrome releasing 4K restorations of extremely niche horror films (please, I beg you to watch Psychos in Love), Blanchard decided to turn her passion for collecting into a bonafide store, Tomb of Treasure. She sourced inventory from eBay, worked with boutique labels, and slowly got the word out while tabling at physical media conventions. Her business grew to the point where she could make the hop to a brick-and-mortar location last fall. To Blanchard, having an embodied space for physical media felt important to Tomb of Treasure's whole mission.

"I miss that piece of community where you can walk in, know the people, and you can chat about movies. I have people that come in here and watch half of a movie standing in the middle of the floor, and we talk about Chopping Mall or whatever," she said. "I wanted that human sort of interaction."

While video stores are way less common than they were even a decade ago, a community of physical media lovers is keeping the spirit of analog alive. The surge in interest for niche Blu-rays has been compared to the vinyl explosion, with people hungry for curated experiences. On the West Coast alone, video rental stores like Scarecrow Video in Seattle (disclaimer: I work behind the counter there), Movie Madness in Portland, and Vidiots in Los Angeles are still pumping away. LA is also home to WHAMMY! Analog, a store that only sells VHS tapes in addition to hosting screenings. Tape acolytes like Blanchard find meaning in the medium itself beyond just nostalgia for a different time.

"If you watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre on a 4K Blu-ray on a beautiful giant TV where you can see Leatherface's pores versus watching a grimy VHS on a little tiny CRT, [on VHS] it feels dirty, the movie is more intense, and it's way scarier," she said. "I have affection for both — I love seeing all the details, but in some points, it pulls away, detracts from the movie."

"There's something to say, too, about putting the tape in the machine," she continued. "It's like a ritual. You watch the tracking come up, and you get the trailers and the bumpers. I don't know, it's kind of magical to me."

And physical media is not just for oldheads or those of us who can remember begging their mom to rent Shrek from Hollywood Video. Blanchard says she gets a lot of teens and youngsters curious about the store, poking around, and watching whatever movie she has on the TV. She also stocks vintage Goosebumps books for families who come through and want something a bit more kid-oriented.

While horror is intrinsically scary, people of all ages are attracted to the genre for its sense of release, for its style, for its artistic intent, for its story. Being able to actually own, collect, and curate your library, to Blanchard, is essential.

"It's important because you own the version that was intended: It's not edited," she said. "They can't take that away from you. At least not yet!"