We sat down with Ben Scrivens, President of Fright-Rags. Fright-Rags has held the market for it’s amazing collection of Horror themed clothing. Their collection ranges from well known John Carpenter franchises to some of the lesser known that only hard core horror fans will get. If you are a horror fan, we highly recommend you check out Fright-Rags for all your horror needs…
You started Fright Rags on your own about 14 years ago, did you imagine back then it would become what it is today?
I had no idea. Of course, it was a dream to do this for a living but dreams can seem so far from reality. While I work harder now than I ever have in my life, I am truly blessed to make Fright-Rags my living.
Tell me about your creative process in designing a tshirt…
It varies from property to property, design to design. In general, once we have a license, we think of some ideas and what artists to execute them. In some cases, it’s just giving an artist a basic direction and any limitations (likenesses, etc) on the property and letting that person take a stab at it. In others, we have specific ideas of what we want to see and start from there. After we get initial sketches, we still need to get the approval from the studio to make sure we can proceed; and even after color roughs and final art, we still need to go through the approval process.
Is there a specific movie you never get tired of designing shirts for?
John Carpenter’s Halloween. It’s by far my favorite movie of all time and while so much has been done for it, it’s always a fun challenge to find different ways to interpret it.
Other than John Carpenter have you had other influences?
In terms of horror, Stephen King and George Romero have been huge influences on me.
How does the decision to make certain shirts come about? Like a Joe Bob Briggs? Who is mostly known to hardcore horror fans, how does he become a tshirt?
it’s all very organic We think of things we want to work on, and then explore the possibilities. For Joe Bob Briggs, the idea was on our list for a long time. Then, one of our artists, Justin Osbourn, approached us about doing one. So, we decided to contact Joe Bob Briggs and worked out a deal with him.
Your shirts go from horror movies to breakfast cereal to madballs… what’s next?
We like to keep people guessing, but expect us to branch out into some more non-horror titles in 2018. Some classic films, including a couple Christmas films (non-horror).
Have you ever wanted to venture into something other than horror?
Yes, like most fans, we are into more than just horror. We grew up watching other types of movies, playing video games and playing with toys. We feel we can bring the sense of style and aesthetic that made us what we are today into many different types of non-horror properties.
Have you had any interesting celebrity encounters with your shirts?
Quite a few, actually. The ones that always surprise me are when we receive orders through our website from celebrities. People like John Landis, Greg Nictoero, Don Mancini, and others have ordered from us directly and when our shipping department sees the order we all get excited. It’s just cool to think they were sitting at home or wherever and decided to order from us. Surreal.
Are there any properties you’re dying to work with?
While we’ve done one off versions for these films, the properties I’d love to work with on a more official level are Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street….I think we’d be able to bring something unique to the table for those.
Anything big planned for Fright Rags and Halloween?
October is a busy month around here, for sure. In addition to the many releases we have scheduled – including more for John Carpenter’s Halloween coming October 18 – we are doing weekly horror film screenings at a local theater. On October 14 we are showing my personal 35mm print of Halloween with PJ Soles in attendance. I’m definitely looking forward to that one!
Can i buy somewhere this Deathgasm shirt?I love it so much