Living in the mid-west, near St. Louis, we are seeing the death of the small business owner. Growing up in the 90s especially we had some really cool places to go and check out food, music and movie. Damn it, thanks to the internet, those places are gone. But, there are a handful of brave souls still left out there and the folks over at Monster Vinyl are some of them.
Monster Vinyl is located downtown Collinsville, not far for the world famous, yes world famous, Ketchup Bottle Water Tower. Actually you could check it out on your way to the Seven Gates of Hell which are literally 5 minutes from Monster Vinyl. The address is 107 East Main Collinsville, Illinois 62234
So, what is Monster Vinyl?
Before you walk in to the store, you are greeted by the large sign above, which has Frankenstein’s Monster peeking over the words, Monster Vinyl while holding the sign. And one of the best and to me, very charming things, the window displays. This is something that takes me right back to the 1980s and walking down the streets of Downtown Belleville or any downtown area with shops and restaurants. Of course Monster Vinyls always decorates something differently. The weekend I went, it was Halloween themed. Speaking of, I went during Collinsville’s annual Fall Fest in Uptown Collinsville. So the window display had the Judith Myers tombstone, a Silver Shamrock sign, young Michael in clown costume and a man dressed as the 2018 version of Micheal and a couple of Jack-o-lanterns. It was freaking great!!
When you walk in, damn near heavenly for a metal, horror, pop culture fan of the 80s and 90s. On the right you see the checkout counter with a glass counter, filled with all kinds of different merchandise, records, VHS tapes, masks and so much other goodness! To the left, in the middle of the store all vintage records, albums…VINYL! Yes, the name says it all, and they have a huge selection for the person who wants to check out music the way it should be heard, on vinyl. At the end of the aisle they have an old jukebox, so cool… This time it had Sam’s mask from Trick r’ Treat sitting above it.
The wall to the left has more vinyl and above, we see old horror posters, a shelf with different merch and VHS TAPES!!! We are talking some Universal horror VHS. I bought my brother in-law the Werewolf of London VHS, because he needed it in his life. The store is packed with all kinds of goodies, DVDS out the butt. But my favorite section is in the back. While the store has plenty of horror memorabilia. But there are some really cool things!
Check out the images below and if you’re passing through or in the area come out and check out Monster Vinyl. Follow them on Facebook and Instgram.
