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Chanting “Out, demons, out!” a group of more than 65 horror writers staged an exorcism outside of two gates at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank at noon Tuesday.
The turnout was much larger than what the organizers planned for, and the black T-shirts made for the occasion, emblazoned with “Horror Writers on Strike — We Eat Scabs,” quickly ran out. Other writers showed up in priest and nun getups and brought along holy water.
While the goal was to “get rid of the evil infesting the studios,” the rally also had a morale-boosting purpose.
“As we enter this new stage of negotiating, hopefully we keep the wind in the sails, and we keep on going strong,” “Lost Boys 2” writer Hans Rodionoff said. “This is our horrorific way of trying to shout a war cry to other writers, and hopefully they will top us.”
The idea for the exorcism came from Scott Kosar, who wrote the remakes of 1970s horror classics “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “The Amityville Horror.” Being a fan of the ’70s, he remembered reading about an exorcism performed on the Pentagon during the anti-war era.
Among the writers putting the fear of God into the studios were Steve Niles (“30 Days of Night”), Mick Garris (“Masters of Horror”), Stephen Susco (“The Grudge”) and Drew McWeeny (“Masters of Horror”).
The writers also handed out fliers that cited Rentrak Data Service information that stated in the first 10 months of 2007, horror DVD sales grossed $450.2 million, already an increase over last year, when horror grossed $429.8 million.
