#PHSTMU It’s that time again. Welcome to our weekly #creepyhistory thread. We’ll be talking about oral histories and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Thank you John Bloom for your article “They Came. They Sawed.”

Oral history gives a literal voice to the past. It allows the people telling the story to do so in their own words. There are some downsides like inconsistencies in memories and bias that the narrator might have. However, I believe that oral history is an incredible tool for us.2

The article I read this week was about the making of one of the most important films in slasher history- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This movie was made not too far from San Antonio and many of the actors were from Austin! 3

The article is a summary of the many oral histories that the author did with the cast and crew of TTCM. They were able to explain and reminisce while providing amazing insights into the production of a horror legend. 4

Bloom says “inside the “cannibal house” it would get up to 115, baking the offal and animal carcasses and rotting meat that had been painstakingly assembled by Bob Burns. “We would do a scene,” says Neal, “and then all run to the window so that we could throw up.” 5

Other than the gruesome nature of the movie part of what makes TTCM so iconic is the public backlash that occurred when it was first released. Through the oral histories I could hear what actually happened without the cloud of gossip that surrounded the film in the beginning. 6

Oral histories are a great tool to learn history straight from the source. It can retain dialects and ways of speaking that could be lost forever otherwise. I love horror and it was so cool to learn this part of #creepyhistory straight from the source. 7

Link to the article: https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/they-came-they-sawed/?curator=MediaREDEF 8