I found a snuff film on an old VHS

The Beginning

I'm a collector. My wife calls it junk but I love it. I love collecting things from my childhood. Specifically late 80's and 90's. You know before everything got weird. I collect old Disney, Pogs, goosebumps, old promotional material and whatever I can get my hands on. I have many items I'm proud of but the bulk of my collection is video tapes. You can keep your vinyl, I'll stick with VHS.

They're pretty easy to find at garage sales and thrift stores and since no one has a VCR any more they usually got for a quarter a piece. I have over 300 official tapes so far and about 25 bootleg tapes. They're my favourite. Bootleg tapes are when someone taped something off the television or made a transfer of a a home movie from those small tapes to a big one.

I love seeing what people thought was important enough to keep in their collections for decades in basements or crawl spaces until they are deemed a waste of space. My wife thinks I'm wasting my life but a man needs his hobbies. Besides my hobby is cheap and I don't come home drunk so bully.

I was content with my life and my hobby until I found 'the tape' and then everything changed. I was rummaging around an a garage sale one Saturday morning when I found the mother load. It was a box full of videos and an old video camera. Half the box was your standards. Some Disney, Jurassic Park and what not. But the other half was a about two dozen bootleg tapes and a bunch of little tapes to go with the old camera. In the box there was even an take that you were able to fit smaller tapes in to play them into the VCR and play them. I asked the seller how much for the box and they wanted $20. I haggled them down to $10 and with way more then my wife would be happy to have in our house I went home and snuck my bounty into my man cave.

After some searching I had three piles. First all the standard tapes. I already had most but there was a copy of Getting Even With Dad that I put proudly into the shelf. Then the mix videos or bootlegs. There were a few to go through but upon inspecting the first few they seemed to mostly be tapings of the news. Not my favourite but I will keep them for a rainy day. The third was a pile of old high 8 tapes. I put the first one into the player, someone's birthday. The second tape, a family vacation with dad commentary. I was getting bored but thought I'd look at one more tape before heading to to kitchen to see if the wife wanted any help with dinner. I looked at the pile of tapes and picked one that was in its own special box. I placed it into the player and pressed play. What I saw would change me.

The video started like most. A shaky out of focus mess until it reached its target. I didn't know what I was looking at, maybe a video from the zoo. Some cage or something. But by the time it focussed I knew what I was look at. It was a woman in a cage. She was naked but this wasn't some hot home movie. She was covered in cuts and bruises. She was screaming in pain as the cameraman remained silent. I didn't know what to do. Should I turn it off? Is this real? I felt my heart racing.

KNOCK KNOCK

My heart nearly jumps from my chest as the door opens and my wife enters. I panic, diving for the remote to turn off the tv.

"What were you watching?", my wife inquires.

"Nothing of interest Dear.", I answer back hoping she doesn't have any follow up questions.

She probably thought she walked in on me watching a porno. The truth is a lot worse. I join my wife in the kitchen. We prepare and eat dinner together. Chicken with vegetables. All I could think about was that tape. What was I watching? A snuff film? I had heard about them but never thought I'd actually see one. Was it a fake? Then why was it not on a video tape. Whatever this was it was home made.

After dinner my wife said she was going to go to bed and gave me a wink. If I played my cards right I could have probable for laid that night but I couldn't stop thinking about the tape. I needed to finish it. Did he kill her. I told her I would get to bed really soon but I needed to finish something in my man cave. She rolled her eyes and said something about reading a book. I followed her to the bedroom and watched as she went through the bathroom doors. As soon as she went through I was back to the man cave, back to the VCR.

I continued where I left off. The woman looked like she had been nearly beaten to death. Whoever the camera operator was he seemed to be enjoying watching her, zooming in and out to look at her bruises and cuts. A flash across the screen proclaimed that the tape was nearing the end. Damn was it over. I shouldn't but I hoped it would go further. I needed to know what happened to this woman. Then static.

The video was over and what replaced it was a black and white static that pierced my ears and made me dive for the remote to press stop. I sat for a moment collecting myself before talking the tape from the VCR. What had I just watched. Was it real? What happened to the woman. I examined the high 8 tape in my hand. There was a sticker label on it and written across it was 'Mary 4'. What did this mean. My question was answered when I looked further into the box and found several more tapes. There were six Mary tapes all together.

I don't know what to do. I guess I should call the police. But I don't want to. As I put tape 5 my morbid curiosity turns into a shameful excitement. I've found a secret. It's all mine. I don't know why but watching the carnage that ensued was everything I wanted. I never thought I'd enjoy watching snuff but I guess I've just discovered something about myself.

I begin to wonder what is on the earlier tapes as the unseen camera man throws knives at the woman to her dismay. The more she screams the more I smile. I haven't felt this alive in years.

My wife calls me and demands I come to bed. I can't let her catch me watching this and with a sigh I turn off the tape and hide the evidence.

As I entered the bedroom I was filled with an energy that I didn't know what to do with. I picked up my wife and we made love. The whole time I thought about Mary being tortured. I don't know why but I just couldn't stop.

As I lay next to my sleeping wife I think of those remaining tapes. What was on them? Who took them?Was it the dad from those home movies? How were they for sale?

I let my wife fall into a deep sleep. Soon I will sneak out and watch the rest of the tapes. God, I hope there are more......

This is not the end. This is the beginning.