“Frankenstein?!” asked the cashier at Walmart this past weekend, holding up the DVD of I, Frankenstein I’d just purchased.

“And Dracula,” I said, pointing to the copy of Dracula Untold that was next on the checkout conveyor belt.

“Dracula…” He laughed. “What are you, a teenager?”

Huh. Well, considering I’m…well, pretty well past my teenaged years, the answer would be no—but on the other hand, is there such a thing as being too old for horror? I wouldn’t have thought so, or else you wouldn’t have people like George Romero, who was still creating zombie movies in his seventies until the day he died, or Guillermo del Toro, who won two Academy Awards this year—Best Director and Best Picture—for the human-loves-monster-fishman story The Shape of Water.

Outgrowing horror? Is that even a thing?

I mean, I can somewhat see the cashier’s point of view. Over the years I’ve talked to people who are surprised I still read comics, let alone write them, because they gave them up when they were young—they “outgrew” them. (They usually have two clichéd responses: “They still publish those things?” and “I used to read Archie comics—when I was a kid.”) The same thing with people who can’t imagine other adults still collecting toys. Funny they never find it strange to be a grown-up collecting sports memorabilia…

Anyway, the real reason I bought the two movies was because they were in the clearance bins in the back of the store: I, Frankenstein for $3.74, Dracula Untold for $5.00—low enough prices to get me to add them to my collection. True, neither of them was a blockbuster, but I, Frankenstein was created by actor Kevin Grevioux, who co-created the Underworld franchise starring Kate Beckinsale (he was also the right-hand man to Michael Sheen’s werewolf leader in the first entry), and Dracula Untold had been meant to function as Universal Studios’ revival of their monster-filled shared universe.

Okay, it’s true that Dracula Untold got tossed aside as the relaunch point in favor of Universal’s Mummy reboot starring Tom Cruise (which also tanked at the box office), as Dracula had tossed aside the Benicio del Toro–starring remake of The Wolfman that came out in 2010, and Wolfman had knocked over 2004’s franchise attempt, the Hugh Jackman vehicle Van Helsing. And although Aaron Eckhart’s a handsome guy and I liked his work in The Dark Knight and Battle: Los Angeles, I, Frankenstein simply lacks the visual attraction of a Kate Beckinsale in a latex catsuit. But they’re enjoyable-enough films and make for a good double feature.

There’s also the fact I grin like an idiot whenever I remember that the Spanish-language title for the Eckhart film is Yo, Frankenstein.

Still, I don’t think enjoying monster movies is any reason for somebody to look down their nose at horror buffs, or fans of anything, really. I mean, I proofread manga and Japanese light novels for a major publisher and they’re not my thing at all—but then I’m not the audience for it, I’m just the guy making sure the English translation is spelled correctly. Do I look down my nose at the otaku? No—but I sure do scratch my head sometimes over the storylines they’re reading…  😉

So…too old for horror? Never!