Halloween Myers 'prepared' Taylor for Slipknot

Corey Taylor has recalled how the trailer for horror film Halloween “psychologically prepared” him for being in Slipknot.

The frontman saw the trailer for the movie when he was about five-years-old and says the imagery has stayed with him ever since.

Taylor tells Life And Times: “The thing I loved about it was that it didn’t need a lot. There was a natural tension there that kind of lent itself to this creepiness because it was a different type of movie.

“At that age I hadn’t really been exposed to anything like that. So I remember just being like, ‘Who is that dude in the white mask?’ I think maybe psychologically, that prepared me for being in Slipknot.

“You can have the craziest monster on the planet with all kinds of gore and fluids flying out of its face, and it’s not merely as striking or as frightening as Michael Myers just standing there quietly staring at you. I have just goose bumps thinking about it. It’s such a powerful evocative vibe that I think people have been chasing that tail ever since.”

Taylor’s horror obsession came full circle last year when he worked with Nightmare On Elm Street star Robert Englund on the set of Fear Clinic, in which Taylor stars as clinic worker Bauer.

He admits he was utterly starstruck to meet the man who played Freddy Krueger.

Taylor adds: “I was super stoked. I was excited to have the chance to do something that cool with someone like him. He’s such an interesting guy to talk to and he made it easy.

“We would be sitting next to each other in the makeup trailer, and he’d be telling me stories from hanging out with Guns N’ Roses in 1987 at the Rainbow Bar & Grill, and I’m just sitting there like a kid like, ‘Uh huh tell me more, tell me more.’

“So, I mean it was rad man. I always wanted to do a movie, and the fact that this was the movie that — even if it’s the only movie I ever get to do — is fantastic. I think if I do another movie, it might be pale in comparison.”

Slipknot’s latest album .5 The Gray Chapter topped the charts in the US and Canada on its release and the band have just wrapped up the UK leg of their Prepare For Hell tour with Korn and King 810.

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.