When I was growing up, I lived in a large rural town with a small population. Consequently, there wasn’t a lot to do, and many of my friends were beyond walking distance. Sleepovers were the natural solution. Since my parents had a finished basement, they were often held at our house.

Typically before each sleepover, my (twin) sister and I would stalk the racks of movies at our local video store, looking for two or three movies that we would spend the night watching on a tv with faux wood paneling and knobs, sprawled over the basement floor. Limited to the options on the shelves, we only had the cover of each VHS tape and the brief description in the back to base our choices on. Most of the time we just hoped we picked something decent. The upside to these stores was the copies that you brought to the cashier to rent were in generic blank cases, so my parents didn’t always notice some of the darker movies we chose.

One of those movies was The Crow, which had a huge influence on my developing style and tastes. I loved the dark tone and music. It wasn’t until much later that I would learn the movie was based on a graphic novel, and one of the prominent songs featured in the movie, Dead Souls, was covered by Nine Inch Nails, and originally performed by Joy Division in 1979. Nine Inch Nails doesn’t deviate too much from the original, but updates it and gives it the edgier sound needed to match Eric Draven’s dangerous run over the rooftops of Detroit. 

They may seem as dated as as the video store I used to frequent to kids now, but the song and movie are still favorites of mine.