In a darkened Los Angeles exercise studio, I slash at the air with a pink plastic chainsaw to the pulsing 1980s synths of Michael Sembello’s Maniac.
In front of me and the six other panting participants is a mirror positioned to reflect the main event unfolding behind us: a giant screen playing clips from famous horror movies.
We run on the spot as Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th films hacks at a hapless camper, do jumping jacks while Freddy Krueger of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise mauls a teenager, and throw punches during the transformation scene from An American Werewolf in London.
Welcome to Slashercise, an hour-long, horror-themed fitness class offering a bracing alternative to more conventional workouts, in a region obsessed with exercise.
Held at the Killer Fitness studio on Burbank’s “horror row”, a two-block stretch of horror-themed small businesses, the class launched in May and is proving wildly popular.
“We love horror, and everyone that’s coming in loves horror or the Eighties aesthetic,” Kay Thomsen, one of the three co-owners, said. “They’re finding a fun way to work out and we’re finding that we are building a community.”
Slashercise started last year as a micro-budget movie directed by Ama Lea and starring Vanessa Decker, Thomsen’s co-owners.
The film featured a serial killer called Meat Head — with a chunk of raw beef for a head — who preyed upon Los Angeles gym instructors.
Meat Head looms in the form of a cardboard cutout
JUSTIN L STEWART FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
It was always intended as a fusion of a movie and a home fitness video, interspersing horror scenes with workouts. But after the premiere of Slashercise, fans wanted to experience the combination of adrenaline-pumping horror movies and 1980s aerobics videos inspired by Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons with other enthusiasts.
The class, with neon lights, synth music and fog machines, was born. Participants are given plastic chainsaws and knives during the workout, while the frightening array of monsters and villains projected onto the screen induce the terror of being chased.
The class is far more challenging than it appears. I am not unfit. In January I completed a marathon, and while training for another later this year I am running about 20 miles a week. Yet here I am, lying on a mat, sweating and panting, as women in their fifties and sixties outdo me in bicycle kicks.
Just as humbling is my lack of co-ordination. The other participants can follow the dance moves with ease, while I look like a zombie encountering music for the first time.
Despite the burning thigh muscles and aching shoulders, the hour zooms by. Decker, the instructor, jokes between sets and never grows frustrated with those of us struggling with basic choreography.
The classes are inspired by classic slasher films
JUSTIN L STEWART FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
Slashercise was designed to be inclusive, Thomsen said. “We wanted to make sure that every single human body feels welcome in this space. So you can come in no matter what your fitness level, no matter who you are, even if you’re not really a crazy horror fan and you just want a fun workout, come on in.”
Our class is proof that Slashercise is a broad church. There are women in their twenties and thirties whose expensive athleisure gear would not be out of place at a West Hollywood yoga hall. There is a film historian in her sixties specialising in scary movies, a guide who leads walking tours of Hollywood Forever cemetery and a baker who makes horror-themed desserts.
Annabel de Vetten, 54, is the gothic cakes expert. Originally from Frankfurt, she went on to study and work in Britain for 30 years and now lives around the corner from Killer Fitness, where she joined a class for the first time on Thursday.
“It was really enjoyable — relaxed and a cool atmosphere,” she said. “The whole theme was fun. It’s the least gym-like environment I’ve ever seen.”
De Vetten was pleased that the class was not visible from the street, unlike some Pilates classes in Los Angeles where participants stretch in full view of passers-by.
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“I wouldn’t go to a gym. I have access to a free one, but I never go,” she said. “It’s better that it’s in the back and not one of those Pilates studios that you can see. We don’t want to be judged. Just making the effort is a huge thing already, and to have fun doing something you hate is pretty darn good.”
De Vetten attended the class with two friends, and quickly got to know the woman next to her. They have made a group text called “the Slasherettes” and plan to go to more sessions. “It’s a great way of building a community. I’ve already recommended it to everyone,” de Vetten said.
Killer Fitness is exploiting the enduring popularity of the horror movie as the genre thrives at the Hollywood box office.
“A lot of people talk about Eighties horror as the definitive era when it became more mainstream,” Thomsen said. “It was when Freddy and Jason arrived, these classic slashers that brought horror into everyone’s homes. Before then it was a little more niche.
“And aerobics was huge in the Eighties. So it all ties together for us to have this gorgeous, neon hellscape/dreamscape that brings in the Eighties aesthetic, while allowing people to relive moments and feel like they’re part of their favourite slashers.”
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Burbank’s “horror row” is a favourite haunt of scary movie fans. Around the corner from Killer Fitness is the Vulture Culture Oddities shop. The Mystic Museum of camp horror artefacts is a few minutes away, near Lucifer’s Pizza.
Killer Fitness took over its premises from Dark Delicacies, a gothic bookstore and local institution.
Thomsen, Decker and Lea are continually adding new exercise classes, including Flexorcism: Pilates Fusion and a kickboxing session called Fight Like a Final Girl. The gym also hosts film screenings and Q&As.
After my class finished, I walked gingerly past the frosted glass wall that partitions the dance hall from the gift shop. The walls are filled with horror movie posters and memorabilia, though my mind was on my aching legs.
I limped into the harsh midday sun, blinking. It occurred to me that if I had been pounced upon by Freddy or Jason, it is unlikely I would have had any energy left to run away.