Where It Sleeps: Vinegar Syndrome

Welcome to WSB’s Sleepers Series, where we shine a light on what lingers beneath the surface of the horror community. This series explores Those Who Sleep (people), Where It Sleeps (places), and What Was Buried (things and other remnants)—the creators, locations, and objects that have quietly but powerfully influenced horror’s past, present, and future.

Where It Sleeps: Vinegar Syndrome

Image courtesy the Vinegar Syndrome Pittsburgh Instagram page

For a combination of emotional, psychological, and practical reasons, many people continue to prefer physical copies of books, records, and films. As tablets and streaming services became the norm—and home-video rental stores quietly disappeared—owning physical media may have seemed like a fading habit. Instead, it’s experiencing a clear resurgence. Film lovers, in particular, have grown increasingly aware of the drawbacks of modern streaming: inconsistent video and audio quality, intrusive commercial interruptions, and an overall erosion of the viewing experience. These shortcomings become especially apparent when compared to seeing a film in theaters or watching it at home on Blu-ray or 4K formats.

I think Ande Thomas might have described what we are looking for in film best, in his House of the Devil article: “Most of the time, we’re looking for the biggest screen; the clearest picture; the most immersive sound possible to bathe ourselves in the world of the film. There are other times, though, where we aren’t chasing that escape into another world or story; rather, what we’re after is the actual feeling of watching a movie.”

Offering a new place to chase that feeling, in late October, Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood welcomed its own Vinegar Syndrome retail location. While its namesake describes the chemical reaction that deteriorates motion picture film over time, the Connecticut-based company works to race against just that. Founded by Ryan Emerson and Joe Rubin in 2012, Vinegar Syndrome dedicates itself to high-quality digital film restoration, working with several archives and institutions, and also operates as a distribution company. 

Thanks to its efforts alongside in-house partner OCN Digital Labs, its catalog exceeds hundreds of feature films, with the majority produced in the 1960s and 1980s. Vinegar Syndrome also focuses on the restoration and distribution of long-neglected genres and underground films, which, in their words, “would otherwise deteriorate beyond the point of saving.”

What Sleeps Beneath and Image 987 Productions were fortunate to work with Vinegar Syndrome last year, as they were an official film sponsor of the 2025 Double Feature: Trailer Bash/Raging Pages Film Festival and Thriller Picture Show. Both Pittsburgh Moving Picture Festival events operate to celebrate film and screenplay writing, uniting directors and writers from around the world to showcase ingenuity, achievement, and creativity within the horror, thriller, and sci-fi genres. Looking back on the packed event at Mr. Smalls Funhouse, there was clear excitement brewing around the recent announcement of Vinegar Syndrome opening a location in Pittsburgh, with attendees flocking to the vendor’s merch table.

When visiting the newest of Vinegar Syndrome’s four locations (others including Bridgeport, Denver, Toronto, and coming soon to Minneapolis), the Pittsburgh video store located on 1410 East Carson Street features walls of films from major studios, boutique labels like Severin and Criterion, hundreds of titles from Vinegar Syndrome’s own catalog, and a selection of used film copies—in addition to a collection of vinyl records, books, horror swag, and other Smiling Moose-rescued memorabilia. Open Wednesday through Sunday, 12 to 7 PM, Vinegar Syndrome is active on Instagram, posting regularly about restocks and new releases. 

For readers not located in Pittsburgh or near other brick-and-mortar stores, be sure to support Vinegar Syndrome on their website, which offers films from a long list of partner labels, over a dozen genres, VS press materials, and merchandise spanning cases, clothing, pins, posters, and more. To really get involved, be sure to join Vinegar Syndrome’s Media Club, which offers points and exclusive rewards every time you shop.

---

Article written by Destiny King

Destiny writes about true crime and thrillers. She likes movies and stories that make you question the world around you, more so than what makes you jump.

Other Articles You May Enjoy…