Even at this late date in the Netflix era, Seattle remains home—miraculously, wonderfully—to an amazing array of independent video stores. We've got Broadway Video and On 15th Video on Capitol Hill, Rain City Video in Ballard, Reckless Video in Maple Leaf, and the mighty Scarecrow Video in the University District. And on Saturday, October 19—the third annual International Independent Video Store Day—we're given an official opportunity to celebrate our good fortune.

At Scarecrow, they'll be hosting a day of sales and specials, peaking with an evening screening of the VHS-era horror clip compilation The VCR That Dripped Blood and the unveiling of a new rental section filled with titles selected by local filmmakers (and lifelong VHS connoisseurs) Megan Griffiths and Lacey Leavitt. But every video store in town deserves a visit. Go, stroll, gawk, and rent while you can. Sometime in the next two decades, some installation artist will make a splash with an amazing 3-D realization of the world's most amazing Netflix queue. People will be amazed. It will look exactly like a video store.