The Tapes
The police had told Joe not to touch anything in the storage unit until they had finished the case. However, he wanted to know what was on those VHS tapes. Therefore, he grabbed one from a plastic bag, inserted it into his VCR, and pushed play.
Horrible Scenes
He claimed that he saw something horrible that he couldn’t unsee. In fact, those VHS tapes gave him nightmares. He wished that they were fake and tried to convince himself they were, but he just wasn’t sure.