Sunday 21 October 2018

Black Sunday

Recently, I have treated myself to a number of Arrow Video classic horror flicks on blu ray. I watched the magnificent 'Black Sunday' yesterday, a monochrome gothic classic that looks absolutely beautiful, and still remains genuinely disturbing to this day.

Barbara Steele really was the ultimate scream queen; she was absolutely mesmerising as the vengeful undead witch, and the innocent Katya.

Thoroughly inspiring stuff!

Thursday 18 October 2018

Finding my voice

It's proving even harder than I thought, but I think I'm starting to find my voice again. This story will require heavy editing, but to get to the point where I've atually finished a story, regardless of how good it may or may not be, would mean so much to me.

Onwards and upwards.

Has anyone been reading these posts? I don't suppose they have, but it helps me to write down my thoughts.

Tuesday 16 October 2018

One step at a time

Well, I'm back on the horse again.

I have to say that writing fiction after a few years of almost total inactivity is proving harder than I expected. The words come slowly, the ideas are starting to come, but they're not bursting onto the page in the way they were when I was becoming prolific.

I guess exercising the mind in a creative fashion is much like physical exercise in the sense that it takes time to build up. Just try blasting out a set of press ups after not doing them for a few years. At first, you'll only be able to do a few, they'll be hard, and you'll ache afterwards. But keep at it, and you'll get stronger and faster. It will, I hope, work that way with my writing.

I've planned out the first story of my comeback (see my recent posts), and have begun, tentatively, to write it. It's daunting, but exciting. I'm going to finish this story by Halloween. Whether it turns out to be any good remains to be seen, but finishing a short story after everything I have had to contend with. When it's finished more will come. Lots more.

Thursday 4 October 2018

Ain't got no time for your video nasty/catch, catch the horror train...

....freeze frame gonna drive you insane!

Growing up in the 80s, I was a child when the video nasty scandal shook Britain. I was told by some of my elders, and to a greater extent the media, that on no account was I to watch any of the ghastly horror flicks that were circulating at the time.

Trash! Filth! Sick! Satanists! Destroyers of public morality!

Of course, like any child, the whole ridiculous uproar just made me want to watch them all the more. They fascinated me, and the more illicit they became, the more I wanted to acquire them.

I always remember going to a video rental store with my parents, where I was permitted to rent a couple of movies most friday nights. Mostly PG rated films, or if I was very lucky 15 certificates. But in a seperate enclave, with a handwritten sign above the doorway reading 'Over 18s only', there was the horror section. I would glance furtively through that doorway, scared but unable to help myself. The names of the movies, the terrifying cover artwork, the sense of the forbidden. It's something I'll never forget.

The store was called Rolph's.

And all these years later, it has inspired my to base a short story there. It's been a long time since I wrote anything, and it has taken a great deal of courage to do this. I have been extremely unwell for a long time and unable to write. But I'm back and feeling better than I have for a good few years.

I hope you will like my story when it's finished, and that you too will feel a little of the illicit chill I experienced all those years ago.

Saturday 29 September 2018

Veteran of 1000 Psychic Wars

I've been away a long time.

I've walked through fire.

I've stared into the abyss.

I've lived enshrouded by a fog of woe and lamentation; bereft of hope, robbed of belief and inspiration.

But I'm fucking back.