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.