News : Daughter of Darkness (My firstborn arrives!)

Hi everyone.

Life has been moving pretty fast recently, and sadly, Ive been neglecting my little corner of the Internet. Trust me though, there is good reason....

As of 2am, 'British Time', on the 27th of September, a future fan of all things Horror entered this world. A perfect little person to whom my whole heart belongs and to whom all my childhood and adult experiences within our genre will be relived and revered anew.


Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Raina Gabrielle Scott....

Yes, I've finally become a father! After a long and arduous labour and many sleepless nights, little Raina entered our world with a serenity usually preserved for Buddha, and has, in the hours since, changed the lives of her mother and I in ways I never knew possible.

Of all the many dreams of the future that fill my thoughts at the moment, some of the most beautiful are those of Raina and I experiencing the old classics together. For me, to give my daughter the chance to fall in love with the genre as I did, will be among my finest moments with her. Not just Horror, of course, but all cinema. Who can forget siting between their loved ones and seeing THE WIZARD OF OZ for the first time? Who can forget their first, frightening viewing of POLTERGEIST, or the first time they learned that FRANKENSTEIN'S monster is just misunderstood, and deserves our love? My article, 'Family Friendly Horror', will now be getting put to good use, it seems. Much to the chagrin of my long suffering partner and mother of my child, Angie. (Sorry honey!).

I think for genre fans, these moments and many more are among the things that shape who we become as adults. They become comfort to us. They transport us back to simpler, happier times when mum and dad towered above us, and were our whole world. And now, I get to be the daddy, and bring all the magic I can into my daughters world. I feel very honored to be where I'm at, and the future looks wonderful.

For my parents generation, Cinema and literature didn't seem to be held in as high regard as they are among 80's kids such as myself, (although that may just have been my family household, I often had to watch my Horror under covert circumstances), and the upcoming generation of genre lovers. For my age group, cinema, (and literature), was a rights of passage and a source of constant inspiration and escapism. I hope to give my daughter the chance to experience the same things I did. How she interprets them will be up to her, of course, but I'll be damned if I'm not gonna have a lot of fun trying. And after all, she has my genes, how can she not geek out for Horror!?

Anyway, I just wanted to share this with you guys. Some of you I know personally, and I thank you for all your support and love. And to my readers and fellow bloggers, thank you for your time and companionship. Your all brilliant.

I'll be back tomorrow and over the weekend with new reviews and more, including RED, WHITE AND BLUE, DROWNED SORROW and RED STATE. But first, I gotta catch some sleep, and dream of watching CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON for the first time, with the person I love most in all the world.

I'll BE RIGHT BAAAACK.......