How Sez Sees It

A love letter to horror Horror is just one genre I adore alongside fantasy and sci-fi, but horror has consistently been there in my life. Some of my earliest memories involve horror, or things with a horror theme. When I was born in the mid-1980's, and for a few years after, there were regular repeats of things like Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' video on TV. I also remember being shown the camp, kitsch and yet horror inspired Rocky Horror Picture Show when I was five years old. Back then I couldn't understand the story, but what I loved was the songs and the horror visuals. Even as a child I could appreciate the power of Tim Curry (Frank 'N' Furter) dressed in a dark cape with black eye shadow and dark red lipstick (like some incredible vampire figure). Like many Children I was introduced to the idea of hunting monsters through Scooby Doo. Not only did we have endless repeats of the original episodes, but we had our own new episodes with the edition of ...

So here is the first of my blogs on Hallowe'en. Tonight we start with the 'pagan' beliefs behind the day: Known in the Christianised sense as 'All Hallows Eve' or 'All Hallows Evening' as the day before 'All Souls', this day may have roots in the ancient, European, harvest festivals. "some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of  Pomona , the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the  festival of the dead  called  Parentalia , it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of  Samhain " - Historian Nicholas Rogers Samhain marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of darker days for Winter. It was believed that during Samhain, the doors to the 'Otherworld' would open and let in spirits of the dead. Not all of these were good and this may be where the lighting of a Jack O' Lantern or dressing up may come from as a way to ward of evil spirits. Of course there must have been some sort of C...