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 ...

On being a fan and the number of times it has saved me You hear this a lot (or read it a lot) if you go online and scroll through your twitter or tumblr timeline. Someone will be talking about how a particular song, band, tv show or film saved their life. You might not understand this way of thinking and I am genuinely happy for you because it means you have had the stability in your life to just enjoy things without them taking on a greater meaning for you. However, I am one of those people and I am going to explain how being a fan of different things at different times saved my life...in some cases literally! How Lord of the Rings saved me The year was 2001 and on 28 December I (just turned 15 years old) went to the cinema with my family to see the first in a trilogy of films adapted from the J.R.R. Tolkein series, The Lord of the Rings. This first instalment was called The Fellowship of the Ring and tells the story of a band of different peoples (Dwarfs, Elves, Men and Hobbits...

First up I hear some of you asking what Yaoi even is. From the Japanese it roughly translates as 'boys love' and it is a genre particularly popular with women, which is why I chose to use it for this piece. Why is yaoi familiar? If you have spent any time on the internet you will be aware of this concept. Yaoi, or 'boys love', is particularly popular on micro-blogging sites like tumblr or pinterest where fans (usually female) create posts out of photos, gifs or imagined conversation text posts that put their two favourite male characters together. These posts range from the innocent flirting between two characters to romantic gestures to full-on hardcore sex! Now, I fully acknowledge that there is a section of fanfiction about imagining yourself with your favourite character, but this blog essay will concentrate on the overtly homosexual version of fanfiction. Another popular form is the aforementioned 'fanfiction' where two people or characters are throw...

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...