First and Foremost...

Well, there you go. I decided to start a horror blog. For those of you who already know me, you probably know at least two things about me:

1) I have loved horror movies for just about my entire life 2) I’m the guy who runs Orange Ulster Horror Club (See 1)

For those who don’t know me, allow me to expand on those briefly.

My obsession with horror movies started at a very early age. Not sure exactly when, but I was around 7 and it was thanks to two very iconic horror movies: The Exorcist and Jaws.

I was first introduced to the Exorcist while I was in a cheap motel with my parents in Sunbury, PA where we were staying while visiting relatives in nearby Shamokin, PA. There are four things I remember about the motel in Sunbury.

There was a pool - My dad always insisted on getting the cheapest place possible that had a pool when we would go to visit relatives in PA so he could relax in it afterwards.

There was a Donkey Kong 3 arcade machine - This was particularly interesting to me, as I had recently discovered video games and had gotten into them wholeheartedly the year before when I had gotten a Nintendo Entertainment System for my birthday – my other childhood love that was on par with my soon to develop horror fixation. I wanted to play that fucker so badly, and I’m still pissed my dad wouldn’t let me…

There was a coloring book – This is even more trivial than the last two things, but my mom and I would color together in motel rooms when we stayed in them. This time I believe we colored a fruit basket. Don’t judge me, I was 7 and it was relaxing… which made the segue into the last thing I remember about the trip even more unsettling to me.

I got the living bejesus scared out of me by the Exorcist – Like stool releasing, epileptic lip quivering, “I didn’t know they made shit that scary because I’m 7 and don’t have a great frame of reference” bejesus scared right out.

We were in the motel room and my dad was flipping through channels on a small tube TV that was on the dresser when he came across The Exorcist right at the scene where Regan vomits what looks like pea soup all over the place. I was preoccupied with something else (probably coloring), and he thought it would be HILARIOUS to get my attention and show this to me.

I did not find it as funny.

I ran into the bathroom crying and screaming, locked the door, and refused to come out. I guess I didn’t get it, because my dad laughed his ass off. My mom then got pissed at him, and shortly after they were both apologizing to me, telling me everything was okay, that they turned it off, and that I should come out. Soon afterwards I did, they hugged me, and everything was fine.

Well then. That was a lot of rapid-fire emotions in small time frame for a 7 year old and I didn’t know it at the time, but that experience triggered something in me and would stick with me long afterwards and become a

starting point for my journey into the horror genre…

Shortly after the Exorcist ordeal I had my first run-in with Jaws.

It was a couple months later on a summer day and I was in my parents’ living room in the middle of the day watching TV when I stumbled upon the scene in Jaws towards the end where the shark jumps up onto the sinking Orca and eats Quint (which was cut slightly for TV).

This time I wasn’t terrified in the way I was with Regan’s satanic spewings as much as I was fascinated and glued to the screen. The emotions this left me with were different and the dread was more lingering than abrupt. Soon after I would be scared that the shark from Jaws was going to get me, and in weird places too. I had nightmares about it and would wake up scared in my bed.

Lakes, and pools? Not safe there. I’d go in, but I would be very scared.

Even the kiddie pool on our deck in the middle of Sugar Loaf, New York gave me chills and made me nervous.

FUCK the ocean – just no.

I would even be afraid in the shower and had fantasies that the shark’s eye would appear in the drain and then he would smash through the tile floor of the shower and consume me in pieces… Because sharks live in 3.5” width drainage pipes… again, still 7, don’t be a dick.

So within a few months in some really formative years I ran into two movies (that just happened to be two of the best horror movies ever – I got lucky on that one) that gave me two strong emotional bookends of the horror movie induced feelings: Quick shock/creep-out prompting imagery on one end, and long-staying, terror-inducing, situational fright on the other. I also learned that these movies gave me strong emotions and a sense of wonder and imagination, but at the end of the day I was unharmed; even if I was scared. I was sold.

From here I got my hands on everything horror that I could find. It shaped my childhood. Books, toys, games, and most importantly – movies.

About 2 and ½ years back I took my love of horror and started Orange Ulster Horror Club, a horror movie lover’s club based out of Orange and Ulster counties in New York as well as surrounding areas

www.facebook.com/OrangeUlsterHorrorClub. The main focus of the club is to unite horror fans around the area and provide horror movie related events that allow them to physically get together and share their passion. We have movie showings, trivia nights, filming site location visits, specific horror themed events, sharing and selling of horror products, and other such related horror awesomeness.

So now I’m starting a horror blog. With it I’ll cover a mashup of different horror topics ranging from, but not limited to:

- My personal history with horror - Different feelings I have about the horror genre and community - Orange Ulster Horror Club - Movie and event reviews - Upcoming movies and events - Horror-related trips - Horror related food and drinks - Horror in other formats (games, books, magazines, toys, etc.) - Anything else I damn well please. (I’ll try to connect these to horror though too)

Expect to see more on some topics than others, and don’t be surprised if they shift wind suddenly now and again. Feel free to comment and converse on anything I write. I look forward to sharing my ramblings with you!