[Kieran]

My first touch with horror, that I can recall, is watching one of the Critters movies on TV with my family when I was four years old. Holy crap, it was scary back then but I suspect it turned me into a horror fan, particularly of the supernatural. I wasn't allowed to watch just any kind of horror films as a young child, but almost any vampire or werewolf movie was fine and totally on my must-see list any time such would air on TV. Also, Hitchcok's The Birds was one that I remember viewing at primary school age, as a couple of disturbing scenes from it were burned into my mind right down to this day. Like, of course I've seen it a few times since but the mental snapshots that I get any time the movie is mentioned are from that first view. Great movie, one of my favourites of the genre.

I remember wanting to watch Pet Semetary and A Nightmare on Elm Street around age 10 or earlier but wasn't allowed, of which I'm very glad these days. The latter is one of my all time favourite horror films but it was terrifying enough when I first watched it when I was 13-years old, and that was when I first widened my view of the horror genre into the slashers and so on. As for the Pet Semetary, I first saw it as a teen and I absolutely love the theme of how far a human being might go in their grief and that it was done through a story about a father losing his toddler child, his only son, in such a brutal way. That's what I appreciate the most about the story while the main character's descent into madness is brilliantly executed, especially in the book which I read two and a half times as a teen. (Because I couldn't take it anymore at the third time. Because Rachel's sister is too much for me, though moreso in the movie.)

As a child I also read a lot, book series such as The Little Vampire, and if R.L. Stine's Goosebumps book had been translated to my language back then in the '90s I definitely would've loved them.

I've never really given any thought to why I love horror stuff. I just do. There's just that something about the feeling called fear and its thrill, when you get it while you know you're safe. And especially about all the interesting, fascinating stories and mosnters that have been and can be created for the genre. I think me being passionately creative/artistic soul may have something to do with my horror love - deep emotions and creative ideas appeal to me.