IT'S THE BIG BAD....


School holidays mean more work. Not because I have school aged children that need to be entertained and amused (been there done that got the T-shirt ) but because in the library school holidays mean a lot more folks through the door. More children, more adults, more programs to run.

And it is nice to have something to do other than repeatedly telling children to 'please don't climb on that it's a bookcase, don't walk on chairs, get down from the table, that is a window climb down, pick up all the books you've just thrown onto the floor, inside voices, don't run in the library' etc etc (but that is so for another blog).

It's the programs we run. Lots of fun and we do go that extra mile....more involved activities, and if we can dress up we dress up. Or maybe that's just me?

Anyway last week I ran the 'it's the big bad...'

I wore a red cape, carried a basket of goodies (in this case books to read) and skipped through the library on my way to grandma's house. Gold stars for those who have guessed who I was - the kids thought it was great. We howled, we pawed at the ground, and made wolf masks to take home. 

Although as I was reading one story one little girl said 'this is sounding pretty scary'. I told her not to worry that I was reading a fairy story and that in all good fairy stories they 'all lived happily ever after'. 

Well the ones I read to the children do. We all know the origins of fairy tales, quite gory and scary indeed. 
I admit to reading horror. In fact I read a lot when younger...from the classics of Edgar Allen Poe, Shelley's 'Frankenstein' and Stoker's 'Dracula'...to Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell and Peter Straub. 

I have attempted a few short stories that leant towards horror, a bit gory and leaving the reader uneasy,  but have never thought to write a horror story as such. Don't know why really...just haven't been inspired. It is a definite art form in its own right. 

Some writers insist on adding as many axe wielding maniacs they can, a few heads spinning on bodies and characters repeating 'red rum'. Cliched to the max. Others will add their own spin, something that touches on the old but brings a whole new spine tingling, let's leave the light on please atmosphere.

But for me, I'll leave the horror writing for others. I'll stick to reading them. And hope there is no...


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