There has been a run of successful independent horror films which break the torture porn and slasher model. They are not creature features or monster romps. Instead, there is a dimension of neurotic therapy entwined into the story. It’s said, ‘write what you know.’ And, while it may be impossible to know what it’s like to fly the galaxy or, to ride a dragon. A writer does know the people in their lives and themselves, and often times, the protagonist is an inner self. Whether this is an inner child, or shadow self can depend on the type of characters we follow in the story. The horror of...

Men are killing, raping and beating women, still. The media is reporting on it, with eagerness. The subject is scary, there is a panic. With any panic, there is a need for scapegoats. The spread of blame widens, until eventually everything is toxic, needs to be censored or prohibited and monitored. Security, safety, at least the perception and theatre of such gives the dimension of action. The violence is not new. It’s ancient. It has many reasons but above all, it’s the responsibility of the individual for their own actions. It’s not because of porn, because where it’s absent the sexual...

While the anointed masters of modern morality discuss the layers of consent over recent revelations between ‘Jane Doe’ and the Cornell 7, or with all the vigour of Christian conservatives during the Satanic panic the outraged want to ban school girl uniforms from, porn, as costumes, strip shows, or outlaw porn itself. A school girl was decapitated on her way home from exams. The school bus she was in, was ripped by an explosion, her young life ended. A moment of gory snuff porn for the masters of war, and their enablers. Those who rationalise it’s legitimacy, or conjure up with academic...

“Why don’t you write something nice? That will make people smile, and be happy?” I am certain that many writers past and present who occupy the field I am in, are asked this question. Why write about the misery of the world? Why look into the injustices? And peer through the cracks, to see what is often intentionally unseen. Why ask questions of people who may perpetuate the violence? Or, to hear their victims whisper in dignified notes? Or, why would one kick over the stones of society, and scrape the muck of cultural conformity, to find niches and subcutaneous lives that thrive among the...

In my previously written pieces, The Promising Young Man Defence and Libertarianism should not be hostile to women's liberation, I covered examples of ‘important’ men and their ability to slide away from systemic and social punishment for their sexual and violent history against women and girls. Or, in some cases against boys. There is a precarious inhuman consistency where wealth, fame and hierarchical importance, can at times both label a man as a target for accusations and punishment for crimes, or, allow them a pass. A current lawsuit regarding the rape and abuse of a female student at...

Kay opened the door after a series of heavy knocks. It was getting late, her husband was away for work and she just assumed it was the next door neighbours. Two police men stood outside her door, behind them flashing lights and several other police officers carrying large black bags. The senior of the pair spoke in a stern tone, “I am sergeant Dibbles, we are here because child exploitation material has been detected on your devices and through your communications.” Kay was moved aside as the army of police officers entered her home. She was led to the kitchen where she was recorded and made...

One of the current trending intrigues asks how a mother, Lindsay Clancy, should be handled. She has admitted to the murder of her three children. Despite the usual cavalcade of conspiracy theorists and online detectives insisting she may be a patsy, or set up. The human and systemic need to find culpability fuels the torches towards blame targets. Is she responsible for her own actions? This has become one aspect of modern Western life. The disavowing of personal responsibility. We can no longer claim that demons or evil spirits are responsible, that inner voice is a mental health condition,...