I've been collecting magazines & films since I was 16 so that's 24 years now.My first recollection of any horror film was a viewing of Hammers The Gorgon when I was very young at my grans house.I was then chilled by the 1980/1 premiere of The Omen on ITV which scared me to death as a 12/13 year old.After this while I was on holiday in Mabelthorpe I came across an amusement arcade selling copies of the HOUSE OF HAMMER magazine.Issue 11 happened to have a Brian Lewis cover of The Gorgon so I bought this issue for the princely cover price of 35p,as along with issue 12 it contained the comic adaption of the film.I also bought issue 1 which featured Dracula (1958) as the adaption.A year later I came across a Spar shop in Ingoldmells which had further issues & copies of Famous Monsters Of Filmland which I also bought.Then in 1984 my stepdad rented a Fergusson Videostar toploading VHS video & we first rented The Last Flight Of Noah's Ark & the uncut Guild precert of 10 To Midnight (Which I was not allowed to watch).Not too long after during the hysteria whipped up by the Press & MPs regarding 'Video nasties' I was able to pick up cheap ex-rentals from video stores clearing shelves of iffy titles.I picked up Evilspeak on the Videospace label for £3.00 & when Fox's Music & Video had a clear out I bought The Witch Who Came In From The Sea (VTC)Dead & Buried (Thorn EMI) & The Toolbox Murders (Heavily cut) among others.I can also remember my first blank tape I bought which was about £10.00 & I remember Alien being about the first film I ever recorded though it had been shown earlier in 1982 during the World Cup on ITV.I sold The Witch Who Came In From The Sea to my mate who owned a second hand shop.One of his friends asked who had sold it & this was how I met my mate 'Ollie' who introduced me to the tape underground where I was introduced to the uncut versions of Dawn Of The Dead,Weasels Rip My Flesh,Zombies 90 Extreme Pestilence (absolute shite) & Ilsa Keeper Of The Harem Of Oil Sheiks among others.Hell you youngsters have it easy now as you can pick stuff up at the click of a mouse !I miss the old days at it has took the fun out of collecting but I'm still a big horror fanatic
