[FEATURE] ANTHONY STEVEN'S CHILDHOOD FEARS

6/9/2021

Watching this scene as a child made my heart leap from my chest into my throat as the camera panned through Lady Liberty’s crown and then her torch. This was huge and shocking to me on the big screen

CHILDHOOD FEARS

Being born in and growing up for part of my childhood in an old, gloomy Victorian house probably fuelled my early fears. There was a spooky attic; dark stairs, and mice scuttling around in the walls from time to time. No wonder I was frightened.
The first thing that I remember being actively scared of when I was a child was The Cybermen in Doctor Who. There was something eerie about the fact that they looked humanoid but were devoid of any humanity whatsoever, and I think that this disturbed me on some subconscious level.

There was also a couple of series on TV that creeped me out. Timeslip was one, and there was another series about a girl whose drawings manifested in dreams. The name of this

programme escapes me, now, but I remember that the girl drew a house surrounded by large rocks with eyes; and when this vision came true in a live-action nightmare, the rocks blinked one cyclopean eye open, much to my horror. I’m pretty sure that I yelped with fear and hid behind the sofa at that point.

I’ve talked about watching Hammer House of Horror movies, and of these, The Pit and The Pendulum and The Masque of The Red Death stand out as particularly terrifying for a young child. They were like fever-dreams in which everything was slightly off-kilter and evil lurked around every corner, waiting to pounce. They both gave me bad dreams.

Although TV and all the things exhibited on it were fascinating to me, going to the cinema, usually with my father and brothers, was always something to look forward to. I was twelve when Jaws came out, and this is still one of my favourite monster movies of all time. But the movie that gave me the biggest chill, and it does even to this day, came a few years earlier when dad took me to see a double feature of Planet of the Apes and Return to The Planet of the Apes.

At the end of the original, Charlton Heston rides off into the sunset with a mute female companion. Up to this point, he thinks that he’s on another planet, but when he finds the Statue of Liberty buried in the sand, he realises that he’s been home all along.

Watching this scene as a child made my heart leap from my chest into my throat as the camera panned through Lady Liberty’s crown and then her torch. This was huge and shocking to me on the big screen. I think now that it was the implication that all we know of our planet and civilization is fleeting, along with our mortality; that neither I or anything else, even iconic buildings and cities will last forever. At the time, though, I could not have explained these feelings; I just knew that the sight of that symbol of humanity buried and forgotten absolutely shook me to the core. It still does. Maybe that’s why I write horror-fiction. Maybe.

ANTHONY STEVEN

I mainly write horror and paranormal thrillers although I am probably the most squeamish of people when it comes to watching horror movies and normally watch the scary parts through my fingers. Why I write in this genre of fiction is therefore quite ironic, but I’ve always been attracted to horror and thrillers in all their forms, whether on print or large and small screen. I have early memories of secretly watching Appointment with Fear with my older brother on an old black-and-white portable TV on Monday night’s when we should have been asleep. The image of Christopher Lee crashing through French windows in the first Hammer Horror Dracula movie, with blood on his fangs chills me to this day!

Predictably, I am a huge fan of Stephen King, but also love writers such as Dean Koontz, Joe Hill, CJ Tudor and James Herbert. When I was a kid, I was fascinated and enthralled by Robert E Howard’s sword-and-sorcery tales of Conan the Barbarian and several other creations, and then by Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion series. These stories really fuelled my imagination and made me want to write my own stuff. When my older brother introduced me to Stephen King, I was soon lost in even darker worlds, and I haven’t wanted to come out of them ever since. My books are, therefore, quite disturbing, gory at times, but I try to also litter them with characters who, while flawed, display the finer human qualities such as bravery, loyalty, and above all love of other people above themselves. I hope that you think that I have succeeded in this.

In my normal life I work for a charity that supports blind and partially sighted people and I am also a qualified psychotherapist. This is all after spending twenty-five years in the private sector, where I wasn’t just unfulfilled, but also monumentally bored. Working with people directly to help them solve their own problems was definitely a better fit for me.

I live in Cheshire, England, with my wonderfully patient wife and our small dog, Bailey, who loves nothing better than cuddles, food, and waiting until I’m relaxed of an evening before she demands some attention.

WEBSITE LINKS

anthonystevenauthor.com
Twitter @GaryTwigg1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B099BCGT6Q

Birth-Rite
by Anthony Steven

Accept The Power or The World Will Burn

Nine-year-old David Ryan is in mortal danger He has a deadly secret that is unknown even to himself. But there is someone that does know: a relentless killer born of hatred, who draws upon dark powers to destroy God’s chosen ones.

As David grows into a troubled teenager, he has to confront the truth about himself to have any hope of stopping the malignant spread of evil that is engulfing his small town.

He must accept his birth-rite, or the whole world will burn.