My first "encounter" with a horror movie was when my Dad told me about Friday the Thirteenth. He kindly recalled all the gory details of how the mother is decapitated at the end and vividly described the now famous "canoe-grab-em" sequence at the end. It was maybe a few months later that I actually got to watch it. And it fucked me up considerably I can tell you. The thing is, it's pure sex and violence and is the corner-stone of what movies like Scream are made of. If it, along with others, didn't exist, then Scream may never have been made.

Of course, as anyone who's seen the movie will know, it certainly keeps your attention. And it scares you. That's what horror flicks are all about. Despite it being pretty stupid, it's damn frightening. Scary movies have to grab you with both hands, slap you in the face and make you watch. But more than anything, terrifying you, and keeping you awake at night is their primary goal. I think Scream and Scream 2 did this just fine. Not to mention I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Horror movies are often classed by themselves. Tucked away in the video store and referred to as mindless nonsense. But what other type of movie can evoke such emotion in someone? Forget your tear- jerking, Oscar-winning, fancy-scmancy costume dramas. Horror movies are completely unappreciated for their role. A role they do well.

The first stories I ever wrote were horror stories. I took my inspiration from the 'Point Horror' series and write a trilogy of more violent stuff. I still have them now and look back on them from time to time. It's basically mindless violence but when they were first 'published' and passed around the classroom they were a hit. And that made me write more and more.

As time went on I strayed more into writing scripts. To put it bluntly I discovered that with scripts I could do the same job in half the time. No need for any of that 'feeling' stuff. Your characters just have to express more. Of course, I still read books for inspiration and to learn how to write. But I don't write only horror because it's hard to come up with something original and scary over and over. In a world where audiences want something different every time, it pains me to imagine what kind of thing will be on the screens 50 years from now.

Anyway, here's some stuff about me, in case you're interested. I was born in England, in a small town in the North called Barrow. You've probably never heard about it but contrary to popular belief, all English people don't come from London; a myth that was happily answered for me in an episode of Friends that aired over here just recently.

But because of my Dad's work, I moved with my mum and three brothers to the middle east: Saudi Arabia. As you can imagine, living there for three years was a shock to the system. Especially on returning home to a wet and cold climate! But then again, they say the most successful people have the weirdest lives, so fingers crossed!

I started writing when I was eleven and haven't stopped since. I'd like to think I'm good at it and have had some very kind words from Site Manager and general bad-assed chick, Jess. I'm studying Maths, English Language, Media Studies and Art at college and hopefully will go onto university (Side-Note from Jess: For all you American's out there, over in England 'college' is just like our high school and of course a university is their college even though college's and university's are the same thing here. You find these things out when you make friends with people a world away=) next year. Well, not hopefully. Hopefully my writing talent will be discovered before then and I won't have to go at all!

I still live in Barrow at 18 years old but I'm going on vacation to Florida this year to Sarasota I think. So if anyone lives there maybe I'll see you!

I don't really have any pet-peeves but I can't stand the 'feel' of velvet or cotton wool. Don't ask. I think it's in the genes. Just don't ever expect me to dab antiseptic onto a grazed knee with cotton wool because I won't do it, man!! I once saw this laser-surgery treatment thing on TV and I have to say that frightened me too. I'm also scared of spiders. And snakes.