Under The Influence - 9

Being an occasional series while the paint is drying, the glue is hardening or waiting for enthusiasm to come back, where i have a waffle on the things, films, books and whatnot that had a direct influence on me, getting me into this hobby or the whole SF/fantasy malarky. Picture the scene: Its about 1972, you're 10 years-old and you and a few of your friends have cottoned on to the fact that the paper mill down the road has deliveries of old magazines that are piled up outside, ready to be pulped. And that fence isn't that hard to climb over. And on Sundays there's no-one in there at all. Which is how come we ended up rifling through stacks of magazines, some like Womens Realm and such which held no appeal, some *ahem* "adult" one's, which we found strange and unsettling. But, what we were after were the likes of these - horror magazines, filled with info on past creature flicks. Don't think we actually read the text - it was the glorious B&W stills of monsters from films we didn't have a chance of seeing that held all the appeal, morbidly gross and fascinating at the same time. And the ads. Rubber masks and Aurora kits, things i longed for like you wouldn't believe. Very pleased to pick up this issue in my comic shop yesterday - the owner had bought a job lot of 60's and 70's comics and this gem was buried deep down and i got for only a quid!