Red

Everything was red. 

From the satin sheets to her crimson lips.  Red.  From the roses on the nightstand to her small heart tattoo on her hip.  Red.

He stood up, fixing his tie as she lay on the bed.  Her hand lost in a sea of red satin.  Her skin is ivory and her eyes are like two emeralds glistening with delight.

She rolls back feeling the soft satin on her naked flesh.  He turns to look at her.  Her blond hair caressing her shoulders, her eyes fixated on him.  She bites her lip, her white teeth standing out against her red lips.

He leans down for a taste.  She smells of strawberries and greedily nibbles at his mouth, sucking his lip into hers, while her hands fumble with his belt.  She liked him so much better when he was naked.

She released his lip as her hands yank down his fly.  His black and red briefs are no match for her exploitative hands. 

He glances down as his cock springs to life.  The simple touch of her hand topped with her blood red nails, is enough to have him hard.  He had spent all night making love to her.  He was convinced he had nothing left but one simple touch from her and he was raring to go. 

He watched as she replaced her hand with her mouth.  Her lipstick smeared slightly, leaving a scarlet trace on his quivering member as she teased him to the best of her abilities.  He closed his eyes briefly, swallowing hard as she quickened her rhythm.  Her tongue traced back and forth over the head of his cock, all the while, her eyes watching his reaction.

Breathing hard, he opened his eyes.  A painting of a tragic clown stared back at him.  He always hated that painting but some how, in a room full of red, it worked. 

He informs her that he can't hold it anymore.  She doesn't let up.  The combination of her ruby lips, her skilled tongue and her hand squeezing his balls sends him over the edge. 

Moaning in approval, she swallows his load, her eyes still locked on him. 

He drops to his hunches, tracing a finger over the red heart on her hip.  "You drain me," he tells her.  She arches her eyebrow teasingly.  "I've been told I could suck the Nile dry," she said seductively.

She stands, tossing the sheet aside so he can see all her naked glory.  Her body is a temple and he is the monk willing to worship it. 

With air and grace, she crosses the room, her blond hair scaling down her back in loose golden curls.  He reaches out a hand, his fingers lightly touching it.  Soft as silk.  He watches in awe as she returns with a bowl of strawberries. 

Standing before him, naked as the day she was born, she holds up a strawberry.  Placing it to her lips, the tip of her tongue flickers out of her mouth, tasting it.  He groans, remembering her tongue doing that to him.

The red juice drips down her chin.  He sticks his tongue out, licking it, tracing her lips with just the very tip.  He kisses her with such force that she loses her footing and collapsing on the bed.

He parts her legs with his knee, hunger dancing in his eyes as he nips at the tender flesh of her neck, leaving red marks along her ivory skin.

She giggles, turning her head so he can have better access to her body.  She thrusts her breasts up towards him and he obliges, biting her sensitive nipples.  She pants and raises her legs allowing him access to her center of desire.

He thrusts inside her.  Forget the love making.  Now it was all animal instincts.  She claws at his back, leaving red welts along his skin as he teases her body, taunting her until she is begging for release.

He licks his thumb and, in slow circles, moves it along her clitoris, sending chills down her spine. 

As the power of her orgasm takes over, she kicks her leg, sending the fire red bowl filled with strawberries crashing to the ground.  The sound of the bowl breaking is just added to the symphony of their afternoon of passion.

He stands, readjusting his tie.  His eyes met hers through the mirror.  Her hands hold the red satin sheet against her body, her face is flushed as she bites her crimson lip.  Her eyes beckon him to join her but alas they must part.

As he leaves the room and enters the elevator he smiles.  Red.  The colour of the hotel hallway.  Red.  The colour of the elevators interior. 

He holds his jacket.  The scent of her perfume lingers.  His smiles broadens as the doors open.  He will see her again tonight. 

As he steps into the lobby he reminds himself to pick up a bottle of her perfume.  What was the name of it again? he wonders.  He chuckles to himself as he walks out the door and onto the busy street as the name lingers in his mind.  That's right.  Red. 

A Writers Curse

My mind is blank.
I stare at the screen
The blinking cursor stares back at me.

Why can't I think of anything?
Why is this so hard?
I know the direction I want to take
But it's hard finding the right words.

I guess maybe I was kidding myself
Thinking I could write well.
As I stare at the blank screen before me
The realization hits home
That maybe this isn't what I'm suppose to do.

So many good ideas
So little time
So little patience to type what I need to.

The cursor taunts me.
Teases me
Calling me out and
Challenging me to begin typing.

And so I do.
At first the words don't make sense
But then again neither does the world.
Then it begins to flow
And low and behold a story is born.

From the depths of my mind
Through the tips of my fingers
The writer's block has lifted.

Do Horror Movies Cause Real Life Violence?

This seems to be an age old debate. Horror movies verses real life violence. But are scary and violent movies to blame for the on going murders and crime in the real world?

The horror genre for years has been a scapegoat for parents who want to protect their children from all the nastiness the world has to offer. How many times have you heard a parent say “Oh no, my son/daughter won't be seeing that film. It's too violent. I don't want them growing up like that.” Like what? Chances are with the world the way it is, your child will see more violence and death on the news.

Truth is, yes some movies are too violent for young audiences, but by banning it from their lives entirely, you're just giving them a reason to seek it out and to see it. And speaking as a former teen rebel, if a child wants to see a slasher film that you deem too inappropriate, they will find a way to see it.

Let me embarrass myself for a moment. When I was five years old I saw a scene from Hellraiser that gave me nightmares for weeks. Fast forward seven years and at the ripe old age of twelve I begged my mum to let me watch I Know What You Did Last Summer. Now, I know what you're thinking. I Know What You Did Last Summer is lame. It's a bad movie. But in 1998, I couldn't have cared less. It starred Sarah Michelle Gellar whom I loved in Buffy. Ryan Phillippe who was the hottest thing on two legs. Jennifer Love Hewitt who was a darling on Party Of Five (although I would have liked her more if she didn't toy with Scott Wolf's heart) and Freddie Prinze Jr. who was just yummy.

October 31st 1998, my friend and I sat down to watch this movie. We got three-quarters of the way through it before we turned it off. That night, I saw the Fisherman in my dreams and woke up screaming. The next morning, I got up, went into the shower only to see the tree outside the bathroom window resembling the outline of the Fisherman. (Sad Fact: To this day I still cannot watch this movie at night. The Fisherman did a real number on my psyche) 

OK, once you're done laughing at my lameness, I promise that I have a point. My point is, I have been watching horror movies almost religiously since 1998. Does that mean I'm more susceptible to go out and commit a murder? 

I don't think so.

The way I see it, horror movies are an escape. It's the reason they are so popular. Without leaving the comfort of your living room (or local cinema) you can enjoying watching some mad man rip apart a bunch of teens without any remorse and you don't have to feel guilty about enjoying it.

While watching the horror movie, our fear level is raised, our sense of revulsion of the demonic, at the same time a fascination with the idea that it somehow might have a basis in reality, we can contemplate and absorb, all from the comfort and safety of a movie theatre chair with soda and popcorn, where we put ourselves in dire danger, and walk away feeling as if we accomplished something brave and daring.

To quote Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) from Scream: “Don't you blame the movies. Movies don't create psychos. Movies make psychos more creative.” This statement I deem to be true.

Now, I won't deny that in the past there have been killings that have been heavily influenced by motion pictures however, in saying that, the movies are not to blame. The person who has committed the crime was disturbed long before the movie influenced them. If anything, the movie gave them a new creative edge. (It also gave them a reason for insanity when they faced the judge in court as well as giving me a reason to debate such a topic)

Horror movies reflect the culture that we live in. 

In 2007 Halloween director John Carpenter went into bat for the horror genre, by saying that they don't cause real life violence. If anything, movies are influenced by real life violence. “Real life causes this, fake life does not cause it,” Carpenter said at the Tribeca Film Festival. “The reason for a lot of these movies is the culture that we live in, the events that have gone on in our world. Censorship never works, you cannot destroy an idea. You can hide, you can try to cover it up, but you can't destroy it, it will be there and it will bubble up again.”

Now apparently in that same year the FCC produced a report with findings that indicated a child is more likely to be violent themselves if they are exposed to violent media. OK, I accept those findings, but how can you censor the media?

With the internet and television being predominate parts of our lives, children are susceptible to over fifty-hours of media coverage a week. And let me tell you that 99.9% of that coverage isn't about hugs and puppies.

So why do horror films get the raw deal? Why are they the first ones to be blamed for all that's happening? Because it's easy. Horror movies play on the most vibrant of our emotions: Fear. 

Let's take a quick look at something Australian for a second. Wolf Creek. Loosely based on the Ivan Milat backpacker murders that struck fear into the hearts of Australians from 1989-1993. In 2001 (four years before Wolf Creek hit cinemas) a British backpacker by the name of Peter Falconio disappeared from the middle of the outback in the Northern Territory. His girlfriend at the time, Joanne Lees, claimed that Peter was murdered. For the next four years, her story of survival was displayed everywhere. 

When Wolf Creek hit cinemas in 2005, many people thought it was in bad taste considering what had happened just four years before but despite the protests, Wolf Creek did extraordinary well. (Fun Fact: Out of the respect for the ongoing trial of Bradley John Murdoch - the man accused of killing Peter Falconio - Wolf Creek wasn't shown in any cinema in the Northern Territory) Wolf Creek is a perfect example of art imitating life.

Scary movies have such broad appeal because the theme of nightmares, the psychological thrillers and terror, raise the dopamine level of our mind, it focuses or rivets our attention and captures our, albeit, base instinct, and forces us to undivided attention.

Saying that children watching horror movies is going to equal violence is like saying that watching porn will turn your child into a sex offender. Sounds ridiculous now, doesn't it?

Truth is, if you want to protect what your children watch, then there is a simple, no fuss way to do so. Movies have classifications for a reason. If you have a ten year old begging to see something that's rated R, don't tell them no. Tell them they can see it in a few years, then opt for something scary that's projected at their age bracket. (Fun Fact: Disney actually introduced horror movies to children. One of his first flicks was a horror-spoof of dancing skeletons, 1929 The Skeleton Dance, a Silly Symphonies animated short, voted one of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time, by the animation industry, in 1994)

So to some up, until mankind is peaceful enough not to have violence on the news, there's no point in taking it out of shows and movies that need it for entertainment value. That's all that it is in the end. Entertainment.

Lover's Point

Riley's eyes opened slowly. The streaming daylight entered the car window, beaming down on her face. She groaned, turning her head away, not wanting to wake up. 

Daylight?

Riley did a double take. Sure enough, it was day. She had spent the whole night in the car atop the cliffs overlooking Dawson's Beach.

Where was Sam? Riley checked the back seat. No sign of him.

Glancing out the window Riley couldn't see anyone. The sun peaked just above the clouds casting it's light over the normally sinister woods.

With a shaking hand, Riley unlocked the door...

She and Sam had been dating for a few months. Sam was getting impatient about having to wait. He was also getting frustrated because Riley continued to tease him almost to the point of breaking.

So this one particular day, Sam had invited Riley to dinner, then a movie of his choice. Of course he chose the latest horror movie, telling himself that horror movies made great foreplay. She would get scared, then snuggle in closer for 'protection' which allowed Sam to cop a feel of her taut body. Unfortunately, Sam didn't realise that Riley loved horror movies and literally sat on the edge of her chair from the opening sequence to the end of the credits.

Feeling more frustrated than usual, Sam offered to drive Riley home. Riley agreed so Sam led her back to his car. They drove in silence, the only noise was the soft music coming from the radio. Sam's eyes drifted over to Riley, admiring her body and lingering a little too long on her breasts. 

“Look out!”

Sam turned his attention back to the road and gasped. 

A dog had run into the middle of the road. 

Sam gripped the steering wheel, veering hard to the left. The car followed, mounting the curb and sliding around the dog. The tires squealed and the smell of burnt rubber filled the air. Riley's nails dug into the dashboard as the car went into a spin.

Once the car had come to a complete stop, Sam opened the door. The dog had vanished. 

“Are you alright?” he asked Riley, breathing hard. He hadn't hit the dog, had he? He got out before Riley could respond and checked the grill. Nope, no doggy remains to be seen and everything was intact. Sam assumed the dog had gotten a fright and ran off into the woods.

The woods loomed before him, menacing. Sam smiled. He knew of a spot that was located deep in the woods, near the cliffs overlooking Dawson's Beach that was a perfect spot to get some action. It was romantic and above all secluded.

He climbed back into the car. Riley looked a little pale. He assured her that dog was fine and that they were just going to make a quick stop before they continued on their way home. Riley, still clearly shaken up about the sudden swerving agreed so Sam started the engine, spun the car back around and turned up a dirt track that lead up to Lover's Point.

There were some other cars up along the cliff line as they crept past all the others until they reached the spot Sam remembered. Not that he ever came up here with anyone else.

He turned the engine off and turned to face Riley. “What are we doing here?” she asked, innocently, shifting in her seat. She knew exactly why they were there, but she wanted to hear it from his mouth. 

Rather then answering, Sam lent over and kissed her. It was a deep passionate kiss that began at her mouth and reached all the way down to her toes. It was one of those kisses that should never end. Riley sighed into Sam's mouth as her eyes closed. She felt his hand on her waist, making small circles on her bare flesh. 

His hand dropped to her thigh before slipping under her skirt. This was moving way too fast for Riley. She tried to pull away, her hand on top of his, pushing it back down her leg as she mumbled a protest. Sam paid no attention and pushed down her, trapping Riley against the car door. 

She shoved him in the chest, pounding her tiny balled up fists against his body. Her hand brushed lightly over his groin. She could feel his erection straining against his jeans. Her eyes opened as she turned her head, breaking the kiss.

“What the fuck?” Sam said. From the look on his face Riley could tell he was pissed.

“Sam, no, I'm not ready,” she said, straightening her skirt.

Sam slammed his hand down hard against the steering wheel in frustration. “You're never fucking ready,” he mumbled. 

Riley felt like crying. A little sob escaped her throat before she could stop it. “I'm sorry,” she wailed. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.”

“Shit.” Sam felt like a complete ass. He knew he shouldn't rush her, but he couldn't continue like this. He was fast running out of masturbation fantasies.

He opened the car door. “Where are you going?” Riley asked, brushing the tears away with her hand. Sam clicked his tongue in annoyance. “I'm going to take a piss, alright?” he replied. “I'll be right back, then I'll take your fridget ass home.”

Before Riley had a chance to respond, Sam slammed the door.

Ten minutes went by and Sam didn't return. Riley pressed the button for the radio. Nothing happened. Sighing, she reached over to turn the key only to discover Sam had taken the keys with him. “Fuck,” she muttered under her breath.

Opening the door, Riley got out. “Sam, if you shake it more than twice, you're playing with it!” she cried, leaning against the side of the old Mustang. Nothing. She thought about walking off to try and find him, but decided that it was better to stay put. After all, she didn't know this area as well as he did.

She rubbed her arms. It was getting cold. She climbed back into the car. 

No radio. No boyfriend. Nothing but silence filled the air.

Riley stared at the clock on the dash. Her eyes felt heavy and soon she had fallen asleep.

She was woken by a bang on the roof of the car. Sitting up, startled, Riley glanced around. Sam hadn't returned. She glanced at the clock again. It had been nearly two hours since he walked off to take a leak.

She calmed herself, telling herself that it was probably a cat or a dog that jumped on the car. In actuality it was probably more like a mountain lion or escaped gorilla from the zoo that was pissed about being locked in a cage for most of its life. 

While Riley was having visions of Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, a new noise caught her attention. At first she thought she dreamt it. But there it was, plain as day, a scratching noise on the roof of the car.

Huddled down in the passenger seat, Riley held her breath. Maybe it was just a tree branch scratching the car. Sam had parked pretty close to the trees.

But then she had visions of the gorilla on top of the car scratching the roof in order to scare her out of the car and into the waiting clutches of the mountain lion.

Riley sighed. She was letting her imagination get the better of her.

“Sam, where are you?” she said to herself, hugging her knees.

The scratching continued for a few minutes before it was followed by a dripping sound. Riley had shivers shooting down her spine. She quickly locked the doors. 

Scratch. Drip. Scratch. Drip.

Riley stared at the clock on the dash. Her eyes became blurry and unfocused. 

Scratch. Drip. Scratch. Drip.

Her eyes felt heavy. The sounds were hypnotising.

Scratch. Drip. Scratch. Drip.

Within a few minutes, Riley had drifted off into a dreamless sleep...

Standing outside, stretching her arms above her head.

“Hey!”

Riley's head snapped around to see a young police man standing near the edge of the clearing. “I'm sorry,” she said. “I've been hear all night waiting for my boyfriend...” her voice trailed off as the officer motioned for her to come to him.

“Hurry,” he urged.

Riley trotted over to him. He placed his arm around her and began to lead her towards his waiting squad car. It was then that Riley noticed that the officer kept looking past her.

Riley stopped walking. She turned her head. The silence of the woods was broken by her blood-curdling scream.

Hanging over the car upside down, bound and gagged, was Sam. His fingers had gotten free of the ropes and were hanging just above the car's roof. His throat had been slashed, a pool of blood had formed underneath his body. 

The wind rustled the trees, pushing the body of her boyfriend. As Riley passed out the last thing she heard was that horrid scratching sound of his fingers connecting with the car roof.

Blood Wars: A Brother's Redemption

Hey guys I'm James (aka @thommoj03 on Twitter) and Rei has kindly allowed me to write on her blog. As an aspiring screenwriter I one day hope to get one of my screenplays to the big screen (we can all dream right!) and I wanted to get your views on my latest idea. Check it out and I would love as much feedback on this as possible. Thank you.


In a world where vampires live among us in the shadows each night, Raven and Simeon are vampire hunters who have been forced to protect their district in fear of impending attacks on unsuspecting locals. Raven has been protecting the people for many years whilst Simeon has been trained by his older brother in order to one day take over from the one he holds dearest. 
When a routine night descends into a horrific ambush, Raven is turned by the vampires and is embraced by them as one of their leaders along with current vampire overseer Nexaddo. Despite Nexaddo's initial hate of Raven's newfound leadership, the pair begin to evolve as a devastating force capable of leading their kind to the destruction of the humans.
With Raven and Nexaddo unleashing a path of death and destruction under the cover of darkness, Simeon soon realises that he must do the unthinkable, fight his brother to the death in order to save the world he lives in. Will he have it in him to kill the brother he has held so dearest or will Raven and the vampires suffice and begin their rule over the humans?


I would love to get your thoughts, criticisms or any ideas on the above synopsis. In addition, further ideas have resulted in me thinking about possibly adding the prospect of a serum to cure those turned to the vampire side, is this something I could add in? Thanks for your support guys and gals!