The Screamstress - Horror & Paranormal

The Screamstress Welcomes You

by Rhys on October 20th, 2005

Well, hello there. Welcome to Screamstress. ‘Tis I, Rhys Alexander, the harlot of horror, your dame of doom, your femme of fear, putting the ‘ho’ in horror since 1985.

I am indeed a girl, which is unusual for a fan of the genre (at least in society’s eyes.) Admit it, though: you find it intriguing and probably kind of hot.

When I found out this blog got the green light, I was thrilled. “Guess what!” I told my husband. “I’m going to have a horror blog!” And to avoid confusion as the words sound alike, I added, “That’s a horror blog, not a whore blog.”

And he said, “You could write for both.”

Har har. But that got me thinking: “Hey, I could call it Horror Whore! Cool, huh?” But these b5 dudes are, like, gentlemen, so Screamstress it is. (A special thanks goes out to Jeremy for coming up with the name, and that cool header, and for being an all-around advocate. He’s swell.)

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had a fascination with shadows and gloom, of things that go bump in the night. To me, twilight has always been the most beautiful time of day. And sunrises have nothing on sunsets. Myself and the darkside, we walk hand in hand.

Terror in training

There’s me at age 8, three days before Halloween. My mom had just brought home a leotard and pink fluffy tutu for me, no doubt hoping I’d dress up as a ballerina. Ha.

Two hours after this picture was taken, I doused myself with a half gallon of fake blood, and my Uncle Cyrus whipped up a nifty cardboard creation that when affixed, looked like a hatchet was buried deep in my skull.

I proudly wore my costume to school the next day, the envy of all the miniature ballerinas and cowboys. Then, despair. My teacher ordered me to go to the bathroom, wash the blood off my face, and change into clean clothes, because my costume was “too scary” and some of the kindergarteners were frightened.

Being a happenin’ fourth grader, I was not amendable to being ordered around by some kindergartener. I hid in a bathroom stall and waited for revenge. A few minutes later, the kindergarten class finished lunch and headed toward the bathrooms. At the first sound of tiny feet tapping on the bathroom floor, I leapt out of the stall, clawed the air in front of the little girl, and screamed, “I’m going to kill you!”

Three things happened, simultaneously: The kid screamed, fell down, and peed her pants. I had to stand in the corner and miss recess for punishment. It was so worth it.

I come from a strange and murky lineage, a bloodline full of psychics, mediums, charlatans, fortune tellers, and the stark raving mad. One aunt was even a haruspex, and if you don’t know what that is, you’re lucky.

Screamstress will have what you might expect to find in a horror blog: reviews of movies, books, and products, interviews with notable figures in the genre, analyses, noxious news and ghastly gossip.

But it will contain something I haven’t really seen in horror sites: the personal side. This is what I hope will make Screamstress stand out from the rest. Personal, as in what horror means to me, how it has influenced me, how it has changed-and dictated to-society, and I hope, what it means to you. This experience won’t be complete unless you are a part of it.

No matter how old I get, or how mature I’m supposed to be, inside I’m still that blood-covered hooligan who delights in making people pee themselves.

So in that spirit, I hope you enjoy this blog as much as I’ll enjoy writing it.

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