Not many things shock me these days but when a close friend confides to me that he probably has never seen Night of the Living Dead my blood runs cold. Is it possible that people haven't actually seen this film? I'm shaking my head as I write this. The George A Romero trilogy had a much bigger impact on me than George Lucas' efforts. While Lucas was setting down a myth based on 'new hope' Romero had already begun to tell anyone that would listen that there was none - we are all fucked and the only 'force' we can depend on is the one raising the dead and putting us on the menu. Fuck but these films are important. I first saw 'Night' when I was really young and it scared the hell out of me - I remember sitting up late wrapped in an oversized dressing gown, sipping milk and beginning to get the creeps as soon as I heard "They're coming to get you Barbara". Since then I must have heard that line hundreds and hundreds of times. I found a copy of the novel of Dawn of the Dead on a market book-stall but I only got about 4 chapters in. I remember throwing the book behind this old fitted wardrobe we had. It really scared me that much - I knew that if I didn't put it way out of reach I'd be tempted to read on and I was already too scared to sleep. I must have been about 11 years old. It was all that stuff in the beginning about society breaking down - it all seemed so damn plausible and if the adults couldn't even keep the television on the air I knew it was going to get bad. Thinking back I may have started my life-long love affair with America right there. I was terrified that if the dead came back we'd be quickly overun as no one in England had access to guns - not even the police. America seemed the best place to be in case of corpse attack. About a year later I finally saw a crappy pirated copy of the movie and was further terrified but was now desperate to finish the book. I tried everthing to get at it but to no avail. Either the wardrobe had to be destroyed or the book was lost forever. So I took the wardrobe apart. This was after a year of having that damn book brooding there. I'd lie awake at night and could sense the fucking thing and what it contained... do I sound deranged yet? It gets worse. Even now every time I move house or relocate to a new flat I have to check out the place for weakness in the event of an undead siege. I lived near a graveyard for about a year while I was a student but I made sure I had quick access to the loft and from there the roof. Just in case. And now i find out that some people haven't even see these films... I've decided to hold a 'Dead' evening. I want to grab some people and watch Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead back to back sometime next month. Everyone reading this is invited. Think of it as a kind of public health issue - be there for your own peace of mind... would you know whether to trust yourself to the cellar or help board the windows up - is there a safe way to treat a cadaver's bite - how crucial is it to make friends with someone who has access to a helicopter? - come along and get all the answers... just in case... Mike is blogging to: the hum of the computer