“I grew up on a farm in Florida. It was almost like we...

“I grew up on a farm in Florida.  It was almost like we lived in a time capsule.  Nothing but ass whoopings and hard work: raking the yard, feeding chickens, tending horses, planting fields.  And my family was Jehovah’s Witnesses.  So we had to follow the Bible.   We had to do every single thing.  There was no room for metaphors or interpretation.  It was almost cultish.  I only had two guilty pleasures: playing in the woods, and horror movies.  Once a month my older sister would take me to the mall.  She’d pretend I was her daughter and sneak me into horror movies.  I was only nine or ten years old but we saw them all: Poltergeist, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street.  She’d cover my eyes when there was a sex scene, which pissed me off, but everything else I saw.  I just loved seeing out-of-control maniacs on the screen.  My entire life had always been so controlled.  I loved the feeling of being afraid: everything runs through you, spine tingling, fight or flight.  It made me feel alive.”