EDITOR’S LETTER

attitude

Ah, isn’t Freddie Highmore a cutie pie? We noticed him in the surprisingly great Psycho spin off Bates Motel, where he plays the baby psycho killer (aww) Norman Bates – as you do – opposite one of our favourite actresses Vera Farmiga. Freddie got his big break in Finding Neverland opposite Kate Winslet, Johnny Depp and Dustin Hoffman – as you do – and then won the Golden Ticket to get his very own Chocolate Factory – as you do – and kissed a boy – as you actually do – when he played the young culinary diva Nigel Slater in BBC’s Toast. We’re very happy to have him on the cover of Attitude.

Horror has always had a specific appeal for many of us. Psycho has queer resonance: A sexually frustrated loner with a somewhat unhealthy relationship (just a bit) with his mother – a character who, it eventually became clear, was played by a bisexual actor; Anthony Perkins. Horror addresses the undoable and unsayable, often centred around sexuality. As a teen I loved Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Street, not because I wanted to kill people, but because on some subconscious level, I connected with the desire for revenge on a mainstream society that had isolated me. We asked writer, director, actor Sean Abley, author of Out In The Dark and writer of the infamous Gay of The Dead blog to explore this further.