Bloody Hell!

Bloody Hell! was a well appointed horror fanzine that came out of Cardiff in the early ‘90s. Subtitled ‘the flesh and blood fanzine with a brain in its head’ it was edited and mostly written by local boy David Prothero. Prothero - an old acquaintance – put his zine together in a flat in Pen Y Waun Road, Roath. His abode was adorned with pictures of horror greats but taking pride of place was his signed photograph of Peter Cushing.

Prothero, a former pupil of Whitchurch High School, acquired a taste for horror films from watching late night bills at the Monico cinema. Being a bright boy, he ended up going to Oxford University where he studied English Lit. Whilst doing his MA on William Blake he became increasingly interested in penny dreadfuls and the darker, gothic side of the Romantic movement.

His knowledge of horror films and fiction was encyclopaedic - he wrote numerous entries in the BFI Companion to Horror as well as articles for Sight and Sound magazine. As you can see from the cover of Bloody Hell! (issue 3), Prothero was a fan of Dario Argento. He was an even bigger fan of Alejandro Jodorowsky whom he interviewed on several occasions. Amongst his other cinematic favourites were the films Driller Killer and Henry – Portrait of a Serial Killer. Dave committed suicide in 2001.