Author and Scriptwriter

'Among the most important writers of contemporary British horror.' -Ramsey Campbell

Saturday 19 March 2011

An Auction For Japan

The earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan last week is one of the worst natural disasters we've seen in many years, with or without the spectre of the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant. We've seen terrifying illustrations of just how devastatingly powerful Nature itself is- and how flimsy anything we can make or do is against it- heartbreaking levels of human suffering and also truly awe-inspiring levels of courage and sacrifice, particularly in the case of the 'Fukushima 50', the 300 volunteers- soldiers, firefighters and nuclear workers- operating in shifts of 50, who are exposing themselves to deadly danger and high levels of radiation to prevent an even worse disaster. There's a very good chance these people will not be coming back alive; even if they survive the immediate crisis, 20 or 30 minutes' worth of work under these conditions will expose them to more radiation than a typical nuclear facility worker would encounter in their entire career. They know this, but they still do what they have to.

Puts your own problems into some kind of perspective, doesn't it?

There's very little any of us here, as individuals, can do. However, there are some things, which may help at least a little, which brings me to the point of this blog post.

Johnny Mains over at Occasionally Horrific is auctioning off some of his rather impressive collection of horror memorabilia to raise money for the victims of the disaster. If you weren't already aware of this and would like to take part, just click the link above. All proceeds will go to the British Red Cross.

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