Greetings!  Welcome to my first post on
the UN Press blog.  My name is Jason McIntosh and I’m here to write
about sci-fi, dark fantasy, speculative fiction and other fantastic
stuff.  There’s another sci-fi blogger around here somewhere,
probably above or below this post.  Hi Leigh!  Hopefully we’ll get
some cross-talk going.

So who am I and why am here?  Well, I’m
a PhD candidate in the English department here at UNL.  I’m a teacher
and writer, but not of science fiction.  Nope, I’m a fan, just like
you. 

My love of fantastic stories began on
Saturday afternoons during the early 80’s.  I’m of that generation of
kids who grew up on Saturday morning cartoons.  This was before
Nickelodeon, Cartoon Central, and 24/7
children’s programming.  Instead, our weekly dose of cartoons came
during a six-hour block of sugar-packed animated goodness.  With bed
heads and bowls of cereal, we sat and watched.  It was ritual.

I don’t remember when it started – how
old I was, which movie was the first, or any specifics of a
particular day.  What I do remember is that at some point, Saturday
morning cartoons turned into Saturday afternoon monster fests.  I
probably lingered too long before going outside to play one day.  Mom
probably changed the channel; she loves old movies.  But I do
remember images of mad scientists and dungeon-like laboratories,
wild-eyed gypsy fortunetellers, wolfmen, walking plants, and flying
saucers.  It was a new world of gods and monsters, and I was hooked.

I’ve been a fan of the macabre, the
mysterious, and the weird ever since.  Books, movies, comics, music –
if it asks “what if?’ and tells a story, I’m probably interested.
Of course, I’d like to think that the reasons behind my interest in
the fantastic are a bit more sophisticated now that I’m thirty
one – that these stories teach me something about the human
condition, that they help me consider the implications of technology
for my life, that they are ultimately introspective.  But a part of
me knows that I read and watch these stories in order to reclaim some
of the wonder I experienced on those Saturday mornings.  And that’s
reason enough for me.

I’d like to get some conversation going
on this blog.  Since this is a first post, let’s start with
beginnings, the experiences that got us interested in science fiction
and such.

Cheers,

Jason