Sat up too late last night watching “Terminator 3”. Not the best of the franchise (though not as dire as “Terminator Salvation” – whew, what a turkey!) but still quite enjoyable. My guilty secret – I love the first two “Terminator” films, partly as the title character is so compelling. The role model (if it can be called that) is, of course, the Golem, most famously Rabbi Loeb’s Golem of Prague created in 1580. This idea, of a clay man created to be a defender without fear or the ability to feel pain, runs through a lot of folk-lore and literature. It could be argued that Mary Shelley’s “Frankensein”, owes much to the idea.

Well, out in the thick fog this morning I found myself pondering this idea. Visibility was so bad it was impossible to see more than a hundred yards or so and the beach was completely hidden. A ship was making its way up the estuary, fog-horn sounding like a grieving whale and the ghostly echoes gave the whole scene a surreal quality. The road was deserted, ghostly, a setting for some strange and horrific event. Which is why I’m not working on the new novel today but fleshing out (excuse the pun) a new horror story.