An actor’s exposé of her experiences in the NXIVM MLM Executive Success Program, which she looked into only after a solid endorsement from a trusted colleague.

But in amongst all this there was some gloriously low budget, but highly imaginative, prime time Sci-Fi to be had as well. She listened without judgement and after reading her book I can see how special this was because she was going through so much of her own. I still have a lot of questions about it all, and I'm uncertain whether or not they will ever be answered. I also learnt that 'Joe Hawkins' from 'The Oppressed' song 'King of the Skins' was based on a book character and have gone out and bought those from the series in print. Toys and games; Movies, where we get essays about such things as English Folk Horror, those big American horror films that they were too young to watch (The Exorcist and it’s ilk); dystopian science fiction and dark, downbeat pop movies like Stardust and Slade in Flame.The boom in 1970s nostalgia which hangs like smog over all of us who were ‘lucky’ enough to have been children then isn’t without its problematic side. The ‘Zammo on drugs’ storyline on Grange Hill is mentioned – but also the one about racist bullying. This would be a brilliant (and lengthy) book just covering the TV of the era, but the book also covers Public Information Films, games, comics, books, films, the obsession with the paranormal and even sweets and crisps with horror or adult themes.

My stomach flips at his words, shock mixing in with the sharp rush of desire that splices down my middle. True power lies in the ability to harness energy and wield it like a sword, becoming the puppeteer that masters all the strings instead of the marionette being forced to dance. And now I (sort of) look forward to revisiting my teenage years in ‘Scarred for Life Volume Two: The 1980s’. I didn't really feel she ever really acknowledged the harm she caused by being a hugely successful recruiter for the organization for over a decade. I'm sorry David Miscavige can't be here to personally meet you but he's having a little trouble with his wife.

There are two documentary series about the cult that I’m told have a lot more information about the nitty-gritty than this book does. Scarred For Life Volume One: The 70s by Stephen Brotherstone and Dave Lawrence comes wrapped in a cover design redolent of the ubiquitous Look-In Annuals of our favourite era, and starring some of our favourite icons and anti-icons. I once attended a Landmark (a similar scam) meeting with a friend, but luckily I knew it and its predecessor EST were MLM cults. Ultimately, the reason Scarred For Life is such an engaging and fascinating read is because it goes beyond simply listing a few popular moments or titles. Scarred is Sarah Edmondson's compelling memoir of her recruitment into the NXIVM cult, the 12 years she spent within the organization (during which she enrolled over 2,000 members and entered DOS—NXIVM's "secret sisterhood"), her breaking point, and her harrowing fight to get out, to expose Keith Raniere and the leadership, to help others, and to heal.

It increasingly seems to be too much to ask that our male light entertainers who made us giggle and roll our eyes at their naff, pre-watershed antics might also not have been (at best) predatory sex pests in their spare time. What this means in practice for me as a reader is a lovely combination of nostalgic 'oh my gosh, I remember that' to 'I have GOT to see this'. And because we are children when we encounter them, we often lack the perspective necessary for placing them in their proper context.There’s also the two American miniseries (and short-lived series) of V, which contained one of the great unmasking scenes of 80s horror, as the face of the human-looking ‘visitors’ ripped off to reveal the green reptile skin underneath.