How do you react when faced with extreme horror? When a major label rock star lets you down at the last minute with All Hallow's Eve fast approaching? A major label rock star, I must add, who we got approached to interview for this spooky shebang. Why, you turn to a local legend who, whilst being known for his debauched antics at gigs, is actually a full-on horror nerd like the best of us! Boils and ghouls, please stand in appreciation of the idiot who saved the day (well, Day 12 of Uber Rock's 13 Days Of Halloween) - Baron Von Zoot!

Yes, the former bass player (Aria Pro ZZB Deluxe - zebra striped) of seminal Welsh rockers Good Hooker is as obsessed with horror movies as he is with having spewing contests, cheese toasties and asking everyone he meets if they are glam or thrash. Raised on a diet of Universal and Hammer classics this beastly bad boy has a lot to say on the subject of Halloween and horror...some of it printable. When asked if he would bail us out when Uber Rock got let down by a despicable, unnamed rocker, Zoot jumped at the chance.....after reminding all at URHQ that he should have been asked in the first place, what with him being a cult hero and all that....

Read on as the urban legend whose Gig Giggles features now get him recognised at dogging hotspots gets his slasher out for your reading pleasure.....

What are your most vivid childhood memories of Halloween?

Times were hard in the '70s and '80s and a lot of our parents couldn't afford a big fuck-off pumpkin like these American people so I used to walk around with a little swede that my dad used to get for me. He'd cut the top of the swede off, hollow it out and make a face, then he'd put a nail in either side, a bit of string around it and a candle in the middle. I used to go knocking doors, trick or treating to see how much money we could skank, and by the time I would get from my end of the street to the other the fucking swede would be cooked by the candle, so I used to blow out the candle and eat the top half of the swede around the backs. Then, when I smiled, I'd have teeth like piano keys, black and white from all the bits of swede. We used to play boogey up the drainpipe and we did it in a plastic drain pipe and melted it. Whose was it? I'm not fucking telling you, he still lives close to me!

Why do you think that the worlds of horror and metal/punk have always been so closely linked?

A lot of metal, punk and thrash is about nasty stuff that happens in the world so obviously you need quite gory videos - you can't have a Slayer video with fucking fairies prancing around. You really need dark stuff to get to the point. You've got to make a point, haven't you? Plus, it winds christians up and they deserve it, the fuckers.

Last year I asked if remakes and rehashes were killing horror, now it seems to be the in-your-face turkey that is 3D - what are your thoughts on this money-grabbing gimmick that is souring cinemas and the state of current horror in general?

I'm not a lover of 3D. Cartoons in 3D that I go to see in the cinema with my daughter, yeah - when you can afford it, the robbing bastards - but I like to watch original films traditionally.

With remakes, well, you could have some shit horror films remade good, but obviously people are running out of ideas so have to keep doing remakes. People say that the remakes targeted at younger audiences is keeping the horror scene alive but horror is never gonna die out, is it? And all the remakes you see nowadays are basically love stories, they always have to have some love angle in it rather than just keeping it traditional and having someone killing for no reason; there's always got to be a big kiss in it.

Some of the remakes have been good though; the Dawn Of The Dead remake - the fast zombies in that were fucking awesome, in your face. The worst remake though, without a doubt, is The Wicker Man, and I can't see how anyone can say that it isn't. Nicolas Cage is a shit actor anyway, I think, Con Air and that, total bollocks, but I was gutted when I saw The Wicker Man remake. I was excited that they were remaking it because I love the original...but it was a pile of shit. You can always tell when a film is a pile of shit coz it's in Tesco's a month later for £2.99.

Has there been a horror remake yet that has bettered the original movie?

I'm a big lover of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, as I'm sure every true horror fan is, but I did like the TCM remake. It looked good, filtered with great colours, and there was top totty in it, although there was in the original too. I liked the part when the kids picked up the hitchhiker and it was a woman instead of a man and she just blew her head off and the camera went right through the hole - that was awesome, that was.

What's the greatest ever horror movie kill?

The original Friday The 13^th when Kevin Bacon is lying in bed and a hand comes up and holds him while an arrow is pushed up through his neck - I thought that was a cracking kill, didn't expect that. This was surely a warning that shagging teenagers would get you killed - that's why I shag 90 year olds. I think Bacon got the point.

Who is the baddest ever horror movie villain...and why?

Leatherface. He was just so frightening; his look, his size - in the original Chain Saw his head was bigger than Johnny Hayward's...and that would take some stopping.

Who is the greatest ever Scream Queen?

Definitely Ingrid Pitt. She was beautiful, and you had to give it to the lady, she had been through more shit than Elton John's foreskin. Surviving time in a concentration camp, she deserved a good career. She deserved to become as big as she did after dealing with the nazi wankers. I met her once at the Memorabilia fair in Birmingham - £10 to get in, robbing bastards - and I was stuttering and really having difficulty speaking to her as I was so starstruck. She signed a photograph for me, inscribed 'Lots of love, Ingrid' and kept shouting to me as I walked away, "Kiss me, Paul, kiss me!" Sadly missed.....

Name your Top 5 favourite horror movies of all time...and tell us why!!

1) The Wicker Man - The original! The writing is absolutely brilliant and I love that things happen in daylight yet the film is still scary. And Ingrid Pitt is in it. Have I mentioned that the remake is shit?

2) The Texas Chain Saw Massacre - Original. Again, a real classic film. Great cast of villains and, of course, based on the story of Ed Gein.

3) House Of 1000 Corpses - Rob Zombie hasn't directed a great deal but all the films he's made have been brilliant. Halloween 2? Ok, we'll leave that out! Zombie is obviously a big TCM fan so there is a theme there...and, again, the film looks great - nice use of colour. Captain Spaulding is a class villain.

4) The Exorcist - Let's be fair, what was going through William Peter Blatty's head when he wrote that? When the film came out you had all these fucking christians protesting in front of cinemas saying that it was an evil film but they should have been  praising the film because at the end the vicar beat the devil! The fucking arseholes. They should have been telling people to go in and see the film so that they could see what Jesus does to evil. They should have been promoting it not telling people not to see it.

5) The Curse Of Frankenstein - A Hammer great, their first colour horror film and their first Frankenstein film; Peter Cushing as Victor Frankenstein, Christopher Lee as the Monster - two classic actors from horror history together. I'm a big Hammer fan but this is definitely my favourite, just edging out The Curse Of The Werewolf.

What underrated horror movie would you recommend to our readers just in case they have never seen it?

Not a movie, but I would heartily recommend the Hammer House Of Horror television series; thirteen episodes, everyone of them brilliant. My favourite episode is The Thirteenth Reunion - classic.

What is your guilty pleasure, the trashy horror flick that you hold dear but everyone else runs away from?

Monsturd. I think people were put off by the title but, c'mon, people gave Kerry Katona three chances, didn't they - why not Monsturd? It's about a man who is turned into a piece of shit who then goes around killing people - it's a fucking classic.

What is the greatest ever horror movie poster?

The Exorcist. The priest just looking up at the house where the devil is, thinking "I'm gonna kick the fucking shit out of you now." I do love the Jaws poster but The Exorcist is the best.

What 'star' of the music world would you like to see slaughtered in gory horror movie style? How and why?

I'd like to see that Irish karaoke band Westlife slaughtered. I was gutted that they just announced that they were splitting up - who now is going to keep covering great songs by Barry Manilow and shit like that? That karaoke band has made millions from singing other people's songs, why couldn't Monsturd have made as much money as Westlife? They are both shit. I'll tell you the best way to kill Westlife - put them in a room on their own and ask them to write their own songs.

What are your plans for Halloween this year?

I'm gonna go trick or treating with my daughter then watch the original Fright Night with her. When she's gone to bed I'm gonna have a few cans, chuck on Carrie or Pet Semetary, something like that, one of my favourites that I haven't mentioned, and have a cheese toastie...being careful to avoid the kettle lead for obvious reasons.

Can I tell you a Halloween joke before I sign off? What do you call a used tampon in Dracula's coffin? Packed lunch.

Read more from the legendary Zoot here!!!