The extremely bizarre tale of Eric Red, screenwriter of horror classics <i>The Hitcher</i> and <i>Near Dark</i>. An apparently tragic car accident in 2000 revealed that Red's fictions and reality may always have been indistinguishable. A long story but really worth perservering to the bitter, bloody end...

"Red walked a ways from the vehicle, just in time for Cassady Jeremias, one of Kenny Hughes' friends in the car ahead of him, to see him pick up a sharp stick and begin ramming it into his chest. Interviewed recently, she remembers thinking, "Well, who's this joker?, he's not going to kill himself with a stick jabbing himself in the chest" Undaunted, Red picked up a broken glass off the floor, approximately two inches thick, and slashed once at his neck, cutting it deeply. According to the police report, kitchen worker Ray Garcia and several patrons wrestled him to the ground, then tied a waiter's apron around his throat to stanch the flow of blood and covered him with a tablecloth to prevent shock. Red continued to speak, telling Wacks, "Don't bother, I just want to die," and Garcia, "Don't bother with me, I'm not worth living."...

Full story at <a href="http://www.laweekly.com/ink/06/08/features-cullum.php" target="new">LA Weekly</a>