Aidan's Monsters: An Interview w/ Aidan's Dad, Wiley Reed

A week or so ago I mentioned a touching story that had been floating around the internets about a 5-year old boy who had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. That boy's name was Aidan and despite his condition he and his family have managed to turn is love of monsters, clowns and all things scary into a source of empowerment.

Thanks to the love and support of family, friends and even total strangers Aidan's Monsters has been able to raise not only a source of supplemental income for the Reed's, but a few eyebrows as well. Recently, Aidan's father Wiley was kind enough to answers a few questions about Aidan and his fascination with costumes, clowns and all things creepy. 

To begin could you tell us a bit about Aidan and his condition?

Aidan is a funny and goofy guy who is sometimes shy beyond belief and at other times outgoing and animated; his personality has many contrasts. ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) is the most common form of Leukemia for children and in a nutshell it prevents his blood from functioning properly.




How did the idea for Aidan's Monsters come about?

My sister (Aunt Mandi at this point) lives in Illinois so when Aidan was diagnosed she couldn’t comfort us in person so she and her friend Leanne Dougherty started 2 or 3 different things to help us out financially. Aidan’s Monsters is the one most people know about.

When did Aidan's love of scary stuff begin? Did you encourage him or is it just a natural fascination?

When he was 2 my wife took him to Halloween Express and he was mesmerized. He didn’t want to leave the store! My dad “Pa” and I watched monster movies when I was little, so we introduced Aidan to monsters like Gillman and Dracula. So, I guess the answer would be a little of both.



So what does Aidan like most about monsters?

Aidan says he likes monsters because they are scary.

Does he have a favorite type of monster?

Gillman and Nosferatu are his 2 favorite, so I guess as far as what type it would be the iconic Universal black and white monsters.




How does Aidan come up with ideas for his drawings?

Aidan has a powerful imagination but I’d say other than the movies themselves Rob Zombie's music and videos seems to inspire him quite a bit.

Where can readers learn more about Aidan's story and/or purchase original artwork?

The “headquarters” would be http://aidforaidan.wordpress.com/ and we've also got an official page on Facebook.

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