Several
years ago, my fellow horror buddy, Michael Shinafelt, and I started trading off
blog interviews in October. It has become one of my favorite Halloween traditions. Check out my
interview on Michael's blog here, and be sure to check out his other posts for fun stories about music
and entertainment.
ME: Addams Family or The Munsters?
MS: Addams Family, truly were creepy, kooky, mysterious and
spooky. The Munsters were too cartoon like, they had no bite.
ME: What attracted you to horror initially?
MS: Well my Dad and I used to watch them on Saturdays. That's
what got me hooked. We would watch all those creature films with Dracula, TheMummy & The Werewolf.
ME: Do you think there are certain traits that horror fans
share?
MS: Yes, the ones I know have great imagination, a free spirit and a fierce intelligence.
ME: Classic Frankenstein or hot hero Aaron Eckhart's I, Frankenstein?
MS: Classic Frankenstein all the way! I confess I never saw I, Frankenstein, but I don't really think I need to.
ME: You have a crazy night of horror, drinking, and debauchery. Who do you want to wake up next to?
MS: Well, you just named three of my favorite things, thus, more of the same!
ME: You're making your own horror movie. You can choose any characters from the horror genre. Who's in your dream cast?
MS: A vampire movie, I want to be the main blood sucker. Jon Hamm would be my paramour. Since there needs to be some female energy for good measure let's go with Sharon Stone.
ME: If your life was a Twilight Zone episode, what would the title be?
MS: The Accidental Pheromone
ME: You accidentally watch the videotape from The Ring. You have
7 days...What do you do?
MS: Seven days, huh? That doesn't leave much time to travel so I
would do some of the things I haven't done on my bucket list such as parachute out of an airplane. Also act on all my impulses, give into the id. Have sex as much as I could with my special guy. On the last day I would act out being a vampire because not matter what happens to me as a result it's my last day, so whoop it up!
ME: I'm also curious about your take on the creepy clown craze.
What do you think?
MS: There are people out there with a fear of clowns already. So this exploits that fear which is so wrong. Then there are impressionable children who haven't really experienced them that are now being taught they are to be feared without making that choice for themselves. My niece had to speak to her son about staying away from clowns because of it. The school required the students be prepped just in case they came around the school playground.
ME: I know we both like to watch bad horror movies for their comedic value. But some are so bad, they aren't even funny. Shock Waves (1977) was one of those for me. It was about a German WWII experiment to create the perfect soldier who could adapt to any environment. When they found out they were losing the war, they sunk the ship carrying the soldiers, but they adapted to water. I called them Gemermen. It was so bad it wasn't even funny. Same with The Hills Have Eyes (2006). What tops your list of horror movies you can unsee?
MS: The remake of A Nightmare
on Elm Street. I was watching TV with my then boyfriend, and it was coming up
on cable next. He begged me to watch something else as he had seen it, and
thought it was terrible. My curiosity got the best of me...boy was it bad! Not
even remotely scary or interesting for that matter. Boring all the way, and the
re-imagining of Freddy made him look like a charred cat!
Thanks again to Michael for the Halloween horror fun!
