First up is Jessica Dwyer. To know Jessica is to love Jessica. She is a raging fangirl with an obsession for Doctor Who, Freddy Krueger, Johnny Depp, Dark Shadows, Shawnster the Monster, and The Walking Dead Jessica just happens to be a writer for HorrorHound Magazine and http://www.fangirlmag.com Jessica also co-host Fan Girl Radio every Thursday night. Check Jessica out on Facebook and Twitter (@JessicaDwyer) If you see Jessica at any of the HorrorHound Weekends, stop and say hi! She does bite!
Random Five Questions with Jessica Dwyer
1.) How did Fan Girl Radio come about?
Fangirl Radio came from the original Fangirl Magazine Podcast. That came from the webzine and the suggestion by a few people that when you got me talking along with my friends about the stuff we were passionate and knowledgeable abut it was entertaining to listen to. I also love interviewing people and asking them things that normally they don’t get asked.
If you’ve been to Comicon or a convention where there are Q and A’s or ever watched the more mainstream entertainment shows (like Extra for example) the questions can range from those that have been asked a 100 times before to just embarrassing. I like learning things and making our interviews fun and informative.
We have fun on the show and try to have discussions that are also interesting and informative. It’s important to me that people see that women know their stuff as well as the guys. Even though girls in the geek world have come a long way, it’s evident thanks to things like the “Sexy Geek” debate and the “Fake Geek Girl” stuff that’s in the news that we still have a ways to go before we’re considered on the same level of playing field as the men folk.
2.) Who is your favorite doctor from the Doctor Who series?
Without question, Ten. I grew up with Tom Baker and dear Doctor 4. But David Tennant came along in a very dark part of my life and gave me something to look forward to and to take my mind off of what was going on. He was a fan who go to live the dream of portraying a character he’d grown up with. He also took aspects of the previous Doctors and brought them into play and put his own spin on the character. I loved him as the Doctor and to this day I can’t watch The End of Time without crying. I’ve only managed to watch it twice.
Tennant is just an amazing actor and person as well. He loves the younger fans and appreciates the older ones. He does all sorts of things for charity and as I said is big ol’Geek all on his own. I think he’s amazing and will forever be my favorite Doctor.
3.) How did you become involved with Horror Hound?
I got involved with HorrorHound on issue 2 after I reviewed the first issue for Bloody-Disgusting.com I was the websites first fiction reviewer. After I read it and thought “These guys are pretty good.” I asked them if they would be interested in another writer for their magazine. My first interview was in issue 2 (which also happened to be a Shaun of the Dead cover) and was with Greg Nicotero of KNB FX. The rest is history.
4.) Describe your love for Freddy Kruger?
Fairly dark and twisted I suppose. My love of Freddy Krueger started when I was around 12…which if you know the history of the character is really sort of wrong. LOL.
But for whatever reason I gravitated to Freddy Krueger. I think it was the black humor and fantastical ways he took out his victims. The story and the myth and the way Robert Englund just made this character so evilly awesome. He was funny and scary and just great to watch. He embodied this new icon of fear to the hilt.
There’s something sickly seductive about Freddy Krueger. I’m not sure how to describe it. I still think there is something wrong with me when it comes to how much I love Freddy but then again, thanks to the internet, I’ve realized I’m not alone in that love of the crispy critter in the red and green sweater.
5.) What is the craziest thing you have ever seen at any convention?
Oh that’s easy, the Bic’ing that happened at Comicon in Hall H. I was only four rows over when the guy stabbed the man sitting next to him in the eye with a pen. I called it the Bic’ing because the eye gouging just doesn’t flow off the tongue as well. Anyway, Hall H on one of the biggest days ever in the history of Comicon (this is the day they announce the cast of the Avengers in there and Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig are going to be on stage together.) The Bic’ing goes down and we don’t know what is happening because all we see is this crowd of people sort of forming in that row. We thought someone had had a heart attack or something, but no…Twitter is how we find out being 4 rows away.
Stabbing in Hall H is making the rounds on the trending topics and my friends and I are looking at each other in terror. But they’ve snagged the guy and the cops show up AND LOCK DOWN THE ENTIRE HALL. 10,000 people are stuck in a room because the place is a crime scene. They have to delay all the presentations as this all goes down by over an hour. It was freaky.
Turns out the reason the guy did it was because he thought the man was sitting too close to him. In the irony of all ironies the guy who did the assault was wearing the “Harry Potter Criminal #1” t-shirt they’d given out that day.
Next up is Justin Beahm.
My wife thinks Justin Beahm is cute. Sigh! Anyways, Justin is a writer and filmmaker. He has written various articles for HorrorHound, Fangoria, and Famous Monsters of Filmland. Justin is also working on a super cool awesome book called "HALLOWEEN: THE COMPLETE AUTHORIZED HISTORY" that will cover about everything you will ever want to know about the Halloween movie series. For more information check out http://www.officialhalloweenbook.com/
If that is not enough, Justin also spearheaded the Halloween theatrical release last October and his documentary “YOU CAN’T KILL THE BOOGEYMAN: 35 YEARS OF HALLOWEEN” was shown before the feature presentation of Halloween. He also loves kittens and sunflowers. Check Justin out on Facebook and Twitter (@justinbeahm)
Random Five Questions with Justin Beahm
1.) What started your love of horror?
I remember seeing Whale's FRANKENSTEIN when I was a kid, which kick started a love affair with monsters. From there, I was always checking out the Crestwood House monster books from the library, which were giving me an education in all things Wolf Man, Blob, King Kong, Dracula, and the rest before I even saw the movies. I started searching for videos of anything monster I could find, and over time that evolved into exploration of horror in general.
2.) How old were you when you first watched Halloween?
I saw HALLOWEEN II first on Halloween night in the fifth grade, so that was my introduction to the world of Haddonfield. It terrified and intrigued me. From there I tracked down the novelization and soundtrack of the original film, which I read and listened to before seeing the film, as weird as that may sound. It was probably in the sixth grade when I saw HALLOWEEN for the first time.
3.) Tell us a little about your upcoming book on the Halloween movie series?
It is a love letter to the fans and the series, with each film getting equal attention. Fully illustrated coffee table book, similar in format to Peter Bracke's 'Crystal Lake Memories' book from a few years ago. Full of interviews, photos, new and original art, and more.
4.) What was your all-time favorite cover of Fangoria?
It is impossible to narrow it down to just one, but here are a few favorites...
Two great classic covers:
#8: Fulci's ZOMBIE
#9 MOTEL HELL
Two recent covers that I love:
#299: BLACK SWAN (elegant simplicity)
#303: John Carpenter cover (nice painting of JC morphing into THE THING)
5.) What is the holy grail of your horror collection?
My collection isn't that huge, but the pride of what I have is a hand made silver WISHMASTER djinn ring made for me by my pal Andrew Divoff. Andrew played the Djinn in the first two WISHMASTER films, and has always been very proud of that character, despite countless other fantastic performances in LOST, and other films and television programs. Pretty cool having that sitting on the desk in my office.
Thanks to Jessica and Justin! Next week Texas Chainsaw Massacre star Teri McMinn!
© 2013 Shawnster the Monster Shawn D Patrick
