Interviews

Raleigh Studios hosts the 8th annual horror film festival that started it all. And Denise Gossett wants to scare you!

Denise Gossett is the mastermind behind Shriekfest. Nine years ago she starred in a horror film called Chain of Souls. When she asked the producers and director what their plans were for releasing the film, she was shocked to hear it was going straight to video. She suggested submitting it to film festivals.

To her surprise, the filmmakers told her there were no film festivals dedicated to the horror genre.

I thought, ‘How can that be?’ There are so many horror fans. I did some research and found what they said was true for the US. There were a few in other countries but really nothing notable or well known. So I came up with the idea for this festival. [click to continue...]

I first came upon actress/writer Fia Perera while she was doing stand-up comedy and I’ve been a fan ever since. Her latest solo show, Swimming Naked, about her charged relationship with the über WASP trip that is her mother, is currently making the rounds as a film script.

Her bi (coastal and career) ways keep her darting back and forth between NYC and LA acting gigs and comedy clubs. On the acting side, she will appear with Harrison Ford, Ashley Judd and Sean Penn in the upcoming film, Crossing Over.

What’s the scariest thing about Los Angeles?

Even the dogs look like they’ve had work done. I saw a chihuahua taking a s*** on Rodeo Drive the other day and he had no facial expression.

What do you love about Halloween in LA?

I love how it brings inappropriateness forward in people, especially the men. Not that they aren’t that way year round here. I was once dating this guy who said to me, “Oh my God, Fia, I so want to go down on you right here in the parking lot of Starbucks.”

Wow. What did you do?

After he was done, I kicked him out of my car.

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Kristin’s List, the Los Angeles cultural listing site, is the best of its kind in a city long mocked for its supposed cultural bereft-ness by callous East Coast sophisticates (like me.)

Kristin Bedford defies that cliché with cold, hard facts and winnows the dizzying cornucopia of events and activities on offer in LA to a highly selective, manageable directory– from intellectual to frivolous, fun to enriching, sometimes all at the same time and with big potential for rewarding the curiosity in us all.

Born in Washington, DC, with a background in politics, fashion, photography and a stint in big, bad NYC before moving west three years ago, she has run with the wolves and slept with the lambs.

What do you love about Halloween in Los Angeles?

Nudity. In most places Halloween is a chance for women to dress like prostitutes outfitted by the local costume superstore. LA has no need for such minutia. Strip down, maybe add a little body paint, glitter, a cape or some heels… costume complete.

What costumes did you wear as a kid?

In the 3rd grade Wonder Woman, 6th a punk rocker, 7th a piece of toast, 8th Andy Warhol and 9th a British colonialist, but what stands out most is what I didn’t wear.

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A native Angeleno, composer/music producer Robert Oriol composes music for theatre and film in the Los Angeles area. He is currently producing a series of rock music workout CDs for The Gymrattz Collective.

What’s your favorite scary movie?

Night of the Living Dead, of course!

Any costume plans for this year?

I’m considering dressing up as Sarah Palin’s pregnant daughter, pregnancy test in hand and mascara streaming down my cheeks.

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LA Times columnist Meghan Daum on her costume last year: It always fascinates me how on Halloween women want to dress up like sluts and men want to dress up like women. Maybe I’ll go as a man dressed as a woman dressed as a slut. But I’d really like to get my hands on one of those vending machine costumes they apparently use in Japan to avoid muggers.

Last Halloween season, in our Creepy Questions series CreepyLA interviewed some notable Los Angeles denizens. From Elvira to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, from Patt Morrison to John Doe, each one shed some light on their habits, quirks and traditions for the holiday.

Shilah Morrow and Victoria Lane told us about Halloween parties of the “Nashvegas” and Goth aesthetics.

On the subject of Halloween costumes they wore when they were kids, the answers were all over the place. But when it came to identifying the scariest thing in Los Angeles, we seemed to (almost) reach a consensus.

As for naming their favorite scary movies– well, try not to read too much into the answers.

What did you dress up as when you were a kid?

Elvira: Even when I was a little girl I was anything but little. I had to go out as twins.

John Doe: I seem to remember my mom making me a ghost– sheet over head, cut out eye holes, several times.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: I dressed as a cowboy, a vampire, and my favorite costume was a baseball player.

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“It’s an annual Halloween tradition to freak out the customers by dressing up the Amoeba staff in khaki pants and white polo shirts. Just kidding, but that would probably be pretty scary, huh?”

We’ve featured Amoeba Music honcho Mary Patton’s Halloween desserts on CreepyLA. If you’ve seen them, you know this is a woman with a deep appreciation for the holiday and its attending festivities. So we asked her…

Being from the Windy City, which is scarier for Halloween, Chicago or Los Angeles?

There was once a time when I was sure no city could rival Chicago …until I moved to LA. The entertainment community here gets to apply their craft and unabashedly indulge in a fantasy world one night a year without restraint, and the result is spine-tingling and spectacular. I appreciate the attention to detail.

Keep in mind, you’re asking a girl who grew up with the nick-name, “Scary Mary,” and who once lived in a mortuary al a Six Feet Under. My step-dad was a mortician. I even used to keep caskets in my home long after I moved out of the funeral home and used them as functional home furnishings.

Give me an example.

They’re a wonderful place to store your vinyl LPs. [click to continue...]

Born in City Terrace, Antonio Villaraigosa is a lifelong resident of Los Angeles. He was elected mayor in 2005 and is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Mayor Cristóbal Aguilar led the city in 1872, when its population was barely 6,000. He also served in the California State Assembly, where he was named Speaker, as well as on the Los Angeles City Council representing the 14th district.

What do you love about Halloween in Los Angeles?

What I love most about Halloween in LA is seeing all the happy faces of ghosts and goblins while they are trick-or-treating. [click to continue...]

Actor David Arquette’s directorial debut, the comedy/slasher “The Tripper,” came out on video last week (add it to your Netflix queue, or win a copy of the DVD), starring Jason Mewes (the talky one of the Jay and Silent Bob duo), Lukas Haas, Jaime King, Thomas Jane, and Paul Reubens. Oh, and Stephen Heath. Heath doesn’t earn poster credit, but he shares as much screen time as almost anyone, including the killer. If you’ve seen “The Tripper,” he’s the one who says, “If the vans a rockin’, don’t come-a-cock-blockin.’”

Heath graciously answered some questions for Creepy LA. Read on for his experiences working on set with Arquette and company, his toxic Mr. Peanut costume, and more.

Creepy: Know any good Los Angeles ghost stories?

Heath: I was driving behind Dodger stadium with a friend who has lived here for 30 years, and as we passed a dirt road I commented, “That’s a total Hillside Strangler road.” It was just a bit creepy… a sort of dead end, a few trails… lotsa garbage.

Anyway, my friend Greg responds, “It is!”

After some back and forth, I realized that he was telling me that the street I was talking about was in fact the hillside strangler street where he killed a few people. I have a sixth sense. Or a sick sense.

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