Ms. Horror Blogosphere: Entry #2

Blogger: Andre Dumas
Blog: The Horror Digest

I'm a 23-year-old living in Boston and trying to survive my first winter in the "real world". I'm a writer, Zelda fanatic and cat lover, and I tend to eat really unhealthy food. I'm obsessed with all things horror, but hate everything having to do with the Saw movies. I tend to get turned on by the "terrible beauty" in horror movies, and stay away from unnecessary booby shots and blood that has no point except to just be there.

What initially drew you to the horror genre?
My first encounters with the horror genre came from when I would take a little trip over to the horror section of the movie store. Horror VHS's are an artwork of their own, but I specifically remember getting freaked out by the back of Sleepaway Camp--a letter a camper wrote to his parents caught off mid sentence, with a splatter of blood at the bottom. After that, I was all about watching horror movies behind some kind of barrier, namely a couch or a pillow. The desire to be scared, but being afraid of being scared. It's similar to why people go to haunted houses or ride roller coasters. It's an adrenaline rush. What really got me into the art form of horror movies, however, was Suspiria. The colors are so amazing that it boggled my mind, and sparked my obsession with the beauty of blood on film.

Who is your biggest inspiration? Doesn’t have to be within the genre itself.
Dario Argento has definitely been my biggest inspiration, because Suspiria was the first horror movie where I really saw something incredible happening on the screen. It was the first time I truly realized that I was obsessed with blood--and honestly, who is a better poster boy than Dario Argento for beautiful blood? Like his movies or not, Argento can paint a picture on film, and lately that style has been replaced with dirty factories and rusty tools of torture. There's a been a huge push to make horror movies more realistic and raw rather than fantastical and nightmare-like. I really miss the days when horror movies weren't questioned for their realism factor. Who really cares if someone can be strangled by their own intestines... it's just fucking awesome. No explanation or scientific research required.

How would you best describe your blog?
My blog is a regurgitation of all my thoughts about horror movies. I usually focus on what aspect of the movie is the most unsettling and disturbing, because I feel like that's what sticks with us the most. My tag line, "Where horror movies are watched, reviewed and remembered" is perfect, because a lot of my first memories all have something to do with some random horror movie that I saw on TV. Images like Freddy Krueger dislocating his jaw to suck a little girl under a bed, or that fucking demon face from The Exorcist, aren't things that you forget too easily. The power and the impact that these movies have on people young or old will always be fascinating to me, and so I like to give people a chance to relive those memories or find new ones. But it's also not just a blog for the horror obsessed. People read it who hate horror movies, but just enjoy my style and wacky banter. God bless them.

How does it feel to be a female horror blogger in a world where it seems necessary to have a beard to write about horror movies? Do you find that you’re not taken as seriously?
I find that I'm met with more interest because I'm female. People read my blog and don't realize that I am this 23-year-old girl who showers daily and is obsessed with her cat. I don't feel like I'm taken any more or less seriously because of it. It really comes down to whether or not you're a good writer, and if you give people a reason to read what you write. I think male or female, if you're writing about horror you will always have a hard time being taken seriously by the non-horror community. It's certainly a challenge, but I think all of us have been making waves and reinventing the way people think and react to horror movies.

Bang, Marry or Kill: Freddy, Jason, Michael. Please explain your answer.
Ooh, toughie. I guess I'd have to bang Michael, but NOT Rob Zombie's Michael--too many whiny, trailer trash/bad childhood issues. Carpenter's Michael is the strong, silent type, so I'd assume he'd let me take control. His heavy breathing could get old fast, but that can be easily solved by a bigger breathing hole in his mask.
I would consider marrying Freddy because he'd be a pretty entertaining husband. Although I might get tired of all his antics... he'd probably try that tongue in the phone thing a few too many times before I divorce him. Plus he's a child molester, so two strikes already. Bad luck Fred.
Seeing as Jason is kind of dead, retarded and moldy/water logged, I may have to just kill him so that he'd leave me alone and I could stop smelling his stench. I wonder how long he's been wearing those pants for... ugh, I just gagged.

If you could have the baby of one figure in the world of horror, real or fictional, who would it be? Not including Bruce Campbell/Ash…
Well it was my fellow Bostonianish (Newton) Eli Roth, until he blocked me on Twitter. And to Eli I would just like to say that I'm sorry for saying I didn't love your movies but still wanted to do you. Apparently, whatever I said was enough for him to shoot down my dreams. I guess I'd still have his baby with or without his consent.... yeah, that's kind of weird. I guess that whole blocking thing was probably warranted. But I did give him lots of credit for Hostel 2 so he should be thanking me, plus he should be glad he has a stalker that's decent looking.