Interviews
Mary Kay McBrayer interviews other creatives
William Brent Bell on His New Folk Horror Film Lord of Misrule at Dread Central
I had the pleasure of interviewing the incredible Tananarive Due about her newest novel The Reformatory—which is releasing on October 31, 2023. This incredible American Book Award-winning author opens up the challenges of writing and the inspiration for her new chilling historical fiction novel—and she also provides impeccable advice to burgeoning writers.
Courtney McBroom, Lessons in Chemistry’s (2023) Food Consultant, Talks Vintage Recipes, Cookbooks, and Cooking for the Screen at FlixChat
Lessons in Chemistry follows chemist Elizabeth Zott (Brie Larson) as she navigates the boys’ club of chemical development in 1950s California, as well as her inclusion of chemistry into her hit cooking TV show.
I had the privilege of talking with Courtney McBroom, the show’s food consultant, about her favorite vintage recipes, collecting antique cookbooks, and how to cook for visual appeal overall.
In Garth Davis’ new film Foe, Earth is so fatigued that the government is experimenting with sending people to space. When fifth-generation farmer Junior (Paul Mescal) is conscripted to the space colony, government agent Terrance (Aaron Pierre) demonstrates the burden of care toward Junior’s wife, Henrietta (Saoirse Ronan) by providing her a replacement of Junior. Though the replacement is AI, he is a conscious human who looks, sounds, and feels like Junior himself.
Here, I got to talk with the director about AI, adapting to screen from novel, and the concept of a "burden of care."
Behold, Never Whistle at Night, the anthology of Indigenous dark fiction. It’s a collection of 26 original works of short horror fiction by both emerging and established Indigenous writers—everyone’s in it, from Tommy Orange to Rebecca Roanhorse and Cherie Dimaline, and Stephen Graham Jones introduces it. And I know we aren't supposed to judge books by their covers—but look at that cover!
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing editors Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr. about this exciting new entry into the short horror fiction landscape. Here’s what they said.
If you see a horror film as creative as Danny and Michael Philippou’s Talk to Me (2023), you start to list the questions you’ll ask if at any moment you get the chance (logistics of particularly visceral practical effects, or how they got to the end product of a particularly effective scene). And when you do get the chance, you hope to God the creators are as easy to talk to and personable as the Philippous.
Brothers Danny and Michael Philippou set out to make a coming-of-age horror film that utilized two key concepts: first, teenagers using demon possession to get high… and second, what happens when the other kids at the party videotape it.
The new historical drama film Chevalier is inspired by the incredible true story of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. The illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, Bologne (played by Kelvin Harrison Jr.) rises to improbable heights in French society as a celebrated violinist-composer and fencer, complete with an ill-fated love affair and a falling out with Marie Antoinette (Lucy Boynton) and her court.
Director Nathalie Biancheri sat down with FANGORIA to talk about authenticity among species in her sophomore film WOLF. WOLF follows the story of Jacob (George MacKay) as he navigates a clinic for people with species dysphoria and the psychologist/zookeeper who torments them with cognitive-behavioral treatment.
Neon Splatter Q&A: FREAKY combines the premises of FRIDAY THE 13TH with FREAKY FRIDAY, in which the giant strongman serial killer The Butcher (Vince Vaughn) tries to murder sweet, dorky, bereaved high-school student, Millie (Kathryn Newton) with an ancient dagger that curses them to live in each other’s bodies. It even won the Breaking Barriers Lizzie Award at the culminating ceremony Saturday night—which, by the way, is the dopest trophy you’ll ever see.
Juliette Lewis talks about her new show Sacred Lies with Killer Horror Critic.
How does Director Autumn de Wilde feel about her new film adaptation of Emma?
Will Schwalbe is the author of the books The End of Your Life Book Club and Books for Living. As the titles suggest, Will focuses on the relationship and impact that books have on their readers’ lives. In his podcast But That’s Another Story, he interviews people about those life-changing reads to give his listeners new stories and new books for living. In this interview, we talk about the creative process and how books, podcasts, and living all go together.