What happens when your dad shows you The Exorcist at age six and it changes your life forever?

For Kimberly Ramsawak, it sparked a lifelong fascination with horror that became a platform for empowerment, creativity, and connection.

Not Possessed, Possessing Power: Women in Horror

Who is Kimberly Ramsawak?

Kimberly is the creator of Horror Concierge, a Substack newsletter for women horror fans and creators. She is also the founder of Horror and Her, a coaching business that helps women build powerful newsletters and communities centered on their unique horror perspectives.

What we talk about in this episode

• Kimberly’s horror origin story and how The Exorcist became her lifelong favorite
• The link between horror and empowerment for women
• Why Substack is becoming a home for horror voices and creative community
• How to turn horror writing into a movement, not just a newsletter
• Why horror fans were more resilient during the COVID pandemic
• The growing diversity in the horror world and why representation matters
• The need for original storytelling and fewer remakes
• Kimberly’s favorite final person and why Naru from "Prey" stands above the rest

Favorite moments

• I was six when my dad sat me down to watch The Exorcist and Thriller. He told my mom, ‘They’re gonna learn not to be afraid of anything.’
• Everyone writes reviews. What’s your hill to die on? What’s the thing you can’t stop talking about? That’s your horror voice.
• Horror fans already survived the zombie apocalypse in our minds. That’s why we handled COVID better than most.

Why this episode matters

Kimberly shows how horror can be both a creative outlet and a path to healing. Her approach reminds us that when we confront what terrifies us, whether it is societal expectations or personal fear, we make space for growth, power, and reinvention.

Listen if you have ever

• Hidden your horror fandom at work or around friends who do not get it
• Wanted to start writing about horror but did not know where to begin
• Needed a reminder that fear can be fuel
• Wished to see more women and creators of color shaping the horror landscape

Connect with Kimberly

• Substack: Horror Concierge
• Coaching: Horror and Her

Question for our Horror Heal-iacs

What horror film or book made you feel seen for the first time?

Share your answer in the comments or tag us with #HorrorHeals. Your story may be featured in a future episode.

What happens when an actress who played make-believe among the stars helps real astronauts reach them?

In this special tribute episode of Horror Heals, Corey honors the life and legacy of June Lockhart, who passed away at 100 after a century spent balancing the light of Hollywood with the wonder of the cosmos.

For most of us, June will always be the fearless matriarch who kept her family safe aboard the Jupiter 2 in Lost in Space, or the comforting mother who taught generations of kids kindness through Lassie. But her reach extended far beyond television screens and soundstages.

In 2013, NASA awarded June the Exceptional Public Achievement Medal for her decades of advocacy and inspiration. Her fascination with space was not an act, it was part of who she was. She spoke with astronauts, attended launches, and became a true ambassador for curiosity itself.

June also made her mark in the worlds that inspire this show: science fiction and horror. She brought heart and humor to the cult favorite Troll (1986), blended domestic warmth with cosmic dread in Lost in Space, and carried the poise of old Hollywood into the age of aliens, monsters, and magic. She proved that even in the strangest worlds, empathy matters most.

Corey shares his family’s personal connection to Meet Me in St. Louis, a Lockhart classic that his grandparents introduced to him and his siblings on SelectaVision, and reflects on how June’s artistry linked generations through story and imagination.

In this episode

• June’s evolution from Broadway debut to interstellar pioneer
• The Lost in Space legacy that launched real-life dreams
• Her forays into horror and fantasy, including Troll and other genre-bending roles
• Why NASA called her one of its brightest stars
• How she turned compassion, curiosity, and courage into a century-long career
• The enduring power of imagination as both escape and healing

Why this episode matters

June Lockhart’s story reminds us that horror and science fiction are never only about fear, they are about possibility. She showed that the same spark that lights a campfire ghost story can also ignite a rocket.

Her legacy is proof that curiosity can be sacred, that kindness can exist in the face of the unknown, and that our best stories, the dark ones, the cosmic ones, and the human ones, are all connected.

Listen now

Join Horror Heals for a heartfelt journey through the life of June Lockhart, the actress who helped us face the void, love the strange, and look to the stars.

What happens when an empath steps into the world of nightmares?

For A Nightmare on Elm Street 5 star Beatrice Boepple, who played Amanda “Mama” Krueger, horror became an unexpected path toward healing. Through fan letters, convention stories, and her own reflections, she discovered that horror can be a safe way to process pain, grief, and fear.

Beatrice joins Corey for a heartfelt conversation about empathy, creativity, and community. Together they explore how horror helps people face trauma, find belonging, and transform fear into strength.

Shortly before this episode’s release, Beatrice’s earnings were stolen at ScareFest. What followed showed the best of the horror world. Fans, staff, vendors, and fellow actors came together to help her recover nearly everything she lost. In this episode, she and Corey share how that outpouring reminded them why the horror community feels like family.

They also honor Mark Patton, the original Elm Street “final guy,” whose courage and generosity continue to inspire horror fans around the world.

From Nightmare to Healing: How the Horror Community Lifted Mama Krueger Up

In This Episode

• Horror as a healing force for fans and performers

• How empathy shaped Beatrice’s work as an actor and yoga teacher

• The theft at ScareFest and the kindness that followed

• Celebrating Mark Patton and his influence on the horror family

• Why compassion belongs at the center of horror storytelling

Support and Resources

Support Beatrice by visiting her collector store for signed items and memorabilia:

beatriceboepple.com/collector-items

Support Mark Patton’s recovery by donating to his medical fund:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/unite-for-horror-icons-health-recovery

Connect with Beatrice:

Website: beatriceboepple.com

Instagram: @beatriceboepple

Facebook: Beatrice Boepple Official

About Beatrice Boepple

Beatrice Boepple is an actor, author, and yoga instructor best known for portraying Amanda “Mama” Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child. She wrote The Kruger’s Curse: A Nightmare Before Elm Street, a novel that expands her character’s story. A long-time yoga teacher and empath, Beatrice uses both mindfulness and storytelling to help others find peace through art and connection.

About Horror Heals

Horror Heals is hosted by Corey Stulce and explores how horror connects us to our humanity. Each episode looks at how monsters, movies, and macabre art help us process trauma, understand our fears, and celebrate resilience.

When someone asks if horror is good for mental wellness, you tell them, of corpse it is.

What happens when the VHS kid who found safety with scream queens grows up and becomes the cosplay that inspires the original star?

If horror has ever been your coping tool, your comfort movie, or your mirror when life got loud, Gregory’s story shows how channeling fandom into creativity and community can lift your mood, build resilience, and connect you to people who truly get it. This episode turns nostalgia into a wellness practice you can actually use.

Key takeaways:

Turn comfort watches into creative fuel: how Gregory transformed Friday-night rentals into cosplay, commentary, and connection.

Community heals: ways conventions, photo shoots, and creator shout-outs can reduce isolation and boost self-worth.

Own your origin story: reframing “outsider” energy into confidence, boundaries, and an everyday wellness ritual.

Gregory Van Abelar joins Corey to talk horror as therapy, community, and art. We dig into Gregory’s famed Angela cosplay from Night of the Demons, including the moment Amelia Kinkade herself cheered him on and later collaborated with him for charity events. Gregory traces a throughline from being a horror-loving loner who found friends in scream queens, to creating shoots at sacred genre sites like the Monroeville Mall, to landing on the Night of the Demons 3 Blu-ray commentary. We also hit Night of the Living Dead lore, the new Tom Savini director’s cut, and why revisiting classics can feel like checking in with an old friend. Most of all, Gregory shows how horror helps you survive the hard chapters and celebrate the weird, wonderful you.

How a Scream Queen Saved Me

Highlights:

• Angela forever: first cosplay, junior-high courage, and navigating homophobia without dimming your shine
• The Amelia effect: meeting Kinkade, instant kinship, and teaming up for animal charity work
• Community as medicine: why creator recognition and con culture can be life-giving
• Monroeville Mall memories and keeping horror landmarks alive
• Night of the Living Dead talk, the Savini cut, and why remakes can heal too
• Final people we love: claiming Angela’s last line as a “final girl” crown
• Practical ways horror fandom supports mental wellness

Press play to hear how Gregory turned VHS-era comfort into real-world courage and community, and steal his rituals for making horror part of your mental wellness toolkit today.

The world feels heavy. Anxiety is high, headlines are grim, and creative burnout is real. This week, Horror Heals host Corey Stulce sits down with Lee Murray ONZM to talk about how horror can help us process the darkness instead of drowning in it.

Lee Murray is proof that horror can wear a crown and still draw blood. The Aotearoa-born author, editor, poet, and screenwriter has snagged five Bram Stokers®, a Shirley Jackson Award, and the Prime Minister’s Award for Fiction. Her monsters whisper truth, her ghosts quote poetry, and her stories remind us that terror and tenderness often share the same heartbeat. Learn more: leemurray.info

Lee has built a global reputation as one of the genre’s most thoughtful voices, writing about grief, loss, and trauma with honesty and heart. In this conversation, she and Corey explore how creating (and consuming) horror can actually make us kinder and more resilient. They talk about writing from anxiety, building community in a chaotic world, and how fear can become a tool for healing.

This episode isn’t just for writers or horror fans. It’s for anyone who feels overwhelmed, disconnected, or creatively stuck. Lee’s message is clear: the monsters aren’t here to hurt us. They’re here to help us understand ourselves.

The World Feels Like a Horror Movie. Here’s How to Survive It.

What You’ll Learn

• How horror storytelling can serve as emotional processing for grief, fear, and anxiety.
• Why confronting darkness creatively is healthier than avoiding it.
• How Lee Murray’s own experiences with anxiety fuel her award-winning work.
• The role of community and connection in healing through horror.
• How to balance creative ambition with mental wellness.
• Why horror fans might be the most emotionally self-aware people on the planet.

Why This Episode Matters Right Now

Between global uncertainty, collective burnout, and the constant churn of bad news, conversations about mental wellness are everywhere. What sets this episode apart is its focus on how horror, a genre built on fear, can actually bring comfort, clarity, and community.

Lee Murray’s perspective feels especially relevant as artists, writers, and fans look for ways to stay grounded while the world feels unhinged. Her reminder that storytelling can transform anxiety into empathy lands like a lifeline in uncertain times.

About Lee Murray

Lee Murray is an award-winning author, poet, and editor from Aotearoa, New Zealand. She is a four-time Bram Stoker Award winner and the co-founder of the HWA New Zealand branch. Her work includes novels, short fiction, and anthologies that blend horror, fantasy, and the deeply human experience of fear and loss. Her collections and collaborations have inspired a generation of writers who view horror as both art and medicine.

Learn more at Lee Murray’s official website or follow her on social media.

Key Topics and Timestamps

00:00 – Corey welcomes Horror Heal-iacs and sets the scene: the world feels dark, but horror can help.

03:42 – Lee Murray introduces her philosophy of “writing from a dark place.”

09:10 – How horror offers emotional rehearsal for real-world fear and grief.

13:26 – Anxiety, creativity, and the myth of the “tortured artist.”

20:15 – Building inclusive, compassionate...

This year marks the 50th anniversary of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," and what better way to celebrate than to explore its legacy as a queer lifeline.

In Part Two of our conversation with the creator behind Queer for Fear, we dig into how "Rocky Horror" is more than a midnight movie. It is a rite of passage, a community builder, and a warm blanket for queer horror fans across generations. For Heather, "Rocky Horror" is a personal comfort film she revisits again and again. For Kendall and Corey, it was their very first Halloween together, one dressed as Eddie, the other as Frankenfurter. And for countless others, it was the first time they walked into a theater and felt truly seen.

We also talk about the power of camp to transform trauma, the complicated legacy of "Sleepaway Camp," the evolution of horror conventions from exclusionary to inclusive, and the dream of a traveling queer horror convention where the spirit of Rocky Horror lives on.

In This Episode, You’ll Hear:

• Why "Rocky Horror" still matters 50 years later and why it feels just as transgressive today
• How camp helps queer fans reframe trauma into joy and survival
• The push and pull of problematic texts like "Sleepaway Camp" and why nuance matters
• Conventions as healing spaces for fans and celebrities alike
• The fantasy of a traveling queer horror convention with sequins, karaoke, and midnight screenings

Why This Episode Matters:

Half a century later, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" still has the power to shock, unite, and heal. Part Two celebrates how horror, and "Rocky Horror" in particular, creates spaces where queerness, trauma, and joy collide into something unforgettable.

In this episode of Horror Heals, Corey sits down with Heather, the force behind Queer for Fear. Part One of this two-parter dives deep into the queer relationship with horror, the villains we secretly love, and how the genre became a lifeline for outsiders looking for a mirror in pop culture.

Heather shares her personal journey of grief and discovery, from the death of her brother to finding both healing and community through horror. We talk about growing up as queer Gen X kids obsessed with VHS covers, discovering horror through films like Fright Night and Nightmare on Elm Street 2, and why the Wicked Witch of the West may be one of the greatest queer icons of all time (sorry Dorothy, but stealing shoes off a corpse is a bad look).

This conversation is funny, heartfelt, and full of chills—the perfect reminder that horror isn’t just about monsters on screen, it’s about survival, identity, and connection.

Queer Horror, Wicked Witches, and Why We Need Monsters

What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

• Why Heather started Queer for Fear and how horror became the center of her academic and creative work
• The Wicked Witch as a queer villain icon—and why Glinda might actually be the real monster in The Wizard of Oz
• The healing power of horror as a trauma processor
• The messy joy of growing up in the 80s horror aisle, when VHS covers were pure nightmare fuel
• Reclaiming films once mocked (Nightmare on Elm Street 2, Fright Night) as part of queer horror canon
• How horror conventions evolved from “black-shirt bros” to radically inclusive spaces

Why You Should Listen:

If you’ve ever felt like the weirdo in the room, this episode will feel like home. Heather’s insights are sharp, hilarious, and deeply moving—a reminder that horror heals not just through screams, but through belonging.

Links & Resources:

• Follow Heather on Instagram: @queerforfear
• Check out Heather’s book: Queer for Fear: Horror Film and the Queer Spectator

In this episode of Horror Heals, Corey and Kendall sit down with psychotherapist and horror enthusiast Candis Green. From her childhood obsession with Halloween and witches to her professional use of Jungian dream work and archetypes, Candis shares how horror became both her passion and her therapeutic lens. She opens up about why she watches horror movies alone in the dark, what dreams reveal about the psyche, and how horror conventions create space for sensitive souls. The conversation also dives into her podcast, Mental Health is Horrifying, and why Sidney Prescott from Scream remains her all-time favorite final person.

What We Cover:

• How Candis merges psychotherapy with her love of horror
• The role of Jungian approaches, archetypes, and dream work in her practice
• Why watching horror alone can be a form of self-care
• Horror on a spectrum: from Hocus Pocus to Terrifier
• The healing power of horror conventions and community
• Her lifelong love of Halloween, witches, and Salem (including her honeymoon there!)
• The inspiration behind Mental Health is Horrifying
• Her favorite witch in pop culture and her dream aesthetic
• Why Sidney Prescott is the ultimate final person

Guest Bio

Candis Green is a Registered Psychotherapist in Toronto, Canada. Drawing from Jungian approaches, she integrates dream analysis, archetypes, and creative tools into her practice. She’s also the host of Mental Health is Horrifying, a podcast exploring how horror movies act as modern-day collective nightmares, helping us confront and process our deepest fears.

In this episode of Horror Heals, Corey and Kendall are joined by filmmaker Andrew Jara, who opens up about creating a horror film rooted in his own experience with anxiety, panic attacks, and the slow, quiet devastation of grief.

🎬 Andrew’s film The Empty Space isn’t your typical genre fare — it’s a deeply personal exploration of mental health, told through the lens of horror.

💭 Together, we dive into what anxiety really feels like, why horror is the perfect medium to express emotional chaos, and how the horror community can be one of the most supportive spaces for those struggling with invisible wounds.

Corey shares his own panic attack experiences, Kendall reflects on the surprising therapeutic value of scary films, and Andrew reveals how horror helps him say what he can’t in real life — and why sometimes the scariest part of a movie is the part that feels familiar.

In this episode:

• What a panic attack really feels like — and how it’s portrayed in horror
• The making of The Empty Space and why Andrew stopped waiting for permission to tell his story
• Representation in horror: the power of seeing your struggle on screen
• When horror triggers... and when it heals
• How genre films help us face emotions we don’t have words for

Follow Andrew Jara:

🎥 @andrewjara

📽️ The Empty Space

Let’s keep the conversation going:

📲 Follow us on Instagram: @horrorhealspodcast

💌 Subscribe & review wherever you get your screams — it really helps others find the show.

This week, we're slicing through the surface of the horror world to spotlight something truly revolutionary. Corey and Kendall sit down with filmmaker, podcaster, and horror disruptor Ariel Baska, whose life was forever changed the first time they locked eyes with a certain glove-wearing nightmare fiend. (Yes, we’re talking about Freddy Krueger—because of corpse we are.)

But Ariel didn’t just fall in love with horror—they reshaped it. As the founder of Access:Horror, they’ve created a hybrid film festival and industry summit that unapologetically centers disability and queerness in genre storytelling. And it’s not just inclusive—it’s “so inclusive, it’s scary.

This year’s fest is stacked:

🔪 Ten killer short films.

🧠 A panel on Blackness and Disability in Horror.

🎤 A live performance by Maya Azucena.

🎬 All shorts streaming for the first time ever on Shudder.

💀 And a silent auction that includes a literal piece of the Blair Witch house.

We talk about what it means to be the monster and the final girl, how horror became a lifeline for Ariel, and why this year’s Access:Horror is arriving at a moment when disabled communities need bold, creative resistance more than ever.

If you’ve ever felt like horror saved your life, this episode is your love letter. And if you haven’t yet? It might be the one that opens the door.

🎙 About Our Guest: Ariel Baska

Ariel Baska is a queer disabled filmmaker, podcaster, and the founder of Access:Horror. They are also the host of Ride the Omnibus, a show exploring media through a social justice lens. Ariel’s upcoming documentary, Monstrous Me, produced by Lilly Wachowski, dives into their personal relationship with horror, disability, and the monster that started it all: Freddy Krueger.

Ariel’s building spaces in horror that don’t just welcome people with disabilities—they center them. Their work isn’t performative. It’s personal, political, and pointed like the end of a clawed glove.

🕯 Access:Horror 2025 — Details

📍 In-person: August 1, DCTV Firehouse Cinema, NYC

🌍 Streaming worldwide

📺 Streaming partner: Shudder

🧠 In partnership with: George A. Romero Foundation

🎤 Hosts: Ariel Baska, Sharai Bohannon, Xero Gravity

🏆 Awards host: Phil Nobile Jr., Editor-in-Chief of Fangoria

🎟 Tickets & info: accesshorrorfest.com