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Beatrice Boepple (Amanda Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street 5) joins Horror Heals for one of the most powerful conversations we’ve had about horror, trauma, empathy, and why these stories matter so much.

Before the interview, Corey shares what happened at ScareFest: Beatrice had her entire day’s earnings stolen, money earmarked for her son’s college fund, and was later targeted by an extortion attempt. But the horror community showed its true colors. Fans, staff, vendors, and fellow guests rallied around her and helped recover nearly every dollar. This is what our horror family looks like: compassion over cruelty, solidarity over selfishness.

Beatrice opens up about being a lifelong empath who once avoided gore, how yoga and horror unexpectedly intersect in her life, and why so many fans connect to Amanda Krueger’s trauma and survival story. She talks about her book The Krueger’s Curse, the deeper backstory she created for Amanda, her experiences playing Pamela Voorhees in fan films, and the surprising impact of convention culture.

We also discuss her close friendship with Mark Patton (Jesse from Elm Street 2), his health challenges, and how listeners can help support him during treatment.

This episode digs into bullying, survival narratives, final-girl empowerment, horror community acceptance, and how characters like Freddy and Jason resonate so deeply with fans who grew up as outsiders. Beatrice’s insight is raw, warm, and profoundly healing.

Horror isn’t about cruelty; it’s about community. And Beatrice Boepple is proof.

Thank you for listening to Horror Heals. 

Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing.

If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages.

You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way.

Horror Heals is produced by How the Cow Ate the Cabbage LLC.

Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

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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.

Thank you for listening to Horror Heals. 

Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing.

If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages.

You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way.

Horror Heals is produced by How the Cow Ate the Cabbage LLC.

Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

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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...

Thank you for listening to Horror Heals. 

Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing.

If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages.

You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way.

Horror Heals is produced by How the Cow Ate the Cabbage LLC.

Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

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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.

Thank you for listening to Horror Heals. 

Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing.

If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages.

You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way.

Horror Heals is produced by How the Cow Ate the Cabbage LLC.

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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

Thank you for listening to Horror Heals. 

Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing.

If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages.

You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way.

Horror Heals is produced by How the Cow Ate the Cabbage LLC.

Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

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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.

Thank you for listening to Horror Heals. 

Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing.

If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages.

You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way.

Horror Heals is produced by How the Cow Ate the Cabbage LLC.

Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

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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.

Thank you for listening to Horror Heals. 

Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing.

If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages.

You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way.

Horror Heals is produced by How the Cow Ate the Cabbage LLC.

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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

Thank you for listening to Horror Heals. 

Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing.

If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages.

You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way.

Horror Heals is produced by How the Cow Ate the Cabbage LLC.

Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

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This week on Horror Heals, we’re joined by debut horror author Grace Daly, who once called herself “a coward to the core.” Jump scares? No thanks. Gore? Absolutely not. But everything changed when Grace's chronic illness forced her to confront a very real kind of body horror—one she couldn't turn off, mute, or escape.

In this powerful and unflinchingly honest episode, Grace shares how her diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome cracked open a terrifying but oddly comforting door into the horror genre. We talk about finding catharsis in blood and guts, the comfort of monsters when your body feels like the enemy, and why disabled voices are crucial in horror storytelling.

We also dive into:

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• The surprising role of Tucker & Dale vs. Evil in her healing
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• Why horror comedy makes brutal truths easier to face
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• Menstrual blood, dismembered limbs, and other “normal” things
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• Her upcoming debut novel The Scald Crow and the joy of haunting the Midwest
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• And yes—how being a full-size candy bar house is a sacred Halloween duty 🎃
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Grace proves you don’t have to be fearless to face the dark—you just have to be ready.

📚 Guest: Grace Daly

Grace is a former IT project manager turned horror writer who lives with multiple chronic invisible illnesses. Her debut novel The Scald Crow drops this October and blends Irish folklore, body horror, and razor-sharp humor with unflinching honesty about disability and identity.

💬 “My body is a horror show. So I figured—I might as well write one.”

Thank you for listening to Horror Heals. 

Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing.

If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages.

You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way.

Horror Heals is produced by How the Cow Ate the Cabbage LLC.

Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.

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What happens when childhood nightmares become your calling card? In this episode of Horror Heals, scare actor Omar Ortega joins Corey and Kendall to talk about growing up inside a family-owned video store, how Nightmare on Elm Street haunted his imagination, and how horror evolved from fear to fuel.

Omar opens up about his journey from VHS kid to veteran scare actor, sharing the emotional highs and behind-the-scenes lows of working in iconic haunts like Universal Studios Hollywood and LA’s Haunted Hayride. From bad fan placement to drag in the dark, this conversation digs into the ways horror helps Omar process rage, build confidence, and offer guests a uniquely immersive experience they’ll never forget.

Whether he’s channeling Madman Marz, playing The Butcher, or embodying the spirit of Divine in full wig-slap glory, Omar reminds us that scaring others can be healing — and horror is far more than just a seasonal thrill.

Because… is horror good for mental wellness?

Of corpse it is.

Confessions of a Scare Actor

🎭 In This Episode:

• Omar’s horror origin story: family movie nights, Halloween II, and Freddy nightmares
• What it's really like to audition as a scare actor at Universal Studios
• The power of performance: transforming breakups, frustration, and rejection into compelling characters
• Honoring Janelle Monáe’s haunted vision and finding surprise joy in queer expression
• VHS nostalgia, underrated sequels, and why Nancy Thompson remains a top-tier Final Girl
• A brilliant take on The Exorcist… as a drama?

🧠 Horror-Healing Themes:

• Emotional catharsis through character work
• Channeling anger and grief into immersive performance
• Finding identity and power in horror personas
• The unique thrill of being seen in the shadows
• Community, resilience, and the evolution of haunted house acting

🩸 About Our Guest:

Omar Ortega is a Los Angeles–based scare actor and lifelong horror fan who has spent nearly a decade performing in haunted attractions like LA’s Haunted Hayride and Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights. Raised in a family-run video store, Omar fell in love with horror from a young age — and now channels that passion into immersive, emotionally charged performances that blur the line between fear and therapy. He’s played everything from brutal butchers to haunted drag queens and believes that horror is a powerful vehicle for release, reinvention, and connection.

🎙️ Horror Heals is the podcast that asks:

Is horror good for mental wellness?

Of corpse it is.

Thank you for listening to Horror Heals. 

Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing.

If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages.

You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way.

Horror Heals is produced by How the Cow Ate the Cabbage LLC.

Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.