Jerry Sampson

What is your favourite genre of horror? 
I tend to be drawn toward extreme and supernatural horror. I know they may not seem like a normal mix, but it’s the comfort that comes with switching the sub-genres out that I love.

What movies would you recommend in that genre? 
In the extreme realm I recommend Pola X, Martyrs, Irréversible, and The House that Jack Built. For supernatural I suggest The Dark and the Wicked, The Shining, The Omen, and Don’t Look Now (I believe that one has a bit of supernatural in it).

What are your favourite horror movies? 
My god what a question. There are many, but I suppose if I had to nail it down I’d do it by decade. My favorite from the 70s are Don’t Look Now and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. From the 80s it’s going to be The Shining, The Evil Dead, The Hunger, and In a Glass Cage. The 90s gave me my comfort horror: Scream, Candyman, Audition, and Funny Games. Once the 00s hit I fell into a bit of torture and trauma; Wolf Creek, Martyrs, Antichrist, Inside, High Tension, Irréversible —basically all of the New French Extremity. The 2010’s gifted me indie horror like You’re Next, We Are Still Here, The Guest, and so many more lower budget gems. And now I offer such brilliant works as The Death of Dick Long, The Dark and the Wicked, Caveat, Possum, and Possessor. Wow. That was probably supposed to be easy.

What was the last horror movie that actually scared you?
For the third mention, it’s The Dark and the Wicked. I’ve watched a lot of horror, spent a lot of time moderately unnerved, but The Dark and the Wicked is one that truly got under my skin in a way that I simply couldn’t shake.

What is your favourite moment from a horror movie?
The moment in Oculus when Karen Gillian’s character bites into an apple that ends up being a lightbulb is a memorable one for me. The visceral reaction my body has to the sound of the glass going into her skin and the close-up of her eyes in that moment is killer. But again, I feel like I could write a list a mile long of truly memorable scenes. 

Why is horror special for you? 
Horror is the place I go to escape. It is the dark passenger that accompanies my dark passenger. I grew up with fear and it wasn’t until I discovered the genre that I realized that I wasn’t alone in that fear, that there were others, the ones behind the words and the scenes, that felt the way I do. It was a powerful moment that I think about often. 

What character in a horror do you relate to most and why? 
I can usually find something to relate to in most characters. We all have a little fear, a little selfishness, a little survivor in us, and I think a well-written character will feel familiar without feeling cliche. I really related to Mandy from Mandy. She’s world-weary and haunted, has a great love, and manages to stay true to her strong self up until the very end. Then she basically haunts Jeremiah until Red fucks him up. I think I’d do that. If I died in a violent manner, I would love to think that I’d stick around until the proper vengeance has been enacted.

How do your friends and family feel about your horror obsession?
My mom still takes offense every time a mother dies in my scripts or stories. She likes to refer back to when I was ten and writing stories where the mom died, granted everyone died, but she focused on the mom. My husband is a fan of horror, but I know better than to ever let him in the room when I’m watching extreme horror. Overall I’ve gotten more pushback from strangers about horror than anyone in my circle.

When did you fall head over heels in love with the horror genre?
It was definitely at a young age. As I talk about in my essay for Hear Us Scream, I was introduced to fear at a very young age, and when I found horror books (Stephen King and Dean Koontz) when I was around eight or nine, and horror movies a little later, I found an outlet and catharsis for the overwhelming feeling of a lack of control and the fear that I faced. 

Do you have any Halloween traditions?
Not really, when you watch horror every day all year round (often for my job) there isn’t much left to save for Halloween. That said, I love everything about the Halloween season. The colors, nature, the feel of the air, everything is my complete vibe.

If you could go back in time and experience the midnight premiere of any horror movie, what would you choose?
Wow, that’s a tough one. I don’t know what kind of premiere it had, but if I could have experienced TCM for the first time at the time it was released I think it would have been mind-blowing. Same goes for Halloween, to experience such genre-defining films in their earliest forms, without knowing anything at all about what I was about to watch, would have been incredible.

What's the spookiest place you've ever visited?
The basement room of my childhood home was pretty fucking spooky. There were huge sliding glass doors that looked out into the darkness, corners for shadows to lurk, and I had to go down every night to clean the cat box, certain that I’d get snatched by something at some point. It was a lot of running with my eyes closed, that’s for sure.