Interview with Host of Midnight Social Distortion Mark O. Estes
Can you tell us about yourself and your work?
My name is Mark O. Estes and I’m a Gay Horror Blerd who loves horror, pop culture, action figure collecting, writing, listening to music, and sharing my experiences with others. I love documenting and celebrating Black Queer characters in horror, along with Black Horror survivors and other aspects of the genre when it comes to Black representation. But I love the genre overall. I have a podcast called Midnight Social Distortion that talks about all what I just mentioned. I also wrote an article titled A Quick History of Black Queer Horror Characters for The Reckoning Blog owned by The CounterNarrative Project, and I do annual posts about Black Horror Survivors on my Instagram and Twitter Accounts.
What was the first thing you encountered that made you fall in love with horror?
Freddy Krueger. Although it took me a while to get to love horror, Freddy was my first run in with horror. My parents were in the process of bed training me, and my mom was watching a movie that was making her laugh. I left my bedroom to see what it was and she was watching the original Nightmare. It was the scene when Tina encounters him in the alleyway in her dream, when she bolted I did too. It took a few years to get over my fear and after my cousins (who were big horror heads at the time) kept bombarding me with the stuff, I started to love it. Then I discovered USA Up All Night, the local creature feature station, Cinemax, Showtime, and The Movie Channel and became a huge fan myself. Things that would scare me started to intrigue me. Except arachnids. I will never stop being scared of them and I have no interest in them outside of Spider-Man. But yea, my love for horror started with the Dream Demon himself and it has done nothing but grow exponentially.
What does the horror community mean to you?
Initially the horror community represented a conclave of like-minded individuals whose love for slashers, vampires, and other aspects of the genre was like a safe haven from the disapproval of society. I felt like I belonged finally. But the current social climate has really made me rethink a few of those connections. It sucks because despite my cousins’ love for horror growing up, our parentals would always say Black people didn’t do horror because 1) we wouldn’t be in those situations, 2) Black people didn’t survive horror movies, 3) it was weird to love horror, and 4) it would let demons into the house. There’s more and I can go on all day, but the main thing that was taught to me was that there was no place in horror for Black people. As I got older I rarely found anything that countered that narrative, not until I graduated from college did I find my tribe in the horror community. Until then I would mostly keep my involvement in the fandom to comment sections and chat rooms. Then discovering that there weren’t just a group of Black horror fans out there, but also gay horror fans as well empowered me to combine those two groups and use it as a platform to make sure that we were included in the horror conversation since we had always been there to begin with. The community as a whole is fractured due to the internal war of new voices versus the status quo. I feel that it will be Black voices, female voices, and Queer voices that will save the horror community not from the lack of originality and stagnant features, but from the community itself as wel. I hope that answered the question.
What have been some of the most influential horror movies for you and your love of horror?
Oh that’s a series in itself, lol. There’s, of course, A Nightmare on Elm Street. The original film and the entire franchise sans the remake. I unapologetically love that franchise and will go to battle for it. The Lost Boys, Night of the Demons, Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Slumber Party Massacre, Tales from the Crypt presents Demon Knight, The Craft, the Halloween series, the Friday the 13th series, The Amityville Horror, etc. Like I said, I can do an entire series on this question because I have so much love for these movies and others not listed that have helped me through some real crazy times. They are sources of comfort.
Since launching your podcast, what have been some of your most memorable highlights?
The fact that people liked it. At least those who have listened to it. And the fact that I finally did it instead of talking about doing it. Hearing people tell me they had similar experiences when it comes to the movies and topics I discuss is what makes me feel like I belong in the community and that I can break preconceived notions with my voice. I also actually love talking with other people on the podcast so that will be included more in the future.
What does being a Blerd mean to you? What does Blerdom mean to popular culture fans?
Being a Blerd means letting your Black Nerd flag fly proudly. Whether it’s through wearing graphic tees to work, or getting a tat of your fave superhero team, or writing though provoking essays on the dynamics between Goku and whatever character they may be compared to at the moment, Blerdom is a universal Fuck You to people who say that we don’t belong in pop culture. Without Blerdom, pop culture would be hella dull. We bring a unique perspective to various subjects within the pop culture lexicon that you simply cannot find anywhere else. This is just as relevant in horror as it is in comic book fandom. Blerdom shows the masses that there are other avenues to explore than the standard white cisgendered male gaze. And it also amplifies the need for more diversity behind the scenes.
What are you working on in 2022?
This year I’m just doing more with my podcast, having more guests in and trying to expand into other avenues of content creating. Also, I want to write more. I am rusty and need to get back into it, I mean I used to do it on the regular before I started working full time. So I hope to do more articles and blog posts when I get the chance.
