Someone's in the house. He's watching. He's creeping round, only you can't see him. He's watching you from the walls. He's right behind you now. Looking over your shoulder. He wants the remote control. He's a bad boy. He wants to watch bad movies. Bad bad Ronald...

Thursday, February 16, 2012

BadRonald Celebrates Roxsy Tyler ~ Women in Horror Month

From the graveyard of horror hosts rises Roxsy Tyler and her Carnival of Horrors.  Wait!  Wait!!  Don't run.  She's cool.  Nothing to be scared of.

Roxsy has created a name for herself on the Interwebs as one of the most happening horror hostesses around.  Hosting her show somewhere in the dark and creepy outskirts of Philly, in a dilapidated circus tent, Roxsy and her gang of misfits watch and comment on old scary movies, and crack the funny bone with their comedy skits.  When  Ms. Tyler isn't haunting the carnival, she's busy acting and producing.  She also distributes genre films at Mr. Potent Media.  Busy busy!  So glad she was able to take a few moments out to speak with me.


BadRonald:  I wanted to take you for a little trip in my Wayback Machine so I could see the origin and emergence of the Horror Hostess superstar Roxsy Tyler... but sadly I don't have one. So, could you tell me the brief history of Roxsy, please?

Roxsy Tyler:  I guess we should go back to 2006 when "Roxsy Tyler" the character was first introduced in the book 'Big Boots and Black Hair Dye" a collective of short stories and poetry. Roxsy was the star of three short stories in which she left a drug-ridden Philadelphia neighborhood to work at a carnival but her history followed closely behind her and had to be confronted with the help of some eccentric friends. The stories were quite violent and dark in comparison to who you see hosting Roxsy Tyler's Carnival of Horrors. The Carnival of Horrors viewers are used to a light-hearted free spirited Roxsy Tyler who just wants to have fun. For a book put together in a hurry it was more successful than I could imagine and Roxsy Tyler's stories were reader's choice.

In 2009, Roxsy Tyler made her first on-screen performance on Midnite Mausoleum. The director, Blake Powell, was very familiar with the Roxsy Tyler character and he and Marlena Midnite agreed Roxsy could be a special guest on the show. I expected nothing out of this. I only to have fun but after the show there was a demand for a Roxsy Tyler show. Being that I work for a movie production company (Potent Media) I decided to use the resources available to me and "Roxsy Tyler's Carnival of Horrors" debuted in the Spring of 2010.

BadRonald:  The phenomenon of the horror host flourished in the heydays of television, but you're a fairly young gal. How did you discover the old creepy hosts?

Roxsy Tyler:  I actually knew very little about horror hosting. I knew who Vampira was. I adored Elvira. That's as far as my knowledge went. I missed a lot of good entertainment when I was just a girl!  I only knew of the veterans of horror hosting through friends and acquaintances who were doing their own horror shows. I even learned that my own home of Philadelphia was enriched in horror hosting history.  From there I did my research-- mostly on Zacherley (Rolland) and Stella. I can't say I'm embarrassed that I didn't know much about horror hosting history before I started my show because upon all the research I've done on other hosts it would seem quite a few of them didn't know much either. Some were actors hired to do this as a job and others fell backwards into it. Then there was the sum of hosts who knew the history
of horror hosting, loved it, and wanted to do it themselves. I don't think it matters how you get into it but whether you know nothing or know everything about horror hosting it's something well worth our respect.

BadRonald:  What are your major influences -- not just on your hostess persona, but in horror in general?

Roxsy Tyler:  It's hard to say. Most things I am heavily influenced by have nada to do with horror. I'm a Marx Brothers fan which is a major influence to the comedy in my show. Hostess-wise Stella has become a big, positive influence on me. Her butler Hives as well. They've both been very encouraging about what I'm doing and the fact that they still work their butts off is very inspiring. But horror in general-- it's still a mystery to me. I've often said that I want my show to look like a Rob Zombie music video but it doesn't. So, that hasn't influenced me just yet .

BadRonald:  You are not just a horror hostess, but an actor and a producer. What are your thoughts about the emergence of women in horror as a creative force?

Rozsy Tyler:  Women's creative force in horror has always been there just not often as recognized. I don't know why it is this way. I won't presume it's at fault of men. There's a lot of men out there who don't get their due either. Perhaps it's the fault of assumption. Though my show has end credits people still had no idea that I write, edit, and direct my own show. Hell, there's tons of things I do in the film industry that I'm sure no one knows about. As for creative force, I don't care who is in charge of it. Man or woman, I don't care as long as they put out something exciting. If these are men releasing one horrible remake after another I think they should sit in the back for awhile and let their wives drive.

BadRonald:  What are some of the female-centric films you've found empowering?

Roxsy Tyler:  There aren't enough female-centric films. Could you recommend me some? I happen to enjoy Serial Mom! We need more female serial killer movies! I'm hoping to make that my contribution to horror someday. Let me play your lady serial killer!

BadRonald:  Your persona of Roxsy Tyler is a strong female presence, a woman who fends for herself, and is not defined by the men around her. How important was that strength, when you developed the character? What motivated the origins of Roxsy?

Roxsy Tyler:  It was always important to me to have strong female presences to look up to. It'll always be important to me. It's so important to me that I try to embody that as much as possible. She has a male dominance about her that makes it ironic because she is a woman. I think sometimes she isn't defined by men because take away the female attributes she practically is one. It hasn't quite dawned on Roxsy Tyler that she's a girl. She doesn't define herself as a gender, or an age, or even a stereotype. She just is what she is and whether anyone can accept it or not she doesn't care. We can learn through her that you are you're ultimately your own boss and you shouldn't be defined by other people's expectations.

BadRonald:  Recently, you did something that sent your fans into a tailspin -- a lingerie shoot. What inspired that idea? And what was the reaction from fans? Many liked it, and some didn't...

Roxsy Tyler:  I promised to do a lingerie shoot if I won "Gore Hunny of the Year". I didn't quite win and I didn't quite lose. I was named co-winner. The winner was determined by votes. Hundreds of people committed themselves to voting for me everyday and I wanted to do something to show my appreciation. I didn't think I'd win beings tat some of those ladies were either i their panties are known for being in their panties. I can be sexy if I want to be! Truth be told, I usually never want to be... so this boudoir shoot presented the opportunity to do something different.

I was very nervous about it at first but it was actually quite fun! I think every woman should do a boudoir shoot at least once in their life even if it's for their own eyes only. It felt empowering. Most people seemed to like it. A couple of my guy friends were against it but it was painless for them when they saw the photos. They were tasteful, not pornographic and alas those guy friends of mine were relieved. Even women were patting me on the back because even though it wasn't my "thing" I still conjured the courage to do it. I'm proud of it. Special thanks to Melissa at http://www.newgirlphotography.com/ for doing the photos!

BadRonald:  Roxsy Tyler is certainly a sexy character. But sex does not define her, like it defines so many other women/girls in horror. How do you strike that balance of wit, intelligence and femininity?

Roxsy Tyler:  Effortlessly is my guess. I'm certainly not trying. I think the sexiest part of a person is their personality. If someone has an interesting personality you tend to want to be around them, talk to them, have fun with them. I'm very lucky if I have that kind of personality. My looks (if any) won't last forever but I want to keep acting and doing my show for as long as I can. If I have the personality I might actually survive long after my looks fade. I don't think women think about that. What are you going to do when you don't look good in a bikini anymore? You can either retire or be Betty White.

Even your boudoir pics found the great balance between sexy and sensible. What are your thoughts on sex and the horror hostess persona?

Sex appeal is important for a horror hostess to have. You need the men to want you and the women to want to be you. Sex sells. There's no doubt about that. If I had huge boobs people would want to look at me more but who's to say for how long? What would make me different from any other woman with huge cans? Well, if there was anything that would decipher me from the rest not many would notice because they're too busy looking at my cleavage! So, I'm glad I don't have big bulging breasts. I need more attention than my chest does. I mean, come on, Elvira has huge cans and a huge personality... but even I can't stop staring at her chest. Having sex appeal when you're a horror hostess is essential. I find it ironic because we represent horror. For a genre so full of monsters and macabre there certainly are some good looking creatures walking around.

BadRonald:  So, what's next for you? Go ahead and plug!

Roxsy Tyler:  Right now we're working on getting our film "Deer Crossing" out there. I recently won Best Supporting Actress for the D'Ment"d Cinema Reader's Choice awards for my role in the film "Booley" (on sale on amazon.com and mrpotent.com). Our first Carnival of Horrors DVD is available everywhere now on the internet. I'm currently in talks about some more film projects (fingers crossed) and as always we are releasing new episodes of Carnival of Horrors for free viewing online at http://vimeo.com/carnivalofhorror

BadRonald:  Roxsy, yer great!  Thanks for the chat.

Roxsy Tyler:  Thanks so much for having me!

Go visit her blog, too!

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