#HorrorAddictsGuide What Inspires Horror with Selah Janel

Horror Addicts Guide to Life 2 

I was a big scaredy-cat as a kid but always had a strange fascination with horror. I’d be the one reading the backs of 80’s paperbacks or video boxes in stores when my parents weren’t looking, though it freaked me out. Somewhere along the line, I decided that I didn’t want to be afraid anymore, and really dug into the genre to help myself “get over it.” What I found was that there’s so many facets and sub-genres, so it’s really about finding what was a good fit for me. It escalated into getting involved with haunted events, first as a performer, and then as a costumer, and eventually a designer and consultant. When people think costumes, it’s easy to think about pretty dresses, elaborate theatre productions, historical recreations, and things like that. I found that my wheelhouse is the strange and the weird, and there’s plenty of need for it. I enjoyed the challenge of melding aesthetic with logistics, and every so often that meant I’d challenge myself to create something over the top. I was lucky that those tendencies found a home for so long designing things for amusement park haunts, and it was a journey that was exciting while also challenging. My piece in the book comes from some of those misadventures, both personal and professional. Whether it’s through writing or costume work, I’m inspired to keep creating because there are always more ideas, more processes to figure out, more things to make. It’s a never-ending candy story of weird, and I’m always happy when I get a chance to run around in it.

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