Interview with Museum of Death Co-Founder Cathee Shultz

The Museum of Death, located at 6031 Hollywood Blvd in Hollywood, California, is a private museum dedicated to all aspects of death. The museum boasts a large collection of serial killer artwork and correspondence, Victorian mourning items, mortuary equipment, accident/suicide/murder photography and videos of death, a menagerie of taxidermy animals, execution implements and many other curios and death memorabilia, including actual “souvenirs” from Heaven’s Gate cult mass suicide.

The Museum of Death is a fascinating place, owned by the very friendly and enthusiastic Cathee Shultz and JD Healy. With the stories these two could tell, they would make absolutely fascinating dinner guests! So it was my absolute pleasure to visit The Museum of Death and interview Cathee about her love of the macabre, how the museum began and her most shocking and bizarre encounters while working there!

Fatally Yours: How did you two meet and were you both already interested in the macabre when you started dating?

Cathee Shultz: JD and I met working at a French restaurant in Scottsdale, AZ., in 1983 he was baking the croissants and sold the cappuccino’s. It was lust-at-first sight! I went to his house on Sunday and moved in by Thursday. We got married 2 weeks later on “a day that would live in infamy”, December 7, Pearl Harbor Day. Neither one of us can recall being interesting in the macabre prior to meeting. I think together we had common interest of unusual things and we built upon that.

Fatally Yours: When did your fascination with death begin?

Cathee: We opened an art studio in San Diego in 1988 named Tohubohu (meaning an extreme disorder or chaos) through the years it morphed into other entities, the Rita Dean Gallery being one. In the gallery we did shows with the major taboo subjects- Sex, Death, Religion, Drugs, and Money. The Rita Dean was located in an old mortuary built in 1894 so we decided to take that theme and expand upon it and make a museum. This is when our true fascination started with Death! Once we opened and people started asking questions about Death, as responsible museum curators we needed to know the answers so we started our life long quest of DEATH!

Fatally Yours: What was some of the first death memorabilia you acquired?

Cathee: The first items we acquired were some artworks and letters from serial killers. We had an exhibit in 1992 called the Death Row Art Show and we purchased some paintings and drawings by Gacy, Manson and Otis Toole and soon afterwards began writing to assorted notorious killers. We amassed quite a collection this way and started exhibiting our own collection. The year before we opened the Museum of Death we did an exhibit titled “Exotic Weapons” in which JD and some colleagues made life size replicas of execution devices, another collection that would find a home in the Museum of Death.

Fatally Yours: What made you want to found the Museum of Death?

Cathee: It is difficult to make a living with an art gallery especially in San Diego. After doing the gallery for 7 years we wanted to branch out and move forward and we thought a museum was the next best thing.

Fatally Yours: You recently opened a new location in Hollywood after a far-too long hiatus. What happened with the old location and why was the opening of your new location delayed?

Cathee: Yes we did just re-open our new location in Hollywood at 6031 Hollywood Blvd., We had been trying to raise the capital to re-open the MOD for 7 long years and finally met an incredible couple who were willing to help fund the new MOD! We truly anticipated opening sooner but many factors caused the delay. After being closed for 7 long years I can’t really remember one reason that is important enough to mention here. We are just focusing on the future. And pretty much the reason we closed our former Hollywood location was under capitalization and an ASSHOLE for a landlord! Yes, most landlords are assholes but this guy was a hemorrhoid!! He basically put us out of business but once again we would rather just focus on our cool new location! How cool is it that The Wall by Pink Floyd was recorded here!

Fatally Yours: Where did you store all the museum’s items while you were in the process of moving?

Cathee: We had a terrific old house in the Highland Park section of Los Angeles, and it had 3 stories, so we just loaded it up, closets, basement, and we even kept a few things out to enjoy. The electric chair was at the head of the dining room table, the 9 foot giraffe neck and skull were in the office, and our stuffed pets were always in sight!

Fatally Yours: What has been the hardest item to acquire for the museum’s collection and what is the story behind it?

Cathee: I truly cannot think of any specific item that was hard to come by, most artifacts walk through the front door! I guess since I actually had to write letters and deal with asshole murderers, the serial killer art took more time and energy.

Fatally Yours: With displays of pretty controversial exhibits like the serial killer artwork, have there ever been any threats against you or the museum?

Cathee: As a matter of fact there have been threats against us. Not so much against the museum but when we did the Death Row Art Show at the Rita Dean Gallery some one called in and said they were going to “burn us down” and another one said “you will burn in Hell for this” and a few other similar calls. We do get people upset with the museum but generally if I get there anger before they leave the MOD I try and find out exactly what they are upset with and talk them through it. Are they mad at me or the images in the MOD? Are they angry at the fact that serial killers exist? Are they upset at man’s inhumanity to man? Are the pissed off our culture is so lacking in death/life education? Do they really think history should not be told?

Fatally Yours: Have you ever had any artifacts stolen or purposefully destroyed by others?

Cathee: Yes there have unfortunately been some thefts in the MOD. In the War display we had a Nazi dagger with sheath, and unfortunately some asshole took only the dagger and left the sheath! We hate thieves, especially ones that destroy history, the dagger is not as important without the other half but anyone stupid enough to steal from a museum is obviously too ignorant to know that! We used to have a hand in a jar (a schizophrenic cut his own hand off with a circular saw while he read the passage in the Bible “if your hand offends you, cut it off” ) and JD would set it on the front counter with a sign “This is from the last person who stole from the MOD!!” It was quite the deterrent, but we eventually passed it along to a new caretaker but we still have an impressive photo of the hand. Also some other idiot tried to take the TV out of the casket entertainment center and it pretty much fell on him, he ran away but had we actually caught him we might have had our first “Rotting Corpse” display!!

Fatally Yours: How do you go about finding specimens for the museum?

Cathee: We find specimens many places, antique stores, flea markets, swap meets, Ebay, and more than anything, friends that know we collect, find stuff for us!

Fatally Yours: Out of all the pieces in your collection, what is your favorite and why?

Cathee: I think you will get two entirely different answers from JD and I but since I am writing this…you get mine, although I don’t have ONE favorite because there are too many good things! My NEWEST favorite is Chaos the pig our newest taxidermied item! Chaos was our pet pig for 16 years, and we put him down (a nice way to say we killed him) last October (old age) and it took exactly 1 year to get him back! Next would be the memorial photos of the infants. There are 2 photos in particular, it is the same baby in both photos, one is of the baby with its eyes open so still looking alive and the next photo is the baby with its eyes closed, clearly deceased! I’m sure it sounds morbid but to me they are the most beautiful photos we own!

Fatally Yours: Of all the things you’ve seen relating to death, what has been the most shocking, upsetting, and/or morbid?

Cathee: One of the most disturbing things I was exposed to was a photograph of a sexually molested corpse at a body research facility. VERY Disturbing!

Fatally Yours: Is there anything you’ve come across that you refused to exhibit because it was just too shocking?

Cathee: There have been a few items over the years that we chose not to pursue or exhibit. The aforementioned photo and the dress Rebecca Schaefer was buried in. She is the actress who was murdered by a stalker, and many stalking laws were enacted throughout the country based on her murder. The story we know is, when her body was exhumed her mother wanted her re-interred in a different outfit, and somehow the original dress made its way to the MOD. There were questionable circumstances surrounding the dress and JD felt it inappropriate to have. Any item known to be stolen or graveyard defacing items are NEVER welcome at the MOD!

Fatally Yours: Is there anything relating to death that you would never feature in your museum because it “crosses the line?”

Cathee: “Crossing the line” is a broad statement. The line we have set for ourselves at the MOD may be an entirely different line someone whose family was brutally murdered by a serial killer! Once again it would not be because an item is TOO graphic but because there area questionable circumstances surrounding the item.

Fatally Yours: If you could choose how you were going to die, how would you go?

Cathee: That’s easy……SPECTACULARLY!!!!!!!!!!!

Interview with Paranoia Fest Director Shane Russeck

Paranoia Fest is an exciting horror convention that will be taking place on the Queen Mary, the legendary and reportedly haunted ship, on the weekend of March 13^th, 2009.

That date might be a long way off, but we are already so excited about the event that we had to get the goods directly from the festival organizer, Shane Russeck. A horror fan all his life, Shane is excited to bring a new horror event to Southern California.

From showcasing independent filmmakers to paying homage to George A. Romero, Paranoia Fest promises to be an exciting new destination for horror fans! Read all about Shane’s background and what spooky surprises he has in store for fans below!

Fatally Yours: What is your background in the horror genre and/or in planning festivals?

Shane Russeck: I have been a horror fan for as long as I can remember. It all started when I was five years old and I asked my mother to put the movie Buck Rogers in the VCR. Not paying attention to what she was doing, she put Halloween (which my older brother had rented), and I have been hooked ever since.

As far as planning events, we have the Gridlock Group, which puts on the biggest and coolest events in Hollywood, including Gridlock LA, LA’s biggest New Years event, which takes place on Paramount Studios lot.

Fatally Yours: Where did you get inspiration from to start a brand new horror festival? 

Shane Russeck: I was at Fangoria, and saw all the new filmmakers trying to get distribution for their films. I realized that there needed to be a horror “event,” more then just a film festival, where these people can get their films seen, by industry insiders.

Fatally Yours: What are your hopes and goals with Paranoia Fest?

Shane Russeck: We hope to be the horror industries answer to Comic Con.

Fatally Yours: The Queen Mary is a pretty spooky place and an absolutely perfect location for a horror fest. How did you get arrange to have a horror fest on the supposedly haunted ship?

Shane Russeck: My partner Mathew Gavin, is CEO of Hardball Productions, and was recently hired by the Queen Mary to bring his events to the ship. Once the Queen Mary was onboard, this just became the perfect storm.

Fatally Yours: Do you think festival-goers will spook up any ghosts while they’re there?

Shane Russeck: Absolutely! We will be planning the event around the Queen Mary Ghost Tours, and will be doing midnight movie screening in some of the most haunted rooms on the Queen Mary.

Fatally Yours: That definitely sounds spooky! Speaking of midnight “screamings,” what kind of film submissions are you considering for the festival?

Shane Russeck: Anything and Everything horror related. From full length features to music videos.

Fatally Yours: Have you decided any films that will be screened yet?

Shane Russeck: Not yet. We will be accepting submissions, starting Oct 1^st.

Fatally Yours: Besides films being screened, what other kinds of events will attendees be treated to at Paranoia?

Shane Russeck: We will have midnight screening, of the classic horrors, that inspired us all. I am very big on paying homage to where we all came from, and why we are here.

If not for guys like Alfred Hitchcock, John Carpenter, Wes Craven, and many more, we would not be having this conversation right now.

Our goal is to create an all out horror “event”, not just a film festival. There will be a vendors area, with everything from DVD’s, horror makeup, posters , etc. Every night, there will be post screening parties, hosted by Hardball Production. If you have never been to a Hardball event, you’ll be in for a party like you’ve never seen!

Fatally Yours: Do you have any guests that have confirmed for the event? Can you tell us who you are hoping to get? 

Shane Russeck: We do have exciting surprise guests, but you will have to check out the site closer to the event to find out.

Sat the 15^th, will have the first annual “Dinner of the Dead,” in honor of George Romero, in which we do hope he will be attending.

Fatally Yours: Are you currently looking for sponsors for the event? 

Shane Russeck: Yes. We are looking for as many cross promotional opportunities as possible. When creating any “brand,” it is very important to do all you can, to get your name out there.

Fatally Yours: What are some of your favorite horror films? 

Shane Russeck: That is a very hard question to answer. Halloween, The Exorcist, The Omen, The original Nightmare on Elm Street, and all the classic Universal Horrors were my introduction to horror.
As my taste evolved, I became a HUGE Romero fan. I also love a lot of the B, creature-double feature Corman style movies.

I am also a big Dario Argento fan. I have not yet seen  La Terza Madre (Mother of Tears), and am really looking forward to it.

I like everything Rob Zombie does, I think he has a really unique cool style.

The last horror movie I saw that I really enjoyed was El Orfanato (The Orphanage).

Fatally Yours: How do you feel about the current horror climate?

Shane Russeck: I have a very open mind when it comes to horror movies. If it’s horror related, I’ll give it a chance.

Fatally Yours: If you could have anyone (horror celebrity, actor/actress, author, director, band, etc.) attend Paranoia Fest, who would you pick and why? 

Shane Russeck: Alfred Hitchock, that would be insane….huh??? You never know, on the Queen Mary, it could happen!

Visit Paranoia Fest’s Official Website for updates!

Interview with Artist/Curator Mike Schneider of NOTLD: Reanimated

Mike Schneider is hard at work staging a collaborative effort between artists from all over the world to recreate, through different artistic mediums, The Night of the Living Dead. Every medium, from painting to stop motion to computer animation is being used to create a highly inventive version of Night of the Living Dead, called Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated.

Here at Fatally-Yours we were lucky enough to get a chance to interview the extremely busy and talented Schneider and ask him about this tremendously exciting undertaking.

Fatally Yours: Mike, why did you choose Night of the Living Dead as your subject for this project?

Mike Schneider: Well, reanimation is actually an animation process from way back in the days of film reels and magic chalkboards. It is, basically, the process of casting a new version of a clip to film after making some alteration to it. Being a horror fan, there was the obvious association between the word reanimation and the undead and so it was decided that the ‘dead process’ of reanimation should be resurrected through the subject of a zombie film.

Because traditional and experimental art processes are very slow, an individual artist would rarely even consider employing them towards a feature film. A page was taken from the zombies themselves and the film is being approached as a hoard of creative people ripping the film into pieces and infecting it with their own processes and aesthetics. (They don’t have to be fast… if there are enough of them.)

Night of the Living Dead seemed the perfect fit for this approach with an iconography strong enough to carry the viewers through various styles and approaches, scenes which cater to a wide array of aesthetics and a public domain status which grants the artists free use of the film as a source material.

Fatally Yours: Have you attempted other projects like this before? If so, tell us about them or any other previous experience you’ve had.

Mike Schneider: I’ve done other mass collaborative animations in the past by employing tools such as generic templates or prescribing specific criteria for each submission. Though I loved the visual that comes from a clip being made through so many hands, the results were all strictly visual.

The ‘Story Teller’ approach was considered, however this process would restrict the project to 1 artist working on a clip at a time and with some animation processes being quite time consuming, by the time the film went through the first few hands, the other artists who were initially interested would likely have moved on to other things.

Discovering the reanimation process satisfied the drive to have a film develop through numerous independent hands but still offers the narrative structure by simply building on top of a pre-existing film’s narrative.
[Story Teller: a literary game where a sheet of paper is passed around and each person it's passed to adds 1-3 sentences to the story before passing it along]

Fatally Yours: How many different artists have committed to the project? Are you still accepting submissions?

Mike Schneider: I avoid the term committed when working on mass collaborative projects because realistically only a small percent of people follow through on their commitments.

I instead use the terms ‘involved’, ‘interested’ and ‘considered’.

‘Involved’ means that they have already submitted work towards the project. [As of this point, there are a few dozen people who are 'involved'.]

‘Interested’ means that they have contacted me with questions and for information on how to become involved but have not yet submitted any completed materials. [As of this point, there are a few hundred people who are 'interested'.]

‘Considered’ means that they have looked at the site, discussed it on forums, but have not contacted me for information or to express their interest. I Google projects which I’m working on so I can see what chatter it is receiving on various forums and blogs. Armed with the opinions of the potential fan base, I can either cater to their suggestions (if I agree with them) or prepare a defense to justify my choices. Artists and film makers who do not embrace the 24/7 sounding board that is the internet are cutting themselves off of a valuable resource in the rough. [As of this point, there are a few thousand people who are 'considered'.]

As far as people getting involved, the film is being approached in rounds of submissions. The next round goes until Monday December 15th, 2008. Anyone who may be interested in becoming involved is encouraged to contact me (shenlon@hotmail.com) for more details. Even if you are not a visual artist, feel free to propose an alternative role for yourself that better suites your skills… if it’s something in line with the project that will either improve or facilitate the film then I likely will welcome the assistance.

Fatally Yours: Going back to discussing Night of the Living Dead, what is your favorite scene in the film and why?

Mike Schneider: As a fan of horror, one of the creepiest devices is ‘the perversion of innocence’. This is where something which seems safe later shows us that images can be deceiving. The film has a number of scenes which play with this story telling device but none as iconic as Karen attacking her mother. The ‘enhanced’ scream adds the surreal quality which grants the scene real staying power. Beyond that any use of children in a horror film plays to fears of our own nature. Children often just act and react so given the right circumstances they are capable of anything without even realizing that they are doing wrong. Wrong done without question, questions the society, in which even our most innocent are deadly.

When it came time to animate, my own aesthetic led me to Barbara freaking out because in a relatively short clip, the character goes through nearly every human expression and I had been recently playing with ideas in portraiture.

Fatally Yours: Have you tried contacting George A. Romero about the project? Do you have any hopes that he will get involved?

Mike Schneider: Romero has little net-presence outside of fan created content. Since his own website and chats were bombarded with obscene numbers of side conversations and off topics rants, he seems to have largely removed himself from that aspect of the contemporary culture. The effect of this can be inferred through Diary’s light pollution view of the internet though it is even clearer presented in the bonus features talk of faxed texts and phone recorded sound bites (processes which most net-minded people would transfer digitally).

There are however plans for him to be contacted by artists involved in NOTLD:R at upcoming events on October. With these artists acting as messagers, I am sending a package of printed images, information about the project and a letter of invitation. Hopefully approaching him on his terms (analog) will open up a line of dialog.

Efforts have also been made to contact other members of the original crew about the project. Judith O’Dea (Barbara; http://www.odeacommunications.com/ ) and Kyra Schon (Karen; http://www.ghoulnextdoor.com/) being emailed.

So far, Kyra responded that ‘it looks really interesting’ and since she is an artist herself, she has been sent the information about how to become involved and is being kept updated as the film progresses.

Any involvement from original staff is still in the air, however, they will all be accredited as without their work this project couldn’t exist, and hopefully they will be brought in the loop shortly if they haven’t already heard about it already.

Fatally Yours: What are some of the different mediums of art that will be used?

Mike Schneider: Puppets, Sock Puppets, Shadow Puppets, Finger Puppets, Oil Paint, Water Color, Acrylic Paint, Ink, Markers, Conte, Charcoal, Pastels, Pencils, Cels, Sand, Cut Outs, Comic Panels, Machinma, In-Game, Flash, Power Point, After Effects, 3D Models, Step Motion, Stop Motion, Photography, Silhouettes, Dolls, Clay, Metal, Wood,… Basically any art, animation or film process you can think of likely has someone who is working it into their approach. It’s a chance to do something small which is part of something big. That breeds experimentation and variety.

Fatally Yours: Do you have any early favorite art pieces from the project?

Mike Schneider: Yes, though none which I like more then seeing them all coming together.

Fatally Yours: Can you tell us about the process you go through to pick the art featured in the project? What criteria are you looking for?

Mike Schneider: I set as few criteria as needed for the film to be assembled (original black and white work which can be synced to the ’68 film’s audio track). Besides that, the scene should cover any key points from the original scene but that can either be done by working from the on-screen visual or rethinking the scene to provide a new visual.

As far as selecting work, all works are accepted which meet those basic criteria. If an alternative version of a scene is submitted, both versions are posted on forums such as Zombie Nation and All Things Zombie to let the fans vote on their preferred version of the scene. The favorite version goes into the film and the other versions goes onto the DVD as the Bonus Feature “Alternative Footage” (All artists will be accredited and all work will have a place on the DVD either way). This approach allows for fan involvement and opens the opportunity for anyone to participate (no matter their process, aesthetic, training etc) while still having a safeguard (alternative versions of the scene can be submitted to challenge any scene/ put it to a vote) which will act to keep the overall quality of the film high.

Fatally Yours: After the project is finished, what are your plans on distributing it? Will people be able to see it at festivals and/or purchase it on DVD?

Mike Schneider: The film will actually have its first ‘Draft Screenings’ next month. Venues such as Agni Gallery in Manhattan and Tampa Museum of Art in Florida along with numerous smaller spaces around the world have expressed interest in showing the film in-progress. This will give the audience a chance to see the film while there is still time for them to also get involved in completing it.

After the next round of submissions, the film will have a more formal screening held at Bellwether Gallery in Chelsea with full press releases and the typical fan faire.

There will be additional challenging/review before the master DVD is set into production. Along with the DVD release, there will also be an extremely limited theater releasing. The film has also been invited to numerous film festivals, including Revenant Film Festival, numerous punk festivals, art shows, and screening venues… so there will be numerous places to attend a screening of the film.

As far as release, Wild Eye Releasing (wildeyereleasing.com) has signed on to give the film an in-store DVD release. The terms set with them are no profit over the production costs and overhead so that the DVD is available as cheap as possible to the fans of the genre. This contract is non-exclusive so a number of artists are also working out logistics of releases in other languages and regional codes around the world.

The non-exclusive contract also allows for additional releasing formats and venues. We are happy to announce that Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated will be the first film to ever be released in affiliation with Demonoid (demonoid.com). With their heavy traffic and seeding community, the film will also be freely available through them as Digital Copy.

Because the film is creative commons licensing, artists retain all rights to their work as it exists outside of the movie. However using on-depend production, many have taken their art and reformatted it into T-Shirt and Product Designs. It should be noted that all prices are set by the artists themselves and they receive any profit from sales of items with their work featured on it. (http://www.neoflux-animator.com/notldr/merch.html ).
There are also gallery/ art space curators who are involved with the project and are currently shipping around prospectus to various gallery spaces in hopes of them hosting shows featuring the film along with works which went into the making of it.

So the release is being approached from many fronts and there will be numerous varied opportunities to see the film once completed.

Fatally Yours: After this, do you have any future projects lined up?

Mike Schneider: Skot of Lost Zombie (lostzombies.com), Pat and Mike of Nation Undead (nationundead.com) and myself have forged a fellowship of sorts (which Geoff of Revenant Magazine (revenantmagazine.com) has dubbed the ‘Axis of the Undead’) to cross facilitate each others projects as all projects are mass collaborative films within the genre (though taking very different approaches.)  Since NOTLD:R will be the first completed, I will also be working with them to facilitate their films.

The next project I will be heading is a similar process of mass collaborative animation/illustration only it will be granting a visual track to old time horror radio shows. Though these classics of yester-year are well written and voiced, they lack the visual stimulation which would help to bring their appeal to a wider audience. Again the audio will be unaltered to remain true to the original however they will also be able to see different artistic interpretations of that radio show presented as animated visual materials.

Unlike the barrage of Hollywood remakes, I don’t want to corrupt or even challenge the original media because it has earned its respect. My goal is simply to use the processes available to extend that media to new audiences. Anyone who would be interested in working with me in this process is encouraged to email me at shenlon@hotmail.com.