Interview with Costume Designer and Makeup Artist Aly Greaves

Aly Renee Greaves hails from the northern suburbs of Chicago and works as a freelance costume designer and makeup artist in Chicago as well as resident designer for a large suburban community college. She is an ensemble member at Strawdog Theatre Company and Wildclaw Theatre. When not in the theatre, she knits like crazy, reads and draws comics, collects and creates for fashion dolls, writes scripts, and records podcasts. She has two podcasts: Undead America, Adventures in the Whedonverse and Alyrenee’s Copious Spare Time: A Hobby Hootenany podcast.

Fatally Yours: How and when did you fall in love with horror? 

Aly Greaves: I’ve been a big fan for a long time. I remember watching Alien at much too young an age and being very concerned for the kitty not the humans. I went as a skeleton for my kindergarten Halloween party. I read Shining at age ten (leaving me with an unhealthy fear of topiary bushes). My first job was at the Dairy Queen and there was a comic book store next door. I began trading ice cream for Clive Barker comics and the obsession with horror was firmly entrenched. I have always been crazy for ghost stories too.

Fatally Yours: What does horror mean to you? 

Aly Greaves: I enjoy that adrenaline rush when something really spooks you. I feel that a good healthy scare reminds me of why I am alive. Horror is also an excellent way to make social commentary (i.e. Night of the Living Dead) as well as wrestle with personal demons (i.e. Frankenstein). Horror drags you kicking and screaming out of your safe little bubble…something everyone needs now and then.

Fatally Yours: Why do you think the horror genre has primarily been a man’s domain?

Aly Greaves: Well since nearly everything was a man’s domain at some point…it’s no surprise. Mostly I think that the horror (and the porn industry) has become the last refuge for the misogynists of the world who know that there will always be an audience for sado-sexual violence. Personally the horror that scares me and interests me the most rarely involves buxom women in the woods being chased by maniacs with axes. And while I do enjoy some old school horror films for cheeky appeal, I will never watch the torture porn out there. The only way to wrestle the industry away from the clutches of the XYs is for smart women to get into writing, producing, and directing and for the female horror audiences to give as much support to these books, films, TV, internet media, etc. as possible so that we might have more Kathryn Bigelows and less Rob Zombies.

Fatally Yours: Even though women seem to be getting more and more involved behind the scenes in horror, why do you think there are fewer female horror directors, writers, producers, etc. in the genre than males?

Aly Greaves: I think women in the business fear being pigeonholed by the genre. I also think that the production companies have little to no imagination when it comes to new ideas. Every few years you will see something break into the scene that is vaguely new and then they will beat that idea to death (i.e. Grudge III, Final Destination 18 whatever). The only way we will see more women in the business is if more women see horror as a valid genre and pursue it, support it, and create for it.

Fatally Yours: What elements can female filmmakers/authors/journalists/etc. bring to the horror genre that are lacking in males’ perspectives?

Aly Greaves: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein…the body horror of that story is so haunting. The thought of man taking the power of new life into his own hands (and away from women) creeps me out to no end. I think that women have also knocked the idea of horror through social oppression out of the park (think Shirley Jackson’s Lottery or Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale).

Fatally Yours: Do you think it’s harder for women to be taken seriously in a genre that seems to be dominated by males? 

Aly Greaves:  Right now the struggle is for the entire genre of horror to be taken seriously…all parties are equally scoffed.

Fatally Yours: Do you ever get annoyed at how women in horror movies always end naked or with their clothes ripped off? Do monsters not like men’s abs?!

Aly Greaves: Yes, I get very annoyed by this. Though in the recent My Bloody Valentine remake, the naked blonde won my respect through the sheer tenacity and ridiculous length of the naked fight while wearing stripper platform shoes.

Fatally Yours: What horror movie would you say is equally fair in terms of men being objectified or at least, losing the same amount of clothes?

Aly Greaves: Rocky Horror? Ha ha. Gosh, I cannot even think of one. True Blood on HBO pays fair attention to both the sexes in a wonderfully non-offensive but still sexy way. Supernatural is all about the hotness of the Winchester Boys (though sadly they rarely remove their shirts). In the land of diet horror: Interview with a Vampire is all about pretty boys and the Twilight films have lots of boys with no shirts.

Fatally Yours: Do you feel that other people view women as being “soft” and not able to endure horror as well as men? How do you fight this stereotypical view?

Aly Greaves: Childbirth. You try it boys….

Fatally Yours: What women in horror do you admire and why?

Aly Greaves: Elizabeth Hand writes smart horror. Shirley Jackson scares the be-jebus out of me. Charlaine Harris writes great sexy fluff (she’s my anti-Laurell K Hamilton…who’s work I cannot stand). Kathryn Bigelow kicks serious ass and still holds the title for best-vampire-movie-ever in my opinion.

Fatally Yours: What has been your most challenging costume or makeup dilemma and how did you overcome it? 

Aly Greaves: The monsters and fantastical elements in our plays thus far always require a ton of attention and budget. So the trickiest thing is always making everything look good when a chunk of your time and resources are going to be devoted to a costume and effect that will be on stage for like ten seconds.

Fatally Yours: Where did you learn costuming and makeup artistry? Did you ever think you’d apply these skills in a horrific way? 

Aly Greaves: Well I used to make bullet holes with morticians wax and watched The Making of Michael Jackson’s Thriller every chance I could get as a kid…so it really seemed inevitable. I got into costumes and makeup officially at Knox College when I got a work study job sewing in the costume shop. I was hooked and quickly changed my major to theatre.  From there I went on the graduate school for Costume Design at Carnegie Mellon University. While there, my wonderful professors and advisors were Barbara and Cletus Anderson…who worked on the George Romero and the Stephen King films shot in and around Pittsburgh. So it really always seemed meant to be…

Fatally Yours: What advice would you give women who want to become involved in the horror genre?

Aly Greaves: Get a diverse education and sample all of the horror out there: books, comics, films, television, etc and then find your taste. Find people who you can work with and start making it on your own.

Fatally Yours: What’s the last horror movie that made you think “this is some effed up shiznit!”? 

Aly Greaves:  Quarantine was disturbing (that compound leg fracture…man that was gross) and Descent is so haunting and freaky. I love a good CHUD in a movie.  Plus spelunking sounds like my worst nightmare. Midnight Meat Train was messed up in a wonderfully Barker way. Sigh, I love him so. I adored Drag Me To Hell…that was such a roller coaster…when the old lady was like gumming her…shudder…messed up!

Fatally Yours: What’s one horror movie you think is HIGHLY overrated?

Aly Greaves: Hostel, Saw, any of the Rob Zombie remakes are complete crap…

Fatally Yours: What are your favorite horror films, books, etc.?

Aly Greaves: I love Cabal and the film version Nightbreed. Novels: Carmilla, Frankenstein, Coraline, Bag of Bones by Stephen King. I am a huge Buffy devotee. Supernatural is great fun. Films: The Descent, The Thing, Alien, Dawn of the Dead…

Fatally Yours: What is your ultimate goal while working in the horror genre?

Aly Greaves: I would love to get horror the respect it deserves.

Fatally Yours: What upcoming projects are you working on?

Aly Greaves: William Peter Blatty’s Legion for Wildclaw…and I am working on a stage adaptation for Wildclaw. I am also working on a film script with Brian Amidei. I also have an idea for a horror related craft book that I am developing.

Fatally Yours: Where can people find more info on you?

Aly Greaves:  I have a blog/podcast called Alyrenee’s Copious Spare Time…and a Buffy podcast called Undead America.

Interview with Wildclaw Theatre's Anne Adams

Anne Adams was born and raised in Temple, Texas. She is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston, MA and The School at Steppenwolf in Chicago. Chicago directing credits include Hot N Throbbing (Pine Box Theatre) The Revenants, and Legion, based on the novel by William Peter Blatty (Wildclaw Theatre). As an actor, Anne has worked with Steppenwolf, Northlight Theatre, Uma Productions, Pine Box Theatre, Greasy Joan, Victory Gardens, Collaboraction, and The Sandbox Theatre Project. Anne is a founding member of both Pine Box Theatre and Wildclaw Theatre, and serves as Wildclaw’s casting director. Anne is also an acting instructor at Black Box Acting Studio.

Fatally Yours: How and when did you fall in love with horror? 

Anne Adams: The first time I fell in love with horror was when I read the uncut version of Stephen King’s The Stand. I was acting in regional theatre up in Cape Cod for a summer when I was 23 and I had no car and no friends. I asked a guy from a used book store to recommend a book that would help me survive the summer and he put The Stand in my hands. I will be forever grateful to him, and it is still to this day, my favorite story.

Fatally Yours: What does horror mean to you? 

Anne Adams: Horror for me is being exposed to a character’s reasoning before they commit an act of violence. I truly believe that all of us are good at heart, but we are also insecure, angry, and scared – all of which (in my mind) help explain the evils that we are capable of inflicting on others as well as ourselves. Human nature makes us capable of ANYTHING. And that scares the shit out of me.

Fatally Yours: What are others’ reactions when you tell them you are involved in the horror genre?

Anne Adams: “Oh…that sounds interesting. Well…good for you sweetheart.”

Fatally Yours: Why do you think the horror genre has primarily been a man’s domain?

Anne Adams: I think there is a general misconception that men have a stronger and smarter stomach for what truly scares the shit out of people. All I know is that I would love to have a competition for who has the sickest imagination. I would win. I believe this 100%.

Fatally Yours: As a woman, do you think you are viewed differently than your male counterparts in the horror genre? If so, how and why?

Anne Adams: I have been pretty lucky in the sense that everyone around me has been extremely supportive of my efforts. My theatre company is predominantly men, and whenever I say I want to do something, they cheer me on and are ready to do whatever they can to help me look good. This may not be true of all boys, but my boys rock, and I am very thankful.

Fatally Yours: Even though women seem to be getting more and more involved behind the scenes in horror, why do you think there are fewer female horror directors, writers, producers, etc. in the genre than males?

Anne Adams: I can’t speak for other women, but there was a long period of time when I was intimidated by even suggesting that I could be in charge of anything horror. After a period of observing other artists, I realized that artistic power isn’t won from being a wet blanket, but it isn’t won from being an ego maniac either. Maybe it is harder to conceal feeling desperate for success when you are given one chance to either shine or fuck the whole thing up…I know this is a weird answer to the question, but…I think it is extremely different and subjective for each woman.

Fatally Yours: What elements can female filmmakers/authors/journalists/etc. bring to the horror genre that are lacking in males’ perspectives?

Anne Adams: How the female mind actually works. The jealousies, pain, anger and violent tendencies of a woman are much more fucked up and different than a male might think or understand – but only if the female filmmaker/author/journalist/etc is brave enough to expose our sex in an honest and unapologetic way.

Fatally Yours: Do you think it’s harder for women to be taken seriously in a genre that seems to be dominated by males? 

Anne Adams: To be honest, no. It’s 2010 and I think that line has been played out. Attention women: if you want to be taken seriously don’t go bitch about it, but instead provide the example. Be the one to set the bar.

Fatally Yours: Since you’ve been involved with the horror genre, have you noticed a change in women’s roles in the industry? 

Anne Adams: I just pay attention to the work. Whether it’s a man or a woman producing it doesn’t cross my mind as long as it’s smart.

Fatally Yours: Do you ever get annoyed at how women in horror movies always end naked or with their clothes ripped off? Do monsters not like men’s abs?!

Anne Adams: I don’t think that women always get their clothes ripped off – yes, there are a lot of shit movies where tits and torture scenes are made specifically for a movie theater full of men to get off, but what about Silence of the Lambs? Let’s Scare Jessica to Death? The Orphanage? Misery? Hard Candy? The Descent? Cat People? The Exorcist? If I never saw a woman be a bad ass in this genre, then I never would have embraced the genre in the first place.

Fatally Yours: What are your top three movies with gratuitous chick/boob/sex scenes?

Anne Adams: Slumber Party Massacre, Pieces, and Friday the 13th.

Fatally Yours: What horror movie would you say is equally fair in terms of men being objectified or at least, losing the same amount of clothes?

Anne Adams: Hard Candy starring Patrick Wilson and Ellen Page!! Can we say longest castration scene EVER? GOD. That was hard to watch.

Fatally Yours: Do you feel you’ve become desensitized to stereotypical scenes in horror like the half-naked girl screaming and running for her life in slow motion? Or are these types of familiar horror tropes still effective and necessary? 

Anne Adams: I enjoy the stereotype sometimes, but it doesn’t scare me, so instead of feeling desensitized, I have a good laugh or feel nothing.

Fatally Yours: Do you feel that other people view women as being “soft” and not able to endure horror as well as men? How do you fight this stereotypical view?

Anne Adams: I do not. I am actually accused of being too hard sometimes. As far as fighting the stereotype, don’t worry about it. No one wants to see a woman pretending to be a man. Just be a woman with a brain.
Fatally Yours: What women in horror do you admire and why?

Anne Adams: Kathryn Bigelow – because Near Dark is one of the most kick ass films of all time. Mary Shelley, because she created one of the best monsters of all time, and Linda Blair, for embracing the scariest character of all time.

Fatally Yours: What advice would you give women who want to become involved in the horror genre?

Anne Adams: Never try to be one of the boys. Be a woman, and tell a story from your perspective and experience.

Fatally Yours: What has been your best experience while working in the horror community? What’s the worst?

Anne Adams: Directing The Revenants for Wildclaw Theatre….zombies on stage was a delight…especially when they accidently got loose. The worst experience wasn’t while I was working, but I watched Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer at the Portage Theater. I was so angry I wanted to vomit. I wanted to vomit even harder when the director of Henry was kind enough to speak to the audience about his inspiration for the movie, which apparently, was nothing.

Fatally Yours: What’s the last horror movie that made you think “this is some effed up shiznit!”? 

Anne Adams: A French movie called Inside. I can guarantee I will never watch that movie again. JESUS.

Fatally Yours: What’s one horror movie you think is HIGHLY overrated?

Anne Adams: The Blair Witch Project.


Fatally Yours: What are your favorite horror films, books, etc.?

Anne Adams: The Stand, The Descent, Psycho, Silence of the Lambs, The Omen, Rosemary’s Baby, The Sixth Sense.

Fatally Yours: What is your ultimate goal while working in the horror genre?

Anne Adams: Directing and producing quality works consistently.

Fatally Yours: What upcoming projects are you working on?

Anne Adams: Legion based on the novel by William Peter Blatty, adapted for the stage by Charley Sherman. We open on March 15th 2010. FINGERS CROSSED

Fatally Yours: Where can people find more info on you and Wildclaw Theatre?

Anne Adams: Facebook, Twitter and Wildclaw Theater’s official site.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1982)

The horror and film communities are all a-twitter over the eagerly awaited, Tim Burton-helmed Sweeney Todd movie. With director like Tim Burton and a cast that is lead by Johnny Depp, who wouldn’t be excited over this new Demon Barber of Fleet Street? I, too, have high hopes for this film, wishing it is something akin to a mix of music from Nightmare Before Christmas and visuals ala Sleepy Hollow.

Before watching Burton’s take on the famous tale, I decided to get a sneak peak by watching Stephen Sondheim’s televised Los Angeles production of the Broadway play. For the uninitiated, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is set in the grimy streets of 1846 London. Benjamin Barker (George Hearn) was shipped off to prison by Judge Turpin (Edmund Lyndeck) 15 years ago on a trumped up charge. You see, the Judge has nefarious plans for Barker’s beautiful wife and infant daughter. Now, Barker has returned to what he sings is: “…a hole in the world/Like a great black pit/And the vermin of the world/Inhabit it/And its morals aren’t worth/What a pig can spit/And it goes by the name of London.” He has changed his name to Sweeney Todd and plans on reuniting with his wife and child. All seems lost when he runs into the jovial Mrs. Lovett (Angela Lansbury), who runs a meat pie eatery below his long-abandoned barber shop. Mrs. Lovett tells him that his wife poisoned herself and that his daughter Johanna (Betsy Joslyn) is now under the guardianship of the nefarious judge. With this tragic news, Sweeney Todd snaps and vows revenge on all who have wronged him. He re-opens his barber shop, and when his enemies come knocking for “the closest shave” that’s what they get! To dispose of the bodies, Mrs. Lovett starts using them in her pies, which start selling like hot cakes! The Judge continues to elude Todd’s vengeful plans, but not for long…

Sondheim’s play is one of the most celebrated on Broadway and it’s not hard to see why it won eight Tony Awards. The powerful story, strong characterizations, the grimy and sinister mood, the themes of revenge and double-cross, not to mention the macabre material all make for a thoroughly entertaining musical. Sondheim avoids the gimmicky pop of certain musicals, instead choosing very dark lyrics and songs tailor-made for characters. The razor-sharp and lurid lyrics will most certainly be a treat for any horror fan! The musical is almost operatic, because there is sparse dialogue and it is mostly all sung. Those horror fans that do not appreciate a good stage musical are most certainly missing out, as Sweeney Todd delivers marvelous musical mayhem.

This is a stage play, so the set is one stage very sparsely decorated with a few movable set pieces. There are a few scaffolds that are wheeled about, along with Mrs. Lovett’s meat pie shop and, upstairs, Sweeney Todd’s barber shop. There are no grand, lavish sets in this play, but the sets are enough to convey the mood of a bleak, grimy, post-industrial London.

The acting is also wonderful. Those only familiar with Angela Lansbury through her television show Murder, She Wrote will be quite surprised and satisfied by her performance here. Her Mrs. Lovett is a perfect mix of caring, comedic and crazy! George Hearn (replacing Broadway’s Len Cariou) plays the tragic, bitter and determined Sweeney Todd. His vindictive resolve is made plain upon his first appearance on stage. He really makes the audience really feel and sympathize with his character, despite the heinous acts he is committing. The rest of the cast do a wondrous job as well, from Ken Jennings playing ragamuffin Tobias Ragg to the Judge’s henchman The Beadle, played by Calvin Remsberg. My only dissatisfaction came from Betsy Joslyn’s performance as Johanna, which made me cringe more than clap. Thank goodness we didn’t have to hear her sing more than she did, because her screechy vocals grated my nerves more than chalk on a blackboard!

Despite the one awkward performance, the stage version of Sweeney Todd holds up after all these years. It’s a timeless tale of rabid revenge and murderous mayhem that horror fans should love. If you can get past the “musical” aspect of it (we horror fans can be a pretty persnickety bunch!), Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd does have much to offer, especially a shocking and surprising ending, one I’m not sure they’ll keep for Burton’s version.

To see Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street come alive on stage was quite a treat. Until Burton’s version, make sure to “Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd. His skin was pale and his eye was odd. He shaved the faces of gentlemen who never thereafter were heard of again. He trod a path that few have trod, Did Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

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