Monday, February 29th

Featured artist: Women of Red Vein

Interviewed by: Kitty Barnes

Women in Horror Month (WiHM) has been amazing. AMAZING! Did I say amazing? Because it's been amazing. RED VEIN ARMY has shared some of the passion and the art that resides in our city by some of the finest women in horror. Fortunately for all, we have one day left. This means you get more AMAZING Women in Horror!! *Woooohoo! Cheers! Nobody can contain their excitement! It's so AMAZING!*

Today on this, our final day of official celebration, we get to introduce you to a few of our personal favorites. RED VEIN ARMY has many fascinating members and every single one is like family. They look out for each other, they tell you when your ideas are stupid, they even pick on you and remind you repeatedly of that one thing you said when you had a few too many cocktails. But most importantly, they inspire you. They challenge you to always be better. My time with them has been relatively short but they quickly became one of my most favorite things about Richmond. To me, they are the best at what they do and that is why for the final WiHM piece I would like to introduce you to a few of the women within RED VEIN ARMY that have helped make not just Richmond, but all of Virginia a great place for Haunters.

Boils and Ghouls! Allow me to introduce (a few of) the Women of Red Vein! *OH MY GAWD! THE APPLAUSE IS MONSTROUS! EVERYONE IS FLIPPING OUT FROM EXCITEMENT! IT'S A LEAP YEAR MIRACLE!*

As Aristotle said "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" and this group is no exception. Since we have many members, we can only give you a sampling of what each person brings to the table. I strongly encourage you to check out the variety of RVA events popping up throughout the year and see this fantastic team in action. In fact, you may have noticed the brand spanking new RVA Horror Movie Club pop up with an inaugural meeting March 1st. The chairman of the group is also one of RVA's production assistants, Miss Leslie Taylor!

Leslie has been with the group since it's inception and has contributed her efforts to many of projects along the way.

Everyone in RVA also has their own unique perspective and ideas, so I feel that is something that each of us brings to the table, and we really wouldn't be who we are as a group without one another.

Not only is Leslie chairperson of the new RVA Horror Movie Club but she is also a regular in costume on our seasonal haunted attraction tour. So why did she become a haunter?

To scare! There's something so cathartic about it for me. It allows me to blow off some steam in a really unique way, and it's also a ridiculous amount of fun. We are also constantly learning from each other to further home our craft. Both from other RVA members and the haunt community in general, it stays interesting with new techniques and methods of haunting. AND I get to do it all with some of my favorite people. I mean, have you met my friends? I think you have. They're pretty rad. Getting to do something that I am passionate about while being in such good company is an experience that I look forward to very much. We do start planning in January each year for Haunt Season!

As with every field, women face different challenges, some which are easier to overcome than others. I asked Leslie what she had encountered as a haunter.

Unfortunately, the ones you'd expect them to. Folks catcall, even when you're grossed up and very blatantly not looking for that sort of attention. They even cop feels occasionally, too. Some folks just can't handle themselves. This past season it seemed as though the audiences we encountered were considerably handsier than in past years, but we all managed. We also are careful to look out for one another, especially when we're in a location that could potentially lend itself to precarious situations. Luckily, when it comes to haunting, the haunters themselves at large are very open and welcoming. I haven't really run into any of the gender stereotypical garbage that I do in my daily life. We all help build, lift, move, and create together. And if we need help, we ask for it.

Geena Blumenfeld, our lead Makeup Artist, who has also been with us since the beginning has a different approach to the typical challenges.

I usually opt to wear a mask and have gender neutral costuming to help keep another aspect of the unknown and prevent repeat customers from recognizing me from previous years.

Geena says she wears many hats. She is regularly the go-to person when we need make-up assistance or to try out a new technique. Not only that, she has perfect hair. PERFECT HAIR! I hate her. Even in that ambiguous mask, her locks are a thing of envy.... Sorry... I digress... But how did Geena come to be a haunter and a prominent member of the Red Vein team?

Haunting started by accident, I was in a theatre production and some friends of mine said they needed people to work in a haunted house so I tagged along. I was only supposed to fill in for one night and that was all I needed to become addicted.

You may recognize our Production Assistant, Shelley Risi, from some of our short films ( ... Oh? Some of you didn't know we also have a YouTube channel? Geena and Shelley have both made appearances in these cinematic masterpieces. Check it out once you finish reading this article). Shelley joined RED VEIN ARMY in 2013 and has since performed as many unique characters, including a spider woman, the bride of Mr. Scream Freak from ScreamFreak.com, and even a demon.

​Although every character you meet lends itself to a greater story being told each year, Shelley creates her characters to be personally therapeutic.

Being a haunter helps to overcome my fears... my spider woman character helped me to overcome my fear of spiders. The bride, well, that was just fun in general, and the demon helped me realize silence and darkness doesn't always have to be filled with fear and stress. Plus, being a haunter allows me to scare the piss out of people and there is no rush or feeling that will ever be as good as getting the best scream of the night.

More goes into character development than most people realize. Most female haunters have to overcome the common perception of women in horror.

I think the challenge for women is going beyond what the Hollywood version of a woman in horror is; the damsel in distress, the slut who dies first, or the virgin that stays alive throughout the whole of the movie. I think it's a challenge for us to go outside those boundaries and show people that women, too, can be the one running with a chainsaw or the monster under the bed. Similar to the challenges we face as women everyday, I believe we also face the challenge of body images and what type of costumes we wear as haunters. Women are seen as sex objects in today's society and being a haunter, I feel we are judged by our costumes and make-up and sometimes told we are too sexy to be scary. That's why I always try to go beyond the stigma of "sexy damsel in distress" and create characters, costumes, and make-up that sets me apart from the majority.

You need more than a good costume to make someone pee their pants. When you visit a haunted attraction or one of our traveling productions, your senses are on high alert listening for that potential monster lurking in the shadows.

Challenging our voices to go beyond the high pitch screams of a woman is certainly on my radar. I try to find a deeper, scratchier, scarier voice for my characters that masks my gender.

Never underestimate the power of a women who haunts. They have caused some of the greatest scares and the loudest screams. As I mentioned before, these are just a few of the many woman that are part of our team, working to grow the horror community in Richmond and take haunted attractions to the next level. If you see "RED VEIN ARMY presents...." check it out! I guarantee our events will always offer something different to keep you entertained and most importantly, keep you scared!

If you are not already, follow RED VEIN ARMY at... Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

This concludes our first Women in Horror Month series, showcasing many of the Wicked Women of Richmond. Please be sure to check out our previous interviews this month with Deanna Danger, Querus Abuttu, Abigail Larson, and Alaina Gearhart. And most of importantly, support your local women of horror year round!