Janelle Monáe Explains Partnering With AMC to Host FearFest, Being a ‘Halloqueen’ and Her Favorite Horror Films: ‘It’s Where I Find My Comfort’
Janelle Monáe is, admittedly, a huge fan of spooky season. “I have had the biggest infatuation with horror, the unknown, mystery, psychological thrillers, since I’ve been a child,” she tells Variety. “My mom says that after Halloween, I was still in my Halloween costumes and in middle school, I slept in my ‘Child’s Play’ Chucky mask for at least three nights until someone stole my mask. I think they stole it because they were tired of me walking around in it.”
These days, the singer, actress and entertainment mogul is keen on celebrating horror in more substantive ways. Earlier this month, she partnered with AMC and AMC+ as the official host of its annual “FearFest,” featuring over 700 hours of horror films, series and more. As part of the monthlong celebration, Monáe serves as the “Halloqueen,” as she puts it, popping up throughout the slate of programming to share horror trivia and knowledge and sharing a block of her favorite horror flicks including “Carrie,” “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Killer Klowns from Outer Space.”
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But Monáe’s horror passion doesn’t end there. Each year, her elaborate costumes rival only Heidi Klum for their elaborate constructions, concepts and execution. In the past, she’s gone as Diva Plavalaguna from “The Fifth Element” and a headless bride, and this year, she coyly teases that she’s dressing as a film character. She’s also staging a haunted house experience dubbed Monáe Manor at Los Angeles’ Haunted Hayride, and is gearing up to produce and star in a Medusa-inspired film titled “Don’t Look” through Universal and Wondaland Pictures.
For now, though, Monáe is soaking up the horror vibes during the one month of the year where wearing a Chucky mask to bed might actually be socially acceptable.
What do you love about horror or even the macabre?
I love storytelling. I’m an actor, I’m an artist. I tell stories through music, I tell stories through film, and I believe that this genre is frightening to some, but for me, it’s where I find my comfort. I find my comfort in watching horror films and creating horror films. I have a TV and film production company, I have a haunted house experience. So I guess I would say I was made like this.
What made you want to be the host of FearFest for the month?
Well I was asked to be the host, and I would be a fool to not accept AMC’s invitation to be the Halloqueen. And FearFest is legendary, it’s iconic.
You handpicked the collection, which has everything from “Carrie” to “Candyman.” What is it about this collection that embodies why you love horror so much?
A lot of this brings back beautiful memories, memories of my cousins and I at my grandmother or aunt’s house watching all of the films that I picked. And my nose bleeding and me laughing and being completely happy. I just love that around the season, it brings up memories of being little and being with the people you love and going on this journey of frights and thrills and scares with the people you love. To answer your question even more, I think it also gives people the opportunity to bond with their friends and family around the season and movies and films, and recall the memories from the past and create new memories. Maybe people who are going to be watching all of the films that we handpicked and will be streaming on AMC+, maybe they’ll be watching them with their kids this time. So it gives them the chance to introduce them to some of the films that are classics, that are iconic horror films.
What movie made your nose bleed?
I would have to say “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” Freddie Kruger. I remember my cousin Miron and me looking at the screen and him turning to me, being like, when they sing the song “1, 2, Freddie’s coming for you, 3, 4…” And then my nose was bleeding. He got so scared. But I think I was having nosebleeds as a child a lot, and I think it was just the timing. But I want to believe that it was Freddie Kruger who made my nose bleed. That’s the story I’m going to go with.
What was the first true horror movie that scared you?
“A Nightmare on Elm Street.” Because it’s literally about Freddie Kruger coming to haunt you in your dreams. So all the kids knew not to go to sleep. And so we would just stay up, we would be scared. We knew it was a movie, but when you’re a kid, you’re like, oh my god. Freddie is really going to come in our dreams, we have to stay up. So you’re eating junk food all night and are completely wired up on soda and you’re like, I can’t go to sleep. That was the first one. And then I think when I saw Stephen King’s “It,” I would see the book when I would go to the grocery store with my mom. I saw the cover and was like, whoa this is scary. But the movie? Oh my god. I was scared to walk down my neighborhood and look at my sewer drains, because I just knew Pennywise’s face, eyes, nose, fingers, the balloon — everything was going to be waiting for me and my cousins.
You dress up every year in these elaborate ways. What do you look forward to about dressing up for Halloween every year?
I look forward to the process. I plan my Halloween costumes two years in advance. So the costume I’m going to wear this year, I knew what it was going to be two years ago. And I couldn’t wear it last year because we were on strike with SAG and it’s a movie character. That’s all I’ll give. But I couldn’t do that. I was standing in solidarity with my fellow SAG-AFTRA family, and they asked us not to wear any movie characters. So I saved it for this year, and I love the experience of working with my prosthetics special effects team, sitting there for six to eight hours listening to Alfred Hitchcock movie scores, listening to Bernard Herman’s sounds and orchestration and watching all of my favorite horror films on TV and us getting ready.
You’ve starred in horror films and projects, “Antebellum” comes to mind. Do you think the film is on its way to becoming a cult classic?
First of all, it was one of the most difficult films I’ve ever shot. We were in New Orleans and I had to shoot it at four, five in the morning. We were on this haunted plantation and I think to some, it will be a cult classic. To some, it won’t. I think that’s just what art and movies will do. To some, some people are like I can’t watch it because it seems too real, it’s a horror story for them because it can happen in real life. I had a friend who said, “I’ll never get in an Uber the same way because of this film.”
You like to take time with music projects, you put out “The Age of Pleasure” last year. But is there anything we can expect from you musically in the near future?
Yes. There is music that haunts me in my nightmares. This is a great high, creative season for me, because I have so many ideas and have so many sounds that I have nightmares about. The most beautiful nightmares about. So I’m excited to share when it’s time to share.
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