Chatting With Janelle Monáe About Horror, Monáe Manor and Hosting AMC FearFest [Interview]

Janelle Monáe is a 10-time Grammy-nominated singer, a SAG Award-winning actress, and now a legendary Hallo-queen as the host of AMC’s FearFest this year.

She chatted with Bloody Disgusting about this year’s 700+ hours of programming, creating her own haunted house, and why Halloween and horror resonate with her.

Bloody Disgusting: What does it mean to you to be this year’s host of AMC’s FearFest?

Janelle Monáe: It means that I’ve crossed over into legendary status. I’ve got a black belt in being a legend now. It’s such an honor. It’s such an iconic title to have, and I wear it with so much pride.

BD: What movies are you most looking forward to showing on FearFest this year?

JM: I’m gonna be hosting over 700 hours of iconic horror franchises. I’m excited to show some of my faves, like A Nightmare on Elm Street. We’re doing Child’s Play, Carrie, Candyman, Night of the Living Dead… I can go on and on. I mean, it’s 700+ hours!

BD: What is it that draws you to the horror genre?

JM: I’m a storyteller. I’m a writer. I grew up writing short stories in high school, middle school. In addition to watching all of my favorite horror films with my cousins and us scaring ourselves for fun, I’ve always wanted to write in the horror space.

I love Stephen King. I remember seeing It, that novel, at the grocery store when I would go with my mom, and I would be like, ‘Man, this is such a cool cover.’ Then when the movie came out, I was like, ‘That’s the cover that I saw. They turned it into a movie. Oh, my God! I can be a director. I can write horror.’

Because it scares me so much and I love it, I want to get into this genre. I grew up writing science fiction/horror short stories. The mystery, the unknown, the iconic archetypes from the Freddy Kruegers to the Michael Myers to the Jason Voorhees to the Candymans; those are the folks that I gravitate towards, and I want to write more of and I want to see myself in. I want to write more archetypes in the genre.

BD: You have, of course, already starred in a horror movie with Antebellum. Are you interested in turning one of your stories into a film? Do you have any aspirations to direct?

JM: Absolutely, all of the above. Just stay tuned.

BD: Every year you debut an imaginative and elaborate Halloween costume. Can you give us a little tease for what’s in store this year?

JM: I can say that I’ve had this costume planned for the last two years. I was going to wear it last year, but we were on strike with SAG-AFTRA and writers. I wanted to stand in solidarity and not wear any characters from movies, so I saved it. I guess I gave you a hint! It’s going to be an iconic movie character.

BD: Why does Halloween resonate with you?

JM: I love that the majority of the world on Halloween starts to give itself permission to transform into characters and spirits that they may not have felt safe to do otherwise. They may have thought, ‘Oh, it’d be silly to just walk into my job dressed as Freddy Krueger or Barbie or an angel.’ And all of a sudden, Halloween gives them that permission, and I love that.

I’m an artist that transforms all the time on stage. I have, like, six or seven costume changes, and Halloween is every day for me. I give myself that permission. And especially as someone who is nonbinary, I’m always pushing myself to dig deeper and and to honor who I am now and and where I’ll go. I love that Halloween gives humans the permission to be silly, to be scary, to be spooky.

BD: Can you tell me a little bit about Monáe Manor, the haunted house you created for LA Haunted Hayride?

JM: Yes! I have to say thank you to the LA Haunted Hayride folks; Mel specifically, who is a fellow Hallo-queen like myself. We love Halloween, and she and I worked on this haunted house maze together.

Buckle up! When you enter Monáe Manor, you are going to be in for screams, for chills, for thrills, for shocks. It is a scream come true for me. I’ve always wanted to have my own haunted house experience.

This is the first of many, so make sure you check it out. It’s running now up until November 2nd. Bring friends, take pictures, tag me!

BD: To wrap up, why would you recommend that horror fans tune into FearFest on AMC this month?

JM: I feel like they get it. They listen to the people. They listen to real horror fans when it comes to the movies that they want to see.

Why go anywhere else when you can have it all with AMC and FearFest?

FearFest runs all month long on AMC and AMC+. The full schedule can be found here.