HALLOWE’EN SPECIAL
JOSIE LONG THE PERFECTLY CREEPY HALLOWE’EN
Interview: Claire Sawers
‘I really like having fancy dress parties at Hallowe’en. The best/worst one I’ve ever had was about i ve years ago. My housemates and I decorated our entire house to look like a kind of alien dungeon. We put green food dye in everything and my friend Daniel made an “atmospheric” playlist of grinding, non-melodic sci-i i lm soundtracks. It was horrible.’
How do you feel about watching gory movies/ slasher i lms? Big fan? Or deeply afraid? ‘I love horror i lms. As a child, my parents were really strict Christians and didn’t let me or my sister watch any i lms with any hint of romance in them, however for some weird reason my mum didn’t mind me watching super-damaging-in-retrospect horror i lms. For years I used to run out of the bathroom because of the scary clown from It.’ Any comedians you’d recommend for their dark material? ‘Andrew O’Neill has a lot of excellent séance and demonology-based jokes. He’s also a ripperologist and in a steampunk band, which is sort of gothic horror, sort of.’
Are there any previous fancy dress costumes you’re particularly proud of? ‘YES! I once won a competition going as half Princess Diana, half Mother Theresa with a sign saying “the worthy dead of 1997”.’ Any dream Hallowe’en outi ts you’d like to wear, given the chance? ‘I would love to be given proper, full-on, i lm quality zombie makeup and have bits of peeling skin. I would love that so much that if the only day it could happen was also my
20 THE LIST 18 Oct–15 Nov 2012
wedding day, I would still do it.’
What do you give to guisers? RD? IS ‘I DON’T UNDERSTAND THIS WORD? IS u mean THIS A SCOTTISH THING? Do you mean please trick-or-treaters? PS: I didn’t mean it, please don’t vote to leave the union.’
Do you have a favourite horror movie? ovie? ‘I like The Shining, it’s so epic and intense. ense. bout The best serial killer biopic is Bundy about Elm Ted Bundy. I liked the Nightmare on Elm ally Street i lms as a child and I recently really ellent liked Eden Lake because it has the excellent actor who played Cook in Skins in.’
Do you have a favourite creepy book ook this that would be good to dig out at this time of year? ‘The Road? I’m reading it at the moment moment y post- and it’s ever so frightening, in fact any post- re’s an nuclear stuff is the most creepy. There’s an nuinely old TV drama called Threads that’s genuinely e Wind terrifying, and the comic Where the Wind Blows is awfully sad.’ Any favourite Hallowe’en party games? ames? ‘When I was a kid my mum made a massive massive uld get big deal about Hallowe’en, and she would get ngs and us to make witches’ hats, and sing songs and of fun stuff, but one thing she did was sort of fun would in the most TERRIFYING way. She would a witch say, ‘I’m not your real mummy, I’m a witch off her and I’ve killed your real mummy, cut off her ase me face and stuck it on mine.’ And then chase me r to say around the house while I would beg her to say No it’s it wasn’t true. Then she would say, ‘No it’s t again. not true. . . or is it?’ and it would start again. ew, feel I honestly now, looking at this interview, feel like none of this was normal.’
ure, Josie Long: Romance and Adventure, The Stand, Glasgow, Wed 24 Oct.
ALICE COOPER THE DARK FORCE OF ROCK
The kohl-eyed monster of metal talks onstage executions, his love of horror fi lms and performing in Edinburgh this Hallowe’en Interview: Henry Northmore
‘B ack when we i rst started they were all rock heroes – The Beatles, The Stones, The Who – but no rock villains. And I said, ‘Why aren’t I the dark force?’ I’ll be just as commercial in terms of music, it’ll be hard rock but darker and funnier. So Alice Cooper was born to be rock’s villain.
e oo s,
a
o so a d ‘When we i rst moved to Los Angeles the very i rst people we ran into were Jim appa a d Morrison and The Doors, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Keith Moon [The the Mothers of Invention, Keith Moon [The Who], Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin. Who], Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin. All my big brothers and sisters All my big brothers and sisters were heavy drinkers, I was were heavy drinkers, I was the little brother tagging the little brother tagging along, I was a complete along, I was a complete no name, I was just no name, I was just trying to keep up with trying to keep up with these guys. For a long these guys. For a long time I watched them time I watched them hit 27-years-old, then hit 27-years-old, then they died. I learnt at they died. I learnt at that point that you had that point that you had to be able to separate to be able to separate yourself your yourself your image or you were going image or you were going to die. Jim Morrison had to die. Jim Morrison had to be Jim Morrison all the to be Jim Morrison all the time, Keith Moon had no time, Keith Moon had no off button. Alice Cooper off button. Alice Cooper went on stage for two went on stage for two hours but then I’d leaveve hours but then I’d leave Alice up there so I didn’tt Alice up there so I didn’t drink myself to death. drink myself to death.
from from
‘The onstage executions ‘The onstage executions took the show to another took the show to another level. I think when you level. I think when you have a villain, it’s not have a villain, it’s not satisfying unless he gets satisfying unless he gets his comeuppance at the his comeuppance at the end. As much as end. As much as I like Dracula I like Dracula it’s not it’s not s a t i s f y i n g s a t i s f y i n g until he he until gets staked. gets staked. When you When you are putting are putting your head in your head in a guillotine a guillotine every night every night and the blade and the blade