Rachel Searcey is a horror filmmaker and writer, and you can view some of her stories and short films here. I knew her as a writer first, and I love her visceral and emotional short fiction, which often illustrates the horror of relationships, including the vulnerability of parenting and being parented. As a visceral storyteller, she goes above and beyond to entertain. She’s also very fun to chat with!
Read on as she shares her horror knowledge!
1) You've taught me a lot about the horror genre I didn't know with your jokes about cenobites and xenomorphs. I feel like you've seen it all. What were the horror movies and books that first drew you in?
When I was little, I’d watch Twilight Zone and classic Doctor Who with my dad. And of course I was in love with The Munsters and The Addams Family, the original show and the 90s movies! I also read and re-read Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. I was a rabid fan of the Goosebumps and later Fear Street. From there, it was a short jump to Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Anne Rice. Like a lot of horror readers of my generation, I found HP Lovecraft as a teenager. The library had the yellowing trade paperbacks with the creepy covers by Michael Whelan.
Finally, Scream came out and I fell in love with gory horror movies. My best friend and I would get whatever horror VHS we could from the local Blockbuster. We watched everything, probably some stuff we were too young or not ready for!
2) How did you get into making movies? What's your favorite part of the process?
While watching every manner of terrible horror films with my best friend, we realized at some point that it was something we could actually do. We both liked writing and were pretty crafty and creative. So at 16, I wrote a script (that everyone thought was a comedy even though I was SUPER serious about it), Attack of the Killer Asparagus. My parents bought me a camera, we got all our friends together, and we filmed it over the course of a few months. My friend made this giant Asparagus costume that she wore for the finale. I edited it with Windows Movie Maker, and we used all copyrighted music because we didn’t know!
The film screened in Dallas, and I met some really cool people as a result. After that I was hooked and continued making short films, eventually graduating film school at TCU.
My favorite part of the process is the editing. Watching all the pieces come together, picking and choosing the shots, the bits of dialogue. It’s like magic how everyone worked together to produce something original. There’s nothing better than watching the final cut of a film.
3) How do you think your background as a filmmaker affects your fiction? I feel like your work is grounded in strong images, for example.
Yes, definitely. I’ve had multiple people tell me that my prose is “cinematic” and I take it as a compliment! I was the cinematographer for several projects and would do storyboards, location scouting, etc. My visual sense is very strong and I’m sensitive to color and composition. I used to draw and paint as well. When I’m writing, the imagery is what comes to me first. With the help of my writing group and lots of critique from lovely people, the other senses have become stronger to add more layers to my prose and balance it out, but also create a richer experience. Screenplays are the other way, lots of action and dialogue but little imagery (which comes later). When I first started writing prose, I had to really work at finding the balance and getting out of the screenplay mindset.
4) What do you wish to see more of in horror these days?
In film, I want more like Lucky McKee’s May, the Soska Sisters’ American Mary, Julia Ducournau’s Titane, and Joe Lynch’s Suitable Flesh. Horror doesn’t have to be neat and tidy like a lot of Hollywood mass produced films. I like it when it’s messy around the edges, makes you question your sanity and existence. And yes, I want more body horror.
In prose, I was blown away recently by RJ Joseph’s Hell Hath No Sorrow like a Woman Haunted. She mixed body horror with women’s issues like domestic violence, childbirth, and sexual assault. Another one was Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror, edited by Lee Murray. There were times I cried while reading because the stories were so similar to my own childhood.
I would love to see more people writing about their cultural experiences and the pain and horror that comes with it. It is somehow unique but also universal.
5) What are some examples of your work that you're especially proud of, and why?
The films I made with Amelia Gilley, who is a writer and director, and also one of my best friends. We produced several beautiful films with very little money, sweat, blood, and tears. We’re taking a break right now because of our kids and life, but I hope we can get back to it soon enough!
As far as writing, the first story I ever wrote in actual prose was “How to Make it in Hollywood,” in the Collage Macabre anthology. I was scared to death that it would be terrible, but it came out OK and people (who weren’t friends or family, bless them) actually enjoyed it!
More recently, “Within the Naga’s Coils,” in the Welcome to Your Body anthology, which touched on several themes close to my heart: a Gothic setting, narcissistic mothers, and women’s health. I feel like they all came together for the story. It’s also the most personal short I’ve ever written.
6) What advice do you have for someone who wants to DIY their own horror film?
Write a script, don’t worry too much about how original it is (nothing is), do your best with the special FX. And finally HAVE FUN! A lot of horror takes itself way too seriously, but we also read/watch it as a way to release tension. BODIES BODIES BODIES was a recent film that I felt captured the DIY horror feel. Get some friends together, a location where no one will bother you, and go nuts. You can shoot on your phone these days, and it’ll look and sound pretty good. People are posting mini horror movies online via TikTok and YouTube shorts.
Just like everything, practice makes progress. So if you like it, keep making movies as much as you can. Your films will get better and better. You don’t need to go to film school. There are endless resources online (nofilmschool.com for example), free books at the library, and local film groups (check Facebook) who are happy to help.
Studying films (watch BTS extras on DVDs, reading interviews) and reading screenplays (usually free pdfs available online) are other great ways to learn.
7) What are your plans for future projects?
I’ve been obsessed with Gothic fiction for the past 2 years. Reading and writing. My latest stories, while still horror and SFF, all have a Gothic bent. I’ve got three shorts I’m working on now, which are all skewing longer than anything I’ve written before. One is a sapphic vampire story on an isolated island, another is a Southwestern Gothic set in a meandering hillside house, and the third is a sci-fi story about a man who doesn’t want to leave a simulation.
My plan is to just keep writing and honing the craft.
8) What would you like to be asked?
Who are your influences?
Anne McCaffrey, Neil Gaiman, Shirley Jackson, Octavia Butler, and Ursula K LeGuin. All of them blur the lines of genre fiction and are experts at crafting tension, fear, mystery, and wonder.