Comic Booked’s own Jeff Hughes sits down with California Bay Area’s Horror Hostess Reyna Young about her upcoming comic book “Miss Misery’s A Haunting Desire” and about her alter ego Miss Misery.
For those of us who may not know who Reyna Young is, tell us who you are.
I am a Film maker, Horror Hostess and all around awesome chick! I Write and Direct my own films, I am also CEO of the Last Doorway Productions, in addition to all these things I am better known for my sweet but delightfully deranged alter ego Horror Hostess character known as Miss Misery who hosts The Last Doorway Show.
I have written and self published seven books and there if more to come in the future, so be on the lookout for those soon.
When did you know you wanted to pursue a career in the horror genre?
My first memories of being introduced to horror was when I sneaked into my father’s VHS collection and pulled out John Carpenter’s Halloween, from there on out I was obsessed with horror; I continued my love for horror with reading Edgar Allen Poe and other books from the genre, of course my first love was with the horror movies and I continued sneaking to watch my favorite horror icons such as Michael Myers.
Over the years not only did my love grow for the genre grow but also my fascination for the inner-workings of filming and writing did as well, and now I am thrilled to be doing what I love doing.
What projects are you currently working on?
Right now I am currently working on my next feature film called “Forgotten Tales”; it’s an anthology movie in the vein of Creepshow and will be hosted by an animated version of my alter ego Miss Misery will be hosting it animated hosting the stoies throughout the movie. and it will be three of my short stories. I can’t wait for fans to see this movie , after “Forgotten Tales” I will be jumping right into my next feature film which is based on my short film “Out Of Print”.
Miss Misery is your horror hostess alter-ego; can you tell us what inspired the character, is she a compilation of anyone?
Miss Misery was created because I had always wanted to be the next Elvira, I grew up watching and admiring Elvira, I loved how she combine her dark comedic side and sexiness together, it worked and you could tell that she really enjoys playing that role; Elvira is the dark-witt of Miss Misery along with the sexiness.
Miss Misery was also of course influenced by Vampira; Vampira was the first lady of horror hosts, she exudes a very Gothic sexy look but she maintained a hypnotic eerie look that even to this day many have attempted to duplicate.
She also has a few male influxes such as Bob Wilkins who was the host of Creature Features, I really liked his stage presence and also he had those really cool looking glasses, so I gave Miss Misery similar glass to give a wink to him; Miss Misery also has a bit of John Stanley who was te second host of Creature Feature, again I really liked his laid back hosting style.
Miss Misery embodies these fantastic hosts, I add a bit of my own unique but slightly warped sense of humor to the potpourri that makes up the character.
Miss Misery can be found hosting “The Last Doorway Show” and you can meet her at comic book and horror conventions around the California and Bay area.
Does Miss Misery relate to you in anyway?
I have always been a goth girl and into weird things so yes she does relate to me in many ways. Miss Misery is a goth who’s into weird things, she loves weapons especially axes and has this obsession with Elvis and Bruce Lee.
She’s sexy and sweet, but does have a devilish side to her and if provoked she will get even with you in one way or another; basically I took bits ad pieces of my own personality
I figured she could get away with it a lot more then I could.
You are about to release your first comic book based of Miss Misery entitled “Miss Misery’s A Haunting Desire” can you tell us when it is being released and a little what it’s about?
Yes it will be debuting at WonderCon in San Francisco April 1st-April 3rd. So 
be sure to drop by the Legends Of Heroes And Villains and Comic Book Divas table at Sp-37 and get your copy; not only is it debuting at WonderCon but it will also be debuting with a limited edition variant cover.
The comic is about Miss Misery’s obsession with this guitar player named John Gillette whose in a band called Dammit; she follows the band everywhere and goes to every concert just to be around him; one night she decides to show John how she feels by kidnapping him and chains him in her basement.
Who needs poems, chocolate and flowers?
The artwork is done by Scattered Comics Studios artist Arianna Sherman; she really captured the ton of the comic book and the look of Miss Misery.
I’m so excited to release this comic and cannot wait to have it up in comic book shops.
Note: The “Miss Misery’s A Haunting Desire” comic book will debut at WonderCon with a 25 copy limited edition Miss Misery photo cover.
What other comic book projects can we look for in the future?
I am coming out with a series called “Forgotten Tales”, based upon the featured film, again it’s going to be along the vein of the old EC Tales from the 
Crypt and writing all of the stories and Jeff Hughes owner of Comic Book Divas will be working on the comic book script .
Miss Misery will be hosting the comic book of course injecting her words of wisdom and sarcasm.
In addition Jeff Hughes and I are collaborating on the web series Miss Massacre; she’s a Gothic type Wonder Woman who fights crime in a unique and twisted manner.
Do you collect comic books, and if so what do you enjoy reading?
I am into both Marvel and DC Comics, I’m a big Wonder Woman and Ghost Rider fan, but I also like SuperGirl, Catwoman, and Iron man, I’m into both Marvel and DC; I recently just started picking up the True Blood series and I love it.
Do you have a favorite comic book character and if so why do you feel you relate to the character?
I love Wonder Woman, I’ve always wanted to be her she’s so cool, she’s hot and has powers, she’s kind hearted and saves lives, how cool is that? Plus how about that outfit and lasso?
I also love Ghost Rider; I want to take souls too!
What else do you like to collect that is comic related or otherwise?
I collect toys; I have toys all over my walls; It’s a bit insane to have all these boxed toys and action figured on the wall and everywhere but I love it.
I just recently became obsessed with Monster High Dolls so I have been collecting those; and yes I try and collect anything and everything Wonder Woman, I am also collecting all the horror figures.
What conventions or other events can we see you at this year?
Well I will be at WonderCon April 1st-April 3rd, then you can find me at Monsterpalooza the following weekend in Burbank and then I’ll be at SAC-CON on June 5th in Sacramento.
Where can people go to learn more about you and follow your projects?
My IMDB website
