By Ron Evans

This Sunday, local horror fiends, Danny Knightmare and his wife Gory B. Movie - aka Horror Addicts, will be live-streaming their 6th annual Ahh Scares, a horror-only awards presentation that will keep even the most casual horror fan “tuned” in. The 3 hour-ish event will begin at 6pm PST (as the real Oscars are firing up) on the Horror Addicts’ YouTube channel.

The awards (a homecoming queen figure with an upside down bucket of blood) will be “handed” out for over 30 categories such as Best Death, Best Fan Film and my personal favorite - Best Horror Movie Poster. The Oscars should add that one to their own program. But I bet they won’t.

What started as a humble passion project by Wenatchee’s Knightmare has grown into a rather impressive (and 100% low-budget) production. Over the years, Knighten and Gory B. started to reach out to other horror hounds all over the globe - podcasters, filmmakers, publications, conventions etc. - to be included in the production of the event. This not only added to the more widespread and balanced nature of the show, it also has led to an eclectic and entertaining array of content, including animated elements.

“We first started the YouTube channel to do weekly movie reviews and we sometimes would post little videos we made. Short films and stuff like that. I wanted to do something like the Ahh Scares all the way back when we started Horror Addicts in 2015. I was too new though, I wasn’t ready. But later on my wife, Gory B. Movie, started a show on Horror Addicts called Ghouls Night Out which got together a bunch of female content creators talking about horror movies. We did one called the Ahh Scares as sort of a pilot but by 2017 I had gotten better at editing and felt like we could do it the way we wanted.”

Along with his increasing editing chops, the growth of Horror Addicts’ YouTube channel helped boost the Ahh Scares by pulling in some other well-known content creators from the horror community.

“I have a friend named Brian Barnes with a channel where he’s a grim reaper character and we thought, oh, it'd be cool if he could host the Best Death category. I’m also friends with Screaming Soup who animates all their stuff. They could do the Best Horror Animation award - and it kind of just spiraled from there. I was like, shit, we can get a different channel to present for all the different awards. It worked out. We’ve given awards out to people like Joe-Bob Briggs (beloved host of TNT’s MonsterVision for years, and now The Last Drive-In on Shudder) and Elvira, and they were on the Ahh Scares so that’s been great.”

Joe Bob Briggs accepting his Ahh Scare on The Last Drive-In, and he even pronounced Wenatchee right! (Shudder Network)

As to how the winners are picked…

“Well the nominations are open to the public I guess you could say, but the actual voting - that comes from around 100 or so members of the horror community, like podcasters, writers and filmmakers from all over the world, really.”

While the production of many of the segments and bits are pre-recorded, the stream is hosted by Danny Knightmare and Gory B. Movie live which adds to the-anything-can-happen fun of the show.

“It may be a terrible idea to go live against the Oscars but…people often have their computers on while the TV is on in the background.”

Knightmare is also a filmmaker himself and has made more of a push into that arena recently.

“We’re just finishing a short film called The Orchard Man which is slightly based on a true local story. I’d say that’s my first attempt at a legit film. We have made other things though - we did Friday The 13th, Eh where we had a Canadian Jason. He’s very polite. He kills but then says he’s sorr-y.”

Knightmare hopes to finish post-production of The Orchard Man not long after wrapping up the Oscars with a plan for some local screenings once it's done. As if it’s not already clear that movies are in Knightmare’s blood, his upbringing should drive that home.

“My dad and I used to live in the apartment above the snack bar at the Vue-Dale Drive-In. So I could fire up the radio and peek out at the movies they were running that night.”

The Ahh Scares stream goes live this Oscar Sunday at 6pm PST. Fire up the popcorn, grab some demented pals and settle in for a fun evening of blood, some laughs and at least a few surprises…but for now.

“May the best horror movie win!” Says Knightmare

You can also read Knightmare’s rundown on the winners of the event in the April issue of The Comet.