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V/H/S/Halloween comes out today on Shudder, and fans couldn’t be more excited. We recently reviewed the campy anthology project ahead of its release. However, we have another treat up our sleeves this Halloween season. I recently sat down with Micheline Pitt-Norman & R.H. Norman to discuss their section Home Haunt as well as their upcoming project with James Wan & Jason Blum, Cosmetic.
Micheline Pitt-Norman & R.H. Norman Interview
iHorror: How did you two get involved in horror? Are you a fan of the genre outside of these new projects?
Micheline Pitt-Norman: Oh yeah. My love for horror started at a very early age. It started around three years old. Some autistic kids love trains, and I love horror and Halloween. That’s my special interest, and it’s never changed.
R.H. Norman: There’s a reference to my love for horror in our V/H/S/Halloween segment. Keith’s alter ego Dr. Mortis, is based on my local horror host, Dr. Paul Bearer. Every Saturday, he had a show called Creature Feature. That was more important to me than Saturday morning cartoons.
iHorror: How did the two of you end up with the V/H/S/Halloween feature?
Micheline Pitt-Norman: We met Josh Goldbloom through some mutual friends, and we immediately hit it off. He casually mentioned that the theme for V/H/S this year is Halloween. I got so excited for him and began listing the limitless possibilities with the theme. Somehow, that transitioned into him asking us to pitch on it.
R.H. Norman: He loved our most recent short, Grummy. Which is the short that got us the project with James Wan as well. When we started focusing on our love for genre and making that the focal point of our filmmaking, that really opened it up. Josh was a big fan of our work and thought that we could bring an interesting voice to the project.
“What I can say is that it’s pink and covered in blood.”
iHorror: When I reviewed V/H/S/Halloween, I mentioned that Home Haunt did the best job of combining camp and horror. Do you feel that is accurate?
R.H. Norman: It takes a certain kind of art to make good camp. I don’t think camp should be a bad word. I think horror is heading back in that direction again. It’s kind of refreshing.
Micheline Pitt-Norman: Look at the witch from Weapons. That’s John Waters camp if I’ve ever seen it.
R.H. Norman: Our concept was channeling Peter Jackson making an R-rated Goosebumps episode. We wanted to capture the magic of Halloween. Something with a little magic realism to it.
iHorror: What about making horror entertainment is so important to you?
Micheline Pitt-Norman: The sandbox for horror is so broad. It gives you the ability to push boundaries that you could never do in a drama or a comedy. It is one of the most freeing spaces to be an artist.
R.H. Norman: It’s the perfect medium for engaging ideas that aren’t as approachable in other genres. That’s what we did with Grummy. It has a very dark and heavy subject matter involving child abuse. But it’s also a love letter to escapism. Some people use that word as a pejorative, but for some people it’s a lifeline. These other worlds they go to are the only thing keeping them alive. Had we just made a dark drama about child abuse, it wouldn’t have created a safe space for people to come and interact with it.
iHorror: What, if anything, can you tell us about Cosmetic?
Micheline Pitt-Norman: It’s happening. There will be some really exciting announcements coming soon. What I can say is that it’s pink and covered in blood. It will be unlike anything anyone has ever seen from Atomic Monster.
iHorror: Micheline, you also run a clothing company called Vixen. Could you tell us about that?
Micheline Pitt-Norman: Our clothes are for everybody. We go from sizes extra small to 5x. We try to be as inclusive as we can. As a girl who didn’t fit in, I wanted to create a brand that made people feel like they were welcome and could sit at our table. I love that I can make something that might make someone love themselves a little bit more.
V/H/S/Halloween premieres on October 3rd via Shudder. Make sure to check back here for more updates on Cosmetic.
