Photo by Ashley Anthony.

The Monsterama horror convention makes its debut in Atlanta Aug. 1-3 and brings with it a cadaverous cadre of horror legends and underground favorites. Featuring the likes of Space Ghost Coast to Coast‘s C. Martin Croker, Big In Japan writer Timothy Price, Monstrosity Championship Wrestling’s Professor Morté and Hammer scream queen Veronica Carlson, Monsterama is not likely to disappoint fans of horror films, comic books, literature, art and theater. But Monsterama also features a new generation of creatures ready to rise from their proverbial coffins. One such vixen is Madeline Brumby, who played Edna Marco in the cult favorite Dear God No!, danced as a Go-Go Ghoul in the Silver Scream SpookShow and has helped stave off the undead at Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse, among other spooky endeavors. As she prepares for a weekend of scream queens, monster makeup and other atrocities, she takes a moment to talk to Wrestling with Pop Culture about her burgeoning horror career and what her role will be at Monsterama.

What exactly is your role at the inaugural Monsterama? 

I just got involved pretty recently when Anthony Taylor asked me to be a guest, which I was excited about. He’s one of the creators and organizers of Monsterama. I have the opportunity this Friday to host a panel with Veronica Carlson, who was a Hammer star and a scream queen. We’re doing a panel talking about acting in horror films and what that was like. I’m really interested to hear what she has to say since she had quite a career that went on for many years. She did all sorts of productions for Hammer and was quite a striking looking woman. She was definitely in the prime time for horror films.

She obviously has a much more storied career than you’ve had at this point. I’m guessing you’ve drawn inspiration from quite a bit of her work. What do you anticipate when you host this panel with her?

Madeline Brumby (right) as one of Dracula’s brides in the Little 5 Points Rockstar Orchestra’s production of “Dracula”. Photo by DornBrothers.

I’ve definitely admired her. I imagine she’ll probably have a lot of behind-the-scenes stories that will be interesting about how her career started, how she fell into that kind of path. I fell into the horror path kind of by accident. It’s not that I had anything against it, it just kind of went that way. It seemed to be the thing that most people were trying to do independently. That’s how I found Dear God No!. I’m curious how she got started and that’s what I’d like to ask her about.

Tell me a little more about how you ended up in Dear God No! and the horror industry in general.

I was scrolling through auditions and casting calls and things like that and I stumbled across an audition log for Dear God No!. It was well written and the person who wrote this call was obviously intelligent, knew what they were writing about and there weren’t misspellings. Every single answer was posted for questions that all actors and actresses are looking for. Do you get paid? How long does it shoot for? What is the actual role? What is expected of the character? It said Edna Marco, kind of young, slightly abused female, some nudity required. I was like, “Sounds interesting. I’ll submit and see what happens.” Jimmy Bickert responded in, like, ten minutes. So, I was like, “Oh, OK. I guess they’re really looking for somebody. Maybe the script is great or not so great. Or maybe he really does like me.” It’s hard to tell when you’re young and not too familiar with how independent projects work. I didn’t know if it was some weirdo. I auditioned and got the role and that’s how I fell into Dear God No!.

I understand you had a career in biology prior to that, but were you already doing any acting before Dear God No!?

I was. I got my biology degree from Georgia Tech. I finished up with school and decided I did not want to pursue a field in medicine any more. I was much happier doing performing arts, being on stage or being in front of a camera. I had done a science fiction project, I had done drama projects, I had done small commercials and was just on the hunt for other projects until Dear God No! came along. That just changed everything. It was such an interesting group of people that were really pushing for the success of the film. It got me involved in a completely different world of people that was super awesome for me. I’d always liked horror and it just made a world of difference for me and my career.

Was that how you ended up working with the Silver Scream Spookshow and Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse?

Photo by Jonny Rej.

I ended up falling in love with [horror artist/special effects expert] Shane [Morton]. At the time I was not involved with the Spookshow. Then the Spookshow kind of reassembled a few months after Dear God No! was filmed  and I was invited on to the Spookshow. I’ve always loved doing children’s theater and shows for kids. I enjoy their genuine response to theater, so I was really on board with that. Through Shane, I’ve certainly met all sorts of interesting people and learned a totally new skill set, which is doing makeup. I’m also helping with a panel at Monsterama with some other folks doing makeup.

That was actually my next question was how will Dear God No!, the Spookshow and AZA be represented at Monsterama? 

There is going to be a Spookshow. We’re showing The Valley of Gwangi and there will be a fun Spookshow just before that. We’re also showing Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse: The Movie at 11 p.m. on Friday. I’m helping with several makeup panels. It should be a really fun convention if you’re into literature, if you’re into film or if you want to see how to do some cool makeup.

Are there any other guests you’re excited about seeing at Monsterama?

I am excited about seeing Victoria Price, daughter of Vincent Price. It will be really interesting just to say, “Hello” to her and find out what it was like growing up with Vincent as her dad. She just seems like an interesting person and she’s been a huge supporter of her father.

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