An Interview With Public Figure & Entertainer Samhain

August 26, 2017

Written by Kelli Marchman McNeely

Kelli Marchman McNeely is the owner of HorrorFuel.com. She is an Executive Producer of "13 Slays Till Christmas" which is out on Digital and DVD and now streaming on Tubi. She has several other films in the works. Kelli is an animal lover and a true horror addict since the age of 9 when she saw Friday the 13th. Email: horrorfuelinfo@gmail.com

Most people recognize the name Samhain as the spirit of Halloween, but there is an entertainer/public figure that goes by the same name. Meet Samhain.
 

 
With a clown-like painted face, ghostly white eyes, nails that would impress Freddy Krueger, and safety pins jutting out from his bottom lip, Samhain makes appearances across the country at conventions, haunted houses, in movies and can be seen in music videos like the one below from “Stands With Fists”.
 


 
Samhain, whose real name is unknown, has a monstrous following which he calls “The Cult of Samhain”.  His followers and fans, referred to as his “little ones”, tune in religiously for his videos and live discussions where he discusses different topics on anything from bullying, to abuse and more. He takes the time to speak and respond to each “little one” that he can with a calm smooth voice and that eerie smile. He’s also known for his unapologetic bluntness.
 

 
In each video, he reveals a little more of himself. If you pay attention you will be surprised at what you can learn about this mysterious man who never appears without his makeup. For example, this Bronx native is the son of a nun.
While he looks like a cross between Pennywise and The Crow, you would be wise not to label him as punk or goth or metal, he hates that. In fact, he hates all labels in general and he makes that clear in his videos. He is a huge advocate of telling people to be themselves and to express themselves however they want.
Samhain and I had a conversation. Check it out.
 
Horror Fuel: “In your mind, who is Samhain?”
Samhain: “The best way I can try to describe the character itself to people is that it is an unrestricted version of myself. Anything in the realm of the Samhain collective is infinitely deeper, it just depends on how much information I am willing to divulge at that time. What I mean by that is that everything I do with the character and in my personal life is that 90% of the time it is very, very purposeful, even if the meaning is not explicit, it is there. So, I can basically give the short version, which is the unrestricted version of myself, or I can go so far as to say he is the physical embodiment of Halloween, and on, and on, and on. I could talk forever about that.”
 
Horror Fuel: “When did you first start making appearances as Samhain?”
Samhain: “I would say early, early 2000. The reason I am kind of on the fence about it still is because of my dad. We were brainstorming ideas for various characters and none of them really appealed to me that much. Not just for the reactions, I got from patrons or what have you, I just didn’t feel necessarily happy with it. But I would say around 2000 for sure.”
 
Horror Fuel: “You originally got your start in haunted houses, is that right?”
Samhain: “That is correct, yes.”
Horror Fuel: “I’m a big fan of haunted houses myself.”
Samhain: “They are, I think, one of the best jobs that you can have. Besides just being ‘Oh, I love Halloween. I want to work in one.’ It’s more than that because my dad has done special effects makeup in them for over 20 years. I grew up around it. It’s the norm for me and it’s a comfortable place I guess.”
Horror Fuel: “I love them. I played The Grudge girl for several years at one.”
Samhain: “So you understand on a deeper level than most would. Have you been to one of those extreme haunted houses where you have to sign a waiver to get in?”
Horror Fuel: “No, I haven’t. There aren’t any near where I live. I have read about them though.”
Samhain: “If you ever get a chance go to one.”
Horror Fuel: “I will.”
 
Horror Fuel: “What inspired your look? Was it a horror character or just creativity?”
Samhain: “It is a blending of I would say three of my favorite characters. I don’t usually have just one of something. That’s very rare for me. In regards to the horror icons, Pinhead played by Doug Bradley was a big inspiration in terms of the look. The look, people don’t really see it, it’s more of a persona, an attitude from a method actor’s standpoint. The look is specifically directly from Pennywise with a blending of The Crow as well. Those three together, personality and look wise help create the character.”
Horror Fuel: “I can definitely see the influences.”
 
Horror Fuel: “I know you answer this in one of your videos, but if you will tell our readers how long it takes to get fully dressed as Samhain.”
Samhain: “Usually, on average, twenty minutes. That is excluding the applications of the acrylic nails I wear, which I glue on. That adds an extra 5 or 10.”
Horror Fuel: “Who does your nails? I’ve seen them and they are quite impressive.”
Samhain: “That is a lady by the name of Jess. She actually lives in Austrailia. She also does commissions. Check out her Instagram page or website.
 
Horror Fuel: “I have to ask this, everytime I watch one of your videos, I get curious, how do you get those safety pins through your lip?”
Samhain: “My lip is actually pierced. I just put them through. I mainly do it for the shock value. Even though I haven’t actually punctured my skin, it just horrifies people. Like I said, everything I do has a purpose. It came from high school. I ran out of body jewelry (safety pins are not meant to be in your body). I put those into wig-out the administrators out, they couldn’t handle it, I loved messing with the administrators. I continued to do it then fazed it out. After a while, I incorporated it into Samhain as a nod to my adolescence.”
 
 
Horror Fuel: “I have to commend you on the way you speak to your “little ones”. How have your fans affected you in ways that they may not be aware of?”
Samhain: “It makes me place a lot more importance on sticking to my word. I’m not going to say something then re-nig on it. It makes me place a lot more influences on certain things. A lot of my “Little Ones” understand maybe how much importance I put on the live feed day. If I miss a scheduled live feed, most of them are real understanding, but there are a slight few who take it a little too far. They neglect that I do have other stuff going on separately completely from the Samhain stuff. That’s a big one. Being able to juggle a personal life as well as the character, cause there are Samhain and my regular 9-to-5 job. And there’s my girlfriend as well.  There are several different aspects. I am learning as I go.”
 
 
Horror Fuel: “Is there one question that you get a lot that you get tired of ?”
Samhain: “Originally, the one that I got quite, quite often was am I associated with, the group Insane Clown Posse. That one was irritating. It’s not my style of music and the perceived notion that someone who might be wearing clown makeup is immediately part of them is, I don’t know, I guess people don’t have many interactions with people who wear clown makeup a lot. The one that bothers me now is either ‘Are you a devil worshipper?’ and ‘Are you a killer clown?’ Those two probably take the cake currently more than anything else.”
Horror Fuel: “I have seen some of your videos and I’ve seen some of the comments.”
Samhain: “It’s tedious. Sometimes I answer those not so nice. There are times when you have to get the point across to people who are a little denser than others. I’m not trying to be mean, but if you come into my space and ask a rude question, you’re going to get a rude answer. I try to explain to people as well is that when you type you can not convey tone. You have to be absolutely sure that what you are typing I’m not going to misread. A lot of people fail to realize that or they just don’t care. It’s the age of social media. Everybody has a different opinion, I’m sure.”
 
 
Horror Fuel: “Do you have any appearances coming up?
Samhain: “Coming up right now, the one that I know of for certain that we are finalizing, I will be officiating a wedding, my first wedding to be specific, in Colorado the beginning of October. That’s not technically an event per-say, but I’m sure there might be a moment where I am out and about in Colorado. It might be like an hour, I don’t know. I do a lot of my stuff pretty impromptu or a pre scheduled outing. I do believe there is some stuff in the works. I can’t be definitive about that. As of yet, I haven’t been approached by haunts. That’s the only one I know of so far. Now that I’ve gotten settled, I know there will be some others.”
 
 
Horror Fuel: “You are currently working on a new website, is that right?”
Samhain: “We are trying to launch a new website and merchandise line and a sponsorship line (I don’t know how to describe that) basically I rebranded. The website itself will be Samhain Industries with everything collectively under my banner. We will bring on board anyone that is artistically minded and who creates a finished product, whatever that may be as long as it fits certain criteria. The purpose for that is so that various companies can approach Samhain Industries if they are looking for a design, anything they can’t find somewhere else. I will hand pick who is part of it, people who are not first picked by a lot of corporations because A: because they may be off-putting. Basically, my whole thing is to take the social media presence I have maintained and nourished and give other people the opportunity to get the word out there and use it to help other people, I guess.”
Horror Fuel: “You mentioned merchandise, what kind of Samhain merchandise will you have?”
Samhain: “I’m hoping to have just about everything to a point. I did have a merchandise line when I was living in New Orleans.  I upped and moved very quickly. There were T-shirts and stuff that sold out so I want to bring them back. To answer your question, in terms of products, I will have T-shirts, I will have a wide variety of those. I want to come out with things that people might not expect, anything from, I’m not saying this definitively, but salt shakers, but not really, something that is not really what you would expect, but useable. I don’t believe in charging people for nothing.”
Horror Fuel: “In one of your videos you mentioned that replicas of your fangs/teeth might be available.”
Samhain: “That is something I would like to push for. I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it before, but I’ve always just said that they were custom made, but somebody in the family made them. They’ve never made them on a large scale before, but I have approached them with the idea. My hope is to do that. That reminds me, the rings that I wear could possibly be a possibility. We will definitely be hosting art by myself and others.”
 
 
Horror Fuel: “You mention a lot that you are huge horror movie fan. Do you remember the first horror movie you watched?”
Samhain: “It’s kind of funny, ‘IT’. I’m pretty sure it was when I was, I want to say, 6-years-old. I was at an after school day care when I was living in New York with my mom. In retrospect, it was really screwed up. The counselors, they put on Stephen King’s ‘IT’. It was the early 90s. They put it on the projector and played it. I think they were mad that they had to stay there late because of a few kids. It scared the crap out of me, but it didn’t make me scared of clowns like most people. That was the first one.”
Horror Fuel: “What do you think about the new Pennywise?”
Samhain: “A lot of people have been asking me that. I like the fact that it is a new take with a fresh spin on it. I haven’t seen it yet. I want to wait to see it in its entirety before I make a judgment.”
 
 
Horror Fuel: “I distinctly remember the first time I saw a picture of you about two years ago.
 

 
Horror Fuel: “A couple of weeks ago I was writing about the movie ‘Demon Hole’ and there you were. Can you tell us anything about your character?”
Samhain: “In the movie some kids go to a fracking site and in the process, they open up a chamber that leads to a very old demon, and that demon is me. The demon that I play is Malak. My character doesn’t have a lot of lines. It’s my first feature. I’ve been in other movies and videos in small parts. It’s definitely my first full fledged role. It was fun. I’m very excited.”
 

 
Horror Fuel: I find you very interesting as a person/character. I like the fact that you speak out against things like bullying and abuse.”
Samhain: “Thank you. It has definitely evolved. I’m kind of rolling with it as it goes on.”
 
Horror Fuel: “What do you hope takes place over the next five years for Samhain?”
Samhain: “I hope to be to the point where I am able to do Samhain full time to some compacity.  And I hope that Samhain Industries can give other people the ability to break out. I want to be able to travel more. I would hope to be able to be making plans for a world tour.”
 
Horror Fuel: You haven’t addressed the current events going on in the world. Do you have any thoughts?”
Samhain: “I am planning on doing a video on that. I actually got a request from my dad to do a video about it.”
 
Keep your eye on Samhain I have a feeling we will see something very big from him soon (*wink). Stop by and tell Samhain hello on his Facebook page. Be sure to follow him on YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram too, that way you’ll never miss one of his videos or appearances.
 

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