LOS ANGELES, CA - On Saturday, June 24th, Horror in Color’s celebration of Horror and LGBTQIA+ identity returned bigger and better for 2023. Pride or Die brought together a mini-marketplace of Queer-owned Horror businesses including Caffeinated Coven Co, Black Magic Cakery, Kelton FX, and Small Town Weirdo. These happy hauntings accompanied a jam-packed lineup of live entertainment at Media Pollution’s experimental art studio in Los Angeles. Horror Queers kicked off the free festivities with an exclusive episode of Joe Lipsett and Trace Thurman’s popular Horror podcast. Lights Out turned things up a notch with an electrifying performance and announcement of their latest themed experience, Lights Out: Nite Owl. Fresh off a collaboration with Ru Paul’s Drag Race’s Laganja Estranja, LVCRFT set the spooky mood with a two hour DJ set following the gruesomely glamorous TikTok sensation Major.
Filmmaker Allisyn Snyder screened her short “Don’t Turn Off The Ghostlight” starring Chris Renfro before premiering an in-depth first look at her highly anticipated feature-length directorial debut, “Howdy, Neighbor!” The project was written by (and stars) Matthew Scott Montgomery and co-stars fellow Disney Channel heavyweights Debby Ryan and Alyson Stoner. Afro Horror podcast host Sadé Sellers then interviewed Snyder and Montgomery in a live, intimate conversation spanning filmmaking and Queer Horror.
Health resources such as free HIV testing, MPOX vaccinations, COVID vaccinations, and more were provided courtesy of Aids Healthcare Foundation Pharmacy and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. None of this would have been possible without Pride Or Die’s official sponsors: Drklght Clothing, Morbid Visionz, and Dread Central.