An interview with Andrea Subissati
The award-winning Executive Editor of Rue Morgue magazine.
Originally published 25 January 2020.
This week I’ve interviewed Rue Morgue Executive Editor Andrea Subissati, a sociologist and journalist who’s also co-host and producer of the Faculty of Horror podcast (with Alexandra West), and co-curator of the Toronto-based horror lecture series The Black Museum.
Rue Morgue Magazine has been running since 1997 and I make no secret of the fact that I have nothing but love and admiration for everybody that’s helped build that house of horror. It took me years to get over the demise of Rue Morgue Radio, but The Faculty of Horror is definitely covering some similar ground!
1/ What or who was it that originally inspired you to write and have your sources of inspiration changed since then?
Like so many of my colleagues, Stephen King really grabbed me as a teenager. This was before the age of Facebook and Instagram, but I loved my King novels and I would pick them up, open the book at any page and just read for hours.
Since then, I’ve been inspired by numerous creatives in the field – I admired Jovanka Vuckovic when she was editor of Rue Morgue, and that was when I realized that I could have a voice in horror as a journalist.
2/ What is it about horror that you’d want to share with a sceptic who didn’t yet understand the appeal?
There’s really no accounting for taste, and if I can accept that people like green peppers on their pizza, I think they can accept that I like movies about bloody murder! I guess what I’d like more sceptics to understand is that there’s a cerebral, emotional element to my horror fandom – it’s more than spectacle and bloodlust.
3/ Rue Morgue (and everything associated) has always stood out to me as being deeper than its competitors - more passionate, more educated, more nuanced. Regardless of medium, what qualities do you look for when somebody approaches you wanting Rue Morgue to cover their work?
Aw, thanks! I agree – it’s something I’ve always felt about Rue Morgue and something I’m proud to uphold for my time here. I look for the fundamentals of good journalism (good, clear writing, a solid knowledge of the genre and it’s tropes and trends, the ability to meet word count and deadlines), but also a strong voice and an ability to express themselves in a manner that’s sincere and accessible.
4/ If you could go behind the scenes and witness the creative process for any film in history, which set would you visit and why?
I would give anything to watch Ken Russell direct Ann-Margret and Tina Turner in Tommy. So many brilliant, bonkers performances in that one, I’d love to be a fly on the wall!
5/ If you woke tomorrow and were no longer constrained by time, budgets or even skills that you haven’t learned yet, what would you make?
I think I’d put more energy toward video content. YouTube has become a really fascinating place where the usual studio barriers don’t exist and people are just being themselves. I think it’s a really pure form of media, and I’d dig deeper if I had the time (and the skills!).