A couple of weeks ago I got the bright idea to interview the creator of Bloody Disgusting and all-around horror guru Brad Miska (AKA Mr. Disgusting). While the vast majority of successful news sites conduct interviews with all manner of folk in the horror industry, the fans themselves are neglected (though one can argue the directors themselves ARE the fans, that’s beside the point), and I figured posing a couple of questions to him regarding horror and his love for the genre would offer some good insight into the mind of one of the biggest horror fans on the internet. It’s brief and to the point, but then, so is life.

First off, for those not in the know, how did this site come to be, and did you ever imagine it would become the powerhouse it has?

Back in Decemberish of 2000 my buddy Tom asked me if he built a horror website if I would do the content. He just wanted to learn web design and I wanted to talk about horror movies, especially since the other sites out there at the time weren’t doing much. I knew it would get big, he didn’t. We launched in January of 2001 and the rest is history.

Is this a full-time gig for you? Have you finally lived every horror fan’s dream?

It’s turning into a full time gig, although I still need to find side work at the moment. It’s tough turning this into a real job, especially with the way the internet is going…

With the advent of special effects and the like, has your criteria for evaluating horror films changed over the years, or has it remained fairly consistent?

Special effects don’t always ruin a movie, although good ol practical effects are missed dearly.

I’m personally a huge fan of French horror films (and French cinema in general), and feel that they’re dominating the genre at the moment with films such as Martyrs, Inside, and my favorite, Ils. Do you think any one country is ahead of the pack as far as quality horror films go, both past and present?

Not really, the second one country gains a niche, every other person copies them and it gets old – fast. Look at Japanese horror, which now blows. It will happen with French cinema soon enough, although I can never get sick of the amount of gore they use.

Horror films have changed over time, relying less on suspense and more on gore to frighten the viewer. The so-called “torture-porn” subgenre and its success is certainly a testament to this. What do you think makes a horror film a truly frightening experience?

I don’t believe “torture-porn” even exists. SAW, HOSTEL and CAPTIVITY? What else was there? It has been blown out of proportion. A good movie has good characters, a suspenseful movie has good characters that are in peril, and blood is just a bonus, although it can make a movie “bearable”.

Do you think movies like Saw and Hostel have debased the genre, and in effect contributing to the lack of respect it tends to get from the mainstream film community?

No, I think movies like LOST BOYS 2, REST STOP 2, JOY RIDE 2 and other crappy direct to video franchises are what’s killing our genre. If the studios rely on home video sales, knowing that everything on DVD/Blu-ray is crappy doesn’t help the consumer purchase anything.

Who’s your favorite horror director? Favorite film of theirs?

I don’t have a favorite horror director at the moment, but I have favorite films. A lot of my favorite directors have come to disappoint me as of late and I lost my love for them. John Carpenter, Sam Raimi, Wes Craven and other have continually disappointed me as of late. If we were talking historically, Craven Carpenter, James Cameron and Raimi.

Any horror films you wish you could just erase from your memory and existence altogether?

Recently REST STOP II, BLOOD & CHOCOLATE, HELL RIDE, HOUSE OF THE DEAD, AvP, AvP II and many, many more.

Finally, a friend of mine posed this question to me the other day, and when I couldn’t give him a satisfactory answer, he tore me a new one. Why do you love horror films so much?

I found an answer in a rant a few years ago: http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/article/129

So there you have it. Many thanks to Mr. Disgusting for taking the time to answer these questions, and keep up the good work!