We are celebrating Oz Femme Fatales of Horror month with Podcaster, Burlesque Queen and Make-up Artist Gemma Sheree.
left Esther Yann (Co-host) right Gemma Sheree
Welcome Gemma.
You co-host a Podcast titled I think My Fridge is Haunted, can you tell our readers about the Podcast and where the name comes from?
GS- Actually it was the first name I threw out there and it stuck! My co-Esther and I were talking about how it should be a name that doesn’t take itself too seriously. In a cool way, it also references the first Ghostbusters movie too! Our friend Claire created the cutest little ghostie logo for us, in hot pink of course.
You also do burlesque; can you tell us about how you got into this?
GS – Well, I’m retired now but I had a great decade performing and teaching burlesque. I got into it after leaving my punk band back in 2005 and needing to do something that was just me. Being in a band you all have to be on the same page for everything – rehearsals, gigs, writing, artistic alignments, relationships. In burlesque, it’s just you and your suitcase travelling around doing gigs, and that worked well for me. I liked managing my own creative journey. I learned burlesque when I lived in the UK, one-on-one with a mentor, who was a fantastic performer. I did my first gigs in 2007 and went on regularly performing until around 2017. Burlesque will always be a huge part of my life. I still go to shows, I still work behind the scenes, designing wigs, doing hair and makeup, things like that. Also, I’ve made life long friends through burlesque.
You are a talented woman, Podcasting, Burlesque and Makeup artist, out of everything you do what do you enjoy the most? And What else would you like to accomplish for the future?
GS – I love doing hair the most, whether it’s wigs or real hair for weddings or photo shoots. It doesn’t feel like work to me. It gives me a sense of accomplishment to create glamour for my clients.
As far as something I’d like to do in the future… I have a guilty pleasure: Cozy Mysteries. They are a type of fictional mystery novel that usually revolves around a female-owned café or bakery in a small town and the characters get up to all sorts of shenanigans solving local crimes. They are cute and funny and I’d love to write one. I have a few ideas I’m throwing around…
What was the last horror movie or horror television series you watched?
GS – A couple of nights ago I watched ‘The House’, which is a stop motion anthology inspired by gothic horror. The first story really grabbed me and the animation was fantastic. I love stop motion. There’s a creepy nostalgia to it, whether it’s the old ‘Wind in the Willows’ TV series from the 1980’s or ‘Jason and the Argonauts’ from 1963. Toad of Toad Hall is one of my favorite characters of life. He’s wild.
If you had to be trapped in a house overnight with a horror villain, who would you choose and why?
GS – I’d have to choose Annabelle the doll. She’s legendary in the paranormal world. I couldn’t pass that up.
Where would you like to see yourself in 5 years?
GS – I’ve spent the past few years adulting so I could buy real estate, so it’s definitely time to start travelling again. I love suburbia so I won’t be going too far for too long, but being able to visit the historical places I’ve always wanted to go to would be a dream come true. Salem is on the list, as is New Orleans, Oregon for the Bigfoot lore, Prague because it’s stunning, Edinburgh for the same reason. I’ve been lucky to visit some dream paranormal and historical places already. My friends and I once spent the night in the Ancient Ram Inn, the most haunted pub in England. I’ve been to the Catacombs of Paris. My favorite place of all was Pendle Hill in the north of England, where the witch trials took place in the early 17th century. There’s nothing there except a biting wind and a sculpture called The Singing Ringing Tree that makes the creepiest moaning noises when the wind blows through it.
I read that you also foster cats, can you tell our readers how you got into doing this and why?
GS – I think cats are spectacular and there are too many that need homes so I contacted Emily at The Barn Cats Project in Langwarrin to see if I could help. If you have a spare bedroom it’s perfect for a ‘cat room’. So now I have a pair of fosters as well as my own two that were also rescues. They came in as street cats and where basically wild. Now one of them is a proper house cat, but the other one still won’t go near anybody. They’ve been through a lot of trauma.
What is your favourite horror film and why?
GS – That is a tough question but I’m going to have to go with ‘The Exorcist’. I love it because not only is it a great horror movie but it’s a great film as well. And it sounds amazing, I’ve always loved the sound editing of ‘The Exorcist’. The dogs fighting, the recording Father Karras takes of Reagan’s multiple voices, the sound of the hospital equipment. It’s so freaky for so many reasons. If I had to choose a runner up it would be the Spanish zombie movie ‘Rec’. It’s too fantastic for words.
If you could go back and visit your 16-year-old self, what advice would you give?
GS – To look for red flags! If it sounds dodgy, it usually is. Call that bull shit.
Where can our readers find out more about you, and also listen to your Podcast?
GS – Our wonderful producer Chris has us on loads of platforms including iTunes, Spotify, Podbean and a few more. We have an Instagram page where we post loads of stupid paranormal memes and information about our episodes. Just search for @ithinkmyfridgeishaunted. We’ll be back in February with Season 5 and we’ve got stacks of new stories to discuss from True Crime to Haunted Locations to weird historical facts.
Thank you for joining us.