What happens when the VHS kid who found safety with scream queens grows up and becomes the cosplay that inspires the original star?
If horror has ever been your coping tool, your comfort movie, or your mirror when life got loud, Gregory’s story shows how channeling fandom into creativity and community can lift your mood, build resilience, and connect you to people who truly get it. This episode turns nostalgia into a wellness practice you can actually use.
Key takeaways:
Turn comfort watches into creative fuel: how Gregory transformed Friday-night rentals into cosplay, commentary, and connection.
Community heals: ways conventions, photo shoots, and creator shout-outs can reduce isolation and boost self-worth.
Own your origin story: reframing “outsider” energy into confidence, boundaries, and an everyday wellness ritual.
Gregory Van Abelar joins Corey to talk horror as therapy, community, and art. We dig into Gregory’s famed Angela cosplay from Night of the Demons, including the moment Amelia Kinkade herself cheered him on and later collaborated with him for charity events. Gregory traces a throughline from being a horror-loving loner who found friends in scream queens, to creating shoots at sacred genre sites like the Monroeville Mall, to landing on the Night of the Demons 3 Blu-ray commentary. We also hit Night of the Living Dead lore, the new Tom Savini director’s cut, and why revisiting classics can feel like checking in with an old friend. Most of all, Gregory shows how horror helps you survive the hard chapters and celebrate the weird, wonderful you.
Highlights:
Press play to hear how Gregory turned VHS-era comfort into real-world courage and community, and steal his rituals for making horror part of your mental wellness toolkit today.
Thank you for listening to Horror Heals.
Share the show with someone who loves horror and someone who needs a little healing.
If you want to support our guests, check the show notes for links to their work, conventions, and fundraising pages.
You can also listen to our sister podcast Family Twist, a show about DNA surprises, identity, and the families we find along the way.
Horror Heals is produced by How the Cow Ate the Cabbage LLC.
Is horror good for mental wellness? Of corpse it is.
