TALES FROM THE MONSTER SHOP: MS. MONSTER AND HER MONSTER MELONS By Frankie Franken

Hello, everybody, and Happy Halloween! This is Frankie Franken for The MonsterGrrls' Thir13en For Halloween, and today I'm reporting with another edition of Tales From The Monster Shop. Today we are talking with Ms. Monster, who hosts an outrageously wacky horror show in San Francisco called Hel On Ice, which features B-movies, cartoons, shorts, and her two puppet co-hosts the Monster Melons. (I know you all think they're something else, but they're actual melons. Really.) The lovely and blue-skinned Ms. Monster gives us the rundown on it all, so here's our conversation.

Welcome, and thanks for joining us on The MonsterGrrls' Thir13en For Halloween! Tell our readers a little bit about yourself.

Ms. Monster is that blue-skinned mistress of mayhem! Together with her Monster Melons, Tit & Tat, we host the late night horror variety show called Hel on Ice. Ms. Monster was not always blue; it was a case of accidental incantation - and her & the melons were formed. You can read about it in our origin comic book released this year at our online store!
Well, I can relate to blue skin, having green skin myself, so I'm at least half that color. But what inspired you to become a horror host? How did Hel On Ice get started?

Hel on Ice started as an anthology comic, with the characters Ms. Monster & the Monster Melons pulling the short stories together. Eventually we got a cable access spot and BAM, we created Hel on Ice with a bunch of very creative individuals. The comics & the show are a great way to distract the Melons from destroying the world. It's an outlet for them to channel their energy.

Can you tell us a little about the Monster Melons?

The Monster Melons, Tit & Tat, are little bringers of doom. Tit likes peanut butter pie and poop varieties and Tat likes to work in his science lab crossing DNA strands. They wreak havoc 99% of the time but the other 1% they'll step in to protect me, should I need it.

Who creates the comic books available at your website?

The comic books are drawn and written by Marc Nordstrom & Aaron Farmer, with occasional influence by the Melons & Ms Monster.

Are there any restrictions about the kinds of movies you can show?

Our show is mainly online now, so we show what we want when we want, within the confines of all rebroadcast/copyright rules of course.

What future plans do you have for Hel On Ice?

The show is going to get bigger & better. Lately we have been doing our shows live, which is a whirl of fun. We hope to incorporate more independent filmmakers into the show going forward. We have an amazing group of people that watch these movies with us at 100yearsofmonstermovies.com. The live chat-along has changed the world of hosting forever!

What's your favorite Halloween memory?

Halloween... my favorite memory was going to the long empty street the town dump was on. There was one house with an elaborate lawn on this dark street. The owners created a Halloween haven and had people staged in all the bushes with a head witch in the main house. You had to sneak through the hedges and the lawn to get there to get to the main witch to reach in her cauldron to get candy. The lighting, the freaky mummies and goblins in the bushes jumping out and carrying you away from the main house were so scary. It was awesome. I could never get enough.

My other favorite memory was at a haunted house in Salem, MA. My mom was in theatre and we went to visit this haunted house where her friends were working. Typically in a haunted house they aren't allowed to touch you, but as they 'knew' we were coming, this was not the case. This zombie man came running out and grabbed me and ran me into a dark room into a pit of fake insects and spiders. It was equally awesome for the scare.
And as you can see from our interview, Ms. Monster has channeled all of that wild energy to bring us Hel On Ice! Be sure to check out her website by clicking on our title link, where you'll find videos, memorabilia, and episodes on DVD!

Golly, we're almost to the day! Be sure to join us soon for more of The MonsterGrrls' Thir13en For Halloween!

Sincerely,
Francesca "Frankie" Franken

POST-MORTEM: The photos of Ms. Monster in our post are by Petrina Cooper (standing and graveyard shots) and Tristan Crane (the Vampira tribute). Click the links above to visit their websites.