Happy Halloween from GINGER SNAPS' Katharine Isabelle!

Welcome back to Scare Me! a weekly horror newsletter. Today, we’re celebrating Halloween!!!

Hello, Scare Me! readers! Happy Halloween!!

I started this newsletter because I was seeking a horror community—and like magic, you all showed up. Over the past six months, I’ve received such lovely emails, notes, and comments on social media. I genuinely treasure you all so much!

As a way to thank you, I scoured Cameo in search of a fun horror celeb—and to my delight, Katharine Isabelle had recently reopened her account!

Although she avoids watching horror movies, Katharine Isabelle is the star of so many classics: the trilogy of Ginger Snaps movies, American Mary, NBC’s Hannibal, Disturbing Behavior, 30 Days of Night: Dark Days, and even an episode of The X Files (“Schizogeny”).

I asked Katharine to take us behind the scenes and share her favorite memory from either Ginger Snaps or NBC’s Hannibal (dealer’s choice). She chose Ginger Snaps! Enjoy!!

The story is (mostly) safe for work, but I’ve included a transcript below if you’re not in a spot where you can listen right now.

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Katharine Isabelle: Happy Halloween, my little Scare Me! newsletter subscribers! Tis I, Katharine Isabelle, from a hotel room where I’m keeping an eye on a hot air balloon because they are suspicious and the most highly dangerous form of floating around for no reason. I don’t like it!

I’m here to share my favorite memory with you guys from shooting Ginger Snaps. If you have seen the film, you will recall a scene towards the end of the movie where Ginger and Brigitte show up at Sam’s party. Ginger’s gonna confront Sam, and it’s the most werewolfed out I am before the character of Ginger becomes a very sweaty, dehydrated jockey in a thick rubber werewolf suit.

It’s about a five or six hour prosthetic application for me. There’s the wolfy face, the ice blue eyes, the fangs, the white wig, the claws, the chest piece with six nipples, the tail. I’m in my slutty little party outfit. And we’re shooting in the suburbs of Ontario, Canada.

They are finishing the last touches on this wolf makeup, and I can hear them over the walkie talkie yelling to get me to set. So, as soon as they put down the brush, I say, “Okay! Tell them I’m on my way!”

I run down the trailer stairs and around the corner. I’m looking for a white minivan to take me to set, because all of our transport vehicles on that show were white minivans. I see one, and I grab the door, and I throw it open, and I jump in, and I say, “Go go go!”

The van does not go go go. I turn to look at the driver to see why we’re not moving. And friends…it is not a transport vehicle. It is, in fact, a completely innocent, unsuspecting civilian soccer mom and her three little children in the backseat.

They start screaming. I start screaming. We all just screamed at each other for like, five whole Mississippis before I realized I was committing a slutty, supernatural carjacking.

I jumped out of the vehicle—I didn’t even get a chance to close the door, because Mom was like, “Fuck this!” Skrrt. She was outta there. She careened around the corner with the door swinging open. I could hear children screaming until they were kilometers away.

Whatever you do this Halloween, make sure you traumatize some local children. Thank you so much for subscribing and for loving all things horror. From up here on my hot air balloon safety watch, I say bye, happy Halloween!!

A Pack of Extra Werewolf Endorsements

If you’re in the werewolf mood, here are a few of my favorite wolfy things:

• Werewolf Fashion: Some personal lore that will probably surprise no one: As a kid, my favorite outfit was a pair of boys’ carpenter jeans and a black t-shirt with glow-in-the-dark wolves. Jack recently surprised me with a near-perfect replica! The Mountain uses zero AI and hires real artists for every design. They’re also really comfortable and high quality imo!

• Werewolf Novels: If you’re on the hunt for werewolf-adjacent books, I loved Rachel Harrison’s Such Sharp Teeth and Nat Cassidy’s When the Wolf Comes Home.

• Werewolf Movies (Yes): There are famously not many great werewolf movies aside from Ginger Snaps. However: Dog Soldiers is the exception. It’s excellent on every level—creature design, plot, practical effects, cinematography, acting, everything. I love it so much.

• Werewolf Movies (Maybe/No): My favorite werewolf movie trivia comes from The Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf (1985). The film didn’t have budget for proper werewolf costumes, so the production used hand-me-down costumes from Planet of the Apes. There’s an utterly bizarre scene that attempts to explain why this makes sense, and tbh, that’s still barely in the top five bonkers creative decisions. Very weird movie, but would be fun to watch with friends or put on at a party for the zany ‘80s vibes.

• Werewolf Music: One of my go-to writing soundtracks is Wlfgrl by Machine Girl, which extensively samples dialogue from the first two Ginger Snaps movies.

Next Up: A Preview of the 10th Annual StokerCon!

We’ve got a new interview next week with James Chambers, Brian Matthews, and Ben Rubin, who serve as co-chairs on the StokerCon governing committee. As the tenth annual StokerCon approaches, they kindly took me behind the scenes and offered an idea of what to expect. We talked a lot about the horror community’s welcoming and inclusive culture, and how they cultivate that environment at StokerCon.

After that, we’ll get into the holiday spirit with a spooky little gift guide. This is obviously not sponsored whatsoever—I just love giving gifts and adding treasures to my own horror collection, so I’ll offer a roundup of my favorites. Whether you’re on the hunt for someone special or looking to treat yourself, I have fun recs!

Scare Me! is a free weekly horror newsletter published every Thursday morning. It’s written by Michelle Delgado, featuring original illustrations by Sam Pugh. You can find the archive of past issues here. If you were sent this by a friend, subscribe to receive more spooky interviews, essays—and maybe even a ghost story or two.