Meet Kay Leahy, a multi-talented horror creator:
To start, please introduce yourself:
My name is Kay Leahy and I am an actress, singer, model, mermaid, writer and painter. I love creating art and bringing magic and beauty to the world.
What is horror to you, what makes a work of art one in the horror genre?
I have always had a fascination with all things spooky. Horror is a place where I can escape from reality and share that fascination with some truly wonderfully like-minded people. My favorite horror movies to watch are typically supernatural horror flicks like IT or The Nun.
I think there’s such a vast array of sub-genres within horror that can really delve into the different ways to horrify the watcher; whether it be a gory death, a horrifying sound in a dark room, some ghoul that’s out to get you, running away from a killer or a psychological mind-boggling plot, there’s room for it all within the genre of horror. The endless possibilities of genres and styles of it, I think, are what makes it beautiful.
I think one of the reasons I love working in indie horror is seeing the brilliant and super resourceful ways that the crew can accomplish ambience and gore. They often have to improvise on the fly on a very limited budget and the ending result is extremely impressive.
What made you want to work in horror?
I started out as a young actress wanting to play every role I could get my hands on in film. Then I was cast as Tiffany in Bloody Summer Camp with Slasher 15 Productions and I fell in love with the incredible, talented and fun indie horror community. I have been doing mostly indie horror ever since and I just love it! The community has become my family.
Where do you get your inspiration?
I, honestly, get so much inspiration from all the talented people in the community around me. They inspire me to keep pushing and keep challenging myself to be better. Not only do they inspire me for my acting, but my writing and other artistic pursuits as well. My life is so rich.
What would you like your legacy to be in the genre (or elsewhere)?
I would like my legacy to be that of a Scream Queen who could play every character and who is professional, energetic and kind. I’d like to leave behind a world that is more wholesome and inspiring with my art.
What is Women in Horror Month to you and why is it still important this many years later?
Women supporting women has always been something I’ve felt to be super important, not just for me, but to also pass on to the generations after. As a woman working in horror, I was thrilled to learn about Women in Horror month! Many women haven’t and still don’t get the support and encouragement they need to pursue their art. I think Women in Horror month is a great way to inspire that support and encouragement.
Who are some of the Women in Horror who you look up to and who do you want to bring attention to in your field or others?
I often mention working with Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp). She’s incredible and so talented. It was absolutely humbling to be in scenes with her in Bloody Summer Camp and a couple other projects.
I also recently wrapped filming Blood and Breakfast where I got to play Beatrice Boepple’s (Nightmare on Elm Street 5) kid sister which was an absolutely incredible experience. She’s so wise, fun and simply a joy to get to watch and learn from.
There are so many other women I often work with that I’ve grown to call family that I simply couldn’t list all by name, but each is as talented, funny, energetic and lovely as can possibly be. I’m so lucky to have a great group of women around me that support and uplift each other.
What are you currently working on that you can tell us about?
I have a couple projects in the works right now. I just finished filming Absurd Production’s Blood and Breakfast, I have an upcoming role in Wesley Spangler’s Z-ERO 2 that I am filming in March. I have a role in an upcoming horror comedy that I cannot name just yet, but I am really looking forward to it. The role very much reminds me of Blanche from Golden Girls in personality and voice. I am studying her accent as a starting point for my character’s subtle southern drawl. I was also part of a group of women who sang the party anthem for the upcoming project, Bloody Poolside, which was a really cool experience!
One of the projects I worked on a couple summers ago, Fuzzy Monkey Films’ Killer Campout II, is scheduled to be released sometime this spring as well and I can’t wait for people to see it. I also am scheduled to film another Fuzzy Monkey Films project this summer, Wrestle Massacre II, and I am so looking forward to working with that fantastic crew again. Those talented folks also have a few other projects they’re working on over there and I think everyone should check them out!
I recently got cast in Mark Cantu’s upcoming horror comedy, Grind. In it, I play young mom, Laurie, who brings her pre-teen daughter to a grindhouse film festival where an ancient power is released and they have to survive the chaos. Mark and his group have done some amazing work on Wolf Hollow and Massacre Academy (to name a couple) and I am so stoked I get to be in one of his projects!
Off screen, I am currently working on writing a script for my own horror anthology and am editing my first novel slowly but surely. I am hoping to begin pre-production for the horror anthology within the next year or so and am hoping the novel will be ready for publishing around that same time frame as well. Fingers crossed.
If you want to see more updates, you can find me at kaysurfsroxy on IG and Twitch, art.via.k (my artwork IG) and on Youtube at Surfing Seaster Games which is a channel for my video game playthroughs. Not only do I love acting in indie horror films, I also love playing indie horror video games. I also enjoy being a mermaid, you can join me here mermaid_roxy_awestcoastmermaid
Thank you for taking the time to do this, we greatly appreciate it.
Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate the opportunity to talk about what I do and uplift my fellow Women in Horror!
