Halloween Queen Leyla Havok and her Monster Ball
The Queen’s First Halloween
“Halloween and I have a huge relationship. You can be anything you want, it was always a freeing thing. Halloween is for the misfits, freaks, oddballs just like me and it gave me the opportunity to express what I wanted to be.”
“I was super into Halloween when I was really little. My first Halloween I was a little chocolate sunflower but my second one, which I usually tell people was my first, I was pumpkin.”
“My favorite one was Meg from Hercules. I got into creepier costumes as time went on but my dream is to be Akasha Queen of the Damned.”
Welcome to Island of Misfit Toys
Leyla Havok as mentioned earlier this week is the CEO of Dark Realms Entertainment. She is also known as the Halloween Queen to many which she told me all about.
“I worked at a not so good haunted house (run by another company) where I had a lot of friends that worked as actors and makeup artists and had their dreams smashed by this company which really hurt my heart.”
“I became the Halloween Queen to support people who love horror by building horror land, to spread the love of Halloween, to give back, and to create a home for freaks.”
“The main purpose of building horror land is to give these people a home. There’s a lot of people that love Disneyland but there’s not a place for us, the freaks and misfits.”
In the Name of True Halloween Spirit
“I want to give everyone who has been wronged by other companies a chance, to be as creepy and as weird as they want to be. I want to spread as much of the love and horror of Halloween as I can.”
“That’s what I want to achieve, to help those who got stiffed. You can build a really cool haunted house and go all out but its nothing without their actors.”
Leyla talked about a photo shoot she had done previously that was Zombie based that she said really got her company on the map.
Tales of a Zombie Boy
One of her actors from the photo shoot has become very special to her. His name is Xen and she calls him her ‘little zombie boy’.
Leyla told me that Xen had never done anything previous to this shoot and that he was pretty shy.
“After doing this shoot he was so energetic and had made so many friends. He’s a little artist and he is such an inspiration to me.”
“I’m actually meeting him at Michaels after this interview,” Leyla said she was going to be his first art commissioner and that she was not only going to buy his art but then shop with him to get him his first set of ‘real tools’.
Passing on a Tradition?
Leyla was actually able to film this moment and share it on her Instagram (you might have seen it if you follow Leyla and Creativecoper) through which you can see her genuine love for young artists.
When Leyla is not helping young artists or buying 100 plastic pumpkins at Walmart (which I’m sure is leading to a very interesting project) she is using her time to prep for the event of the year, the Monster Ball.
Your Invitation to the Monster Ball
“This event is to let people know we exist. There’s something for everyone raffles, games, local artists, live bands, extreme performers doing fire breathing, horror video game tournament, and even more.”
Leyla also gave me an insider that their haunted house they have put together contains something that no other haunted house has ever done.
“We are the first to use a slide in our haunted house. It’s a haunted church so going down the slide is like you are descending into hell and then you experience the seven deadly sins.”
Please do not Punch the Actors
I told Leyla that I would probably get scared and punch an actor and feel bad, so I was going to avoid that haunted house, but I’m curious to hear how it turns out.
When I told her this she said completely casually, “You’re a fighter, it happens. People are either flight or fight. When something scares me, I’m gone, I’m out of there.”
We had a good laugh because I told Leyla I always get so scared going to the haunted mansion and then am relieved when I make it out and nothing happened but how Leyla comes out of that situation disappointed.
She is the Halloween Queen after all.
Support Local Artists
The Monster Ball she is throwing is only $5 entry and is this Saturday (the 20th) at 7 PM. Go follow Leylahavok on Instagram to see the flyer for more information including location (as well as just following her insanely talented art).
I do want reports back from my readers on that haunted house, so please make sure to check it out.
If you missed the first half of this interview earlier this week, I suggest going back a post and reading it to see all of the other incredibly inspiring things Leyla has done for the community outside of her ‘Halloween Queen’ role.
Leyla says, “I’ve never really had someone go out of their way to help me so I try to do that for others. Sometimes I get carried away, let’s hope I don’t combust.”
Leyla is almost always at first and second Fridays, if you cant catch her this Saturday, stop by her booth, (you’ll see it a mile away with her colorful art) and support this local artist.
This is dope! This explains Leyla so well! She’s always going out of her way to help others 💕
This is amazing & so progressive for the community!!