Halfway through the Midsummer Scream Screaming Room (presented by HorrorBuzz!) Award Ceremony a few weeks ago, the lights darkened, and a music video began to play. As a sort of \u201chalf time show,\u201d it was for the song Zombie Boy<\/em><\/a>, an incredibly catchy tune by MR. HE, one of the co-hosts for the evening. MR. HE took center stage, and proceeded to over the music track, living out her full Rocky Horror fantasy in front of the audience.<\/p>\n

For those few minutes, nothing else existed but this queen, with a blue face and mustache, telling her story. With the video playing behind her, she played it up and the audience was enthralled. Though I had met MR. HE earlier in the evening, this was different. This was her in full-on performance mode, and let me tell you, it left an impression on me. After it was over, and the awards continue, I knew I had to find out more about just who this incredible creature was.<\/p>\n

MR. HE is the brainchild and alter ego of Parker Allen Stanley, a longtime lover of all things spooky. I already knew that MR. HE had a background in horror, but I didn\u2019t know the extent!<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up with it,\u201d said MR. HE. \u201cFrom Goosebumps<\/em> to Casper<\/em>, it was my childhood. My favorite movie was The Nightmare Before Christmas<\/em>. I couldn\u2019t figure out why I always identified with the monster.\u201d Like many readers to the site, that love of horror as a child lead to other things. In MR. HE\u2019s case, it was building home haunts.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father and I (would build) home haunts for my birthday parties, ever since my 13th birthday. After that I would go to Knott\u2019s Scary Farm, Universal\u2019s Halloween Horror Nights, and any other (home) haunts I could get my hands on.\u201d A dedicated fan of haunts, despite living across the country these days, MR. HE still flies back to California every year for a week to visit all the haunted attractions.<\/p>\n

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To further the spooky connection, MR. HE\u2019s birthday is October 27^{th<\/sup>, so Halloween has always been very big at her home.<\/p>\n}

\u201cMy dad and I have been building home haunts in our garage and front yard for about 10 years now. A few years ago, we started to make it queer.\u201d The clown props would start wearing her wigs, the clown mouth entrance was painted to look like MR. HE, and of course, MR. HE was in full drag hosting the event.<\/p>\n

Much like other home haunts, when the pandemic struck, MR. HE had to get creative. Instead of their traditional haunt, they went for a drive-in experience, allowing people to pull their cars right up into a private screening of the Zombie Boy music video.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had movie theater doors, a ticket booth, and me in full drag, handing out concessions!\u201d MR. HE laughed. She also gives credit to her father, Dexter, for allowing her to turn their home haunt into a queer friendly space, long before others were doing so.<\/p>\n

Despite the blood and gore of horror, MR. HE, much like many others, find that it\u2019s a very welcoming community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s just coming so communal about horror,\u201d MR. HE said. \u201cIt truly brings people together. Even during the pandemic, I\u2019d watch horror movies online with a group of people every Tuesday and Friday thanks to Horror Host, Unkle Spooky. It\u2019s nice to have a community and a support system that focuses on strength, survival, overcoming fear, and adversity. I needed that when I was growing up in extremely religious environment that made me feel disposable. I\u2019d keep thinking\u2026 If you think I\u2019m a monster now, just you wait! Because I know monsters! and I\u2019ll become your worst nightmare! *CUE MR. HE* the blue cross dressing, drag queen monster of my wildest dream!\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about the genesis of MR. HE, she laughed that that was a very long story, one that will be revealed in the future. But she did give me an abridged answer.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI like to call MR. HE the ghost underneath my sheets,\u201d she said. \u201cTo me, a sheet ghosts represents a spirit searching for closure. That\u2019s what MR. HE allows me as Parker to do. She gives me the ability to publicly be vulnerable in an abstraction persona.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is interesting is that she also has some poignant views on society overall, which directly relate into MR. HE, and how she is presented.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe, as a species, have completely lost touch with humanity,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople don\u2019t care about each other. Parker crying at a piano is such an eye roll. But MR. HE (doing so) allows you to escape into a world of fantasy, while simultaneously allowing myself to search for human connection. It\u2019s in those moments I can get closure with the horrors around me.\u201d<\/p>\n

I also love how she described how MR. HE in general is supposed to be a commentary on gender overall. With her blue face and mustache, it drives that point home even further.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted you to be so confused about the being in front of you that you have no choice but to just accept it. MR. HE also a play on the word mystery because you never know what you\u2019re going to get.\u201d<\/p>\n

MR. HE considers the realm she works in to be queer cult horror.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always crave a grand, gay ol\u2019 time, so buckle up because it\u2019s probably going to be something you\u2019ve never seen before.\u201d Everything that she does as MR. HE has a hint of horror to it, whether it\u2019s a haunting visual or even a reference in the lyrics. As for the cult aspect, she explained that means it\u2019s meant to be replicated, reproduced, and regurgitated\u2026so it\u2019s no surprise that her performance of Zombie Boy<\/em> at the award ceremony had a hint of Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/em> to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make material that targets a group of people who need it most. Those who\u2019ve been told they are the monsters. I want to help liberate them. I\u2019m not looking to scare you straight\u2026quite the opposite.\u201d According to MR. HE, she thinks that horror is a great way to teach empathy.<\/p>\n

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When it comes to MR. HE\u2019s musical career, it\u2019s something of a happy accident on how that came to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of this is a product of Ms. Corona. I don\u2019t\u2019 know if I would\u2019ve ever released music had the shutdown not happened,\u201d MR. HE joked. As a performer, she used to travel and tour with original musicals; cabaret shows where she would sit at a piano and entertain while also telling a story. When the pandemic hit, and the audiences were no longer in their seats, she had to translate her shows into something else. Zombie Boy<\/em> was test run for her, but she fell in love with the recording process.<\/p>\n

One HOLYCHILD, MR. HE\u2019s favorite band, announced they were breaking up, she reached out to Louie Diller, the instrumentalist and producer for the band, to express her condolences. After ‘accidentally’ (her words, not mine!) sending Diller a video of MR. HE cry singing at a piano, one thing lead to another, and now they are seven songs into a musical partnership.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had books full of written songs, just waiting on the back burners, and he helped bring them to life,\u201d MR. HE said. \u201cI\u2019ll forever be grateful for his help. His production is top tier and he really listens to all my crazy ideas\u2026ALL of them!\u201d Their process is pretty collaborative, with MR. HE sending clips of herself playing piano, with pages of lyrics, and Diller turns it around into an entire brass section in the studio.<\/p>\n

When it comes to Zombie Boy<\/em>, it\u2019s an idea that\u2019s been kicking around in MR. HE\u2019s head for seven years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a video of me singing it from 2014. I\u2019ve always been a very emotional person and the best way for me to achieve some sort of therapeutic release is to write about it. I truly believe that even a catchy pop song can not only change but save someone\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The song was important to MR. HE, especially in that it was a ballad of a man who was never able to be himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was my biggest fear at the time, not being able to authentically live the life I desired. I was watching it happen to someone so close to me and I refused for the same to happen to me. I was watching him decay, and he became my best kept secret\u2026my zombie boy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though the song evolved over time to something bigger, the heart of it stayed the same. And when it came time to produce MR. HE\u2019s first single, this was the obvious choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a story of queer horror but also of forgiveness. I mean it when I sing: \u2018I hope you found the happiness you were searching for.\u2019 It allowed me to let go.\u201d<\/p>\n