In this episode of Horror Heals, Corey and Kendall sit down with psychotherapist and horror enthusiast Candis Green. From her childhood obsession with Halloween and witches to her professional use of Jungian dream work and archetypes, Candis shares how horror became both her passion and her therapeutic lens. She opens up about why she watches horror movies alone in the dark, what dreams reveal about the psyche, and how horror conventions create space for sensitive souls. The conversation also dives into her podcast, Mental Health is Horrifying, and why Sidney Prescott from Scream remains her all-time favorite final person.

What We Cover:

• How Candis merges psychotherapy with her love of horror
• The role of Jungian approaches, archetypes, and dream work in her practice
• Why watching horror alone can be a form of self-care
• Horror on a spectrum: from Hocus Pocus to Terrifier
• The healing power of horror conventions and community
• Her lifelong love of Halloween, witches, and Salem (including her honeymoon there!)
• The inspiration behind Mental Health is Horrifying
• Her favorite witch in pop culture and her dream aesthetic
• Why Sidney Prescott is the ultimate final person

Guest Bio

Candis Green is a Registered Psychotherapist in Toronto, Canada. Drawing from Jungian approaches, she integrates dream analysis, archetypes, and creative tools into her practice. She’s also the host of Mental Health is Horrifying, a podcast exploring how horror movies act as modern-day collective nightmares, helping us confront and process our deepest fears.

Candis: Hi. Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here

Corey: We're excited to have you. Um, and right off the bat, I just wanna know like how much psycho is going into your psychotherapy these days?

Candis: from, from which end? From my end. Are you asking about that?

Corey: What's Sure, why not?

Candis: A fair amount. I would say. I was even just thinking, you know, I, I don't see clients on Friday and I was asking myself, oh, you know, what do I wanna do after this interview today? And what I do to relax is watch horror movies by myself in the dark. So maybe some people

Corey: Okay. All right.

Candis: that that's psycho, but it's really how I relax and just kind of.

Set all my anxieties and problems aside for the day.

Corey: Same for us. I mean, not necessarily. Yeah, not necessarily alone in the dark, but we'll watch 'em in the dark and, and usually at least, you know, three or four of our dogs are there watching with us.

Um, feeling like I need to perform or react a certain way when I'm watching something maybe scary or, um, that's intense. I can just kind of like, uh, react or feel however I want and not be witnessed in that. It's something that I find very soothing.

Corey: You know, it didn't bother me until, and this was a couple of years ago, I was at a horror convention by myself, so back at the hotel. You know, midnight or something like that. And I've been hearing about this, uh, independent movie that just happened to be on YouTube called Found. I don't know if you've seen Found or Not, but it's, uh, it's not the kind of movie you wanna watch by yourself in the, lemme just say, several of the characters would be ideal patients for you.

Um, I don't really go for something like a, like a terrifi is really not for me. That's something that I don't find relaxing or, um, anxiety quelling at all. Um, so. Yeah, anything that would be maybe more extreme, I would like to watch that with somebody else if I were to give it a try.

Corey: Gotcha. you know, we already know that, um, that you align with our, our theme of, um, horror being good for mental wellness. But I'm curious, when did you, was there an aha moment for you, and how far back did it go that you started to think that you know, hey, you know, horror and. Mental wellness, they kind of go together.

My, my graduate training in psychotherapy and learning in particular, um, about Jungian approaches to psychotherapy. Um, like I'm trained in, in numerous different modalities, but um, in Jungian approaches, you know, we're really talking about. The different layers of the psyche and the shadow and how we can work with those pieces through things like dream work, um, is something that I work with a lot, um, archetypes, um, tarot cards as well, or a really great way to work with symbols and archetypes.

And when I was doing that study and learning about archetypes and sort of, um, emotional compensation. It just sort of clicked in my mind like, this is exactly what we're doing when we're watching horror movies. I really see horror as collective nightmares and as projections of our deepest anxieties and fears that we all have.

Um, it's been, it's been such a lovely process.

Corey: Awesome. Yeah, I, um, really fascinated actually with the, the style of, of therapy that you provide because. Kendall and I, we, we talk about our dreams all the time. He tends to dream more realistically about stuff that's happening or could be happening in the next day or so, whereas mine are twisted, violent, I mean insane dreams.

Um, all of the elements in our dreams represent our feelings, and it's really interesting to sort of like parcel different dream elements out and feel into each, you know, person or animal or. The setting and not focus so much on its literal representation in the dream. Like that's not really a cat. Like what does that cat feel like in the dream and how it is represent something, representing something that you are going through at the moment?

Um, it's, I love it in my work because it really is like taking a side door into the psyche. Um. In, in therapy or working with emotions. As humans we're so good at, um, we have defenses and we rationalize things away and we say, oh, that's not a big deal. But the, the dreams are just like the raw goods and that's why I love working with them so much.

Corey: So I'm curious, do you tend to be a more realistic dreamer or a more fantastical dreamer?

It's so illuminating. It's a practice. I kind of encourage everybody to do, like, just keep a little book next to your bed when you wake up. It doesn't matter how weird your, you know, flying spaghetti monster dreams are. Just write it down . It doesn't matter if it doesn't make sense, you can figure it out later.

Corey: what percentage of, of your, um, patients are into like horror movies and stuff when they come in the door? Or is that something that you kind of slowly introduce into the therapy?

And were maybe like hanging out, you know, in the hocus pocus realm, which I appreciate too. Like there's something to be found on, on either end of the spectrum, in the middle. Um, I, I find horror to be a very inclusive genre in that way.

Corey: Definitely. Yeah. And I think, you know, just going beyond the movies, um, just like the people. The horror community. Um, very, very accepting. And you know, and I, I've certainly seen and had been conversations with people who are dealing with anxiety and depression and things like that, you know, within the horror community.

And, and he made a new friend and all of a sudden all that anxiety was gone immediately. And, and a smile was on his face.

Candis: That's so lovely and yeah, I did know that that was sort of how your, your podcast began and that you're both really into conventions. And I do. It's, it's actually really funny. In a past life, I actually used. To work for Fan Expo. So I got to see a lot of the behind the scenes and like I did a lot of the behind the scenes like planning and and marketing for that show.

So it was really interesting. There was some secrets that I'll never tell, but it was really interesting to see a lot of the behind the scenes of that show and. I did really notice that a lot of the fandom that would attend were like sensitive angels who were just coming to share and enjoy and a love for this weird thing that they all enjoy.

Corey: I love that. I love that. Yeah. My, um, my cousin before he moved overseas was kind of my horror con buddy, and so I, I made him come along with, you know, like several photo ops. Um, so we've got. One of, uh, of us together with Skeet and Matthew Li ah, Lillard, um, all like clutching our pearls, like we're terrified.

It's, I love it. It's my favorite one. Um, they were all into it and it was just.

Candis: Oh my god. What an honor. Like ziba could stand on me any day.

Corey: yeah. I've had, we've, I've been fortunate to have, you know, like 99.9% great experiences, um, you know, meeting creators and, and stuff, so, which is great, you know, and

Candis: Oh, Corey, you,

Corey: I would say it.

Candis: there's a bit of a delay. Um. Sorry, Corey, I just missed what you were saying. There's a a bit of, there was a bit of a delay.

Corey: Oh, okay. Is it better now or,

Candis: I.

Corey: okay. I, I was just saying that, um, I would say 99% of my, um, experiences meeting creators at horror conventions have been. Extremely positive, which is, that's a pretty good percentage I think.

Candis: Yeah. It's, uh, well, I think like horror kind of attracts, um, weirdos and people who are sensitive and different and it really is a lovely community.

Corey: Can we rewind a little bit and what was Halloween like for you as a kid? And how early into it did you discover that you, um, had a thing for witches?

Candis: Oh man. Um, people always ask me that question, like, how did, how did you get so into Halloween? Like, what's the story? And I don't really have a good answer because I think I just came out of the wombs. Spooky. Like I, I don't remember a single moment in my life when I wasn't completely obsessed with Halloween.

Like it's summer, maybe go to summer camp. Um, and let's revisit this in October. Like, I, I was kind of given like an October 1st. Um Okay. But I really wanted to celebrate it the whole year. Um, and that went along with witches too, like. In wanting to like, celebrate and like learn more about Halloween the whole year.

Thinking back, I'm like, it's so nice that my parents, didn't pull me aside and was like, are you okay? Like, they just let me. So yeah, it's really been a lifelong passion.

Corey: I love that. Have you had the opportunity to visit, uh, Salem

Candis: Oh my gosh, I had my honeymoon there.

Corey: Oh, awesome.

Candis: Yes. Bless my husband. Uh, bless his soul. He, um, I wouldn't say, um, so we've been together for 18 years now, and I wouldn't say that when we first met. That he was also a spooky ghoul, I would say through our relationship. He has come to tolerate and mildly enjoy it, and he was very nice in agreeing to have our honeymoon in Salem.

Corey: Yeah, we love, we love visiting, although, you know, we try to avoid it in October now just because it's insane.

Candis: Yes. Well, yeah. I got, we got married in October and I guess I didn't really think, I was just like, oh, Salem, October. And so we went the second last weekend of October for our honeymoon and it was wild. wouldn't recommend to others. You know, it's, it's like that all year. Just go like in March or something.

Corey: Right now, I think, you know, for like staying there actually for your honeymoon, that's probably a little bit different. Like, I wouldn't recommend like a, a quick day trip to Salem and, you know, on a Saturday in October just because it's gonna be nuts. But if you're there and you're staying there, like it's, I mean, just being around all that energy and people and stuff like that was, had to be

Candis: Yeah, it was incredible. I, I think, uh, at this point I've been there three times just 'cause it's like Disneyland for spooky people.

Candis: Yeah. Again, I. I feel like that is just how I always saw horror movies when I was watching them. I would just kind of think, oh, like this is so representative of this. Or like, oh, this, this ghost is a metaphor for having poor boundaries. Um, and it just sort of made perfect sense to me and. I'm a very creative person and, um, being a psychotherapist, you know, obviously I'm, I'm very there for my clients.

It's just so much fun.

Corey: Is there a witch in literature or pop culture that you relate to the most?

Candis: Oh, what a great question. Hmm. The first witch that is coming to my head is Elaine from the Love Witch. I'm just like, totally. Obsessed with her. Um, have you seen that movie by Anna Biller? Okay. Um, I need you to end this podcast right now and go watch it.

Corey: Done.

Candis: Bye. See you later. Um, yes. So Anna Biller.

Corey: can see Kendall writing it

And, um, she's, she's. She's, she's very murderous in the movie. Um, she, her emotions are always like, you know, at the very top of everything she does, but the movie is just so beautiful. Um, her entire apartment in the movie is designed in the same colors as the. How to, um, tarot deck.

Um, so it looks like she lives inside a tarot deck. Um, and I just really relate to it on that aspect. Like I'm a very aesthetic person. Um, like beauty in my surroundings and even in my horror movie, preference honestly is very important to me. And this movie, like every Shot is like. A picture you could frame and put on your wall.

Um, and it's just gorgeous. Highly recommend the love witch to everybody on this planet.

Candis: I love that, the inclusivity. I love it. My favorite final person I would say is Sidney Prescott. Like I, first of all, nev Campbell, Canadian girl. I can't not. Love her. I cannot love that. She's from Guelph, Ontario, which is a small town, very near where I live. So like, shout out Guelph. Um, but there's just something about Sydney Prescott and I think the moment that.

She is so like, she's not, um, a lot of women in horror before then. Unfortunately, I think were portrayed as. You know, kind of floozies or not sure what they're doing. There were great final girls before her for sure. But for me, like Sydney is just, I wanted to be her. She was so strong. She was so cool. She was so smart.

And. I just love seeing her evolution in the Scream movies and then, you know, just seeing Nev Campbell and other things like The Craft and you know, even shows like House of Cards. I just love her so much and I'm really excited that she's coming back for Scream seven.

Corey: Yeah, sort of a, as like a, a b part to the final question was, uh, what are you hoping to see, um, Sidney's triumphant return be like, and it's also, you know, been revealed that Matthew Lillard is returning and we thought he was dead in the first one. So what are you hoping for for Sidney's

You know, every time we see her it's like, can this girl catch a break? Like this poor woman just, she's trying to live her life. She's trying to, you know, like have a husband or like have some kids or you know, just write a book or whatever. And this dumb idiot comes every time and ruins everything. I kind of, I kind of, I don't know how they would do that, right?

Because the whole point is that she's in the drama. But I just hope Sydnee Prescott is somewhere relaxing with a glass of Chardonnay. Like I would love to see that if that is like all of scream seven.

Corey: Yeah, I mean, if they really wanted to go off the rails, they could have, you know, Sydney kill Ghostface in the first scene, cut to the credits, and the rest of the movie is just Sydney like. Go to Pilates,

Candis: Oh my God.

Corey: mimosa brunches, you.

Candis: honestly, I would love that just Sydney, like having a girl's day, like getting a pedicure mimosa. I would be the first person in the theater to watch that.

Candis: Yes. Thank you so much for having me on and I'm such a fan of your podcast too, and it's, it's just, it's so sweet, like it really comes through how much you love horror and the horror community and conventions and I just really appreciate it. So thank you for doing this.

Corey: Oh, thank you so much. Yeah, no, it's definitely a labor of love,

Candis: absolutely.

Corey: right.

Hey Candace, welcome to the Horror Heels

Candis: Hi. Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here

Corey: We're excited to have you. Um, and right off the bat, I just wanna know like how much psycho is going into your psychotherapy these days?

Candis: from, from which end? From my end. Are you asking about that?

Corey: What's Sure, why not?

Candis: A fair amount. I would say. I was even just thinking, you know, I, I don't see clients on Friday and I was asking myself, oh, you know, what do I wanna do after this interview today? And what I do to relax is watch horror movies by myself in the dark. So maybe some people

Corey: Okay. All right.

Candis: that that's psycho, but it's really how I relax and just kind of.

Set all my anxieties and problems aside for the day.

Corey: Same for us. I mean, not necessarily. Yeah, not necessarily alone in the dark, but we'll watch 'em in the dark and, and usually at least, you know, three or four of our dogs are there watching with us.

Candis: Yeah, I think

Corey: was trying to think, I'm sorry. Go ahead.

Candis: watching them alone in the dark. Oh, sorry. I think, um, there's a bit of a. Um, delay or overlap. So sorry if it seems like I'm speaking over you. Um, yeah, I think that the, I think the piece about enjoying watching them alone in the dark, it's something about like, not.

Um, feeling like I need to perform or react a certain way when I'm watching something maybe scary or, um, that's intense. I can just kind of like, uh, react or feel however I want and not be witnessed in that. It's something that I find very soothing.

Corey: You know, it didn't bother me until, and this was a couple of years ago, I was at a horror convention by myself, so back at the hotel. You know, midnight or something like that. And I've been hearing about this, uh, independent movie that just happened to be on YouTube called Found. I don't know if you've seen Found or Not, but it's, uh, it's not the kind of movie you wanna watch by yourself in the, lemme just say, several of the characters would be ideal patients for you.

Candis: I would imagine so. Um, yeah, and I guess like in terms of watching movies alone in the dark, um, I kind of refer to myself as a bit of a horror baby. Um, like I, I really do believe that horror exists on a spectrum and there's something for everybody and. Um, yeah, I, I maybe tend towards, um, the more milder end of things, you know, for me and my nervous system.

Um, I don't really go for something like a, like a terrifi is really not for me. That's something that I don't find relaxing or, um, anxiety quelling at all. Um, so. Yeah, anything that would be maybe more extreme, I would like to watch that with somebody else if I were to give it a try.

Corey: Gotcha. Well, uh, you know, we already know that, um, that you align with our, our theme of, um, horror being good for mental wellness. But I'm curious, when did you, was there an aha moment for you, and how far back did it go that you started to think that you know, hey, you know, horror and. Mental wellness, they kind of go together.

Candis: Yeah, I mean I think, well, obviously, I'm sure as most of the people you speak to on this podcast, I've always loved horror, spooky stuff. Halloween, and I think for a really long time I felt. Like the weirdo in that like I'm weird or I'm doing something wrong. And I maybe kept it to myself a bit more, but it really wasn't until I was doing my, um.

My, my graduate training in psychotherapy and learning in particular, um, about Jungian approaches to psychotherapy. Um, like I'm trained in, in numerous different modalities, but um, in Jungian approaches, you know, we're really talking about. The different layers of the psyche and the shadow and how we can work with those pieces through things like dream work, um, is something that I work with a lot, um, archetypes, um, tarot cards as well, or a really great way to work with symbols and archetypes.

And when I was doing that study and learning about archetypes and sort of, um, emotional compensation. It just sort of clicked in my mind like, this is exactly what we're doing when we're watching horror movies. I really see horror as collective nightmares and as projections of our deepest anxieties and fears that we all have.

Um, and just sort of even noticing in myself what was happening to me when I was watching horror movies, how it was helping me to explore things or to feel better and, you know, I. Um, market myself, you know, as a therapist obviously, who loves horror and all of these things, and just the number of people who are attracted to that, who also find healing in that.

Um, it's been, it's been such a lovely process. Mm-hmm.

Corey: Awesome. Yeah, I, um, really fascinated actually with the, the style of, of therapy that you provide because. Kendall and I, we, we talk about our dreams all the time. He tends to dream more realistically about stuff that's happening or could be happening in the next day or so, whereas mine are twisted, violent, I mean insane dreams.

Candis: Yeah. Well, I'm sorry that they're violent and insane. I hope they're not too distressing to you. Um, but what I like to, to tell people about working with your dreams is that. They're all here to help us. Um, whether they're, you know, enjoyable and happy and realistic, or whether they're really dysphoric and and scary.

Um, all of the elements in our dreams represent our feelings, and it's really interesting to sort of like parcel different dream elements out and feel into each, you know, person or animal or. The setting and not focus so much on its literal representation in the dream. Like that's not really a cat. Like what does that cat feel like in the dream and how it is represent something, representing something that you are going through at the moment?

Um, it's, I love it in my work because it really is like taking a side door into the psyche. Um. In, in therapy or working with emotions. As humans we're so good at, um, we have defenses and we rationalize things away and we say, oh, that's not a big deal. But the, the dreams are just like the raw goods and that's why I love working with them so much.

Corey: So I'm curious, do you tend to be a more realistic dreamer or a more fantastical dreamer?

Candis: I would say my dreams are really a mixture of both. Um, I have a lot of recurring dreams, recurring themes. Um, that do have a lot of realistic people in them, um, with yeah, a light mixture, I would say of fantastical elements. But, um, like, yeah, I keep a dream journal, I write them all down and, you know, I work with them to understand what's going on and.

It's so illuminating. It's a practice. I kind of encourage everybody to do, like, just keep a little book next to your bed when you wake up. It doesn't matter how weird your, you know, flying spaghetti monster dreams are. Just write it down. It doesn't matter if it doesn't make sense, you can figure it out later. Yeah.

Corey: Would you say like what percentage of, of your, um, patients are into like horror movies and stuff when they come in the door? Or is that something that you kind of slowly introduce into the therapy?

Candis: I would say it's about 50 50. And again, like that, you know, being into horror, I really see it as a spectrum. So I do have some, you know, people who, you know, you know, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, you know, they've seen all the Halloween movies. You know, they can tell you all of horror history and then some people who, you know, sc scare more easily, are a bit more sensitive.

And were maybe like hanging out, you know, in the hocus pocus realm, which I appreciate too. Like there's something to be found on, on either end of the spectrum, in the middle. Um, I, I find horror to be a very inclusive genre in that way.

Corey: Definitely. Yeah. And I think, you know, just going beyond the movies, um, just like the people. The horror community. Um, very, very accepting. And you know, and I, I've certainly seen and had been conversations with people who are dealing with anxiety and depression and things like that, you know, within the horror community.

But usually when they're in the environment of like a horror convention, like you don't really see that too much on their faces. Um, because it's, it's a joyful experience. But I mean, that's actually was the impetus of, of this podcast was I saw a young man in, in distress and, you know, was about to say, Hey, can you know if, if you need to step away, I know it's really crowded in here, you know, we'll hold your space for you and put somebody talk to him before I had the chance.

And, and he made a new friend and all of a sudden all that anxiety was gone immediately. And, and a smile was on his face.

Candis: That's so lovely and yeah, I did know that that was sort of how your, your podcast began and that you're both really into conventions. And I do. It's, it's actually really funny. In a past life, I actually used. To work for Fan Expo. So I got to see a lot of the behind the scenes and like I did a lot of the behind the scenes like planning and and marketing for that show.

So it was really interesting. There was some secrets that I'll never tell, but it was really interesting to see a lot of the behind the scenes of that show and. I did really notice that a lot of the fandom that would attend were like sensitive angels who were just coming to share and enjoy and a love for this weird thing that they all enjoy.

And then it's like, you know, here I am thinking I'm like too cool for school. And then a couple years ago at Fan Expo in Toronto, um, the cast of Scream came and I went and I bought my little photo op with them and just like. kept it together when I met Skee Alrich and, uh, nev Campbell, but just like completely burst into tears after because I was so excited and, yeah.

Corey: I love that. I love that. Yeah. My, um, my cousin before he moved overseas was kind of my horror con buddy, and so I, I made him come along with, you know, like several photo ops. Um, so we've got. One of, uh, of us together with Skeet and Matthew Li ah, Lillard, um, all like clutching our pearls, like we're terrified.

Um, but I think my all time favorite, and I would like to do something a little quirky was it was, I think the only time the craft reunion happened with all four witches there. I, yeah. And so the photo was, you know, like I wanted, um, I wanted them to be the strong force in there, so I'm like. I'm just gonna lay down on the ground and, um, and put your, put one of your feet on me like you own me and za bulk, um, wearing boots, put her, uh, shoe on my head, which was, I mean, I'll send you the photo.

It's, I love it. It's my favorite one. Um, they were all into it and it was just.

Candis: Oh my god. What an honor. Like ziba could stand on me any day.

Corey: Exactly. Yes. Yeah. Um, and they were just all, couldn't be nicer, you know, it's just, yeah. I've had, we've, I've been fortunate to have, you know, like 99.9% great experiences, um, you know, meeting creators and, and stuff, so, which is great, you know, and

Candis: Oh, Corey, you,

Corey: I would say it.

Candis: there's a bit of a delay. Um. Sorry, Corey, I just missed what you were saying. There's a a bit of, there was a bit of a delay.

Corey: Oh, okay. Is it better now or,

Candis: I.

Corey: okay. I, I was just saying that, um, I would say 99% of my, um, experiences meeting creators at horror conventions have been. Extremely positive, which is, that's a pretty good percentage I think.

Candis: Yeah. It's, uh, well, I think like horror kind of attracts, um, weirdos and people who are sensitive and different and it really is a lovely community. Mm-hmm.

Corey: Can we rewind a little bit and what was Halloween like for you as a kid? And how early into it did you discover that you, um, had a thing for witches?

Candis: Oh man. Um, people always ask me that question, like, how did, how did you get so into Halloween? Like, what's the story? And I don't really have a good answer because I think I just came out of the wombs. Spooky. Like I, I don't remember a single moment in my life when I wasn't completely obsessed with Halloween.

Like it was just, I was always like, what do you mean we're not doing this year round? This is the best thing in the whole world. And I, I remember, like, I loved it so much that I would start planning, you know, as a kid for Halloween. In like June. Um, and, and my, my, my parents would kind of be like, okay, like, you know, we need to slow it down a bit.

Like it's summer, maybe go to summer camp. Um, and let's revisit this in October. Like, I, I was kind of given like an October 1st. Um Okay. But I really wanted to celebrate it the whole year. Um, and that went along with witches too, like. In wanting to like, celebrate and like learn more about Halloween the whole year.

Like I would spend my summer in the public library, like as a kid, like as a, like a 10-year-old kid, like taking out books about witches, witchcraft, like Satan, the history of all of this, like I really, it was just so fascinating to me, like I would just take books out and wanna learn about this all the time.

Thinking back, I'm like, it's so nice that my parents, you know, didn't pull me aside and was like, are you okay? Like, they just let me. So yeah, it's really been a lifelong passion.

Corey: I love that. Have you had the opportunity to visit, uh, Salem

Candis: Oh my gosh, I had my honeymoon there.

Corey: Oh, awesome.

Candis: Yes. Bless my husband. Uh, bless his soul. He, um, I wouldn't say, um, so we've been together for 18 years now, and I wouldn't say that when we first met. That he was also a spooky ghoul, I would say through our relationship. He has come to tolerate and mildly enjoy it, and he was very nice in agreeing to have our honeymoon in Salem.

Um, and we went around to all the hocus pocus filming locations and oh my gosh, just that feeling when I saw. The Denison house for the first time, it was just like, it was truly incredible. I, yeah, Salem is such a fun place. Yeah.

Corey: Yeah, we love, we love visiting, although, you know, we try to avoid it in October now just because it's insane.

Candis: Yes. Well, yeah. I got, we got married in October and I guess I didn't really think, I was just like, oh, Salem, October. And so we went the second last weekend of October for our honeymoon and it was wild. Yeah. Wouldn't, wouldn't recommend to others. You know, it's, it's like that all year. Just go like in March or something.

Corey: Right now, I think, you know, for like staying there actually for your honeymoon, that's probably a little bit different. Like, I wouldn't recommend like a, a quick day trip to Salem and, you know, on a Saturday in October just because it's gonna be nuts. But if you're there and you're staying there, like it's, I mean, just being around all that energy and people and stuff like that was, had to be

Candis: Yeah, it was incredible. I, I think, uh, at this point I've been there three times just 'cause it's like Disneyland for spooky people.

Corey: for sure, for sure. Yeah. So I wanna talk a little bit about, um, mental health is Horrifying, your podcast because, um, I, I love that it's a, it's an in interesting take, um, where you're taking like one horror movie and sort of examining, um, the. The psychotherapy elements within. Can you talk a little bit about the genesis of the podcast?

Candis: Yeah. Again, I. I feel like that is just how I always saw horror movies when I was watching them. I would just kind of think, oh, like this is so representative of this. Or like, oh, this, this ghost is a metaphor for having poor boundaries. Um, and it just sort of made perfect sense to me and. I'm a very creative person and, um, being a psychotherapist, you know, obviously I'm, I'm very there for my clients.

Um, it's not, it's not about me, um, during those sessions and it's like, you know, I'll do like. 20 sessions a week, so that's like 20 hours of output on my end. And it just felt really nice to be able to create like a creative outlet for myself where I could be as weird as I want and, you know, explore these things that I like and, and sort of marry my knowledge of psychology with horror movies.

It's just so much fun. Mm-hmm.

Corey: Very cool. Is there a witch in literature or pop culture that you relate to the most?

Candis: Oh, what a great question. Hmm. The first witch that is coming to my head is Elaine from the Love Witch. I'm just like, totally. Obsessed with her. Um, have you seen that movie by Anna Biller? Okay. Um, I need you to end this podcast right now and go watch it.

Corey: Done.

Candis: Bye. See you later. Um, yes. So Anna Biller.

Corey: can see Kendall writing it

Candis: Yes. Oh my gosh. You, you'll love it. It's like nothing you've ever seen. So Anna Biller is, she's not only the director, she. Was the writer, she's the producer. She made all the costumes and sets, like she's just this creative force and it's this, this movie about this woman, she's a witch and it's a bit of a satire on womanhood, femininity in the witchcraft community.

And, um, she's, she's. She's, she's very murderous in the movie. Um, she, her emotions are always like, you know, at the very top of everything she does, but the movie is just so beautiful. Um, her entire apartment in the movie is designed in the same colors as the. How do you pronounce it? The to, to, um, tarot deck.

Um, so it looks like she lives inside a tarot deck. Um, and I just really relate to it on that aspect. Like I'm a very aesthetic person. Um, like beauty in my surroundings and even in my horror movie, preference honestly is very important to me. And this movie, like every Shot is like. A picture you could frame and put on your wall.

Um, and it's just gorgeous. Highly recommend the love witch to everybody on this planet.

Corey: Awesome. Yeah, no, we'll, we'll definitely add that to the top of our list for sure. Um, so I was glancing at my questions. I think I've run through all of mine, Kendall, is there anything you want to get to before we go to our favorite question of the day? Okay, awesome. So Candace, uh, the question that we ask every guest on horror heels is, who is your favorite final person in a horror movie? And we say final person, because we're all inclusive here. I know. I mean, we love the, the final girl trope. Absolutely. But, you know, we wanna make sure everyone's included, uh, on horror heels.

Candis: I love that, the inclusivity. I love it. My favorite final person I would say is Sidney Prescott. Like I, first of all, nev Campbell, Canadian girl. I can't not. Love her. I cannot love that. She's from Guelph, Ontario, which is a small town, very near where I live. So like, shout out Guelph. Um, but there's just something about Sydney Prescott and I think the moment that.

She is so like, she's not, um, a lot of women in horror before then. Unfortunately, I think were portrayed as. You know, kind of floozies or not sure what they're doing. There were great final girls before her for sure. But for me, like Sydney is just, I wanted to be her. She was so strong. She was so cool. She was so smart.

And. I just love seeing her evolution in the Scream movies and then, you know, just seeing Nev Campbell and other things like The Craft and you know, even shows like House of Cards. I just love her so much and I'm really excited that she's coming back for Scream seven.

Corey: Yeah, sort of a, as like a, a b part to the final question was, uh, what are you hoping to see, um, Sidney's triumphant return be like, and it's also, you know, been revealed that Matthew Lillard is returning and we thought he was dead in the first one. So what are you hoping for for Sidney's arc?

Candis: Well, for Sydney's arc, I am, I've read and I agree with, you know, the, the tidbits of what I'm reading of kind of what they're planning for her, you know, if, if they're true, like who knows if, if they're like trying to lead us off the track. But I think it's. I'm hoping that we get to see Sydney experiencing a bit more peace in her life.

You know, every time we see her it's like, can this girl catch a break? Like this poor woman just, she's trying to live her life. She's trying to, you know, like have a husband or like have some kids or you know, just write a book or whatever. And this dumb idiot comes every time and ruins everything. I kind of, I don't know how they would do that, right?

Because the whole point is that she's in the drama. But I just hope Sydnee Prescott is somewhere relaxing with a glass of Chardonnay. Like I would love to see that if that is like all of scream seven.

Corey: Yeah, I mean, if they really wanted to go off the rails, they could have, you know, Sydney kill Ghostface in the first scene, cut to the credits, and the rest of the movie is just Sydney like. Go to Pilates,

Candis: Oh my God.

Corey: uh, you know, mimosa brunches, you.

Candis: honestly, I would love that just Sydney, like having a girl's day, like getting a pedicure mimosa. I, I would be the first person in the theater to watch that.

Corey: That's awesome. Well, um, we love what you're doing, um, with your therapy work. It's, it's, it's really fascinating and, um, so please stay in touch 'cause we would love to like maybe dig into some, some of the aspects a little bit deeper, uh, next time around. But this has been so

Candis: Yes. Thank you so much for having me on and I'm such a fan of your podcast too, and it's, it's just, it's so sweet, like it really comes through how much you love horror and the horror community and conventions and I just really appreciate it. So thank you for doing this.

Corey: Oh, thank you so much. Yeah, no, it's definitely a labor of love,

Candis: absolutely.

Corey: right.