In this episode of Horror Heals, Corey and Kendall sit down with Jennifer Ginty, a passionate horror fan and entrepreneur. Jennifer shares her personal journey of growing up in a horror-loving family while dealing with trauma, PTSD, and depression. She opens up about how horror became a source of comfort for her and how it continues to help her manage her mental health. Jennifer also discusses her incredible creation, Moody—a therapeutic doll designed to help children and adults alike process emotions and trauma. Moody’s customizable features, including detachable limbs, provide a safe outlet for frustration and stress. Throughout the conversation, Jennifer reflects on her favorite horror movies, the complex nature of PTSD, and her aspirations for expanding the Moody line to help even more people.

Monsters and Mental Health: How Horror Saved Me

Episode Highlights:

• Jennifer shares her upbringing in a family that adored horror and how this connection to horror movies and books was integral to her mental health.
• Discussion on how horror culture, especially films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Nightmare on Elm Street, provide comfort and grounding during PTSD episodes.
• Insight into the development of Jennifer's entrepreneurial project, Moody, a therapeutic doll created to help people cope with emotional struggles by allowing them to physically release tension and anxiety.
• Jennifer's thoughts on how horror genres, like body horror and religious horror, intersect with her personal life and healing journey.
• A deep dive into Jennifer's personal experience with childhood trauma, navigating PTSD, and how horror movies helped her find emotional solace during difficult moments.
• Conversation about Jennifer’s love for characters like Ash from Evil Dead and how those horror icons became a source of comfort and empowerment.

Jennifer’s Journey with Moody:

• The origin story of Moody, born from Jennifer’s desire to create something that could physically represent and help process emotional distress.
• Moody’s arms, legs, and head are detachable, allowing users to rip it apart and release anger and frustration in a healthy way.
• Moody has been embraced by therapists, teachers, and families, and Jennifer shares her vision of expanding the product line to include customized dolls for children with ADHD and autism.
• Jennifer discusses plans for a Make-a-Monster feature, where kids and adults can design their own Moody doll, tailoring it to their specific needs.

Key Takeaways:

• Horror isn’t just about scares; for some, it’s a therapeutic and healing experience that helps them navigate trauma and emotional challenges.
• Jennifer’s story is a testament to the power of creativity, as she turned her own struggles into something that can help others with similar challenges.
• The horror community continues to be a place of comfort and connection for those who feel like outsiders or who are managing difficult life experiences.

Favorite Final Person: Jennifer’s favorite final person is Ash from Evil Dead. She loves everything about his character and the series, calling Ash her “absolute favorite hero.”

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Hello, boys and girls. It's your old pal, John Cusir, the voice of the Crypt Keeper. And I want to welcome my good fiends of the Horror Heals Podcast. Is horror good for mental wellness? But of course it is! I delight in the delicious deaths of pitiful people on the silver screen.

So get ready for a hell of a good time with my new fiends Cory and Kendall on the Horror Heels Podcast.

Welcome back to Horror Heals. On this episode, we're talking to a very talented artist, Jennifer Ginty, who has created what she calls Moody Monster, which is this stuffed animal of sorts that the head and the legs and the arms come off. It's really designed for kids and for people who are just feeling really, really anxious or stressed at that moment.

Instead of punching a wall or tearing up a book or screaming or screaming. Well, I guess you can scream while you're tearing Moody's arms and legs off too. If it makes you feel better, you're going to understand really, really quickly what a special person she is and so brave for opening up about past traumas and her childhood. And just to give you all a little bit of a trigger warning, we do talk a little bit about abuse as a child.

We just want to let you know ahead of time in case that's something that's going to be too triggering for you to listen to the episode. But Jennifer is just a light and can't wait for you guys to meet her. So here we go. Welcome to Horror Heals. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited for this conversation. Absolutely. We are too. So just to start off, how does our theme of horror movies and horror culture helping us with our mental health relate to you and your life?

I grew up in a horror family. We were all horror addicts. People could also say I lived in a horror situation in my family. I lived with my two brothers, my mother and my father, who was very abusive. was our abuser. Throughout my childhood, I was drawn to horror. My brothers were

constantly watching it, so I was constantly seeing it as well. I was drawn to it, especially reading wise. I was reading Stephen King in fourth grade, which a lot of people nowadays are like, whoa. My family would pass down horror books like Parker, and we'd be all reading them at the same time. For horror movies, we were just always watching them on our VHS.

and going over to Blockbuster and grabbing our videos. It was just part of our lives, but it was also something that really saved me in times in my life that have been really difficult. I have complex PTSD and depression. And when I have my PTSD moments, when I have a depressive moment, it's actually very calming for me to watch a horror movie.

I'll throw on Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which is my favorite, or Nightmare on Elm Street. They're comforting to me. And I appreciate it. And I know that horror spans so many genres. It spans so many cultures. That's another great draw for me because I feel like watching Italian horror, watching Japanese horror, which my brothers used to show me all the time. really...

loved the cultural aspect of it as well. you say that your depression and your PTSD that stems from the childhood upbringing, what happened in the household? When I was 14, my brother finally told a trusted adult about what was happening in our home. My abuser was taken out of the home, which my whole childhood was pretty traumatic. But then I was thrown into a whole other trauma of having to go into the court circuit.

you know, criminal case, that kind of thing. And we weren't treated, we were treated as if we were a problem, not trustworthy. It took me a while to talk about my abuse. When I finally did tell them, they thought I was just doing it to add to it, that I wanted to be seen and heard. They put me in front of a grand jury to talk about horrible things that had happened in our family.

A lot of people, they don't understand that once a child is taken out of a traumatic situation, that it doesn't stop there, that it continues through. And children really need things that are comforting to them so they can have respite from the trauma they keep going through.

I'm just curious if there was a mixed emotions because you said you grew up in a household where everybody liked horror and shared books and stuff and so and it was also comforting for you. So is there is it like a mixture of like bad feelings slash good feelings just because of the situation you were in? No, I think that's not something that really bothered me. I think it was an important part of my growth. I found characters that I felt in touch with.

And I know a lot of other people have that as well. I found comfort in the comedy of it. I am a huge Evil Dead fan. I almost named my son Ash. yes, my husband at the time didn't want to. I told my son when we were watching Evil Dead 2 and he was, I wish you'd me Ash. I find comfort in those characters. Freddy?

was actually quite a funny character. He was an actual abuser. And that is something that can be hard for someone. can be triggering to know the background. But if you push that aside, he's really a pretty funny character as who he is after life, right? He always has a little quip before killing someone. Yeah, I think they probably, after the first few movies became so successful, there were marketing meetings like,

Let's downplay the whole child abuser thing. Yeah. push up funny stuff a little bit because that kind of got pushed to the background for the later films. I just found that finding those characters and enjoying those moments and it doesn't even have to be certain characters. There can just be movies that I connect with because I need something to ground me.

That's something that I've found that horror does for me as well. It really grounds me. A lot of people with PTSD have opposite effects from what neurotypical people will have. Jumpscares do not bother me. There are maybe two or three jumpscares in my life that got me. Sinister, the lawnmower. That was one of them that got me. But otherwise, I don't have.

that trigger that a lot of people have. Jump scares. Maybe it's because I was in the hyper focus of waiting for what could happen in my life, in my childhood. So I developed that. And so it works for me. It helps to relieve those PTSD symptoms. Does your love of horror end your situation? you?

have conversations with people in your adult life who don't like horror, who don't get horror, and try to get them to understand how it can be helpful. All of my friends will not allow me to movies. My friends are like, no, you don't get to pick the movie. Because I will pick something. I picked the menu for me and my best friend. And she was like, what the hell are we watching? I'm like, man, this is nothing crazy. So my friends are like, no, you're not allowed to pick movies for us.

That one was hard for me. I don't even know if I finished it. I don't think I did. I went through that. Like it was, it didn't bother me. And I honestly didn't think of it much as a horror movie, but it really is. Yeah. As you said, there are so many different genres, so many different styles. Kendall and I have discussions back and forth about what is horror and what isn't horror. I think we're all about the same age. Last night we were rewatching the 80s movie Troll that was on HBO.

minutes yeah it's like that's not horror i like it but it's like i don't know if i was ever scared of that for a little kid it's cheesy but the scene where the troll turns sunny bono into a garden could be scary for a i was such a chicken as a little kid that's the kind of thing that would get me when i was five six seven eight years old that i would be creeped out by that kind of thing do you have like genres that are very triggering for you he does i i cannot watch

A home invasion. I cannot watch that. Yeah. And I do have I can relate to that because when I was seven, our home was burglarized. We lived in a very small town and everybody in the town knew that my mother was in the hospital. And my father and I had gone to Memphis, which is about an hour away from our town to stay with her in the hospital. And during one weekend, our home was burglarized. mean, it was bad.

And they did mean things like my mother had some famous art pieces that were framed and they didn't take them. They slashed them. They killed my dog. no, that is trauma to the umpteenth. Yeah, so I totally understand that. To this day, I think as much as I love it as a film and I thought she did a really good job, Joe Foster, the

the panic room. I watched it the one time, but I think I hyperventilated and I was like, never again. I just can't. And I won't watch them by myself at night because they're too realistic. If it's like a supernatural element to it, like, you know, demons or a haunting or aliens or something like that, then that's totally different. I'm all in for that. Yeah. like strangers. Yeah. You can't do the strangers. No, absolutely not. Yeah. I'm that religious horror movie.

I love all of those. Just keep sending me versions of The Exorcist. That's fine. We love that. One thing that I cannot watch because of my childhood situation is I cannot watch torture. So I've never watched Terrifier. I've never watched Saw. Those kind of ones. That's the one thing I can't really get into. But my brothers really destroyed me on Zombies.

They used to play Day of the Dead and they would chase after me like zombies. So I just watched zombie movies. I I saw Return of the Living Dead and that one was different. But Day of the Dead was one of the most shocking zombie movies I'd ever seen. I think I was probably like 12. So yeah, I can watch them now, but that was something I could not deal with back in the day.

This is super specific and I guess it falls into the torture genre, but I really get creeped out when people are being forced to get surgery, having their limbs removed or that scene. Have you seen House of a Thousand Corpses? yeah, yeah. Swamp body horror, like David Cordenberg and that kind of stuff. I love that. But the scene where the guy's rib cage is open and his head's open, but he's still alive, especially when somebody's still alive. gets me. Yeah, I couldn't watch the end of Braveheart.

where he gets completely tortured. So those ones I stay away from, but I have a pretty big range. I love Dario Argento films. That's something my brother introduced me to that I absolutely love. And yeah, it's comforting. And occasionally I will force myself to step out of my comfort zone. I think I was actually at a horror convention and occasionally I'll go by myself and stay in a room by myself. And I kept hearing about this

a low -budget movie found. I don't know if you've seen that one. No. It's intense. And probably not a movie for you, because yeah, but it's a kid who's obsessed with horror movies finds out his brother is the serial killer and he lives in the house. And it starts to mend the very last image of the movie, just so born to your brain. And I'm watching this like after I got back from the horror con at like midnight.

I smile on my phone, what is wrong with me? But yeah. So beyond horror movies, do you get into horror culture now as well? As much as I used to. I think I've mellowed with age. My oldest brother, he is huge. He goes to all the horror comic cons. He's written multiple books. He has his own blogs and that kind of thing. So he fits into it.

you'll have to introduce us. Yeah. Yeah. He's great. He's fantastic. He can probably tell you pretty much everything about you. Very cool. Well, we're recording this in like the heat of July here in New England, but we're not launching the show until Friday, September 13th this episode where sometime, hopefully when it's a little bit cooler outside. But this weekend, there's actually a horror convention in Nashua.

that I'd never heard of before. And this will be Kendall's second quarter convention ever because he's not big into a lot of people. And it's hard for us to get away on the weekends by ourselves just because we have six dogs. Yeah. But yeah, so I'm curious to just, and I think it's probably going to be on the smaller side. Just curious to see what he thinks, but I'm excited because I just saw that the first con that we ever went to was in Worcester at the DCU center.

That was the weekend that we actually came out to New England and met Kendall's birth family for the first time. And we all went together and all had our picture taken with Kane Hodder. And it was just, it was a very special memory of that first weekend of meeting. And there's a band called Ice Nine Kills. I don't know if you're familiar with them. I actually see them. Yeah. Yeah. My son brought me to see them. awesome. Okay.

Cool. So they started a horror con a couple of years ago and I guess it's grown and so they're gonna, they're taking it to the DCU center this year. And it's actually the weekend of Friday the 13th. And so we're definitely going to be there for that just to celebrate the launch of the podcast and everything. So if you get a wild hair, Jen, Worcester's not too far from you. No, it's like about an hour. Yeah. And I'm a driver. I love getting into my car and my son goes to prep school in Vermont and it's a two hour drive. I love it.

put on podcasts, all that. So yeah, I would just please definitely keep me in contact with Absolutely. Cool. So let's talk a little bit about your project. Yes. Yes. So as I've said before, I'm so I'm a single mom and I live with complex PTSD. And one day I was in a therapeutic group and I was really frustrated with my symptoms. And I was like, I wish I had a monster that I could just rip apart.

throw across the room and bang against the wall. And people in the group were like, yeah, you should have that. And I thought about it and I went home. And I'm not a seamstress, a sewer or anything, but I put together this monster and I named him PTSD Pete. And his arms and legs and head came up. I made them Velcro. And I used Pete quite a bit. And I thought, this would probably help a lot of other people.

And especially kids, because as they're growing and learning how to cope with big feelings, think Moody can be a great buddy for them. So I started in an accelerator program during COVID. We had just closed down and I started an accelerator program, Healthy for All. And it's in Massachusetts. Anybody who has a business idea, podcasts, that kind of thing.

It's an insanely excellent program. And I figured out all the things I needed to do and created Moody. And so I've tested Moody and families love them, therapists love them, teachers are having great response to them in their classrooms. And it's just been, it's been healing for me as well.

because I've really dived into what my healing journey is and they're a buddy for that for me. And it's something that I can focus on and continue to help others to better understand emotions. Yeah. I think that's so important when people find that thing that, you know, that can help people that drives their passion and they do it. It's like, you understand.

what you went through as a kid, what you go through as an adult with PTSD and what can I do to make a difference? What's something that hasn't been done before and you did it. Yes. Yeah. And I love it. Being an entrepreneur is difficult. It's a long journey and I find myself not being in control of things which can be triggering. I can't control the loan I'm waiting on. I can't control

the order time that I have to do because it's in China. A lot of things about being an entrepreneur are difficult. But again, Moody has been there for me to really focus on what can I do for others while I don't have control of what's happening in my world, right? So I created a YouTube channel that has Moody Talks and I picked an emotion a month.

And I go through what are the words that you use when you think about this emotion, and then go through coping skills that you can use with these different emotions. And so I built a YouTube full presence while I've been waiting and working and prototyping and all that kind of thing and testing. And yeah, it feels really good to be able to put that out there, the things that have worked for me and help others to understand their own emotions.

Because we were not taught to show our emotions. Not that I was not. And I feel like Gen X was, we weren't even listened to. We were told not to be an angry child, not to make people uncomfortable with our feelings. So we shoved them down and had to find other ways to cope with it. Yeah, very true. What do your kids think about Moody? They're good. They're 20 and 17 now.

They've used him every once in a while, but yeah, they're not into the whole helping mom. Not that they're bad children, but they're, no, that's your thing. That's your thing, you do it. But my oldest, when he was young, I wish he had a moody because he had a lot of emotional issues and he would go into huge, know, he'd be ripping things apart.

hitting people, kind of thing. But at the end of it, he'd go into a shame spiral. And after a while, that can be really hard on a child. It can turn toxic. So I wished that he had something like a moody that would have helped him to get out that pent up frustration without feeling like a bad boy with that grudge. Do they share your love of horror? My youngest? Nope. And I think I did that because I showed him

gremlins when I think he was like nine or ten and again I don't consider gremlins a horror movie but I guess it is but he refuses to watch horror at all he refuses it my older he's more interested in it but it's more along the lines can I get him to sit down and watch it's like a special moment if he's gonna do what are your hopes and dreams for Moody?

I have so many plans for Moody. I plan on other dolls. I'd love to create dolls that are based on diagnoses like ADHD and autism. And I want to be able to create books that talk about those diagnoses in a way that a younger child or an adolescent might be able to better understand why they got this diagnosis and that it doesn't mean that they're back.

Right? I would love to create like a calm app that has all of the coping skills that I've talked about in an app so that parents can give their phone to a child who's having a hard time. And they can find the coping skill that they need in that moment. And then finally, I want to make a monster so much. That is my ultimate dream is so that kids and

Parents, whoever wants to buy a Moody can choose the touch, the feel, the fabrics, what they look like. And that is my hope that I will have a make a monster in the future. That's cool. Awesome. Love that. Love that. The final question that we always ask our guests, and I have a gut feeling, I think I already know what you're going to say based on what you said earlier, but who is your favorite final person?

in a horror movie? I'd say Ash. I love Ash. Everything about the Evil Dead series just... I have a punko pop of him that my son bought me. mean, like, like everybody knows that Ash is my absolute favorite hero. See, I thought you were going to say Sally just based on Texas Chainsaw being your favorite flick. Yeah, absolutely. But I think that I think

The two different evil deads, the first and the second, they're so different, but it's him. It's who he is that I think is what drives to him. But sadly, he's a great second. Definitely an iconic character, Ash, and an iconic actor, Bruce Campbell. mean, he's become a legend in the world of horror. absolutely. He's amazing.

Jen, we so appreciate you opening up, sharing your story. We love Moody. We're going to hold you to coming to the con with us. So stay tuned. We'll be in touch. Yes. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me on. This was awesome. Absolutely. We're also excited that Jennifer actually lives pretty near us. So we're excited to get to spend time with her in the

As you just heard, we're going to hold Jennifer's feet to the fire and make sure she goes to a horror convention with us very soon. We also want to give a shout out to our friend, Andy Lyons, who introduced us to Jennifer. Andy was the co -founder of New England podcasters group, a group that we are members of, just very, very cool people. Andy has been so welcoming and supportive of this podcast before it even launched.

So Andy, thank you so much for introducing us to Jennifer. It's always wonderful to make a new friend. And we definitely feel like we have to with you and Jennifer.