*One pivital part of the horror culture is horror hosting. Many aspiring horror hosts attempt to launch their own show, but few succeed in capturing a big audience. Roxsy Tyler is one of the few horror hosts to gain any sort of following in the last couple of years. Roxsy Tyler (real name Carmela Hayslett) hosts an online show titled Carnival of Horrors. Roxsy is also an accomplished actress who will be featured in the highly anticpated upcoming film, Deer Crossing. She also is addicted to Coca Cola and hates reality television. So! Read my interview with Miss Tyler to learn about Carnival of Horrors, Roxsy herself, and more.
Q: First of all, can you tell readers about yourself?
R: My name is Roxsy Tyler and I am ‘boss lady’ at the Carnival of Horrors where we host classic, black and white horror films – some legendary, some forgotten, and some you might want to forget! I along with my carnies Johnnie 13, Mr. Potent, and Dr. Villhelm always manage to get into some sort of trouble while we’re hosting a movie as you’ll notice when you watch Carnival of Horrors. We not only host old horror films but we also visit haunted attractions, horror conventions; anything horror-related is where we’ll hop on board! I’m also an actress and I’m heavily addicted to Coca Cola.
Q: Roxsy Tyler’s Carnival of Horrors! I love horror hostesses! Did you ever audition for that reality show, The Search For The Next Elvira?
R: I had no idea that even happened until my co-host (Johnnie 13) told me about it. I really would have liked to have seen that despite my intense hatred for reality shows. I don’t think I would have auditioned. I like Elvira a lot, but I don’t want to be Elvira. I want to be me.
Q: I’ve read where the concept of Carnival of Horrors came from, but I was wondering how you came up with the character? I think Roxsy is very personable and I could see myself hanging out with her, or do I just “get” the humor?
R: I see Roxsy being comparable to that clown that taunts you at the carnival while he’s sitting above the dunk tank. That clown will say just about anything to reel you over to the game. If you lose the game, that clown will throw it in your face for as long as you can hear him as you walk away. If you win, the clown falls into the tank and you think the bragging rights are yours, but the clown still won because you paid to play the game. He won either way. That clown will climb back up the dunk tank and start taunting you all over again until you walk so far away you can’t hear him anymore. By the end of the night you’ll still think about that clown.
That’s Roxsy Tyler. She’s taunting, she’s funny, and she always wins. As you can see, I never forgot that clown… now I am that clown. Except I’m a lot easier on the eyes, I think. As for my look, it’s a combination of a lot of things I favorite, but in my mind I’ve always looked this way.
Q: How do you pick the films you screen on the show?
R: It’s very random when we pick the films. Of course there’s a lot we can’t show. We obviously can’t show you Halloween or Nightmare on Elm Street without proper permissions, but very rarely the films we end up picking are planned. The first three films we hosted were entirely planned out and then the rest were chosen at random. Sometimes I’ll sit in my living room and watch these old films just thinking of how we could host them. We like to tell our own story when we take you out of the film and bring you back to Carnival of Horrors.
Sometimes our story is something related to the film and sometimes it’s not. When I watched Attack of the Giant Leeches, I immediately had an entire idea of how to host it. We ended up hosting a blood drive for starving vampires in Somalia… sponsored by the Red Pentagram. That’s the episode we have on DVD now. That’s how films get chosen. When the film inspires me to write an entire episode based upon it.
Q: So you’re starting to release episodes of Carnival of Horrors on DVD now? Where can readers and fans pick those up?
R: You can pick up our first Carnival of Horrors DVD at https://mrpotent.com/store.php for only $5.99 (plus s/h). From what I’m being told it might be out on Amazon and in some selected stores soon as well. We’ll have some other DVD releases coming out next year too.
Q: Outside of horror hosting, you’re also an actress. You will appear in the upcoming, film Deer Crossing, which is getting a lot of buzz lately. Can you tell readers a little bit about your involvement 
with this anticipated film?
R: I’ve been sitting in the editing room with the director (Christian Jude Grillo) and I have to say I am extremely blown away by how this film looks so far! I play Olivia Brice who you get introduced to in the last act of the film. Olivia is a sexy, smart, special interrogator who is often underestimated by the men around her leading to her actions speaking louder than words. I have to interrogate Cole Chancelor who spent the last eight years being raised by his abductor who, while raising him, was torturing his mother as well.
My job is to use my rebellious appeal to get this teenage boy to talk about what happened to him. I got to co-star with Ernie Hudson in my scenes who plays the police captain. The film also has Doug Bradley (Hellraiser Series) as the corrupted Sheriff Lock. I can’t say much, but I will say that this film was made by a rebellious director… and it shows. This film is not safe, it’s not comfortable, and it surely isn’t a Hollywood Horror.
Q: You have other credits as well – Booley, Play Dead, The Sickness, Zombie Hunters. Do you ever channel a little bit of Roxsy Tyler for inspiration while on set?
R: For Play Dead, I wish I could have looked to the top hat for inspiration, but I was playing a cheerleader. This was back when I first started acting and wanted to get more experience. So, I chose roles completely opposite from my personality and, although I enjoyed the opportunity, I realize cheerleader isn’t in my range. I never want to play a cheerleader again. Play Dead was a cool concept, though, and I was happy to be a part of it.
In Booley, I had to play a tormented teenager. Not a big stretch. Years ago I was a tormented teenager, but still I had to keep my Carnival of Horrors persona out of it. I did a Thomas Berdinski film called the Giant Rubber Monster Movie where I basically played myself and narrated the story. Working on Zombie Hunters: City of the Dead was one of my favorite roles to play so far because I had to channel Roxsy Tyler for the part. I play Cassandra Marx, a looter turned zombie hunter and my character wears “war-paint” and a top hat. So, I basically am Roxsy Tyler, just by a different name. The director, Patrick Devaney, wanted me to dress the way I normally would. At first I didn’t think it would be believable, but at this point in the series the zombie outbreak has gotten worst and people have lost most of their rationality.
So, my look works for the part. I’m taking my strong qualities as Roxsy Tyler and kicking them up three notches. Like Roxsy Tyler, Cassandra Marx will be daring, rebellious, and in control. I told Patrick that I’m going to take Roxsy and turn her into almost like a video game villain. As an actress, they put me in a role I always wanted– the badass!
Q: Here’s a chance to just promote the Hell out of yourself! Can you tell readers about your upcoming projects, social networking sites, etc – anything you’d like to share that would keep people interested?
R: Most of my upcoming projects are up in the air right now, but you can count on there being a lot more episodes of Carnival of Horrors next year. More free web episodes and more DVDs! Please “like” my show, Roxsy Tyler’s Carnival of Horrors, on facebook and stop by the Deer Crossing page on facebook too! View free episodes of Roxsy Tyler’s Carnival of Horrors at https://vimeo.com/carnivalofhorror. You can see our past episodes streaming on livestream 24/7 at https://livesteam.com/carnivalofhorrors and if you want to stay updated on EVERYTHING that our company (Potent Media) does than please visit mrpotent.com often. Don’t be afraid to friend me on facebook either, at https://www.facebook.com/#!/TopHatTerror! I love to talk to everyone!
Q: Favorite horror film:
R: Theater of Blood starring Vincent Price. My friend Tom Detrik (star of Booley and supporting actor in Deer Crossing) introduced me to the film. I wish I could host Theater of Blood, but I don’t believe it is in the public domain. For those who haven’t seen it, it’s about an actor (Vincent Price) who supposedly died. Somehow he comes back and kills everyone who wronged him. He performs Shakespeare while taking vengeance on these people. It’s very interesting and very graphic. By Roxsy Tyler’s standards, it’s a masterpiece!
*Hopefully, readers of HorrorSociety and fans of Carnival of Horrors will get a chance to meet Roxsy in the future. She just finished up appearances at Monster-Mania in August. Let’s hope she does Chiller Theatre this October! Until then, follow all the links above and keep an eye out for new Carnival of Horrors episodes.
Thank you for your time, Roxsy.
