Sarah Nicklin has forged a path for herself as an indie horror scream queen. Her recent roles include the chilling The Black Mass, loosely based on Ted Bundy, and Popeye the Slayer Man. Nicklin also appears in V/H/S Halloween. She stars in the final segment, "Home Haunt," directed by Micheline Pitt-Norman and R.H. Norman. In the segment, Nicklin plays Nancy. Her family accidentally opens a portal to hell via a cursed LP, and well, their home haunt murders people. Nicklin will also return as a presenter at the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, which will air on Shudder on October 19.
We recently spoke with Nicklin about her V/H/S segment and the Chainsaw Awards. This interview was edited slightly for clarity.
How did you become involved with V/H/S Halloween?
Sarah Nicklin: The directors of my segment are Micheline Pitt-Norman and R.H. Norman. I’ve been friends and fans of theirs for a long time. They did a short film a couple of years ago called Grummy that’s absolutely incredible. Besides loving them as people, I wanted to work with them.
They were selected as some of the directors for a segment. They said that they had in their script a role for a mom that I could potentially be a fit for. I was super excited. I also tried to hedge my bets a little. Just because they say they want you for something doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. The producers might want something specific or someone else. Things happen.
In this case, when they said they wanted me, it actually came through and worked out really well. I think that says everything about who they are as people. They’re very loyal and generous people. It also says a lot about the producing team of V/H/S. They trust the directors.
I did also audition for a different segment before I even realized it was V/H/S Halloween. On the audition notice, it just said the name of the segment. I did book a smaller role in a different segment. They treat each segment as their own movie. When I found out I had booked that first one, a couple weeks before “Home Haunt,” which was the last one to be filmed, I had to turn that one down before I had gotten the official offer for Nancy, which was really scary. As an actor, you never really want to turn down work. Luckly, it all came through the way it was meant to. I got to work in the role and segment I really wanted.
You have an impressive list of horror movie credits. Other than the anthology format, what makes V/H/S Halloween different than your previous projects?
Sarah Nicklin: V/H/S is different because it has a big following. There are fans who really love these series of films, which I’ve learned since becoming part of it and going to conventions. There’s a good amount of pride and also pressure that comes with that to ensure you’re doing a good job, not that I didn’t want to do a good job on previous projects. It’s one of those things where you know there will be eyes on it. Other films I’ve done were very indie. They don’t have a name like Shudder behind them. You hope they’ll get picked up and be seen, whereas this one is coming out on Shudder no matter what. There was definitely some pressure that went into that.
I also think doing the found footage format is more unique, as opposed to other films, like Popeye, that are more standard. With found footage, even though you know where the camera is going, you have to be on all the time. The camera moves around so quickly and it can catch you when it’s not really meant to. It’s almost more like you’re doing a play and you forget about the camera. If the camera gets you, great. If not, you keep going. With other films, like Black Mass and Popeye, if you know you’re not on camera, you can dial it down a little bit. With this one, there wasn’t really an option to do that.
Your segment is about a family's haunted house that comes to life and kills. What was it like walking through those haunted house rooms on set?
Sarah Nicklin: It was a dream, honestly. I’m a big fan of fantasy films. This felt like being in Labyrinth orThe Dark Crystal. I also felt like this really captured the essence of Halloween, but also that fantastical quality. There was a moment when I looked around and thought it was so cool and that it’s everything I ever wanted when I was little. It’s an incredible, magical set. I got to do a cool horror movie with people I really respect. That’s the dream. I loved every second of being there and working with the cast and crew. It felt so nostalgic, especially growing up in the 80s. It was a really special project for me in a lot of ways, especially to interact with those production designs.
I love the scene where your character takes an axe and then kills an executioner in one of the haunt rooms. What was it like filming that? Was it as fun as it looks?
Sarah Nicklin: It was very fun to do. I really like doing physical stuff, and any chance to fight monsters. is always great. All of that stuff was also very difficult, too. It’s very specific with found footage. With that sequence, they built a specific rig with the camera. It could be kicked on the ground and twisted to ensure it captured everything. All of our movements were very technical to ensure we were where we needed to be so the camera could catch it. There was also the strobing of the lights and carrying an axe, trying to make it look heavy. It was a foam axe. There was a lot of choreography that went into it.
How much say did you have over your costume design, and did you push to have the puffy 80s hairdo?
Sarah Nicklin: The look of everything was really Micheline’s vision. She has a wonderful eye for aesthetics and for detail. With the hair, she said she wanted me to have an 80s perm. She found a wig she wanted me to wear. That was all her.
We did do a series of costume fittings. A lot of the costume options for me were actually from Micheline’s personal collection. She really wanted it to be period accurate. She has a lot of her own vintage clothing from that time. We did go through a couple of different outfits. I did get to have a little bit of say in terms of what I was wearing. The sweater that I’m wearing with the hair feels very 80s mom. They went ahead with the pants that were the most 80s. [Laughs]. You had to go with the 80s mom jeans and the waist all the way up.
What's one of your favorite memories regarding Halloween or a haunted house?
Sarah Nicklin: I lived at the end of a cul-de-sac. We were able to go trick ‘r treating and pretty much take over the street. I have a lot of fond memories of my mom hand sewing all of our costumes every year. No one on our street really had any sort of home haunt or big, scary decorations.
One year, there was a haunted house that set up in the parking lot of the mall. That was my first time being in a haunted house. It was so terrifying. [Laughs]. I went through the entire thing holding onto my mom’s back and hiding my head. I remember one room where there two witches behind bars. I cried. It was so scary. [Laughs].
There was another nearby area, a gated community. We had friends that lived there. They aways had the full-sized candy bars, so you always wanted to be invited to go trick ‘r treating in that area. [Laughs].
You're also going to present at the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards again. What was your experience like the first time?
Sarah Nicklin: First of all, I was thrilled to be there. It’s Fangoria. It’s the Chainsaw Awards. It’s the Oscars of horror. It was incredible. That was a last-minute thing. I’m friends with the director that did it that year and is doing it this year. They sometimes have different directors for different years. Their presenter who was going to do the section I did got COVID. I live not too far away from the studio where they were filming. He asked if I was available to come and present. I said, yes, of course.
Are you able to speak about the award you’re presenting, and what are you most looking forward to regarding this year’s awards ceremony?
Sarah Nicklin: I will say that even though Popeye the Slayer Man was nominated for an award, I’m not presenting the award, so there’s no conflict there. The award I’m presenting is more based on reality, as opposed to fiction.
What I’m most looking forward to is that GWAR is part of it. I’m very excited to see what they bring. The set design is also really cool. They really stepped it up this year. The theme is space. It looks really good and really cool. I’m excited to see the aesthetic of the whole thing. It’s going to be a really fun show.
What’s next for you, and what keeps you coming back to the horror genre?
Sarah Nicklin: I really love horror because it’s such a great community of people. When I first wanted to be an actor, I didn’t set out specifically to work in horror. That just kind of happened. Horror is so loyal, and there’s such a community around it. That kind of snowballed, and now, I’ve been working in horror for a long time.
I go to other sets, and I feel out of place. I’ve been to sets where people look down on horror. They say it’s gross. I think that’s the most fun part, getting to do all the gore. Horror sets are the most fun. With horror sets, because such gruesome stuff happens in front of the camera, the sets are very lively. The people love the genre and put their hearts into it. I like to work in that kind of environment.
As far as what’s next, I have a couple of features that are in post-production. One of them is called If It Bleeds, another horror anthology. That’ll do festivals next year. A couple of others are romantic comedies, oddly enough. I have some other projects that I want to do and stories I want to tell. I think I’m finally ready to take that step into creating my own projects and transitioning into that.
I feel like that’s so often a question about directing. I don’t want to direct, but I do want to produce and get stories off the ground. That’ll be a very new and challenging endeavor.
V/H/S Halloween premieres on Shudder on October 3. The Fangoria Chainsaw Awards will stream on Shudder on October 19.