Goth woman holding a Rue Morgue magazine with a spooky cover image. — Andrea Subissati, Editor of Rue Morgue and Podcaster for Faculty of Horror

The Bloody Judge for the 2026 Portland Horror Film Festival was Andrea Subissati, the Executive Editor of Rue Morgue. She is one of the most compelling voices within the horror community, and is a powerful advocate for women within the genre. Andrea was kind enough to set some time aside to talk some terror with us between feature film showings at the festival.

We at the Scariest Things take our work seriously, but let’s be real. Rue Morgue is the real shit. It is a top-shelf professional horror periodical, and Andrea is a charismatic pro guiding that ship. We dabble in the eddies of horror film criticism. Rue Morgue is the river of horror discussions and sets the standard for horror journalism. As Bloody Judge, she delivered the keynote address to the festival, interviewed George Mihalka on stage for his Q&A for My Bloody Valentine’s 45th anniversary.

Most importalntly, she also applied her horror wisdom to pick her favorite film in the festival. She selected Alect Patchin’s short film, “The Bargain”, a short film involving child abuse, revenge, religion, and a summoning.

Andrea Subisatti arrives on stage at the Portland Horror Film Festival to give the Keynote Address

I asked Heather Alexander, who is a huge Subissati fan, to write an essay about Andrea’s influence on her as a prologue to our interview:

Andrea Subissati is among the luminaries of horror.

As the executive editor of the Canadian horror magazine Rue Morgue, she not only has her finger on the pulse of all things horror but is also a profound feminist voice in the genre. I’ve been reading her editorials, celebrity interviews and articles since she began her Rue Morgue reign in 2017. Her voice and vision have made me laugh and cry. It’s given me perspective, made me feel seen, and inspired me creatively.

Andrea has a master’s degree in sociology and uses her big brain to analyze horror in relation to gender dynamics, culture, history, and the general state of the world. Her academics come into full focus in her intimidatingly brilliant and award-winning podcast, The Faculty of Horror, which she co-hosts with Alexandra West. It’s here that these two brainy horror queens have thoughtful, feminist, and incredibly researched discussions on horror movies and the impact they’ve had on the genre. I’m a lot late to the podcast party in general, so it’s only recently that I’ve been a listener, but believe me when I tell you The Faculty of Horror is highly captivating.