Spooky Girls Coven Newspaper
This newsletter is a collab with the super cool and talented DaiSha’ Tran at ! I know DaiSha’ through her wife (and my coworker) Silver, and I’ve been following their spooky-themed posts for a while now. Both of them are genuinely the sweetest and always look like they’re having the best time living in their delightfully spooky world. So, in honor of Halloween this week, it only felt right to interview the resident horror-movie expert.
✦ Getting Into Spooky Stuff
How did you first get into the world of spooky culture?
Honestly, I feel like I was born spooky. I’ve always been drawn to the weird and whimsical. As a kid, I was that girl who loved Goosebumps, The Addams Family, and all things Tim Burton, and I was raised in a family where watching these on repeat was pretty much mandatory. It wasn’t about being scared, it was about the atmosphere, that mix of mystery, nostalgia, and beauty in the dark. As I got older and more comfortable with my own self-expression, that evolved into Spooky Girls Coven, which became my way of celebrating spooky culture 365 days a year but with a feminine, cozy twist.
Was there a specific movie that really drew you in?
I would say Disney Halloween movies were the gateway, but Scream cemented it. I still remember watching it for the first time, the mix of fear, humor, and aesthetic totally hooked me. It showed me horror could be stylish, self-aware, and iconic. Now, I see it as this comfort movie that reminds me why I fell in love with the genre in the first place.
✦ Horror as an Art Form
Do you think viewers can find creativity or artistry in horror?
Absolutely. Horror is one of the most creative genres out there. It takes real artistry to make people feel something primal. Good horror uses lighting, sound, pacing, and even silence as art. It’s also where filmmakers get to experiment visually and thematically; it’s boundary-pushing by nature.
What visual or design trends in horror are you noticing lately?
I love that horror right now has embraced aesthetic duality. Pastel horror like Substance, analog nostalgia like The Black Phone, and new horror trends that merge beauty with fear. People are craving horror that’s not just dark and gritty but visually interesting and sometimes even soft. Movies and shows like Pearl, Barbarian, The Love Witch, and Archive 81 lean into color theory, symmetry, and mood in such intentional ways. It’s almost become this art-house horror meets Tumblr nostalgia moment, and I love it.
How do you think these movies reflect the times we live in politically, culturally, and emotionally?
We’re in an age of anxiety, and horror reflects that. Today’s horror mirrors our collective fears around identity, control, and survival. Culturally, I think it also reflects how women, queer people, and people of color are reclaiming the genre, telling our own stories instead of just being victims or side characters. Horror is becoming a mirror for empowerment and catharsis.
✦ Expert Picks and Recommendations
Top 3 horror movies that came out this year:
Longlegs – Beautifully unnerving and visually haunting.
Opus – So well done and didn’t get nearly enough attention.
Weapons – Weird in the most perfect way possible, visually stunning and emotionally engaging from start to finish.
Top 3 classic horror films:
Scream – A forever favorite and cultural reset. It brought slasher films beyond just being gory and redundant, giving them new life in the modern age.
Halloween – There’s no conversation about horror without this movie.
The Craft – It gave us soft horror, spooky without relying on jump scares, and a plot that has truly stood the test of time.
Top 3 fun horror films for the girls and the gays:
Jennifer’s Body
Rocky Horror Picture Show – You can’t even have this category without it.
Bodies Bodies Bodies
Top 3 you always go back to, your all-time favorites:
Scream (obviously)
The Rite – While Scream is my very public favorite, The Rite is my very private one. It’s incredible. If you haven’t seen it, you need to. Anthony Hopkins is phenomenal, and it’s one of the most top-tier horror films I’ve ever watched.
The Conjuring
What’s a movie that still gets under your skin? What’s the scariest movie you’ve ever seen?
It’s actually an Asian film called Incantation. I’ve seen it twice, and I never want to see it again in the best way possible. It’s an amazing movie and truly terrifying. Asian horror pushes boundaries in a way that’s unmatched. U.S. horror films are incredible, but theirs dig into psychological fear so deeply that you’ll want to turn the TV off and turn every light on.
✦ Behind the Fear
I always struggle to sleep after a scary movie. What’s your trick for resetting?
I don’t think I’m much help here because I literally go to sleep to scary movies, but if I had any advice, it would be to remember that there are way scarier things out in the real world. A horror movie is just imagination, storytelling at its most extreme.
I usually share a recipe at the end of my newsletter. Do you have any fun spooky recipes to share?
Yes! I actually partnered with two mold making companies through my brand, and I have a really easy trick for a quick candy recipe.
All you need is about one cup of white chocolate and one cup of dark chocolate. Melt them down slowly over the stove. If the chocolate starts to get crumbly, add a tiny bit of water or let a little steam into the bowl to smooth it out again. Then grab your molds (I use Halloween ones, but any shape works), fill the outlines with a thin layer of melted chocolate, add about a teaspoon of chunky peanut butter in the center, and seal it up with more chocolate. Let them chill in the fridge for 15 to 20 minutes, and you’ve got your own homemade Reese’s-style treats. Spooky, simple, and so good.
✦ Where to Follow You
For anyone who wants to dive deeper into your world, where can people find you?
You can find me on
Instagram @spookygirlscoven
TikTok at @spookygirlscoventiktok
Substack at .
That’s where I share horror movie reviews, spooky lifestyle inspo, and seasonal finds. It’s where spooky meets girly, and community meets creativity.
BIG thank you to DaiSha’ for taking the time to share her thoughts on what makes horror such a powerful and expressive art form. I loved getting to learn about horror not just as something scary, but as something creative and connective- a space where people can express themselves, experiment, and find comfort in the weird and wonderful. It’s a great reminder that spooky season isn’t just about fear, but about confronting the dark, finding beauty in it, and connecting through community. <3
