{"id":16259,"date":"2025-10-22T21:23:28","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T21:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/16259\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T21:23:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T21:23:28","slug":"orlando-drag-royalty-feature-in-new-ghost-hunting-show-shook-queens-of-the-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/16259\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando drag royalty feature in new ghost-hunting show ‘SHOOK! Queens of the Dead’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The drag queens of \u2018SHOOK!\u2019 are going ghost-hunting Credit: Courtesy<\/p>\n

A new queer, locally grown television project is crossing drop-dead gorgeous drag performers with, well \u2026 the dead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SHOOK! Queens of the Dead plunges six Orlando and Central Florida drag queens wig-first into haunted locations around the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SHOOK! co-creator Brian Reddy, an Orlando native now based in Atlanta, tells Orlando Weekly that the show initially started out as a joke.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA friend of mine, Tobi, also known as Sue Cyde in Orlando, came up and was just visiting me for a weekend, and we were actually watching Conjuring Kesha. Like halfway through one of the episodes, I just turned to him and was like, \u2018Imagine this but with drag queens.\u2019 And he was like, \u2018Wait, that would actually be really fun.\u2019 We talked about it and that was it. Nothing really happened,\u201d Reddy says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fast-forward four years and the show\u2019s producers have at last wrapped the pilot episode.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This same pilot episode of SHOOK! drops at a premiere party in Atlanta on Friday, with an Orlando party following shortly, and the announcement of a haunted home on a streaming platform or network imminent.<\/p>\n

\"YouTube<\/p>\n

In the pilot, Orlando and Tampa queens Sue Cyde, Venus Envy, Draggedy Anne, Alexandria Hell, Dollya Black and Medusha go in search of the unknown at he very historic and, presumably, very haunted St. Augustine Lighthouse.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe walked to the top of the Lighthouse, and they filmed us standing at the top and I just remember thinking like, \u2018It\u2019s so freaking cool that six drag queens can just stand at the top of this 17th or 18th century lighthouse.\u2019 It really brought the whole experience to a head of light, that what we\u2019re doing is just so fucking cool,\u201d Medusha remembers.<\/p>\n

Armed with cutting-edge themed coastal looks, an endless supply of witty one-liners, over-the-top reactions and supernatural detection gear that would make a Ghostbuster jealous, our intrepid cast of sleuths are set to venture into sundry creepy campgrounds, asylums and churches. Thusly armed, they\u2019re up for the challenge of going toe-to-toe with ghosts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have always been told I have a special sixth sense and I\u2019m excited to put that to the test and see if it will translate into some supernatural ghost-hunting skills,\u201d says Sue Cyde.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really have ghost-hunting skills but I do have ridiculously good looks so I think the ghosts will all naturally like me, as do most people,\u201d admits fellow cast member and Orlando drag boundary-pusher Draggedy Anne. \u00a0<\/p>\n

SHOOK! goes beyond just ghost-hunting, diving fashionably deep into the historical roots of the mystery of the ghosts residing (or not) at this landmark.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Leading this fabulous and high-heeled version of Mystery Inc. at the Lighthouse is host Dollya Black, also currently lighting up screens large and small on the current season of Boulet Brothers\u2019 Dragula: Titans. \u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to host a show. I\u2019m not like one of those live people who love being in the club on the microphone but TV, for some reason, when the camera turns on, I just kind of light up a bit,\u201d admits Black.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Compared to other drag-centric television offerings, SHOOK!\u2019s cast and crew pride themselves on the show\u2019s lack of focus on reality-style sniping and conflicts between the queens, and instead the ghost-hunting adventures and investigations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously Drag Race and Dragula, shows like that, are amazing but a lot of them are about the drama and the tension between girls,\u201d says Reddy. \u201cWith this, we\u2019re cutting all of that out. This is a group of queer artists that are having fun, exploring and doing new things.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is still the familiar setup of the girls getting glammed up together, a staple in drag reality TV. Then, they\u2019re thrown into an abandoned and likely haunted setting. The sense of camaraderie between the ghost-hunters is evident and emphasized. And for some members of the cast, this was a breath of fresh air.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sort of funny to say, but part of me was still like, \u2018Oh, I wonder how my outfit and my wig and my makeup are going to stack up against everyone else.\u2019 I think it\u2019s nice to take that pressure off. The pieces of competition-based drag media that are out there can be very divisive. Sometimes it\u2019s nice to sit back, relax, watch something that\u2019s not too serious and have a good time,\u201d Medusha says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to ghost-hunting thrills, SHOOK!\u2019s storytelling seeks to connect with viewers on a level beyond just existing as another drag television show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a huge believer that a lot of people are simply just afraid of what they don\u2019t understand and things that challenge what their \u2018normal\u2019 looks like. I think that shows like this give people the opportunity to meet someone who\u2019s queer and see them through a lens that\u2019s not so much like, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m queer,\u2019 but it\u2019s the other things that we\u2019re talking about and doing that gives them something to connect with other than just our sexuality or gender,\u201d says Black.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As for ghosts and spirits on SHOOK!, the pilot episode more than delivers on things that go bump in the night. The queens face down the maybe-apparitions with playful flair, but there is an undercurrent of dread as the episode progresses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know about y\u2019all, but I can tell you that after this first episode I\u2019m pretty convinced,\u201d says Cyde forebodingly.<\/p>\n

Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n

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