Orlando drag royalty feature in new ghost-hunting show 'SHOOK! Queens of the Dead'

The drag queens of ‘SHOOK!’ are going ghost-hunting Credit: Courtesy

A new queer, locally grown television project is crossing drop-dead gorgeous drag performers with, well … the dead.

SHOOK! Queens of the Dead plunges six Orlando and Central Florida drag queens wig-first into haunted locations around the world.

SHOOK! co-creator Brian Reddy, an Orlando native now based in Atlanta, tells Orlando Weekly that the show initially started out as a joke.

“A 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, ‘Imagine this but with drag queens.’ And he was like, ‘Wait, that would actually be really fun.’ We talked about it and that was it. Nothing really happened,” Reddy says.

Fast-forward four years and the show’s producers have at last wrapped the pilot episode.

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.

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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.

“We walked to the top of the Lighthouse, and they filmed us standing at the top and I just remember thinking like, ‘It’s so freaking cool that six drag queens can just stand at the top of this 17th or 18th century lighthouse.’ It really brought the whole experience to a head of light, that what we’re doing is just so fucking cool,” Medusha remembers.

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’re up for the challenge of going toe-to-toe with ghosts.

“I have always been told I have a special sixth sense and I’m excited to put that to the test and see if it will translate into some supernatural ghost-hunting skills,” says Sue Cyde.

“I don’t 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,” admits fellow cast member and Orlando drag boundary-pusher Draggedy Anne.

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.

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’ Dragula: Titans. “I’ve always wanted to host a show. I’m 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,” admits Black.

Compared to other drag-centric television offerings, SHOOK!’s cast and crew pride themselves on the show’s lack of focus on reality-style sniping and conflicts between the queens, and instead the ghost-hunting adventures and investigations.

“Obviously Drag Race and Dragula, shows like that, are amazing but a lot of them are about the drama and the tension between girls,” says Reddy. “With this, we’re cutting all of that out. This is a group of queer artists that are having fun, exploring and doing new things.”

There is still the familiar setup of the girls getting glammed up together, a staple in drag reality TV. Then, they’re 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.

“It’s sort of funny to say, but part of me was still like, ‘Oh, I wonder how my outfit and my wig and my makeup are going to stack up against everyone else.’ I think it’s nice to take that pressure off. The pieces of competition-based drag media that are out there can be very divisive. Sometimes it’s nice to sit back, relax, watch something that’s not too serious and have a good time,” Medusha says.

In addition to ghost-hunting thrills, SHOOK!’s storytelling seeks to connect with viewers on a level beyond just existing as another drag television show.

“I am a huge believer that a lot of people are simply just afraid of what they don’t understand and things that challenge what their ‘normal’ looks like. I think that shows like this give people the opportunity to meet someone who’s queer and see them through a lens that’s not so much like, ‘Hey, I’m queer,’ but it’s the other things that we’re talking about and doing that gives them something to connect with other than just our sexuality or gender,” says Black.

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.

“I don’t know about y’all, but I can tell you that after this first episode I’m pretty convinced,” says Cyde forebodingly.

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Orlando drag royalty feature in new ghost-hunting show ‘SHOOK! Queens of the Dead’

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