Roz Hernandez on Living for the Dead, Spirituality and the Draw of the Supernatural for Queer People

Words: Gina Tonic

Living For The Dead is an amalgamation of two fan favourite reality TV genres thrown together to make one of the funniest bits of queer telly created in the past few years. Combining the rich history of ghost hunting television with the award winning formula of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, the Kristen Stewart produced Living For The Dead brings five experts from every part of the paranormal connections realm to different haunted venues up and down the United States to help expel poltergeists and win over the hearts of the locals. Heading up the pack is Roz Hernandez, the woman behind chart topping podcast Ghosted!

The comedian has hosted everyone from Jinkx Monsoon to Busy Phillips for deep dives into the spookiest of stories with a side serving of big laughs. Our senior editor Gina Tonic to talk spectres, the spectacle of reality TV and the universality of the supernatural.

While I was watching the show, I thought of it like a spooky take on Queer Eye and then I saw that Rob Eric was producing. Was utilising a similar format intentional? What made you go down this route for the show?

Yes, Scout Productions is the same production company that did the original Queer Eye and the reboot. And then now this. So they kind of applied the same formula to our show, especially when it came to searching for a team of five people. And from what I've been told they did the same casting process and had us all come together and meet and you know, there were multiple of us that got narrowed down to the five of us. And they put us all together. And luckily, we all got along, and we all have very different experience and skill sets. And I think it works. 

My whole thing with the paranormal is that it's called ‘the unknown’ for a reason. And that's why it's so fun. And there's really no one answer to what this phenomenon is. So I think it's really beneficial to have a bunch of different approaches and beliefs. We have Juju who practices African spirituality. And Ken does Tarot. Alex is a more technical side, Logan is more medium, channelling those energies in the building, or wherever we are. And then there's me, and my job is to confirm the facts that these people are coming up with, by doing research. I think it's cool to have a bunch of different different angles coming at it.

I think with paranormal stuff, people tend to have really set views on things, like, “Oh, I believe in this but not that” So it was interesting to have so many different points of view come together. And I wondered if you were kind of open minded to any kind of apparition before you joined the cast? Or if like being among the group changed your mind on it?

I would say, the most skeptical of the five. I'm kind of here for anything being possible, bit it's just that I want to rule out every logical explanation before I can say that something was a ghost, and even then I'm still like, “Or it's just something we don't understand, or we can't find a reason to believe that.” So I think no matter what, I'm always very skeptical. However, when we were shooting, I had multiple experiences, whether they were on camera or not that I was like, “Okay, that's a ghost.” Like, I hadn't really ever had experiences where I was like, 100% sure I'd ever seen a ghost. And there were two times when we were shooting that I looked over and saw a person that disappeared kind. And I'm like, “Of course the cameras didn't catch it.” Those ghosts were not union. They were not there for the cameras. They were just like, existing, and I felt very convinced of that.

If I was a ghoul, I’d be like “I'm just gonna wait till the cameras are off and then we're just gonna fuck with them.” Like, “Darling get out my house, please.” How was it working on a reality show, where anything can happen compared to something a bit more structured like the podcast?

I mean, I think it's similar to my podcasts because it's also neither are scripted. I like improvising and I come from the club world, like both doing stand-up comedy, and I'm a retired drag queen. So I'm pretty good on my toes, and I like being in the moment. I prefer to do things that are not scripted, but I never pictured myself doing a reality show to be honest with you. But you kind of like, get used to having cameras on, plus I was like, “There's no way I'm going into these dark ass buildings by myself.” And there is a camera person out there. So at least you have somebody with you when you're doing that. And those camera people, specially the ones that we worked with, they have done a lot of those shows in the past. And they are like, bulletproof. They're so used to this kind of stuff that they're like not even fazed. If it was me, I’d have thrown the damn camera and run out.

There’s also almost a Nathan for You quality to the show as well, you’re really funny. How did you cast all the different haunted places? Or did you not have a say in that?

It was very collaborative. We have a great production team. And it is interesting having a team where it's like the people that come from doing shows like Queer Eye and then we also had people on the production team that have done a lot of paranormal shows and have a lot more experience knowing the needs of a show like that. And then there's the five of us who have done a lot of paranormal investigating. So we kind of collaborated. Something like the clown motel was a suggestion from me. And we definitely tried to find places that needed help, because the angle of this show is trying to help the people that are dealing with these situations.

I wasn’t expecting it to be so emotional. But like within the first episode, you're all crying on each other's shoulders and stuff. It’s so sweet, and it shows how genuine all the connections are, and also like how passionate you are about helping people. 

I find that with queer people, especially when they’re a specific type of person, it's like I have a connection with them. Say trans comedians, if I'm in the same room as a trans comedian, it's like we know each other on such a deep level and we have such a deep connection because there's so few of us that know exactly what that's like. And I feel that way with queer paranormal nerds out there. I hadn't known a whole lot of them. So I think when we met each other the connection was so deep instantly. We definitely did a lot of bonding and there's some tears. 

But also it's interesting, because it's easy to be like, “Oh, ghosts aren't real, that's so silly.” But sometimes you meet these people where it's like they're either grieving someone that they've lost and or these ghosts are genuinely terrorizing them, and causing so much fear and making them lose sleep or lose work or whatever. And that's where it really starts to feel real. 

How did you first get involved interested in supernatural and paranormal stuff? Has it been a fascination since childhood was something that kind of ramped up later in life?

I was raised Catholic, which I think very easily can make people believe in things that are beyond what the world tells us. Tou start believing in miracles and demons and all kinds of stuff. And then my grandmother, I believe, stuck around after she passed. Again, I'm very skeptical, I'm even skeptical of myself. Looking back, I think for a lot of years, I was really convinced that she was there. And it's like, could that be because I wanted my grandma around? But either way, in weird ways, it brought me comfort. And so I just always thought that the idea of a ghost was possible. And I think with queerness – especially as I learned more about myself and started accepting that I am different, and that I see the world differently than the people around me – I was like, “Well, where else can we take that?” I think I've always just kind of looked at the world and been like, “Is this it? Like, there has to be more here.” I think that there's just so much more to life than what meets the eye. And that manifests in a lot of different ways. 

Why do you think queer people in particular are so drawn to the paranormal?

I think that when you start realising that there are possibilities against the norm or what you always thought to be real, you can just kind of keep that thought process going and I think from an early age, a lot of us are dreamers. And you just hold on to those beliefs from a young age. There's things that are not in front of me, but could happen if I believe so. I think that that has something to do with it. 

Do you always want to work in the realm of supernatural-related entertainment? Or do you think you'll ever move out of it?

Well, this is what's so funny to me. I am a comedian. I've been a comedian for I think 11 years or something. And I honestly, it was just something that I liked. I wanted to do a podcast and I didn't want to just talk about comedy or drag. I wanted to talk about something in particular that I would never get sick of talking about. And from doing the podcast every week, and always needing new content, I just like really got into the paranormal. And then because of that, now I'm on a TV show. I'm like, the paranormal gal, which I think is cool. I love this stuff. And I want to always do it. But ultimately, I was just kind of trying to make the paranormal funny and queer. In my stand up, I don't really talk about ghosts because you can listen to me for an hour every week talking about ghosts. Sometimes people are a little disappointed in the audience. I mean, I would like to always do the paranormal but it's not the only thing I like to do.

I feel really lucky that people like the way I do the paranormal and that it's gotten me the opportunities that has. But I’ve got a lot to say about a lot of things. And I think sometimes if someone's tuning into a ghost podcast, I don't want to just like go on a rant about my dating life or something. That would annoy me if I was a listener. So I'm like, I got to talk about that somewhere else.

One more question for you: what's your biggest fear?

People not following me on Instagram. No, my biggest fear has always been being in the public eye, which is very strange. And it's not a problem that most people have to work with. But since I spent so many years as a local entertainer in Los Angeles, and knowing so many people that are in the public eye, I've always been like, “Okay, that's not for me.” But I want to always be performing for people and entertaining people and bringing joy to people, so I have always been like “OK, it kind of seems like eventually, it's gonna get to a point where a lot of people have to know who I am.” And that has always brought me so much fear because I love my privacy, I love not being on 24/7 – just the pressures of not accidentally saying the wrong thing that people saying hi to you, when you're trying to eat dinner with your friends. All of that stuff, has always kind of freaked me out. So that's just been like a huge fear of mine. 

But when I started when it got close to getting this TV show, and I was like, “I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be on this TV show,” I started focusing my weekly therapy on that specific issue. And  it's very strange to talk to my therapist about, saying “I think I'm gonna be famous, help me deal with this.” And I don't know, I've just been taking it day by day and conquering it. I'm a big fan of overcoming fears. I'm a stand up comedian. I hunt ghosts, I'm nine years sober. I'm transgender. 

I've done a lot of things that are scary in life, and I just go for it, and not try my best to never lose sight of who I am. It makes you stronger when you conquer your fears.

Photography and Creative Direction: Savana Ogburn | Photographer’s assistant: Sadie Spezzano | Styling: Rebecca Diaz | Hair: Heather Weppler | Makeup: Ghost | Sasquatch: Ethan Roy | Lighting: Ethan Benavidez