Despite the horrors that persist in the island of Puerto Rico, Horror as a genre there is niche, fervent though it may be. Like the burgeoning Heavy Metal scene on the island, Horror continues to slowly grow within local literature, short and feature-length films, and now a demonic presence that hosts a Horror show and even has a slew of short stories and films in the works. This demon resides in the United States, but was conjured and fed on the island and haunts it frequently.
Melanie Ramos (aka Melevill the Demonatrix) and her partner created Neo-Pulps! Publishing as a gateway into their obsessions with the weird and the macabre, producing short story anthologies (Neo-Pulps!), feature films (the upcoming Melevill’s Tales From Hades), and a YouTube series dedicated to classic B-Movies presented by the one and only Puerto Rican Horror hostess Melevill the Demonatrix (Melevill’s Hades Theater).
If this wasn’t enough, Melevill also has a strong social media presence where she rightly skewers the Puerto Rican politicians giving away the island to foreign investors hellbent on destroying beaches and natural habitats for profit.
As a disciple of horror hostess Vampira but also enamored with the tales of the Puerto Rican pirate Roberto Cofresí, Ramos has used the Melevill character to bring attention to such hot topic issues on the island like the controversial Esencia project in Cabo Rojo which brings with it pollution and destruction, all done with the flair of a true “Boricua” Horror hostess.
Born in the south of Puerto Rico with a love for Horror and Pulp stories, Ramos has tried her hand at almost every art form and imbued them with her visions of DIY “Boricua” Horror. Taking inspiration not only from classic Horror but also from Science Fiction, Crime and Spy series, as well as cult Puerto Rican Horror cinema and culture, Melevill has grown into a fully-fleshed character ready to take over the world (possibly literally).
The Beat sat down with Melanie Ramos to learn more about how she and her partner conjured Neo-Pulps! and Melevill, what sacrifices were made, and where they find the demonic energy to take on so many projects.
THE BEAT: As the first Puerto Rican born and bred Horror movie hostess, what does Melevill the Demonatrix bring to Horror that hosts of the past have not?
MELANIE RAMOS: I could say pure rage and a millennial “Boricua” POV, but that would be oversimplifying a hurricane. Like the paintings of Norman Rockwell, the popular Horror genre and Horror hosting are byproducts of American Culture.
That culture adopted us, and we’re closely tied to it, but we’re not really a part of it. That’s why you never saw a brown old man wearing a “pava” while selling “quenepas” under the hot sun in one of Rockwell’s paintings. Not even in the background. He never added any demons either. He probably should have. It would’ve made the paintings better.
Melevill is a shadow demon who pretends to be human, so the character and I share a unique outsider perspective that American Horror hosts don’t have. The first hosts were usually broadcasting personalities, models, or comedians who sometimes didn’t even like the Horror genre. They were what some conservatives would call ‘normal’.
They (and most of the modern ones, too) were not on the outside looking in, like us. We grew up loving American culture, only to find out later that (generally speaking) that culture wouldn’t accept us. Which makes us resent it, but without letting go of the nostalgic love we feel for it.
There’s something very Mary Shelley-esque about that. The doctor creates the monster, but when the monster seeks his acceptance, the doctor rejects him, making the monster lash out.
That kind of Luciferian duality of loving and hating something simultaneously is a big part of Melevill’s lore. She loves Horror and art but hates the world that created it. She wants to destroy humanity, but she can’t because she feeds from it.
In a way, that duality is a metaphor for how most “Boricuas” feel about the USA, and maybe even Puerto Rico. As a hostess, I bring that duality to Horror and fiction in general.
I can love Roger Corman for the indie genius that he was, but dislike him for showing real cockfighting scenes in two of his films. I can appreciate the film Last Woman on Earth for being shot cheaply in San Juan, but disapprove of the undertone of its plot, which shows every Puerto Rican on the island dying after an apocalypse while only three rich American tourists survive. To quote Melevill, “It’s like the plot was written by Cornelius P. Rhoads.” [Rhoads was an American pathologist working in Puerto Rico in the 1930s who admitted in a letter to injecting cancer cells into Puerto Rican patients due to his disdain for them.]
THE BEAT: Melevill the Demonatrix not only loves talking about Horror films, but also addresses and comments on the political and social turmoil of Puerto Rico. Why was it important for you that your character keep the finger (or fangs) on the pulse of Puerto Rico’s political struggles?
RAMOS: Talking against Puerto Rican corruption and the corporations that are exploiting the island is the best way for Melevill to show that some human beings are worse than demons.
For the most part, I had a happy childhood, and I come from a good family. I have a fantastic marriage, and I’m generally happy in my life. But Melevill is all about rage, and for me to channel that rage, I must think about the one thing that angers me the most. And right now, that thing is politicians.
Most people would say that our political struggles have always been bad, but I think they’re getting worse now. It’s like the worst school bullies are now in charge of running things.
Growing up as a closeted horror and occult fan and openly loving rock music and anime meant that I had to deal with a lot of bullies. But as bad as they were, none of them ever threw paper towels at me after a devastating hurricane or destroyed my favorite beaches to build hotels. With Melevill and my stories on Neo-Pulps! I can vent about all of that. And it’s very therapeutic.
THE BEAT: You and your partner produce films, publish a magazine, and also run a Youtube series through Neo-Pulps!. How do you balance and prioritize your work?
RAMOS: Well, the demonic powers of Melevill help a lot, haha.
As soon as I met my husband ten years ago, we started creating stories, making videos, and we never stopped. No matter what awful things were happening in real life, creating fiction was our escape.
Melevill was born in 2017, and so was the idea of having our own pulp fiction anthology. So Neo-Pulps! didn’t happen overnight. We already had a whole universe of stories before I published the first issue. So even when we’re lacking inspiration or the energy to create, we can just go back to that old box of manuscripts, notebooks, and USBs full of our short films and video sketches that are too amateurish to show anywhere, but have plenty of ideas that we can redo with better equipment.
Also, knowing when to take a break to rest, organize, and do other necessary work can do wonders for creativity.
THE BEAT: You are one of the few people to be talking about Puerto Rican Horror films in your show, Melevill’s Hades Theater. What do you love about Puerto Rican Horror and what do you wish to see more of in Puerto Rican genre cinema?
RAMOS: I love that when “Boricuas” make genre films, they can authentically show how we speak, the places we grew up in, and how most of us would react to horrific situations.
An example of this is in the 2004 film Vampiros, when one of the characters responds to his friend’s vampirism with a derogatory homophobic remark, calling it “duck stuff” (“paterías”).
I’ve never been able to understand why in Puerto Rico calling someone a duck is an insult. Where did that even come from? But that’s a subject for another time. The point is, I had never heard that kind of slur in a movie before.
It sounds terrible, it makes no sense at all, but it’s realistic. We all know people in Puerto Rico who would act exactly like that and who sadly used that slur all the time. It’s toxic, but it’s also real. “Boricua” filmmakers usually don’t sugarcoat our culture. They show you both the good and the bad while also featuring real Puerto Rican talent. You won’t find Al Pacino putting on an accent or George Chakiris doing ‘brown face’ in our films.
I would like to see more support for the genre, because right now, Puerto Rican Horror movies are so rare and hard to find that they almost feel mythical. I love that sort of underground cult aspect of it, but it also saddens me because that lack of support and resources can discourage future creators from even trying to make new films. And “Boricua” filmmakers have so many stories to tell through the Horror genre. Ones that you won’t really find anywhere else.
THE BEAT: What’s next for Neo Pulps! and Melevill? Are you looking to expand the brand and character?
RAMOS: Yes, we’re planning to take the Melevill character beyond the Horror film hosting genre. She will host our own original fiction and show her own story through movies and books.
We’re also going to improve the quality of our low-fi style by adding more visual and practical effects, raising production values, and working with more actors.
Some believe that Horror-hosted shows are a dying art form. And I don’t understand why, because the 2020s is the decade of digital loneliness. And the Horror Host can act as a sort of small cure for that type of loneliness.
Instead of talking to a robot, you could turn on the TV and find a creepy character telling you, “Hello, how was your day? Oh, really that bad. Well, forget all about that and come watch this movie with me.”
And even if you don’t like the movie, you will watch it because the host is there with you. I find that very beautiful and ironic, that the horror genre popularized something like that.
Our next big goal is to do more physical media. We are a Pulp Fiction brand, and Neo-Pulps! is meant to be read on paper and seen on VHS, DVDs, and even Blu-rays. We won’t retire or give up until we see Melevill’s Tales From Hades on VHS, and maybe even on the big screen. But only if it’s on a Drive-in or Grindhouse, haha.
You can find Melevill and all other Neo-Pulps! content here:
YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/@Neo-Pulps
Website : https://neo-pulps.com/
