Exclusive interview: Sarah Nicklin on ‘V/H/S Halloween’

If you’ve watched an indie horror movie in the past decade and thought, “Hey, who’s that effortlessly sweet, secretly feral scream queen?”, chances are, you were watching Sarah Nicklin. Known for her roles in Exhumed, The Disco Exorcist, Escape the Dark, and now, the latest analog nightmare in the V/H/S franchise, V/H/S/ Halloween – which is out on Shudder from TODAY (3 October), Sarah’s built a reputation on seamlessly blending vulnerability with vintage final-girl steel.

We caught up with her just ahead of the film’s Shudder debut to talk about haunted house parenting, ghoulish lunch breaks, and what it’s like acting scared while fog machines roar behind you. Spoiler: she lives for this stuff.

In her segment, “Home Haunt,” she plays Nancy – aka the matriarch of a suburban family whose love of Halloween goes terrifyingly off the rails when their DIY haunt turns dangerously real. Think: cursed LPs, Americana monsters, and all the fog juice your lungs can handle.

But Sarah’s no stranger to navigating the strange and supernatural. Over 100 credits deep, she’s one of horror’s hardest-working – and most heartfully weird – actors. We talked V/H/S, underwater phobias, and how she and her husband accidentally became the local “Myers House” on Halloween.

Exclusive interview: Sarah Nicklin

Love Horror: Let’s talk Halloween, the holiday—not the franchise. What’s your ultimate Halloween night setup? Are you a haunted house explorer, a cozy horror marathoner, or a “turn off the lights and pretend I’m not home” type?

Sarah Nicklin: Oh, I’m absolutely a Halloween celebrator—it’s hands-down my favorite holiday! For us, spooky season kicks off in early to mid-September and stretches all the way into early November. Here in Los Angeles, haunted houses and mazes start opening as early as September 4th, and we always hit opening night. But it’s not just the mazes—we’re talking escape rooms, immersive theater, jaw-droppingly good “amateur” home haunts, horror film festivals, hayrides, pumpkin patches, and of course, plenty of parties. It’s basically two solid months of spooky overload!

At our house, we take decorating rather seriously. We’ve carved more than two-hundred foam jack-o-lanterns over the years (stored in the attic until showtime) that are used for our yard display and throughout the house. Add in two full-sized coffins, skeletons, crows, a giant paper-mâché monster we made ourselves, and a few fog machines – and yeah, it’s a full haunt vibe.

On Halloween night, we hand out candy while my husband roams the lawn in a Michael Myers costume, “stalking” the kids – playfully, of course. We’ve earned the nickname of the “Myers house”, and trick-or-treaters actually ask if he’s home when they come by. The kids love it – screaming, laughing, and running away every time he pops out from behind a tree.

The V/H/S franchise has been this evolving patchwork of analog nightmares – each one with its own distinct flavor. When you first got approached for V/H/S/ Halloween, what was your initial reaction, and were you already a fan of the franchise’s grimy mythos?

I was already a big fan of the V/H/S franchise – it’s such a unique series and has consistently been a launchpad for so many incredible voices in the genre. I was really excited at the idea of becoming part of that legacy.

What I love is that every instalment feels wildly creative – you never know exactly what you’re going to get. The ideas are bold, fresh, and unafraid to take risks in a way that most features don’t, which makes them so much fun to watch. It’s a rare platform where filmmakers can really unleash their wildest, weirdest visions.

So when R.H. and Micheline told me they were considering me for a role in their segment, I was both humbled and deeply flattered. They’re such talented filmmakers, and I’d wanted to collaborate with them for some time. The chance to join the V/H/S world with creators I knew were going to deliver something special felt surreal – and incredibly exciting.

As someone who has already achieved so much in film – seriously, over 100 credits, many in genre – you’ve danced with a lot of demons. What keeps you coming back to horror as a performer? What does it give you that other genres don’t?

When I first started acting, I never set out with the intention of focusing on horror. I actually grew up pretty sheltered and hadn’t been exposed to much of the genre—I was just eager to get experience wherever I could. My first break came when I was cast in a short horror film, which led to a referral to director Richard Griffin. He gave me the lead in his next feature, we clicked right away, and he kept casting me in more of his films. Most of them were horror and ended up getting international distribution, which gave me great exposure. From there, momentum just kept building. Because the horror community is so passionate and loyal, other filmmakers started reaching out, and it all snowballed naturally.

Working in horror also gave me a real appreciation for the genre and its fans. I was kind of an alternative/goth kid growing up, and on horror sets I felt like I’d finally found “my people.” On non-horror sets, I sometimes feel a little out of place – especially when others dismiss the genre or treat it as lowbrow – but horror fans have this unique humor and cultural shorthand that not everyone gets.

And honestly, horror sets are just the most fun. There’s a lightness and camaraderie behind the scenes, especially on the blood-and-SFX days – the gorier, the better. That mix of wild chaos on screen and genuine laughter off screen is part of what makes working in horror so special.

You play Nancy in the “Home Haunt” segment, which sounds like a cursed suburban fever dream. Without giving away spoilers, what kind of headspace did you have to get into for a character trapped between Halloween fun and full-blown terror?

When I was first told about the role, Micheline Pitt-Norman described Nancy as basically “the mom from Gremlins.” I loved that movie and that character, so it was the perfect touch point for me to understand what she was going for (one of those moments where being a horror fan really pays off, since you have that shorthand reference). From there, I tried to model Nancy with that energy in mind.

For the family aspect, I dug into a lot of research on real families who do home haunts together. I came across this incredible YouTube channel, Hollywood Haunter, where a family documents how they build all the props and sets for their haunt. They’re basically the real-life version of Nancy, Keith, and Zack in the film. Watching how they interacted gave me great insight, and I pulled a lot of that dynamic into how our family comes across on screen.

As for the haunt coming to life, well, I’ve been doing horror long enough that being terrified is basically just another Tuesday! I lean on breathing techniques I learned through my training at Emerson College and the Lee Strasberg Institute that help “shock” my body into reacting as if I’m actually scared. Once the central nervous system is engaged, it’s all about trusting your instincts and letting yourself experience it fresh in the moment so the fear reads as real.

The V/H/S films are all about found footage chaos, and Home Haunt plays with that analog nostalgia. Did filming in that style affect your performance – was there more improvisation, more tension, or just more fake blood?

Working in found-footage feels a lot like performing in a play, which is what my training and background is in, so I really enjoyed that aspect of it. Even though everything is rehearsed and blocked, the constantly moving, unpredictable camera means you always have to stay fully in character because you never know when it might catch you.

In traditional filming, you typically know when you’re on or off camera, so you can adjust your performance and conserve energy. But with found-footage, you’re “on” the entire time, reacting in the moment without focusing on camera placement. It creates a very immersive and continuous performance style which I really enjoyed.

Also, since found footage relies on minimal editing, often hiding cuts to maintain the illusion, we filmed certain scenes in multiple versions and lengths. Instead of trimming a scene down in post, we had to shoot each of the different options so Micheline and R.H. could later choose what best fit the film’s pacing without breaking the format.

There’s this Americana-meets-monster-mash energy in your segment – from ballerina ghosts to cursed LPs. Did any of the creature effects or set pieces actually freak you out on set, even a little? Or were you just vibing with the ghouls between takes?

Oh, I was totally vibing with the monsters! The actors playing them were all such genuinely nice people, and then on top of that, you just can’t take your eyes off the incredible makeup work. Honestly, I could have sat there staring at them all day.

One of my favorite moments was during lunch break – the executioner monster was still in full prosthetics and makeup, wearing his glasses so he could see, just casually eating and chatting with Hailey, who played the ballerina. The whole image was so odd, funny, and unexpectedly adorable.

With anthology horror, actors often only get a slice of the larger story. Did you connect with any of the other directors or cast members during production, or did the “tape” nature of the film keep things delightfully disconnected?

I didn’t really interact with the cast from the other segments during production. The way the franchise is structured, they focus on one segment at a time, so each one essentially becomes its own little movie that just happens to share resources with the others. They all get the same budget, the same number of shooting days, and even a lot of the same crew and production staff.

The only overlap I had was kind of funny—I had actually auditioned for and been offered a smaller role in another segment before I even realized it was part of V/H/S/ Halloween, since only the segment title had been listed on the breakdown. Around that same time, R.H. and Micheline had already told me they wanted me for Nancy in Home Haunt, which I was thrilled about and really hoping for. But because Home Haunt was the last segment scheduled to shoot, the official offer didn’t come through until later. So I ended up turning down the other role, even though there was no guarantee at the time that I’d actually land Nancy. I was basically crossing my fingers and trusting it would all work out.

And luckily it did – which I think really speaks to how generous R.H. and Micheline are, and how much trust Josh Goldbloom and the rest of the V/H/S producers put in their directors to shape their segments the way they envision.

If you could program your own segment in a future V/H/S film, what’s your twisted concept? Bonus points if it involves VHS tapes, Halloween, or malfunctioning tech with a taste for blood.

Oh man! What a great question!

I would love to do an underwater scuba diving segment. I’m a diver, and I’ve been dying to do a shark movie for ages. They did a skydiving segment in V/H/S/Beyond, so why not flip it and take things underwater? Personally, I get legitimately freaked out by underwater wrecks. Not much scares me in real life, but seeing sunken ships gives me full-body chills!

You can catch Sarah in V/H/S/ Halloween when it drops today on Shudder.

V/H/S Halloween trailer