Community Highlights: Meet Matt Emert of Happy Horror Time

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Emert.

Hi Matt, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up about an hour east of Los Angeles before going to college for advertising at Boston University. Halloween and horror movies were always an obsession of mine, but I never had the motivation to pursue a career in film, so it remained a hobby… that is, until a very close friend of mine (and fellow horror lover), Tim Murdock, mentioned doing a podcast. He already had a Facebook page called Happy Horror Time, so we decided to record ourselves talking about horror films every few months or so.

It wasn’t until my boyfriend (and now soon-to-be husband), Jacob Randall, told me he thought we had something special — and that if we were really serious about it, we could turn Happy Horror Time into a weekly destination for horror fans. So on Halloween 2020, with Jacob as our producer, we officially started releasing weekly episodes and pursuing interviews with horror stars and insiders.

Flash forward six years, and we’ve now released over 325 episodes (including 150 interviews), more than 130 bonus episodes for patrons, and we’ve expanded Happy Horror Time into a YouTube channel (with an additional producer, Paris Mantz) where we release additional content every week like news commentaries, ranking videos, and Deadly Debates.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest obstacle I’ve faced over the last six years is balancing the amount of time it takes to create all of our content each week with our full-time jobs. Happy Horror Time has truly become a second full-time job, but it’s one I’m happy to take on because I’m incredibly passionate about the subject matter and so proud of the work our team does.

I put a lot of time and research into preparing questions for every one of our interviews, but hearing our guests (and listeners/viewers) respond positively to that preparation makes it all worth it.

Another challenge is being patient when it comes to growth. You don’t build an audience overnight. It takes time, and you have to stay consistent with your release schedule. We’re still a relatively small operation, but we’re currently seeing the biggest growth we’ve ever had, so it’s a very exciting time for Happy Horror Time.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Happy Horror Time?
We’re a horror channel for horror fans, releasing weekly episodes that range from spoiler-filled reviews of new releases and interviews with horror stars and insiders, to news commentaries, ranking videos, Deadly Debates, and more. Horror brings us a lot of happiness, so we try to bring that same light-hearted energy to our audience with every episode.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Back in 2018, I wrote and directed my own horror short film called “Come In.” It’s an LGBTQ+ slasher film relating to the dangers of dating via apps, with obvious homages to the slasher films I grew up loving. My Happy Horror Time co-host, Tim Murdock, and I both starred in it, and we had an absolute blast making it.

You can watch it on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/happyhorrortime

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.happyhorrortime.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/happyhorrortime
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/happyhorrortime
• Twitter: https://x.com/happyhorrortime
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/happyhorrortime
• Other: https://tiktok.com/@happyhorrortime