She’s the one, the only Audra Jacombs (formerly Butera before she got married), better known at Rue Morgue as Audie, The Auds, Aud-Ball, General Aud, but mostly Audzilla. And, sadly, she’s gone. After four years at Rue Morgue as office manager (and before that an intern), Audra has moved away to Hamilton, where she and husband, Dave, can hide their murderous secrets in a quaint suburban neighbourhood.

She’s still involved here as Rue Morgue party planner, but as far as day-to-day stuff goes, Audzilla has moved on to new stomping grounds. I speak for everyone here when I say that we miss her dearly. She’s a ball of energy, one of the hardest workers I know, endlessly entertaining, a connoisseur of crude, politically incorrect humour, the owner of a very sinister laugh, a friend to the end and generally a beautiful person inside and out (even when we argue her unpredictable, occasionally insane taste in movies). Audra may be small but she can carry a lot of weight. And she does, which is why she’ll always be successful, whether she’s running our Halloween parties or starting her own business.

And because not everyone has the pleasure of getting to know Audzilla well, here are seven questions with one of my favourite monsters.

What are the first three horror movies that come to mind that you’d recommend, and why?

From Beyond – I love it! Super gooey and entertaining; there’s something about the colours of the film make me watch it repeatedly! Monster Squad and the ‘burbs totally tie – still holds up from the ’80s. Loved it as a kid and I still love it now. Fido – I’m surprisingly NOT a zombie fan, but this one is truly one of my favourite movies. I love the ’50s style of it, and it was the first movie my new hubby and I saw that wasn’t one of our own!

How did you get involved with Rue Morgue in the first place? Is it true you arrived at the front door in a crate one day?

Yes. Although I still have zero recollection of life before RM, I do remember that bright and painful day they opened me up! Actually, I’ve always read RM, and one day while surfing around looking for something interesting to do, I stumbled upon Ms. Monica! We emailed back and forth for a bit and the next week I started out interning!

Every day people walk into the Rue Morgue offices and ask “What is this place?” What’s the weirdest thing that the House of Horror has been mistaken for?

God, insanely enough, someone actually thought we were a bar…must be the disco ball and all the cage dancers that gave that one away! The most awkward thing that was said ALL the time, though, was “Wow, the last time I was here was for my dad/mom’s funeral.” Luckily I love awkward situations!

Give us the run down of what it’s like for you at The Festival of Fear. How many volunteers are you managing? What kind of hours are you working? Key responsibilities? Little-known secret?

Festival of Fear is always my favourite time of year for work! It’s pure excitement and adrenaline all weekend. It is so amazing to see everyone having such a good time at the show. Generally, I manage about 20-30 volunteers, depending on what kind of exhibits we have going in the booth. Usually I know and have worked with about 99% of them so it’s always a lot of fun and everyone gets to be in a position they’ve requested.

Every year, I’m there open to close, plus parties. So for me, the day starts around 7am getting goodies for the volunteers and prepping the day, and ends around 3am when my brain finally shuts off after a night of running around and trouble shooting! Aside from coordinating everything except for our guests (!!!), I’d say my main goal of the weekend is to have it running so that no one knows all the chaos that is actually going on!

I think if I told any of the secrets I know, I’d end up on someone’s shit list! Ah, to know the goods I know!

What’s the most ridiculous guest request you’ve had to deal with?

Yikes, ridiculous guest request…hrm. From what I recall, everyone’s been pretty cool! I do remember a certain Basil Gogos showing up and there being ZERO tables for him. His only request was, insanely enough, that he could “please have a table since he was a guest”. I won’t say who we ripped off, but my and my boys ended up stealing someone’s table when they were late! I mean, seriously, love the Basil. I probably would have stolen our guest of honour’s table for him!

What are some of the things you’ll miss the most (and the least) about working at the Rue Morgue office?

I’ll have to say the biggest thing I’ll miss most about RM is the staff. I feel like it’s my family! It’s definitely one of the most silly and crazy work atmosphere’s I’ve ever been in! The one thing I won’t miss are the 23 phone calls (in a row!) from Jim Van Bebber asking to “hang up so he can leave a message!”

So, you’re making movies and working on a clothing line? What are you, some kind of a crazy robot? A Mecha-Audzilla? What does the future hold?

Wow, actually yes, I think I might be turning into some bloody mad robot. The films are coming along really well. I am fortunate enough have a husband is who mad talented and insanely driven and, possibly, equally as twisted as I – so we make a really great team! We have a lot in store for the newyear. The clothing line is coming along extremely well. Plague Doctor Apparel has RM‘s own James Fisher as our designer and the feedback has been really exciting! I’ve been working non-stop so we can get the name out there so I’m hoping to see some PDA around town!