Roz Drezfalez

Roz Drezfalez is a drag comedian and the host of Ghosted! Follow her on Twitter here. Follow her on Instagram here.

What’s your relationship with ghosts?
I grew up Catholic which I find is a great training ground for paranormal enthusiasts. I mean Holy Spirit, exorcisms, Jesus rising from the dead, drinking his blood HELLO. I grew up in my grandparents’ old house that we moved into shortly after my grandmother died and I believe that I encountered her spirit many times, including seeing her apparition once as a preteen. So basically I have always believed in this phenomena, I think ghosts like me (and I often go looking for them), and at any chance I get I demand from people “TELL ME A GHOST STORY!!”

I love your EVP segment. Can you explain it? Is EVP bullshit?
EVP stands for Electronic Voice Phenomena. It is when ghost hunters believe that they have captured an audio recording of a ghost talking. I discovered that on youtube thousands of people post this “evidence” and I’m obsessed. So I play those recordings for my guests and make them guess from multiple choice options what the youtuber believes it says. Is it bullshit? Sometimes, I’m sure. People want to believe that they have proof of the afterlife and honestly I find that beautiful. It gives them hope. But I personally believe they can be real. And sometimes downright terrifying!

Why are you the perfect host for this show?
Well, my name is in the title so it makes sense! I created this podcast because I was obsessed with the tv show “Celebrity Ghost Stories”. I love hearing creative people and people that I admire telling these stories and sharing their beliefs. I love podcasting and I have formal training as an interviewer so I wanted to think of a topic to interview interesting people about every week that I wouldn’t ever get bored of, and after 3 years of this I love it more and more every day! I also consume a lot of paranormal content and I was baffled that there isn’t more comedic approaches to it. I’m a comedian first and foremost and I love to take things that aren’t overtly funny and find the humor in it. I also find that oftentimes paranormal shows are hosted by people with agendas and/or they have very strong beliefs on these topics. I sort of have a few ideas of what I believe in here and there but this shit is called “the unknown” for a reason. None of us know and I think it is important for people to keep open minds about it, which is something I always strive for. I want to have a platform for people to share their experiences and thoughts, I’m not here to earnestly say “that’s a demon!” or “here’s what you need to do..” So much of me creating this show is also about representation. I identify as queer, a person of color, and on the transgender spectrum and so do many of my guests as well. Sadly if you look at the paranormal entertainment genre over the years you don’t see much diversity and my podcast shows that we all have these experiences. I’m sure there are more reasons why I am the perfect host for the show but I’ll stop there because I already got the job.

If people haven’t listened to your show, where should they start?
I think that the beginning is a good place to start as you will see how my approach to these conversations has evolved. All 120+ episodes are still currently posted for free wherever you get podcasts and one thing I really love about these conversations is that they don’t have shelf lives! My first intro episode tells the story of me owning a haunted Ouija board that I purchased from a thrift store so that gives you a bit more of my experience. But another fun thing to do is to just scroll through the feed, I’m sure you’ll recognize at least one famous name on there!

Who is your dream guest?
Well I had her, Cassandra Peterson aka Elvira Mistress of the Dark! She is my number one idol and she has such an amazing ghost story to share! But I definitely have a long list of people that I would love to talk to. It’s seems that every pop star has at least one story and I would love to talk to them all. Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, and Kesha are a few that have a lot to say on this topic! I mean, RuPaul would be phenomenal. Dolly Parton. I plan to do this show for the rest of my life and I want em all! 

Thanks, Roz!