By Meltdown | WRIF Detroit
If there’s one thing you should know about ZouZou Mansour from Soraia, it’s that she’s just as into horror and Halloween as she is into gritty rock 'n roll—and that’s saying something.
We veered hard into spooky territory during our recent conversation, and honestly, it was a blast. “Travis and Brianna (her Soraia bandmates) love graveyards,” she said. “Big vinyl people, big Halloween people. And yeah, I started a horror podcast because I’m a total literature nerd. I love short stories and horror fiction.”
ZouZou lit up when talking about horror movies, but there’s a twist: she can’t watch them alone. “I love horror… but I can’t watch it by myself,” she admitted. “If I watch an exorcism movie, I need someone to stay over. They just scare me.”
She recently dressed up for a screening of Nosferatu with bleeding-eye makeup—on Christmas Day, no less. “Nobody else was in the theater, just us,” she laughed. “It was perfect.”
We swapped takes on The Monkey, Terrifier, and even Death Proof. “Some of the kills were totally Ren & Stimpy-level crazy,” I said. She agreed, “Over-the-top and grotesque, but fun. That rubber leg kill? Straight outta Death Proof.”
And of course, we talked ghosts. I told her about a recent Haunted Michigan episode where something screamed during a live ghost hunt. “I’ll send it to you,” I told her. “It was wild—clear as day, but no one outside the room.”
She jumped on it. “Meltdown, send that to me! I got chills,” she said. “I’ve heard something like that before. A disembodied voice. I wasn’t even scared. I just thought, ‘Did I really just hear that?’”
We dug into methods like the Estes technique, spirit boxes, and flashlight tricks that make you go “…was that real?” ZouZou’s not afraid to go there. “There are unexplainable things that happen and we don’t know what they mean,” she said. “And I love that.”
Honestly, we could’ve talked for another two hours about haunted places, horror podcasts, and whether Terrifier is dumb or brilliant (maybe both).
In between ghost stories and giggles, she did mention Soraia’s upcoming tour—including West Coast dates, Europe, and a hopeful stop in Joshua Tree. Oh, and they’re recording a full album in Sweden later this year.
ZouZou’s the real deal—equal parts rock goddess and spooky soul. Keep an eye out for Soraia’s next single dropping May 16, and make sure you’ve got company if you plan on watching anything involving exorcisms.
