Inside the Mind of Horror Writer Mylo Carbia

Born and raised in New Jersey, Mylo Carbia spent her childhood years writing to escape the horrors of growing up in a haunted house. As the daughter of the "Prince of Mambo" Eddie Carbia and goddaughter of actor Raul Julia, Mylo was surrounded by the entertainment industry at an early age. By the age of 17, she was already well established in the local theater circuit as a prolific young playwright. While in college, Mylo wrote, produced and directed The Dolly Parton Conspiracy, winner of the Troubadour Theatrical Society's Best Play Award in 1992. Her very first screenplay was optioned only 28 days after completion, earning Mylo a "three picture deal" with Global Screen Partners and the cover of Hollywood Scriptwriter in October 2003. Since that time, Mylo has been quietly working on several television and film projects under her production company Zohar Films, and has recently announced several major feature film projects due for release next year.

Interview with Mylo Carbia

You seemed to answer my first question on what inspired you to become a writer, but can you elaborate on your story? A haunted house? How haunted was it?

Mylo Carbia: It was very haunted. Many people claim to live in haunted houses when in truth, they are simply living with human spirits that occasionally show up and do no harm. My childhood home however, was infested with both human and non-human entities including three “pilgrim” men who verbally tormented me as a child. My first memory around the age of three was sitting on my mother’s lap during a Christmas party and witnessing a 7 foot swirling, shadow man walk down the hallway. I knew right then I could hear and see things others could not.

What do you think caused this?

Mylo Carbia: My parents moved from New York City to Jackson, New Jersey literally days after I was born. The house was brand new and situated next to a cornfield that had been there for decades. I am convinced it was the land, not the house that was bad. The pilgrim men showed me how they would burn witches there. So there has to be some sort of dark history to that area.

Did you have any other encounters past childhood?

Mylo Carbia: Sadly, yes. In fact my very worst experience was while I was attending a Baptist college in Macon, Georgia. I made the huge mistake of joining a Christian rap group, writing and performing songs that taunted the Devil and caused a lot of problems. The night before going in to record our demo single, two demonic entities came to visit me in my apartment and tortured me until the next morning. Let me tell you, it was the single worst night of my life. I had to leave school for 2 weeks to recover mentally and physically. After that, all of my encounters with the paranormal have been a piece of cake.

Will you ever write a book or movie about that experience?

Mylo Carbia: I seriously doubt it. I wouldn’t want them to show up ever again. The silver lining though is that I became quite fearless after that showdown. Once you experience true terror, fearing mundane things in life are a waste of time.

Changing gears here. You grew up in a family of celebrities. How much of an impact do you think having this sort of influence motivated your desire of getting into entertainment? Did you ever think you'd do anything else?

I guess one could say that being in show business was in my blood, and I actually did everything I could to not live the life of a struggling artist. Despite having success as a young playwright, I went to law school to “get a real job that pays.” But as much as I would fight it, I continued to stay involved with the arts even while having an office job. Then eventually my career took off as an executive in the technology world and I realized how miserable I was being chained to a desk for 14 hours a day. That’s when I made the decision to be a screenwriter full-time.

Throughout your career, you've been a part of many projects as a director, producer, and screenwriter, in fact you just landed another project where you will be behind the scenes as co-producer for the Night of Thrills feature film. Can you tell us about more this project?

Mylo Carbia: Sure, Night of Thrills is a classic horror movie about a group of young amusement park workers preparing for Halloween festivities when suddenly each one starts showing up dead. I just love the horror genre. If you take a look at other classics like Friday the 13th, Halloween and The Shining – all of those films stand the test of time. Not every genre can say that.

Lets talk about your book. You're currently in the process of releasing the first book of a series of books. Tell us about the series and what is the title of your new book?

Mylo Carbia: Yes, the book I am writing now is called The Raping of Ava DeSantis and tells the story of a working class woman who is raped in college by three fraternity boys, then hunts each one down years later to kill them. It’s very sharp, with lots of twists and turns and a surprise ending. The other four in my series all feature tough as nails female protagonists who battle the unknown. All five novels are already outlined, I just need to stop tweeting and finish them.

Can you tell us if some of the passages in your new book are non-fiction?

Mylo Carbia: My first novel is one hundred percent fiction but definitely inspired by my experience of being a Jersey Girl while attending college in Macon, Georgia on a full scholarship. I absolutely felt like a fish out of water and did not fit in with the wealthy, southern boys who attended this small University. I had one student call me a prostitute to my face for wearing tight pants with heels. Another commented on my jet-black hair and red lipstick as being “Satan’s favorite combination.” Needless to say, this book is my way of putting all of those assholes in one place and burning them. No amount of therapy can replace the joy of revenge writing.

Did you ever become curious and do research on your old house and did you find out anything interesting?

Mylo Carbia: My parents and I finally moved out of the house in 1984 after living there for thirteen years. I recently went to see what it looks like on Google Earth, and could not find it. I think someone demolished the houses there and built one house on the land. Very curious to see how things are going.

Just by scanning your Facebook page, I see that you have a fascination with haunted houses in general as you often talk about other haunted houses and other paranormal activities. Have you ever worked on any ghost hunter/adventures TV programs?

Mylo Carbia: I have not worked on any ghost hunter TV shows but honestly, would love to one day. I am very connected with the community and often give advice to families living in haunted houses since I have experience with both human and non-human entities. There are not too many female ghost hunters on TV with a big mouth like me, so who knows. There might be a show idea there.

So, when is your book being released and how can we find a copy of your work?

Mylo Carbia: No release date on the book yet, but I will definitely be sure to let you know just as soon as I have one. ;-)

Find more of Mylo Carbia
http://zoharfilms.com/about/
https://twitter.com/MyloCarbia
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fans-of-Mylo-Carbia/783660725032057 http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2229172/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm