St. John's podcaster hits black carpet with Halloween star Jamie Lee Curtis

For a Newfoundland horror-movie fan, hobnobbing with the stars of a new Halloween film was a "really surreal thing."

Mike Hickey, originally from Grand Falls-Windsor and now living in St. John's,hosted a live-stream broadcast of the Hollywood premiere ofHalloween on Oct. 17.

The slasher film is a direct sequel to the original 1978 film of the same nameand features the first film's star, Jamie Lee Curtis.

"Within60 seconds of saying, 'OK,we're live on the carpet,' I was talking to Jamie Lee Curtis," said Hickey.

Hickey described the famous actress as "super sweet" and said she was very kind to a child co-star at the premiere.

"You could see how genuine she was. It was really great," said Hickey.

Invited by Universal Pictures

Hickey was invited to cover the premiere of the film by its parent company, Universal Pictures, which flew him from St. John's to Los Angeles for the event.

Hickey was on Universal's radar through his work as a contributor to Crypt TV, a Hollywood-based digital network that develops, produces and distributes horror content via its website and social media.

Hickey's locally produced web series, Fright Hype, has been carried on Crypt TV for several years, and gets several hundred thousand views per episode.

On Fright Hype, Hickey talks about upcoming horror filmsand discusses older movies in the genre.

"It's just me on a green screen, talking about horror movies," said Hickey.

'One of many gigs'

This is the fourth time that Hickey has been asked via Crypt TV work to cover a Hollywood entertainment premiere.

Despite the high-profile nature of the work, Hickey said he's not getting rich from it.

"It's one of many gigs I'm taking on at any given time, but it's becoming a bigger part of that," said Hickey.

Hickey is still based in St. John's, working as a freelance filmmaker, and he has several projects in various stages of development.

However, he was still grinning ear to ear as he reflectedon the black carpet event.

"I haven'treally had a chance to come down from it yet."

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