Saskia Nislow
DRAG
FILTH
HORROR
GLAMOUR
It’s Dragula time, ghouls!
Well, almost. Dragula: Titans, the all-stars edition of the best drag reality competition show on television, returns October 25th. Until then, veteran fans have time to catch up on their favorite moments from past seasons, while newcomers have the enviable opportunity to experience it all for the first time.
Horror Obsessive (via yours truly) will be doing episode-by-episode coverage of the new season this year. Before that happens, let’s take a quick look back at some series highlights, check in with our returning ghouls, and speculate about what this new season has in store for us.
First up, an overview of the series for all you Dragula newcomers. (Veteran Dragula fans should feel free to skip to the next section.)
Welcome to Dragula, Uglies
The Format
While Dragula involves a group of drag performers competing for a cash prize, don’t expect that it’ll follow the same structure as another drag competition show that I won’t name here. Instead of runway walks and lipsynching, each Dragula episode contains more or less the following beats:
- The Boulet Brothers open with a little sketch to introduce the episode. If you’re used to slick, heavily-produced reality TV and/or hate fun, you might not like these campy little numbers, but they’re great, so get into it.
- The contestants are introduced to their weekly challenge and given time to prepare. These challenges are usually look-based and nearly all contestants make their looks themselves. This is one of my favorite aspects of the show, as it sets it apart from certain other drag competitions where contestants with the most money to pay designers and stylists have a better shot at the crown. In Dragula, it’s creativity, risk-taking, and raw talent that rise to the top.
- The Floor Show: Contestants walk the Dragula stage to show off that week’s challenge looks. Floor shows are more performance art than runway walks, with the contestants fully committing to the characters they’ve created. You can expect to see themes like “Nosferatu Beach Party” and “Zombies in Death Valley.”
- Judgment: The Boulets and their guest judges deliberate and give feedback to the contestants based on how well their performances met the challenge, as well as how well they embody the Dragula tenets of Filth, Horror, and Glamour.
- EXTERMINATION: The contestants with the lowest scores are subjected to Fear Factor-esque challenges designed to test daring, nerve, pain tolerance, and digestive integrity. In order to move on to the next episode, they must face their fears and survive whatever horrors await them. You might be asking, “What does eating pig brains or getting pierced with needles from shoulder to elbow have to do with drag?” And to that, I say, “Don’t talk to me. I don’t know you.”
- After the Extermination, there’s another little skit (learn it, love it) that shows how the Boulet Brothers kill the contestant who doesn’t make it to the next episode. A delight!
The Judges
The Boulet Brothers, Dracmorda and Swanthula (though many refer to them simply as Big and Little Boulet), are legendary nightlife hosts and producers, queer horror icons, and…romantic partners! Yes, these two aren’t brothers at all, but a couple who’ve been together for over twenty years, proving once and for all that love is real and full of horrors. Their love child, Dragula, first existed as a live event in Los Angeles before becoming the show it is today. Though they are notoriously private when it comes to their personal lives (they never appear out of drag and have never publicly revealed their “true” identities), the Boulets still regularly host events and perform live. Learn more about our esteemed hosts by following them on Instagram or checking out their podcast, Creatures of the Night.
The Boulets are joined every episode by a guest judge. In the past, these guests have ranged from drag performers like Alaska Thunderf*ck to popular character actors like Harvey Guillen to esteemed authors and academics like Tananarive Due. The Boulets have already teased some incredible guest judges for this upcoming season, including Queen of Horror herself: Elvira!
The Seasons
Dragula has undergone pretty rapid growth since its humble YouTube beginnings, which means that each season is a little different.
Season 1, which aired on YouTube on a shoestring budget (which is now remastered and up on Shudder for the first time), is my personal favorite. It’s clunky, it’s grimy, everything’s made out of styrofoam, no one’s mic’ed, and the prize is a meager $10,000 scraped together from crowdfunding. And yet, it so clearly shows what makes Dragula special, which is the incredible passion and dedication poured into the show by the Boulets and the remarkable talent and vision on display from the contestants. Monstrous drag is, for obvious reasons, not an incredibly popular or lucrative field, which means that the contestants on this show are frequently astonishingly skilled artists who haven’t yet gotten their big break. The first season cast is one of the best on the show, not a dud in the bunch (well, maybe one…), and they more than rise to the challenge each episode. I’m so excited to see Melissa BeFierce return for Titans and I hope that more Season 1 ghouls will get a chance to come back to nab that Shudder bag. They deserve it.
Season 2 is the first season that aired on a proper streaming platform and it shows in the production value. The Boulets really up the ante on the skits this season, which I, for one, am delighted by. Season 2 is often cited as the strongest season of the show and there’s a solid case to be made there. It brings some of the best challenges and most jaw-dropping looks ever seen on the Dragula stage, while also providing an endless supply of behind-the-scenes drama. This is a great place to start if the DIY feel of the first season turns you off (but also, grow up.) Abhora, Kendra Onixxx, Erica Klash, and Victoria Black are the Season 2 contestants returning for Titans.
Season 3 is another fantastic installment of the franchise, especially as it introduces viewers to Dragula’s first drag king, the phenomenal Landon Cider. One of the best aspects of Dragula is that it’s always been open to drag performers of all types. Unlike another show that will remain unnamed, contestants are not required to conform to a particular gender, drag presentation, or performance style in order to compete. Returning to Titans from Season 3 are Evah Destruction and Yovska.
Dragula: Resurrection, the first season of the show to air exclusively on Shudder, is another one of my personal favorite entries in the series. The original all-stars season brought back seven previous contestants (including Season 2 and Titans contestants Victoria Black and Kendra Onixxx) for a chance to compete in the show’s fourth season. Resurrection highlights another part of what makes this show unique, which is its genuine interest in its contestants beyond the scope of the show or whichever parts of their lives are juicy (or traumatic) enough to serve as good promo material. Filmed during the early days of the pandemic, Resurrection visits each contestant at home and spends long, thoughtful moments with them as they discuss their lives, influences, and creative process. It feels, in many ways, like more of a documentary than a competition show. Though that’s not to say that the competition aspect isn’t compelling here. The looks in Resurrection are stunning, and the choice to shoot the performances in different locations instead of on a stage only serves to heighten the effect.
Season 4 is probably the most “polished” season, which is reflected in its contestants as well as in its production. I have a soft spot for this season as it features a couple of queens from my (former) local scene that I’d loved for a while before they were on the show. Though it only aired last year, talented competitors HoSo Terra Toma, Astrud Aurelia, and Koco Caine are jumping right back into it with their appearances on Titans.
See What’s on the Slab: The Ghouls of Titans
Note: For those of you who haven’t watched the previous seasons, this section will contain some general spoilers, including previous season winners. Proceed at your own risk.
So, what does Titans have in store this season? I don’t know! (I don’t have the screeners yet.) But I am excited to find out and, in the meantime, I have a few guesses. Let’s take a look at each contestant, their track record, their performance style, and what their odds are of taking the crown (in this writer’s humble opinion, at least.)
Because the show’s first three winners so clearly exemplify the three core Dragula tenets of Horror (Vander Von Odd), Filth (Biqtch Puddin’), and Glamour (Landon Cider), I will be using their beautiful, horrible faces to represent each category as I grade contestants based on their past performances and current social media presences. Each category is graded out of a total of 6 with 6, 6, and 6 being the highest score. I can’t claim to offer objectivity in my ratings, so please feel free to yell at me in the comments if you disagree. Just remember: entertainment journalism is art, and art is subjective.
Abhora (Season 2)
Though the Titans cast is stacked with an overabundance of incredible artists, gun to my head, this nasty little goblin would be my pick to win it all. A lot of people talk about how Victoria Elizabeth Black could’ve taken the crown in Season 2—and don’t get me wrong, I adore VEB (not to mention winner Biqtch Puddin’, one of my all-time favorites), but I think Season 2 was really Abhora’s to lose. And lose they did, though I think it was their mind that went before the crown slipped between their fingers. It happens to the best of us! Since their first appearance on Dragula, they’ve gone on to win Alaska Thunderf*ck’s Drag Queen of the Year Pageant and have continued to hone their signature drag style. One to watch this year for sure. I would be shocked if they didn’t make it to the finals at the very least.
Filth: 
Horror: 
Glamour: 
Astrud Aurelia (Season 4)
Astrud’s a bit of a wild card this season, perhaps more so than any other ghoul. In her original season, she made a fantastic (and challenge-winning) first impression with her xenomorph-inspired outfit before getting eliminated in only the second episode. While it’s fair to say that she may have been thrown by the surprise addition of her drag mother, Dahli, to her season, I think it’s also fair to say that she hasn’t yet proven that she can consistently bring more than a beautifully constructed look. I’m excited to see more from this mysterious drag creature but, barring more information, I’m going to guess that she falls neatly in the middle of the pack this season.
Filth:
Horror:
Glamour:
Erika Klash (Season 2)
Oh, Erika…This anime-inspired monster had an interesting run in her original season. Though she didn’t particularly excel at any of the challenges, she stayed in the competition for far longer than anyone might’ve predicted due to pure nerve and tenacity alone. Her makeup and costuming skills have definitely improved by leaps and bounds since then, but I’m just not confident that she’s a versatile enough performer to make waves in this group. Love you, Erika, but I’m predicting a potential early out. (Though I say this partially in the hopes that she’ll once again prove me wrong.)
Filth:
Horror:
Glamour:
Evah Destruction (Season 3)
Evah Destruction’s path on Dragula has been a strange one. She was relatively well-known before she was cast on the show, and her drag was polished and versatile enough that it’s been rumored she auditioned for a certain, more well-known drag competition numerous times before being cast on Dragula. Despite this, her uneven run ended with her being eliminated before the finale in Season 3. When Evah’s good, she’s horrid (complementary), but I’m not sure I can see her going super far in this cast. I’m predicting another early out.
Filth:
Horror:
Glamour:
HoSo Terra Toma (Season 4)
Fresh off of the Season 4 finale, HoSo is entering Titans with a lot of forward momentum, as well as a lot to prove. I’m going to overplay my hand a little and say that, while I love Dahli, HoSo and Saint were neck and neck for my pick for last season’s winner. In addition to bringing gorgeously-crafted looks that can range from genuinely horrifying to high glamour, HoSo is an energetic, fearless performer who quickly incorporates feedback from the judges. Though I do wonder how competing against Abhora, HoSo’s self-professed drag inspiration will affect her performance, I think it’s a fair bet to say she’s making it to the finale.
Filth: 
Horror:
Glamour:
Kendra Onixxx (Season 2 and Resurrection)
Not to be a bummer (and no disrespect at all to Kendra, whom I adore), but I think this is going to be another earlyish out. Kendra’s said that she’s grown a lot since her original season, and I definitely see that, but she’s now had two chances to make her mark on Dragula and she hasn’t pulled it off yet. While she’s a phenomenal performer and someone I’d give an arm and a leg to see live, I’m just not sure if she’s cut out for the format of the show.
Filth:
Horror:
Glamour:
Koco Caine (Season 4)
Koco is another strong competitor from Season 4. Though they didn’t make it to the finale of their original season, I think they have a great shot of making it to the finale of this one. Why? Well, in addition to the devoted fan following they attracted during their original run, Koco also has an incredibly clear vision for their drag that has only continued to evolve since they were last on the show. Their “zombie hooker/deadliest fetish femme fatale in the west” character is striking, instantly recognizable, and a welcome addition to the Dragula hall of fame. I’m expecting, and hoping, that they’ll go far.
Filth:
Horror: 
Glamour: 
Melissa Befierce (Season 1)
Ever since she stunned me (and everyone else) with her Filth finale look (Hit me up if you have an uncensored version of this, by the way. I haven’t been able to find one since it originally aired), I have been obsessed with Melissa. Never has a performer made such a shocking and well-executed turn toward utter depravity. She’s the queen I most hoped to see in this all-stars season and I can’t believe my luck that she’s part of the cast. If her promo look is anything to go by, she’s not here to play, but I honestly can’t even hazard a guess as to how this season will go for her. Much like I imagine her blasphemous nun might, I am praying to Gay Satan that she does well. (If Drag were its own category, she’d get 10s across the board.)
Filth:
Horror:
Glamour:
Victoria Elizabeth Black (Season 2 and Resurrection)
I don’t fully know what to do with Mother Black this time around. While she’s undeniably one of the most talented monsters ever to cross the Dragula stage, she’s also been undeniably (and, in my opinion, fairly) bested twice before. Victoria’s in a bit of a tough position this season, as a win for her would seem both long overdue and a little unsatisfying. While I’m not totally sure how I feel about her inclusion in Titans, there’s no way I’m not going to root for this true artist of the highest caliber. I think she’ll either burn out before the finale or take the whole thing. No in-between.
Filth:
Horror:
Glamour:
Yovska (Season 3)
I live for Yovska. After her unwarranted (sorry Boulets) early elimination in Season 3, I was so afraid that this little freak would never again grace my television screen. I cannot describe my excitement when I saw she would be returning for Titans. “Mask queens” are one of the drag subcultures represented on Dragula and, though Yovska isn’t strictly a mask queen in all her performances, she’s far and away the best of those who’ve competed on the show. Her textile-heavy looks and deranged monster concepts make her stand out in any group of performers, no matter how monstrous the others may be. I think she’ll at least make it past the middle of the competition, but I’m hoping she goes all the way.
Filth:
Horror:
Glamour:
Yes, I know, I only gave one 6 in this entire list but, listen, I’m a tough grader. I’ll continue to use this scoring system throughout my coverage of Titans and I’m hoping to give out a lot more perfect scores as we see how all these ghouls have grown since their original seasons.
Speaking of Titans coverage, I’m so excited to be recapping the season for Horror Obsessive this fall! I’ve been an avid viewer since the first season so this is a real passion project. For all you Dragula fans out there, old and new, feel free to join me in yelling about the show in the comments. I want to hear from you!
