Brea Grant is best known for her roles in genre shows like Heroes and Dexter. As a horror fan herself, it was no surprise that she came up with the idea to mash up The Real Housewives with all of our favorite horror tropes. That idea turned into The Real Housewives of Horror, which recently premiered its season one finale. We spoke with Brea Grant, the writer/creator of the series, about the genre itself, casting the series and where she’d like to see the show go next (well, aside from on location in Hawaii…)

For actress and series creator and writer Brea Grant, the Real Housewives of Horror was a loving nod to the savvy horror community while also poking fun at it at the same time. Said Grant, “I am a huge horror fan. And I also happen to have the guilty pleasure of loving the Real Housewives world. To me, it seemed like a logical fit. I think the horror community is doing some really interesting stuff and I love the things that give a nod to horror tropes and go meta. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon is a great example because it combines all the things we already know about horror and adds humor. I’m really loving the smart horror comedies that are coming out now. Most people understand the concept of “the final girl.” They know The Ring. They know Chucky and Jason. So I like to take this communal knowledge and play with it. That’s the fun part.”

How about casting? These archetype are so specific and blending in horror tropes must have provided an extra kind of challenge. But according to Grant, the team struck gold. She explained, “Sandeep Parikh (RHOH director) and I did all the casting and we literally couldn’t be happier. Every single woman surprises me every time they perform with their take on the material and their amazing improvisation, which Sandeep really encourages.” Grant mentioned one role in particular that she thought was going to be impossible to cast. “We were really unsure about the Yuri character at first. I thought she should be more bubbly and funny and Sandeep thought she should be a bit weirder. Then Jessika [Van] came in with this dark and quiet sense of humor and we were like, ‘Yep. That’s it.’ Which is basically the best thing a writer can ever ask for.”

Now that season one has come to a close, featuring guest appearances from our own Chris Hardwick and Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s Nicholas Brendon, where would Grant like to see the series go next? “Hawaii? Kidding. Kind of. The amazing thing about this show is that it writes itself. Sandeep and I now have a running list of ideas that people just throw out there because there are so many times people say, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if they…?’ and the answer is always yes. Basically all situations with the Real Housewives of Horror are funny. ”

The Real Housewives of Horror premiered its season one finale last week! You can watch the complete series starring Brea Grant as Heather, Brooke Seguin as Barbara Dawn, Briana Lane as Roxanne, Laura Ortiz as Gabrielle, and Jessika Van as Yuri right here on Nerdist.com!