Welcome back to DEAD Time. Like me, you may watch a lot of paranormal television shows, but you’ve never seen anything quite like Living for the Dead, which is streaming on Hulu. From the creators of Queer Eye and Executive Producer Kristen Stewart, Living for the Dead features a team of five Queer ghost hunters, or “ghost hunties” as they refer to themselves, each with unique paranormal abilities and backgrounds, and a whole lot of heart.
The team travels the country in an RV and consists of investigator Alexandré LeMay, spiritual healer Juju Bae, medium and tarot reader Ken Boggle, podcaster and researcher Roz Hernandez, and psychic medium Logan Taylor. Kristen Stewart narrates each episode as the team investigates infamous haunted locations like The Clown Motel in Nevada, Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Kentucky, and The Copper Queen Hotel in Arizona. Each investigation delves into the history of the location as the team members try to determine the cause of unexplained activity, with the hopes of bringing peace to both the living and the dead, as well as acceptance and understanding.
This month, Bloody Disgusting had the pleasure of talking with Ken Boggle about being a medium and tarot reader for more than thirty years, working with Kristen Stewart and the rest of the team on Living for the Dead, his favorite haunted location, and a lot more.
Living For The Dead — From the creators of “Queer Eye,” five fabulous, queer ghost hunters criss-cross the country, helping the living by healing the dead. As they explore some of the world’s most infamous haunted locations, they’ll shed light on those not seen and illuminate untold stories. Together they’ll push past boundaries to bring acceptance to the misunderstood – living and dead. This is “Living For The Dead,” Ghost Hunties! Ken Boggle, shown. (Photo by: Hulu)
Bloody Disgusting: When did you first know you had the ability to communicate with the dead?
Ken Boggle: For as long as I can remember I was always having a conversation with someone who wasn’t there in physical form. Then, one day our family moved into this incredibly odd house and the backyard was just a few feet away from an old cemetery. Some of the headstones were just huge rocks. We had terrible things happening in the house and I would lie in bed, and I could hear spirits walking down the hall and they would circle my bed. I was about eight years old at the time and this would happen almost every night, so I could barely sleep. I went to see my grandmother and she said, “Honey, you look terrible,” which was her way of saying, “I love you. What’s wrong?” I cried and told her, and she said, “Well, honey your dad is a religious nut and if he finds out about this, we’re all in trouble. But I can help you because I’m the same way.” So, my granny took me by the hand and led me through psychic development and learning how to read, not just cards, but coffee grounds and things in nature. Granny could read the falling of a leaf from a tree and tell you what was going to happen. She was incredible.
The creepiest thing about it was that the male spirit who would walk in front of three female spirits had something wrong with his leg. You would hear a step and then a little bit of a drag and my heart would just race. I would turn and look over at the doorway and he would turn and look into the doorway and see me, and then they would begin to walk into the room. It was horrible.
BD: What was it like working with Kristen Stewart on Living for the Dead and how did she put the team together?
KB: Kristen Stewart is one of the most amazing people. She’s so thoughtful and she’s very conscious of what she says and what she does. She’s just amazingly deep; she runs like a river. She’s really deep and just amazing. They put out a casting call on social media. I had already done a TV show called Tarot Date with Ken Boggle for a small streaming platform for years and I really didn’t want to do television again. One of the producers from the previous show called me up and said, “Well, I just submitted an application for this show, and they asked me who I wanted to work with on the show, and I suggested you.” I was really trying to avoid it and they told me Kristen Stewart was the Executive Producer. So, I filled out an application and submitted videos. From the moment I started engaging with the casting company, I was like, “Oh wait, no I was wrong. This is something I want to do.” I started meeting people with Scout Productions, an amazing production company, and I was just floored by how fantastic they were. Thousands and thousands of people submitted applications to be on the show and they narrowed it down to twelve people.
They took all twelve of us to a haunted mansion in the Hollywood Hills and said, “Let’s see how you all interact with each other.” Eventually, there were seven of us left and we started a text group and tried to get to know each other and build some relationships. Sometime after that, it was down to five of us and we went to a new group chat and started calling each other. Before you knew it, we were in an RV heading to a clown motel [laughs]!
Living For The Dead — “A Haunted Gaycation” – Episode 103 — Our Ghost Hunties head out for a gaycation in the desert, where a paranormal activity forces a woman out of her dream home. As their investiGAYtion unfold, they make an unexpected discovery that will change lives. Alex LeMay and Ken Boggle, shown. (Photo by: Hulu)
BD: Do you have a favorite haunted location from your time on the show, and why?
KB: It would have to be the Louisville Palace Theater in Kentucky, just because of the architecture, and also because we didn’t have to sleep there [laughs]. Also, I am Ken from Kentucky [laughs], so it’s a part of me. I was so happy to show my friends this amazing place that I had been to a bunch of times. We had a lot of things happen there. There was a generational ghost story— we helped a gentleman come to terms with the loss of his grandfather, and some underlying issues with his mom, and also kind of helped him open up. So much happened in that episode. It is one of my favorite places to investigate, but I also loved going to Waverly Hills. It’s very hard to pick one location.
Living For The Dead — “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Slay” – Episode 107 — When the walls CAN talk… we must stop and listen! This next stop on the road trip from hell has a sordid past with ghostly receipts to prove it. The Ghost Hunties face their most frightening challenge yet to help a community in need. Ken Boggle, shown. (Photo by: Hulu)
BD: I’m also from the South, so I was wondering what it was like for you growing up in Kentucky as a Queer person who also interacts with the dead?
KB: I don’t remember a lot of my childhood because it was so terrible. Honestly, there were times I didn’t want to wake up another day. I know it’s a sad thing to say and it’s really heavy, but I just wanted it all to stop. When I became homeless at fifteen, because my parents decided they didn’t want a Queer son, everything changed. I had an apartment and a job, and I stopped taking the abuse from the people around me, including family and schoolmates. I stopped accepting it and started fighting back. There was graffiti about me on the walls in the bathroom at school, people would spit at me, and I was beaten up. It was horrible. It was so bad during high school that I decided that no one could know about the paranormal aspects of my life because I was already in bad shape, and I thought it would make things worse. I used to read palms for girls at school before class would start, but I stopped doing it because it was already too dangerous for me.
BD: I am so sorry that happened to you.
KB: I appreciate your kindness, but I’m not, because the end result is I am able to connect with people about any real pain or any real struggle. I’m able to empathize and get into that space with them and help pull them through it. So, if I have to suffer a hundred years to help one person, why not do that? I got a message from a lady who said that her fifteen-year-old daughter had swallowed a bottle of pills trying to kill herself. While she was in the hospital, the mom brought their Roku box from home, plugged it into the TV, and they watched Living for the Dead. They watched the entire series together and the daughter said to her mother, “Can you please find out how to get in touch with Ken and tell him I appreciate it and I think it’s going to be okay.” That makes all of it worth it. It’s all worth it if I can help a fifteen-year-old kid who used to be me. I got it. I understood it. That means the world to be able to help someone like that
BD: Everyone on the team has different abilities and different personalities and you all have such great chemistry. If you had to choose one memory from your time on Living for the Dead, what would be your favorite memory of working with the team?
KB: My favorite memory was being in the RV when Roz was driving, Logan was next to her, Alex was on the bench, and Juju was in front of me. Nothing crazy or fantastical happened. It was just the way the sunlight came through and hit Alex’s hair and the way Roz was just rattling off something hilarious. Juju was in this deep place of contemplation and Logan was twisting that family stone that he wears. And it just hit me that I am the luckiest person in the entire world. I’m so sorry I’m getting emotional; I miss them so much. I’m the luckiest person in the world to be able to look over and see these four beautiful faces and know that they are as good inside as they are beautiful outside and to have this experience, and to have that moment where we were just five friends traveling. It was just this really beautiful moment that was remarkable.
You can stream “Living for the Dead” on Hulu now.
Living For The Dead — “Rainbows and Clowns” – Episode 101 — The Ghost Hunties road trip to a haunted clown motel to help a family-run business pummeled by aggressive ghostly activity. As the investiGAYtion ensues, one Ghost Huntie is put to the ultimate test forcing him to face his greatest fear – clowns! Ken Boggle, shown. (Photo by: Hulu)