Josh Burkey says horror films and metal music are the reason he’s still alive today.
“The first time I considered taking my life, I was listening to [hardcore band] Underoath’s album ‘Define The Great Line’ and it made me see that I mattered,” he says, adding that he also found comfort in watching Rob Zombie’s “Halloween II” after losing a friend to suicide. He recalls feeling a profound connection to the characters and their trauma journeys, which allowed him to process his own grief.
“Movies and music have always been a way for me to work through things,” he says.
Burkey took that love of film and music and started the multimedia nonprofit Victims and Villains as a way to deconstruct the stigma surrounding mental health through the familiarity of pop culture and horror. The organization develops podcasts and movie reviews along with doing community outreach at various pop culture related events with the goal to educate and engage like-minded individuals on mental health awareness.
“Depression doesn’t discriminate,” he says. “Depression doesn’t care if you listen to hip-hop or metal music, if you’re into anime or like horror movies. A lot of the people that are into those art forms need that escape or it’s therapy for them.”
Victims and Villains initially started as a podcast for Burkey and his friends to talk about nerdy things they loved, but he says he felt there was a missing piece to it. Mental health education and suicide prevention became that missing piece and the organization slowly started experimenting with education and outreach, which has now become its main intention.
“We use these types of films and music as a platform to actually discuss the real life mental health struggles behind them, whether it’s depression and anxiety or processing trauma,” Burkey says. “Our biggest thing is that we want to not only show that art can be the mental health support but can also be used to further discuss mental health.”
According to the CDC and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States. In 2023, there were 49,316 deaths by suicide and an estimated 1.5 million suicide attempts. Burkey feels that even today, talking about mental health struggles is still considered taboo and not openly discussed the way that it should be and believes horror films can be a form of education.
“It’s why I think filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock, John Carpenter, and Jordan Peele are so groundbreaking,” he says. “They’re not just giving you a means of escape. Films like theirs can hold up a mirror to the audience and make us look at our own mental health. I think it is challenging, but I think it’s necessary.”
Victims and Villains recently worked with regional events such as the GenreBlast Film Festival in Winchester and the Fright Reads Book Festival in Maryland and plan for more this fall.
One of the organization’s upcoming events is the Autumn Horrorland Film Festival, a day of screenings at the Richmond Public Library featuring short horror films that deal with different traumas, alongside panels and discussions with mental health organizations like SensibleTips and Forest to Sand. The festival culminates in a screening of locally made feature-length horror film “Mom, I’m on Drugs,” which follows a group of friends on a night of drug-induced terror that also speaks to suicide and trauma.
More events continue into November with the KAME Anime and Comic Convention in Goochland and Say Their Name Fest, a festival in observance of International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day, at The Camel.
“That one is a big heavy metal show, but we also take a moment to basically do an ‘in memoriam’ section where we read names of people that we lost to suicide and dedicate the show to them.”
Burkey is constantly finding and sharing new films to have open discussions on mental health, citing the recent Tim Robinson/Paul Rudd black comedy “Friendship” as a brilliant commentary on toxic masculinity and Osgood Perkins’ 2025 horror film “The Monkey” as a way to speak to trauma in families. And while the organization loves talking about horror movies and heavier music, Burkey says the real benefit of running Victims and Villains is having a community focused on helping people understand their self worth.
“We want people to know that tomorrow is better with them here and that they do have value,” he says. “That’s why we do what we do.”
Victims and Villains’ Autumn Horrorland Film Festival takes place at the Richmond Public Library’s Main Branch on Saturday, Sept. 20 from 12-5 p.m. The film festival’s after party moves to Black Iris Social Club starting at 6 p.m. with music performances from Loxias, CJ the Profit, Lilah Moons, and Devin Hatcher. Both are free to attend. More information, other events, and mental health support resources can be found at victimsandvillains.net.
If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or text TALK to 741741 for the Crisis Text Line.
