Drag Me To Hell

ADMISSON & CAMPUS ACCESS:
Admission is free. Reservations are required. Campus access is limited to registered guests and USC students, staff, and faculty with current USC ID.

RSVP beginning Tuesday, September 3, at 10 a.m.

DESCRIPTION:
Join us for a festive night of dancing, drag, and dress-up! Drag Me to Hell is a one-of-a-kind Halloween event inspired by queer pioneers in 1930s–60s Los Angeles who found refuge in science-fiction fandom and the occult underground. The evening will include demonic drag performances by Specimen Scythe and world-renowned Dragula stars Vander Von Odd and HoSo Terra Toma, followed by a DIY costume contest for USC students, hosted by international DJ and drag sensation Miss Toto.

Pre-show attractions will include a live choral performance by students from the USC Thornton School of Music led by professor Emily Sung and haunting tours of the ONE Archives and USC Fisher Museum’s PST ART exhibition Sci-fi, Magick, Queer LA: Sexual Science and the Imagi-Nation (August 22–November 23, 2024).

Schedule (subject to change):

6:10 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.: Guided tours of Sci-fi, Magick, Queer LA: Sexual Science and the Imagi-Nation.
7 p.m.: Choral performance by USC Thornton students
7:15 p.m.: Drag show by Specimen Scythe, Vander Von Odd, and HoSo Terra Toma, hosted by Miss Toto
8:30 p.m.: Costume contest for USC students, hosted by Miss Toto

Bios:

Vander Von Odd (she/her) is a trans femme drag queen, filmmaker, and creature actor based out of Los Angeles. She is the Season One winner of the drag competition show The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula, and frequently travels the country performing in her distinct aesthetic of sinister glamor.

HoSo Terra Toma (she/her) is a Korean American drag performer and finalist of the fourth season of The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula. She later appeared on the first season of The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Titans, again placing as a Top 3 finalist. “Hoso” is the shortened version of the word for “little f*ggot” in Korean (Homo So-Nyeon; KO: 호모 소년). “Terra Toma” is a play on the word “teratoma,” a type of tumor that may contain several different types of bodily tissue (e.g., teeth, hair, eyes, fingernails, etc.), which she uses as a reclamation of her chemotherapy experience to treat lymphoma.

Miss Toto (she/her) is an international DJ and drag sensation, public speaker, and producer from Chicago, IL. Outside of being a drag queen, she has taken her passion for philanthropy to raise over $50,000 for the BLM movement.

Specimen Scythe (they/them/it) is a non-binary drag artist from Costa Rica. Located in Los Angeles, Scythe regularly performs in horror-themed drag, exploring the bizarre and the beautiful in their fearsome ensembles. By day, Scythe is a tattoo artist who provides gender-affirming body modification.

Emily Sung is a conductor, scholar, and assistant professor of choral and sacred music at the USC Thornton School of Music. Her research interests include Southeast Asian choral music, Chinese jazz, the history of American vocal jazz and choral jazz, and the intersection of vocals, gender expression, and technological experimentation in electronic music.

Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by Quetzal Arevalo and Alexis Bard Johnson (ONE Archives at the USC Libraries). Co-sponsored by the USC Fisher Museum of Art.

Banner photo by Jake Berg / Daily Trojan