Ridgefield High Grad Becomes Indie Horror’s 'Scream Queen'

RIDGEFIELD, CT — Before she was dubbed “the darling of indie horror,” Sarah Nicklin was a Ridgefield High School drama kid with a love for spooky movies and a close circle of friends swapping VHS tapes of weird cult classics.

Now based in Los Angeles, Nicklin has built a nearly 20-year career as an actress and producer in independent horror films — a journey that began in New England and has taken her from small-budget thrillers to the buzzy Shudder anthology “V/H/S/Halloween,” released this month.

“I don’t think there’s ever been one big break,” Nicklin said. “It’s been a series of small steps that built on each other.”

From Ridgefield to the Red Carpet

Nicklin, who grew up in Danbury before moving to Ridgefield in 2000, graduated from Ridgefield High School in 2004 and studied film acting at Emerson College in Boston. While still in school, she began landing roles in straight-to-DVD horror features directed by Rhode Island filmmaker Richard Griffin, appearing in more than a dozen of his films before graduating.

“That really got me on the map,” she said. “By the time I moved to Los Angeles, people in the horror community already knew who I was.”

Those early collaborations led to bigger opportunities — and a reputation among horror fans for performances that balance grit, emotion, and grounded realism. Her recent work includes leading roles in “Garden of Eden,” “Pretty Boy,” and “Popeye the Slayer Man,” the last of which drew both controversy and acclaim for turning the spinach-eating sailor into a horror antihero.

“I did worry about some Popeye traditionalists,” she laughed. “But people ended up really loving it. You can’t please everyone — some conventions I’ve been to, fans come up and say, ‘You ruined my childhood!’ and I just tell them, ‘I’m sorry — I didn’t write it!’”

A Breakout Year in Horror

Nicklin’s latest project, “V/H/S/Halloween,” may be her most visible yet. In the segment “Home Haunt,” she plays Nancy, a mom whose family’s elaborate homemade haunted house literally comes to life after they play a cursed record.

“If anything’s a big break, maybe this is it,” she said. “The ‘V/H/S’ franchise has such a loyal fan base, and it’s so exciting to be part of something that horror fans really love.”

This year has been a busy one for Nicklin — she also starred in the revenge-driven thriller "Garden of Eden," which critics praised for her emotionally charged performance, and recently filmed a TV movie in Atlanta. She will also be a presenter at this year’s Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, debuting on Shudder on Oct. 19.

Haunted by New England Roots

Nicklin credits her Ridgefield years — and a few spooky local influences — for sparking her fascination with the macabre.

“In high school, my friends were the ones who introduced me to horror,” she said. “We’d share all these weird old movies. And growing up in New England, you can’t escape that sense of history and folklore — witch trials, Puritan ghost stories, even the Warrens being based in Connecticut. It all seeps in.”

Though her path has taken her far from Ridgefield, Nicklin’s independent spirit and love for the genre remain unmistakably homegrown.

“Ridgefield was where I first learned to love stories that were a little dark and strange,” she said. “So in a way, it’s where all of this really started.”

Fans can catch Sarah Nicklin in "V/H/S/Halloween" now streaming on Shudder, and follow her continuing work on the horror convention circuit — just don’t expect her to stop scaring audiences anytime soon.