MY FAIR MONSTER

In Rivera’s debut, a teen pageant queen and a petulant special effects artist team up.

Seventeen-year-old Corie Nielson has won multiple titles, including Miss Teen Indiana, even though she struggles with remembering her commitments and being on time. Ever since she appeared in a commercial for a local restaurant she loves (her line: “Best Spuds. Life’s greater with a tater”), she’s harbored secret acting ambitions. A horrible day of forgetting obligations and disappointing her family leads to Corie’s accidentally rear-ending the car of surly classmate and SFX talent, Everett Robbins. Feeling down, Corie visits her great-grandmother Ingrid (a former Miss America and horror movie actor) for their weekly viewing of Midnight Frights, during which Corie learns about the upcoming Monster SFX Contest taking place around Halloween in Indianapolis. The prize—$2,000 and a guest appearance on the show—feels to Corie like a chance to pay homage to Ingrid while boosting her acting dreams. Realizing she has just “one potato-based acting credit” and Everett’s special effects skills could really help, Corie asks him to make her his “monstrous Eliza Doolittle.” Everett agrees, seeing an opportunity to expand his portfolio for his application to an SFX certificate program in California. Corie’s over-the-top enthusiasm for all things horror offers an amusing contrast to the glitzy glam of pageantry and enhances her evolving partnership with Everett. Their interactions are funny grumpy-sunshine bliss that unfolds into an endearing relationship of mutual support. Most characters are cued white.

Hilarious and sweet: a monster of a good time.