9 YouTube creators to follow just in time for the holidays

YouTube Channel: Zzavid

Name: David Rodriguez

Location: New York City

Age: 26

If queer content, horror, and unconventional superheroes are your thing, you have to check out Zzavid. Funny, frank, and fashion-forward, David creates reaction videos to everything from Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy and HBO’s Euphoria to films like the Fear Street trilogy and Booksmart. However, his true love will always be horror movies –no matter how much they scare him.

“I have been active on YouTube for the past 3 years now. However, I’ve been doing reaction videos for about 2 years. My first reaction being The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Afterwards, I reacted to The Umbrella Academy, which to this day remains one of my most viewed videos.

Honey, I gotta say that I love my horror movie reactions. I am a huge fan of the horror genre, so anytime I get to see a scary movie, I’m in. But (and its a big butt) I get scared easily and then I can’t sleep because I think the killer is in the house (I’m a hot mess). However, my Hell House reaction was so much fun because I couldn’t stop laughing at myself while editing the video because I was truly terrified. I think you can even see my spirit jump out during the video,” he says.

David attributes to his love of camp horror especially for inspiring him to start creating content in the first place.

“The main reason I started reacting to films and television shows, aside from some requests to do so, it was my love for Elvira (the queen with a huge…head of hair). I remember being around 9 or 10 years-old and seeing Elvira: Mistress of the Dark for the first time and distinctly remember turning gay at that very moment. Jokes aside (for now), I just loved her sense of humor, her quick wit, and just how sarcastic she was. I could only dream of being that fabulous,” David explains.

When looking for new shows or movies to react to, David is more concerned with having a good time and creating an enjoyable viewing experience above all else.

"“For me personally, I just want to have a good time. Whether it’s because of how funny it is or how scary it is. I often get requests to do films like Brokeback Mountain or Moonlight, and I just politely (mostly) reply and say ‘I’m sorry but if I wanted to sit down and watch a bunch of gay men going through heartache and torture, I would just start filming my own life.’ I want to make it fun, not just for the people watching, but for myself.”"

David has some more horror films and a few more shows he’d like to react to in the coming months of 2021 –for better or worse.

“Miss thing let me tell you right now, I have so many films that I cannot wait to watch. I definitely want to react to more horror films. However, I have plans on watching the first few episodes of the Netflix show Q-Force. The main reason why I cannot wait to react to it is because when the trailer dropped, the BLT Community (the gays) was not having it. The called it offensive and accused it of using antiquated stereotypes associated with the queer community. Now, I do respect my community’s opinions and judgements regarding the show. However, I could not stop laughing watching the trailer, and I am sure I’ll get some hate from the gays for even watching it. And in all honesty, I don’t care. if it makes me laugh, it’s all good with me, honey,” he states.

While his love for horror is apparent throughout his channel, one of his best reaction videos is to 2018’s Love, Simon. His commentary is as witty as ever, but you can watch him fall in love with the film as it goes on, especially when it comes to the mom speech given by Jennifer Garner. When you’re having a bad day, do yourself a favor and just put his YouTube channel on. He is guaranteed to put a smile on your face, one way or another.

The best of Zzavid is available on his YouTube channel here.

Who are some of your favorite YouTube content creators? Let us know in the comments section below.