Clever Ghouls

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Happy pride again, and welcome back to another minisode of Clever Ghouls. Join Maegan as she talks about the constant and problematic fetishization of women loving women relationships, some brief history of the fetishization of queer women, the impact this has on our film industry, and specifically some of the representation of these relationships within the horror genre. 

Note: Maegan uses the term Saphhic a lot in this episode for those that may not be aware of this term. Sapphic is an umbrella term that includes lesbian, bisexual, and pansexual cis women, trans femmes, and nonbinary people. The term sapphic derives from the Greek goddess Sappho, who notoriously resided on the Isle of Lesbos. Sappho was an incredibly popular poet whose work explored desire and love, specifically the kind that unfolds between two women. As a result, the women of Lesbos were said to prefer each other; hence, the origin of the term lesbian. After a few scrolls of Sappho’s poems were discovered in the late 1800s, “sapphic” became an adjective to describe women whose emotional and sexual preferences were other women. It wasn't until the 1950s, however, that “sapphic” became a popular term to describe women who loved women in the U.S

While many lesbians claim sapphic identity, it’s important to note that there is a distinction between being a lesbian and being sapphic. While lesbians can be sapphics, not all sapphics are lesbians. Sapphics can be bisexual, pansexual, and omnisexual.

The Clever Ghouls podcast, hosted by Maegan and Blair, is a show dedicated to watching, analyzing, and discussing the movies that make us think about them long after we’ve left the theater or turned off the TV. We bring quick wit and unique perspectives from backgrounds like art history, cinematography, psychology, analysis, public education, mysticism, mythos, and more to create a curated, inclusive conversation around the spooky movies we love. Tune in on your favorite podcast hosting platform to listen along, join the conversation, and chime in with your own observations!

Our intro and outro music was created for us by Josh Marshall. For more episodes and other spooky content, find us on your favorite social media platform through our handle: @CleverGhouls. Don’t forget to subscribe and share, and if you really like our content, please leave us a review. Or we’ll haunt you forever. Thanks for listening!

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In this minisode, join Maegan as she goes back to her ballet roots to really dive into ballet and its history and relationship with horror, what is it about ballet that is so enchanting yet inherently terrifying, and even some psychoanalysis of some of our favorite ballet-centric horror movies like Black Swan, Suspria, and Red Shoes.

The Clever Ghouls podcast, hosted by Maegan and Blair, is a show dedicated to watching, analyzing, and discussing the movies that make us think about them long after we’ve left the theater or turned off the TV. We bring quick wit and unique perspectives from backgrounds like art history, cinematography, psychology, analysis, public education, mysticism, mythos, and more to create a curated, inclusive conversation around the spooky movies we love. Tune in on your favorite podcast hosting platform to listen along, join the conversation, and chime in with your own observations!

Our intro and outro music was created for us by Josh Marshall. For more episodes and other spooky content, find us on your favorite social media platform through our handle: @CleverGhouls. Don’t forget to subscribe and share, and if you really like our content, please leave us a review. Or we’ll haunt you forever. Thanks for listening!

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• Dancing with the Devil: Ballet's History and Relationship with Horror | Minisode w/  Maegan
• I'm NOT Confused: Bisexuality in Horror | Minisode w/ Maegan
• Modern Madness:  Misrepresentation of Mental Illness in Horror Films | Minisode w/ Maegan

The Clever Ghouls podcast, hosted by Maegan and Blair, is a show dedicated to watching, analyzing, and discussing the movies that make us think about them long after we’ve left the theater or turned off the TV. We bring quick wit and unique perspectives from backgrounds like art history, cinematography, psychology, analysis, public education, mysticism, mythos, and more to create a curated, inclusive conversation around the spooky movies we love. Tune in on your favorite podcast hosting platform to listen along, join the conversation, and chime in with your own observations!

Our intro and outro music was created for us by Josh Marshall. For more episodes and other spooky content, find us on your favorite social media platform through our handle: @CleverGhouls. Don’t forget to subscribe and share, and if you really like our content, please leave us a review. Or we’ll haunt you forever. Thanks for listening!

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Horror and queerness have gone hand in hand since its origins. From the notion of “otherness” and queer monsters in the 1922 version of Nosferatu, to the era of the lesbian vampires in the 1936 Dracula’s Daughter, to more contemporary and intersectional representations in our modern horror films. Join Maegan, resident bisexual and all around spooky gal, as she walks us through the relationship the queer community has with the horror genre, and some representation of the lgbt+ community in some of our favorite scary movies. 

The Clever Ghouls podcast, hosted by Maegan and Blair, is a show dedicated to watching, analyzing, and discussing the movies that make us think about them long after we’ve left the theater or turned off the TV. We bring quick wit and unique perspectives from backgrounds like art history, cinematography, psychology, analysis, public education, mysticism, mythos, and more to create a curated, inclusive conversation around the spooky movies we love. Tune in on your favorite podcast hosting platform to listen along, join the conversation, and chime in with your own observations!

Our intro and outro music was created for us by Josh Marshall. For more episodes and other spooky content, find us on your favorite social media platform through our handle: @CleverGhouls. Don’t forget to subscribe and share, and if you really like our content, please leave us a review. Or we’ll haunt you forever. Thanks for listening!

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In this minisode, join Blair as she spends some time talking about Gregorian chants and how they’ve somehow entered into public consciousness as the quintessential DOOOOOOM sound. You know which one we’re talking about, even if you can’t quite name it. It’s the dies irae…and it’s everywhere!

The Clever Ghouls podcast, hosted by Maegan and Blair, is a show dedicated to watching, analyzing, and discussing the movies that make us think about them long after we’ve left the theater or turned off the TV. We bring quick wit and unique perspectives from backgrounds like art history, cinematography, psychology, analysis, public education, mysticism, mythos, and more to create a curated, inclusive conversation around the spooky movies we love. Tune in on your favorite podcast hosting platform to listen along, join the conversation, and chime in with your own observations!

Our intro and outro music was created for us by Josh Marshall. For more episodes and other spooky content, find us on your favorite social media platform through our handle: @CleverGhouls. Don’t forget to subscribe and share, and if you really like our content, please leave us a review. Or we’ll haunt you forever. Thanks for listening!

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Everyone knows what punk is. The unfiltered, raw, gritty sound, unruly guitar riffs, clamoring drum beats, and loud, expressive vocals with lyrics filled to the brim with protest, anti establishment, and an agenda. It is the voice of the disenfranchised and the rebellion. But what about horror punk…what exactly is that? Punk was partially born in the light of ‘70s late-night monster movie screenings on UHF television, and punk rock and horror culture have always gone hand in hand. Join Maegan in this minisode as she walks us through the history of punk and tells us all about its intersection with horror and all about the subgenre of horror punk.

The Clever Ghouls podcast, hosted by Maegan and Blair, is a show dedicated to watching, analyzing, and discussing the movies that make us think about them long after we’ve left the theater or turned off the TV. We bring quick wit and unique perspectives from backgrounds like art history, cinematography, psychology, analysis, public education, mysticism, mythos, and more to create a curated, inclusive conversation around the spooky movies we love. Tune in on your favorite podcast hosting platform to listen along, join the conversation, and chime in with your own observations!

Our intro and outro music was created for us by Josh Marshall. For more episodes and other spooky content, find us on your favorite social media platform through our handle: @CleverGhouls. Don’t forget to subscribe and share, and if you really like our content, please leave us a review. Or we’ll haunt you forever. Thanks for listening!

Send us a text

The Clever Ghouls podcast, hosted by Maegan and Blair, is a show dedicated to watching, analyzing, and discussing the movies that make us think about them long after we’ve left the theater or turned off the TV. We bring quick wit and unique perspectives from backgrounds like art history, cinematography, psychology, analysis, public education, mysticism, mythos, and more to create a curated, inclusive conversation around the spooky movies we love. Tune in on your favorite podcast hosting platform to listen along, join the conversation, and chime in with your own observations!

Our intro and outro music was created for us by Josh Marshall. For more episodes and other spooky content, find us on your favorite social media platform through our handle: @CleverGhouls. Don’t forget to subscribe and share, and if you really like our content, please leave us a review. Or we’ll haunt you forever. Thanks for listening!

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Join Maegan in this minisode as she walks us through brain anatomy and how our brains work. The little electric meatballs inside our head are WILD and she makes a lot of references to them in all our episodes, so this minisode provides background and contex to what the parts are and how they work.

References
Video on how Herculano-Houzel redetermined how many nerve cells are in our brain.

The Clever Ghouls podcast, hosted by Maegan and Blair, is a show dedicated to watching, analyzing, and discussing the movies that make us think about them long after we’ve left the theater or turned off the TV. We bring quick wit and unique perspectives from backgrounds like art history, cinematography, psychology, analysis, public education, mysticism, mythos, and more to create a curated, inclusive conversation around the spooky movies we love. Tune in on your favorite podcast hosting platform to listen along, join the conversation, and chime in with your own observations!

Our intro and outro music was created for us by Josh Marshall. For more episodes and other spooky content, find us on your favorite social media platform through our handle: @CleverGhouls. Don’t forget to subscribe and share, and if you really like our content, please leave us a review. Or we’ll haunt you forever. Thanks for listening!

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'Dreams enable us to suspend disbelief in order to live realistically within
the fantastic, as though it were true' - Tzvetan Todorov

There are endless amounts of psychological theory in this film from Freudian theory (I knowwww, I know), Lacanian commentary, Jungian archetypes, trauma despondency, fantasy as a means to cope with trauma, social theory rule, and so much more in Pan's Labyrinth.  Join Maegan as she digs deep into all of these topics and how it relates to the theme of socio-psychological struggles of a nation in the midst of war.

References:

• Thormann, J 2008, Other pasts: family romances of Pan's Labyrinth, psychoanalysis, culture & society.
• Williams, L, R 1995, Critical desire: psychoanalysis and the literary subject, Hodder Headline PLC, London.

Related episodes for even MORE content:

• Scarytale: Pan's Labyrinth
• Monsters are Good For Us: Grief & Mourning Through Horror w/ Maegan

The Clever Ghouls podcast, hosted by Maegan and Blair, is a show dedicated to watching, analyzing, and discussing the movies that make us think about them long after we’ve left the theater or turned off the TV. We bring quick wit and unique perspectives from backgrounds like art history, cinematography, psychology, analysis, public education, mysticism, mythos, and more to create a curated, inclusive conversation around the spooky movies we love. Tune in on your favorite podcast hosting platform to listen along, join the conversation, and chime in with your own observations!

Our intro and outro music was created for us by Josh Marshall. For more episodes and other spooky content, find us on your favorite social media platform through our handle: @CleverGhouls. Don’t forget to subscribe and share, and if you really like our content, please leave us a review. Or we’ll haunt you forever. Thanks for listening!

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Join Melissa as she walks us through the ins and outs of the Dark Fantasy genre. 

"Ever since I was young, though, I have ALWAYS adored dark fantasy. The worlds of Tim Burton and Jim Henson, though filled with puppets and adventure, have some incredibly dark elements that are just as nightmare inducing as those found in horror movies. They give the thrill of high stakes without hitting too close to home or making the audience feel unsafe. But what actually makes dark fantasy distinct from horror? In fact, what is even is it?" -Melissa

The Clever Ghouls podcast, hosted by Maegan and Blair, is a show dedicated to watching, analyzing, and discussing the movies that make us think about them long after we’ve left the theater or turned off the TV. We bring quick wit and unique perspectives from backgrounds like art history, cinematography, psychology, analysis, public education, mysticism, mythos, and more to create a curated, inclusive conversation around the spooky movies we love. Tune in on your favorite podcast hosting platform to listen along, join the conversation, and chime in with your own observations!

Our intro and outro music was created for us by Josh Marshall. For more episodes and other spooky content, find us on your favorite social media platform through our handle: @CleverGhouls. Don’t forget to subscribe and share, and if you really like our content, please leave us a review. Or we’ll haunt you forever. Thanks for listening!