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Do your friends roll their eyes when you bring up your favorite ghost movie? Do you instantly know the significance of a red balloon? We’re here for you. Welcome back to Drawn to Darkness, where we deep dive into our favourite horror and true crime.

In this episode, though decades have passed, Annie finally makes Caroline sit down for M. Night Shyamalan’s 1999 classic, The Sixth Sense, the movie that made “I see dead people” an instant cultural touchstone. We talk creepy dolls, inattentive parents, and claustrophobic closets. Expect tangents about 1999 as the ultimate movie year, the curse and blessing of the “Shyamalan twist,” and the legacy of Munchausen by proxy in horror. We'll cover everything from the brilliance of Haley Joel Osment’s haunted eyes, to Toni Collette’s overworked single mum realism, to Bruce Willis’ understated acting as a child psychologist.

Spoiler + Trigger Warning
We spoil the twist. Be warned! If you’ve somehow avoided spoilers for 26 years,  watch it before listening.

Discussion of child abuse, Maunchausen by proxy (medical abuse), murder and mistreatment of enslaved people, bullying, claustrophobia, hanging, gore, and lots of creepy ghosts. But don’t worry. The puppy survives.

Palate Cleanser

Need something a little lighter after all those jump scares and tragic child ghosts? 

• Taylor Swift’s full anthology – yes, the entire history. 
• John Mulaney & Friends – stand-up with Mike Birbiglia, Nick Kroll, and Fred Armisen for some much-needed comic relief after all that whispery ghost trauma.

Recommendations

• Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Because Philly!
• Lianne Moriarty's books - great twists!
•  Other great twists: Parasite, Empire Strikes Back, Fight Club, Scream, the Usual Suspects, the Prestige.
  Memento – another brilliant 90s twist that’ll fry your brain.
• Ghost stories including The Others ,Stir of Echoes (1999 twin film energy) – Kevin Bacon also sees dead people, What Lies Beneath and The Haunting of Bly Manor (Mike Flanagan) – ghost stories as memory, grief, and limbo.
• Hereditary – more Toni Collette mom horror. About a Boy and Little Miss Sunshine are also a lot of fun.
• More M. Night Shymalan movies: The Village, Signs, Split, Cabin at the End of the World
• Die Hard for Bruce Willis at his most iconic.
• Muriel’s Wedding – if you want Toni Collette but need more ABBA and fewer ghosts.
• The O.C. - Mischa Barton!
• The English sitcom Ghosts – haunted house vibes, but funny and charming.
• The Reformatory by Tananarive Due – a novel about racism, history, and a little boy who sees ghosts.
• Atonement - the novel and movie are both great)
• What we do in the Shadows - always
• What Went Wrong & Unspooled (podcasts) – deep dives into the making and legacy of The Sixth Sense.
• The podcast Ghosts in the Burbs (see episode 4)
• The Dead Zone and The Shining for Stephen King characters with powers

 Homework

Next week we pivot from ghosts to real monsters: Harvey Weinstein. Since M. Night himself referred to Weinstein as a “monster,” we’re finally covering Catch and Kill. Read Ronan Farrow’s investigation and/or listen to the podcast before our next episode. 

Thanks for joining us on this haunted Philadelphia stroll. Review us, share us with your fellow horror and true crime weirdos, and listen up if your kid starts whispering about ghosties!

Cover art by Nancy Azano @nancyazano
Music by Harry Kidd @harryjkidd
Email us: [email protected]

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This week we dive into The Act, Hulu’s dramatization of the harrowing true story of Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose Blanchard. Though many of us would fake sick for the occasional day off, this takes it to the next level. It’s a case of Munchausen’s by proxy, blurred lines between victim and perpetrator, and the disturbing question of how far someone will go for sympathy and control.

Spoiler & Trigger Warning

• Physical, emotional, and medical child abuse
• References to sex, BDSM, and needles
• Disturbing dental procedures and feeding tubes
• On-screen gore, blended pizza, and implied animal harm (guinea pigs do survive)
• Murder
• We also spoil plot details inThe Act, and discuss Mommy Dead and Dearest 

Episode Synopsis

The Act dramatizes the story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, raised by her mother Dee Dee to believe she was terminally ill. Dee Dee presented herself as a martyr-mother, fooling neighbours, charities, and doctors alike. In reality, Gypsy was healthy—isolated, infantilised, and subjected to years of unnecessary medical procedures.

We'll unpack how the show portrays Dee Dee as both abuser and, perhaps too sympathetic, and why that left us uneasy. We discuss Patricia Arquette’s chilling performance, the liberties taken with the truth (from invented guinea pigs to altered jail sentences), and Gypsy’s portrayal as both manipulated child and complicit conspirator. This episode unpacks the blurred line between self-defence and premeditated murder, and the ethical questions raised by dramatizing true crime stories without consent, the disturbing ways abuse warps morality, and the deeper horrors—exploitation, celebrity culture, systemic medical failures, and the trauma of growing up under a narcissistic parent.

Palate Cleanser:

Head to TikTok for the Hamilton trend where creators don powdered wigs, leap out of windows, and lip-sync to “come back to sleep, I have an early meeting out of town.” It’s the collective silliness and joy we all need.

Recommendations:

Podcasts

• Wine and Crime — Episode 6 covers Munchausen’s, a dark but entertaining gateway into the show.
• Nobody Should Believe Me (by Andrea Dunlop) — each season covers a different case of Munchausen’s by proxy/medical child abuse.
• My Favorite Murder (Episode 47, “Live at the Bellhouse”) — the Blanchard case meets true crime comedy with guest appearances from LPOTL.
• The Viall Files — January 2024 episode features Gypsy Rose and her (now ex-) husband reflecting just weeks after her prison release.

Documentaries & TV

• Mommy Dead and Dearest — sanctioned by Gypsy, offering a more factual perspective.
• Take Care of Maya — Munchausen’s or systemic medical failure?
• The Curious Case of Natalia Grace — blurred lines between victimhood and manipulation.
• Run — horror film starring Sarah Paulson as a mother and her wheelchair-bound daughter.
• Sharp Objects (book and show) — another toxic mother-daughter dynamic.
• Misery —  caretaker turned captor.

For fans of the actors 

• The Conjuring, Severance, Stigmata, American Vandal, Silence of the Lambs, Never Have I Ever, Kids, Zodiac, American Psycho and more! 

Homework Assignment

Our next episode is The Sixth Sense. Longer-term: read Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow (because the cover-up is the crime, or at least part of it).

Special thanks to Nancy Azano for our cover art (Instagram: @nancyazano) and Harry Kidd for composing our opening scor

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Do your friends think you’re weird because you like horror and true crime? Then join us on Drawn to Darkness.

In this episode, we discuss Carrie, Stephen King's infamous debut novel—and the one that almost didn’t make it out of the trash can. That is, until Tabitha King fished it out and told her husband to keep going. Good thing she did. Without Carrie, we might not have had Pennywise, Annie Wilkes, or even Stranger Things.

We unpack the horror and tragedy of Carrie White: a telekinetic teenage girl, bullied by her peers and tormented by her mother, whose one night of hope at prom ends in fire, death, and devastation. In classic Drawn to Darkness fashion, we dig into the literary structure, cultural influence, and why Carrie is as much a horror story as it is a heartbreaking critique of bullying, abuse, and the cost of being "other." Plus, we take a deep dive into the controversial characters of Sue, Tommy, Chris (to quote Leo, “you’re not that great”), and perhaps the worst literary mother of all time, Margaret White. And don’t forget shout-outs to 90210, Shakespeare, Stranger Things, and The Incredibles.

Spoiler + Trigger Warning

This episode discusses, school massacres, domestic abuse and religious trauma, periods and menstrual shaming, animal abuse (pigs and dogs), violence against children, rape and sexual repression, references to real-world school shootings

And yes—there are full plot spoilers for Carrie.

Palate Cleanser

Stormtrooper Vlogs (TikTok): A hilarious, AI-generated POV series from the Star Wars universe. Check out @StormtrooperVlogz 

Recommendations

If you want more telekinetic girls, murderous proms, or religious zealots, here’s where to go next:

• Carrie - Watch the film adaptations!
• On Writing by Stephen King – For the origin story of Carrie and King's writing wisdom
• The Institute, Dr Sleep, and The Shining – More King kids with powers
• FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven – For another epistolary narrative
•  Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist – Vampires, bullying, and revenge
• Mary by Nat Cassidy – Carrie, but menopausal.
• Mean Girls, Pretty in Pink, Napoleon Dynamite, Ever After – Prom movies, with less carnage
• Stranger Things – 11 is  Carrie if she only had friends
• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson – For raining rocks, ghosts, and trauma
• Talking Scared Podcast -Neil McRobert’s episode on Carrie.

Homework:

Watch The Act on Hulu for another abusive mother Dee Dee Blanchard, and her eventual murder planned by her daughter Gypsy Rose.

Special thanks to Nancy Azano for providing our cover art. You can find her on Instagram @nancyazano. 

And Harry Kidd for composing and recording our opening score. His instagram is @harryjkidd and you can check him out on Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/artist/43BiFkkOHykD8n9g4z0Qd7

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“This cult has everything.” – Caroline, channeling Stefon from SNL,  before we unpack the many strange and disturbing facets of the four-part docuseries Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults, and one of America’s most infamous mass suicides. This cult mixes a strange blend of UFO mythology, musical theatre and the apocalypse. Starting with a light-hearted chat about what kinds of cults we might actually fall for (spoiler: cats, lots of TV, introvert-friendly, and insomnia-curing ones), we'll explore how a desire for belonging, meaning, and transcendence can be exploited by supposedly charismatic leaders like Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles. Expect deep dives into gender erasure, alienation, as well as strange footwear and last meal choices.

We examine the playbook of cult recruitment, the trauma left behind, and the sobering reminder that nobody joins a cult—they're vulnerable and join something that seems like it might save them.

Trigger warning:

genital mutilation, mass suicide, religion, cults, abuse, and sexual repression

Palate cleanser:

Need something lighter after all that darkness? Check out @ozzymanreviews, an Australian TikTok/YouTube voiceover creator who narrates animal videos in hilarious accents.

If you liked this try:

• Sounds like a Cult the podcast, 
• Mike Flanagan's film, Dr. Sleep (trigger warning for traumatic death of a child). 
• For Marshall Applewhite's faves, try Star Trek, the Sound of Music, the X-Files, 
• Under the Banner of Heaven ( true crime nonfiction meets religion).
• The Handmaid's Tale and Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler 
• Midsummer (more cult vibes)
• The novel In the Clearing (fictionalized version of the Australian cult the Family). 
• Tower of Babylon by Ted Chiang (a story of a society that believes heaven is a real place in the sky and build a tower to reach it)
• The Boy Who was Raised as a Dog  (impact of childhood trauma by a psychologist who worked with kids from the branch Davidian cult).
• Yellowjackets. 1984 (group think)
• More cults: The Vow, Love Has Won, and The Way Down.

Homework: Inspired by the shaming of sex and religious extremism, our next episode subject Stephen King's first iconic novel Carrie.

Special thanks to Nancy Azano for providing our cover art. You can find her on Instagram @nancyazano. 

And Harry Kidd for composing and recording our opening score. His Instagram is @harryjkidd and you can also find him on Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/artist/43BiFkkOHykD8n9g4z0Qd7

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Would you have gone back for a bigger boat? Then join us on Drawn to Darkness for our summer special. This week we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the movie that made people afraid to step into the ocean—and sometimes even a pool or a bath. That’s right, we’re diving into Jaws, Steven Spielberg’s 1975 man-versus-monster masterpiece.

Spoiler & Trigger Warning: 

This episode contains discussion of implied dog death (though we have a theory that Pippit lived), on-screen gore, severed limbs, and the death of a child. We also spoil key plot details from Jaws. C'mon, it's fifty years old. Watch it already.

Episode Synopsis

Half a century on, Jaws still holds its grip on audiences, and on our primal fear of what lurks in the water. In this episode, we revisit Bruce, the mechanical shark that broke down, the shoot that gave a 26-year-old Spielberg near-PTSD, and the story of an island community choosing profit over safety. We unpack why Jaws is both a comfort movie and a terror, and how it helped launch the blockbuster era while cementing John Williams’s two-note score as an instant anxiety trigger.

From Chrissy’s harrowing night swim to the USS Indianapolis speech, from small-town politics to the shark’s final “smile you son of a —” showdown with Chief Brody, we explore the craft, the cultural impact, and the deeper horrors beneath the surface—corruption, denial, and the villainisation of sharks. Expect personal beach stories (one of used to play Chrissy Watkins' death on the beach), discussions about whether Jaws counts as horror, and affectionate deep-dives into our love for Brody, Hooper, Quint, Ellen, and every scene-stealing side character (yes, even Mrs. Taft and that guy who pushed children underwater to escape a fake shark).

Palate Cleanser

Apple TV’s The Studio — a funny, meta, star-packed celebration of cinema featuring Seth Rogen, Catherine O’Hara, Kathryn Hahn, and Bryan Cranston.

Recommendations:

Podcasts:

• Unspooled — their Jaws episode and the How Did This Get Made? episode on Jaws: The Revenge and Deep Blue Sea
• The Dollop episode 210 “New Jersey Shark Attacks” with the hosts of My Favorite Murder Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
• Beyond Jaws — a podcast where real-life marine biologists discuss sharks, science, and cinema
• Let’s Jaws for a Minute — a deep dive podcast dissecting Jaws one minute at a time

Movies, TV shows, books and more:

• All the shark movies! Deep Blue Sea, The Meg, The Shallows, Open Water, The Reef, Sharknado, Crawl. 
• From Russia with Love (for a very different Robert Shaw)
• Hot Fuzz — outsider cop vs. small-town corruption
• Midnight Mass - watch it then listen to episode 7 of Drawn to Darkness 
• Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
• I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916 by Lauren Tarshis
• The Lady of the Dunes documentary (case recently solved)
• The daily jaws website

Homework Assignment

Next episode: Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults (HBO Max) — watch ahead so you can join us for the discussion. After that: Carrie, the novel by Stephen King. Longer-term: read Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow (because the cover-up is the crime, or at least part of it).

Special thanks to Nancy Azano for our cover art (Instagram: @nancyazano) and Harry Kidd for composing our opening score  on spotify and Instagram:

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Welcome back to Drawn to Darkness. In this episode, we take on Mike Flanagan’s Midnight Mass, a seven-episode horror drama that’s equal parts theological meditation and vampire apocalypse. Set in a dying island town with economic and emotional wounds, the show explores what happens when miracles start to occur—at a terrible cost.

We dive deep into the show’s literary devices, biblical allusions, long monologues, and that slow burn of dread. We also fangirl over gorgeous Riley and hate-watch Bev Keen’s every move. This episode also asks some biggest questions: Who deserves a miracle? Is it pro-Catholic? And seriously—why would anyone think that thing is an angel?

This one’s for the horror lovers who like their vampires sacrilegious, their theology terrifying, and their tears existential.

Trigger Warnings:

• Suicide
• Miscarriage
• Fatal car accidents
• Animal cruelty (cats and dogs)
• Religious trauma and anti-Catholic sentiment
• Cult dynamics and mass suicide

Palate Cleanser:

What We Do in the Shadows (TV series & movie) – If Midnight Mass drained your soul, this vampire comedy will resurrect it.
I ♥ Huckabees – Caroline’s weird, philosophical comfort film. Existential dread, but fun.
Smash Mouth’s “All Star” translated into Aramaic and back into English. Check it out!

So many recommendations! 

If you liked Midnight Mass, try:

• The Haunting of Hill House and Bligh Manor, Fall of the House of Usher (Mike Flanagan’s best work)
• The Exorcist (original film & lore)
• Salem’s Lot by Stephen King, Interview with the Vampire and 30 Days of Night – Vampires + isolation = terror
• Hellbound (Korean Netflix horror about angels, cults, and death countdowns)
• “Hell is the Absence of God” by Ted Chiang (for a more literary pairing)
• The Crucible by Arthur Miller
• The Reach (a beautiful Stephen King short story–not horror!)
• Fleabag (for the Hot Priest)
• Mystic Pizza, ET, Friday Night Lights – for young actors from Midnight Mass
• Jaws (for island insider outsider dynamics)
• 7, scream X-Files (all referenced in Midnight Mass)
• The Perfect Storm
• Erin Brockovich (for that oil spill class action energy)
• Passages podcast (especially their Twilight season – very funny snark)

Homework Assignment:

Jaws Summer special! And the week after that we'll discuss Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults (HBO docuseries). Meanwhile, start reading Carrie by Stephen King and down the track Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow.

If you delight in what you fear, you’re in the right place. Like, subscribe, rate and review. Tell a fellow horror nerd, follow us on Instagram: @DrawnToDarknessPod or email us at [email protected]. We’ll see you in two weeks.

Special thanks to Nancy Azano for providing our cover art. You can find her on Instagram @nancyazano. 

And Harry Kidd for composing and recording our opening score. His Instagram is @harryjkidd and you can also find him on Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/artist/43BiFkkOHykD8n9g4z0Qd7

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This week on Drawn to Darkness, we take on a film that’s less ghost story, more gut punch: the 2015 Oscar-winning film Spotlight, based on the Boston Globe investigation that exposed widespread child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church—and the systems that kept it hidden.

We talk about the horror that doesn’t wear a mask or carry a chainsaw, but instead wears vestments and smiles from the pulpit. This is a conversation about truth, trauma, intergenerational trauma, and the power—and limits—of journalism. Don’t expect jump scares, but do expect chills, and a personal bombshell about a childhood priest. We talk newsroom nostalgia, Boston accents, Mark Ruffalo’s hair, and how Stanley Tucci always, always understands the assignment. This one’s heavy. But it’s important. 

Spoiler and Trigger Warning:
In addition to spoilers, this episode contains discussion of child sexual abuse and grooming, the Catholic Church's systemic cover-ups, PTSD and trauma. Listener discretion is advised.

Palate Cleanser:
TikTok accounts that get New England right:

• @ian.brownhill (New England state stereotypes)
• @grewupinnewengland (Boston-accent movie reviews)
• Seth Meyers’ Boston Accent parody trailer – because someone’s gotta make fun of the vowels: https://youtu.be/rLwbzGyC6t4?si=g4WdjM34NuyemEaw
• Newsies – journalistic underdogs and Bill Pullman singing? Five stars.
• Mean Girls – for some Rachel McAdams joy. 

Recommendations:

If you want to go deeper (and darker):

• Betrayal: The Crisis in the Catholic Church – detailed, intense, devastating
•  Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s – intergenerational trauma and justice in Canada’s residential schools
• Casefile Ep. 34 – "The Catholic Mafia" in Australia’s rural Victoria
• The Keepers – Netflix docuseries about Sister Cathy and institutional silence
•  Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow – powerful journalism vs. the real monsters amongst us
•  Zodiac, Primal Fear, and Mystic River – all about corruption, silence, and long shadows
• The Wire Season 5 – newsroom decline, moral lines, and Tom McCarthy as a dishonest reporter
• Scream – to remember where Liev Schreiber’s spooky streak began

Homework Assignment:
Next episode, we’ll be watching Midnight Mass, the haunting Netflix series by Mike Flanagan. It’s got everything: Catholic guilt, creepy islands, mysterious priests, and slow-burn horror. Seven episodes. Bring wine. (But maybe not communion wine.)

Bonus heads-up: In about six weeks, we’ll be reading Stephen King’s Carrie. Yes, that Carrie. Start placing your library holds now, folks.

Thanks for listening. Subscribe, leave us a review, and send us your feedback stories at [email protected].

Special thanks to Nancy Azano for providing our cover art. You can find her on Instagram @nancyazano. 

And Harry Kidd for composing and recording our opening score. His Instagram is @harryjkidd and you can also find him on Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/artist/43BiFkkOHykD8n9g4z0Qd7

Send us Fan Mail

Do your friends think you’re weird because you find slasher films relaxing and can drift off into a dreamless sleep after a serial killer documentary? We're here for you. Welcome back to Drawn to Darkness, the podcast where we deep dive on our favourite horror and true crime. In this episode, we’re discussing Ghosts in the Burbs, Liz Sauer’s delightfully creepy podcast that reads like Real Housewives meets The Exorcist and Poltergeist—with a little Pinterest board, Joanna Gaines envy on the side.

Liz interviews neighbors in the New England suburb of Wellesley, Massachusetts—a place dripping in generational wealth, expensive taste, and terrifying ghost stories. We unpack everything from Ouija boards to tapping poltergeists, demonic possessions, fashion envy, Catholic guilt, and why (the mayonnaise of) motherhood might be the scariest horror trope of all. These first 8 episodes of GITB include bunk beds, suburban covens, privileged moms with dark secrets, and one very creepy paint scraper. Expect relatable mom confessions, literary tangents, and a little real talk about envy, privilege, and why we’re drawn to darkness in the first place. Also, one of us may or may not have ordered Domino’s while pregnant from a doctor's office parking lot.

Spoiler alert and Trigger warning:
We cover the first 8 (or is it 9?) episodes of Ghosts in the Burbs and yes, there are major plot spoilers ahead. This episode includes discussion of post-partum depression, home invasions, trauma and PTSD, sexual assault (in the context of Back to the Future, Catholicism and possession.

Palate Cleanser
Amy Poehler’s new podcast. For when you want funny, low-key conversations that aren’t haunted. (Bonus: Paul Rudd talking about Wet Hot American Summer. You’re welcome.)

Also: Back to the Future. Yes, there’s an upsetting scene. But seriously, it’s a perfect movie.

Recommendations if you like Ghosts in the Burbs:

• Come Closer by Sara Gran – possession horror
• The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty – the iconic possession story that inspired decades of demonic media
• The Winter People and The Invited by Jennifer McMahon – Vermont coziness meets ghostly secrets
• The Sundown Motel by Simone St. James – 80s ghosts, missing girls, twin timelines
• The Conjuring – Classic haunted house vibes  (with jump scares!)
• The Ice Storm (film) – wealthy suburban repression and tragedy in 1970s New England
• Radio Rental – real-life horror stories that sound too strange to be true
• The ‘Burbs (1989) – Tom Hanks suburban paranoia done right
• Scared to Death – A podcast of paranormal stories with a creepy-fun twist and delightful husband and wife banter

Homework: 

Next week, we shift from fictional ghost stories to real-life horrors. Your assignment? Pour a drink of anything but chardonnay (Joking! Like what you like!), dim the lights, and watch Spotlight, Tom McCarthy’s Oscar-winning film about the Boston Globe’s investigation into clergy abuse. This one’s heavy but important.

Thanks for joining us on this haunted suburban stroll. Review us, share with your fellow horror and true crime weirdos, and remember—if you find yourself considering buying a haunted designer handbag on Facebook Marketplace, maybe just close the app.

Special thanks to Nancy Azano for providing our cover art. You can find her on Instagram @nancyazano. 

And Harry Kidd for composing and recording our opening score. His Instagram is @harryjkidd and you can also find him on Spotify. https://open.spotify.com

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Could you live in a house where dozens of people were murdered? What if it came with  an indoor pool? And mannequins? In this episode, we unravel the deeply disturbing true crime docuseries The Fox Hollow Murders, revisiting the case of suspected serial killer Herb Baumeister. With 10,000 bones scattered among his forested property, and a current homeowner named Rob Graves (yep, really). I mean, who buys a murder mansion? 

We explore the ethics of true crime storytelling, and the unnerving interview that left us both speechless (hi, Mark Goodyear).  It's a chilling exploration of unsettling grins and sausage fingers, but more importantly police negligence, social stigma, and what happens when society decides some victims just don’t matter. At the same time, there’s a hope because of heroes like coroner Jeff Jellison who refuses to give up and believes everyone matters.

Spoiler alert and trigger warning:
This episode features graphic discussions of murder, police negligence, and deeply unsettling behavior (and yes, mannequins). Listener discretion is advised.

Recommendations

• The Jinx (bone-chilling confessions on mic)
• House of Wax (2005) (creepy mannequin energy)
• Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (real horror, tough to stomach)
• I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara (dogged investigation, real impact)
• Making a Murderer (messy timelines and corrupt systems)
• True Crime Obsessed Podcast (lighter takes on grim cases)
• The Keepers (systemic cover-ups and buried truths)

Palate Cleansers

• The Other Two (TV series)
• Cadaver Dogs, or really any dog.  Forget about stopping to smell the roses. Stop and pat a dog.

Homework

Ghosts in the Burbs (Episodes 1–9)  Because after a haunted pool, Mark Goodyear’s smile, and 10,000 bones, we’re ready for ghost stories that are spooky, cosy, and more fun than frightening.

As always, tell your friends, leave a review on iTunes, email your thoughts (or mannequin-related nightmares) to [email protected]. Until next time, trust your gut, pat a dog, and maybe don’t buy a house where people were murdered in the pool. See you in two weeks on Drawn to Darkness.

Special thanks to Nancy Azano for providing our cover art. You can find her on Instagram @nancyazano. 

And Harry Kidd for composing and recording our opening score. His Instagram is @harryjkidd and you can also find him on Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/artist/43BiFkkOHykD8n9g4z0Qd7

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Do you still check the backseat before driving? Are you worried the call is coming from inside the house? Welcome back to Drawn to Darkness, the podcast where we explore our obsessions with horror and true crime. This week, we dissect It Follows—David Robert Mitchell’s dreamy, dread-drenched indie horror film about a sexually transmitted curse that never stops walking… slowly… toward you. We dive into horror tropes, uncomfortable symbolism, the ethics of passing on the curse, and whether being beautiful makes you safer—or just a more convenient carrier. We break down its ambiguous setting, genre-bending aesthetic (Napoleon Dynamite-meets-80s slasher film?), and the eerie effectiveness of slow, silent menace. We debate a baffling pool plan, and whether you should sleep with strangers to stay alive (spoiler: we vote no), whether aging or assault is the true horror, and get very creeped out by the Tall Man. And just for fun, this episode hearkens back to our 90s teen years, with references to Dawson’s Creek,  90210, Jordan Catalano, and the Backstreet Boys. 

Spoiler alert and trigger warning: 

This episode contains spoilers and mentions of sexual assault and suicide, and the film has gruesome imagery, stalking, sexual assault, and jump scares.

Recommendations If You Liked It Follows:

• Terminator 1 & 2 (another unrelenting hunter)
• Charade (just because the characters watch it)
• Barbarian, 8 Mile, & Don’t Breathe (grim Detroit vibes + housing horror)
• The Ring (unstoppable supernatural curse)
• Let the Right One In (slow-burn horror + pool finale)
• Smile (cursed by trauma)
• Urban Legend, Scream, & Disturbing Behavior (90s teen horror nostalgia)
• Friday the 13th / Halloween (slasher canon)

Palate Cleanser:

Feeling haunted? Rewatch Season 1 of Schitt’s Creek. It’s joyful and full of Alexis energy. Also, shout-out to Toy Story 2—because after forensic files, you need those bloopers.

Homework:

Watch The Fox Hollow Murders. As always, tell your friends, leave a review on iTunes, email your thoughts (or mannequin-related nightmares) to [email protected].. See you in two weeks on Drawn to Darkness.

Special thanks to Nancy Azano for providing our cover art. You can find her on Instagram @nancyazano. 

And Harry Kidd for composing and recording our opening score. His Instagram is @harryjkidd and you can also find him on Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/artist/43BiFkkOHykD8n9g4z0Qd7

Want more analysis of It Follows? 

https://henridecorinth.wordpress.com/2015/03/31/on-mitchells-it-follows-2014-literary-allusions/

https://the-artifice.com/it-follows/