Faculty of Horror

By Andrea Subissati and Alexandra West

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Typical duration
54 min
per episode

Based on Podcast App listening data

Faculty of Horror episodes

February 26, 2019 Episode 70. Man Eater: Ravenous (1999)
Andrea and Alex head West to explore the notions of Manifest Destiny and the Frontier Myth in Antonia Bird’s Ravenous. Combining historical context through a modern gaze, Ravenous proves you are who you eat.
REQUIRED READING
Ravenous. Dir. Antonia Bird, 1999.
EXTRA CREDIT
Manifest Destiny – An overview of the philosophical American mandate to head West.
Cannibal (2006) – a German film based on the true story of Armin Meiwes, who ate a man he met online.
“You Are Who You Eat” – Bitch Flicks’ essay on Ravenous, with a discussion on how it handles “manpain.”
Frontier Violence – NYT 1974 article on Richard Slotkin’s recontextualization of the American Frontier Myth.
Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature, by Margaret Atwood.
A Tribe Called Red – Canadian Indigenous rap group.
Tanya Tagaq – Canadian Inuk throat singer.
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0 min
January 28, 2019 Episode 69: The Fack Lives!: 2018 Year in Review
Andrea and Alex return for their annual year in review episode. From their favourite films of 2018 to FAQs and bloopers, few stones are left unturned… and those are probably haunted anyway.
EXTRA CREDIT
Alex’s Favourite Films of 2018:
Suspiria
Pyewacket
Annihilation
Assassination Nation
Cam

Andrea’s Favourite Films of 2018:
Suspiria
Hereditary
Assassination Nation
Tigers are Not Afraid
Summer of ’84

Alex’s Horror-Adjacent Film Faves:
Border
Sorry to Bother You
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch

Books mentions:
Be sure to check out the Faculty of Horror Reading List!
Wasteland: The Great War and the Origins of Modern Horror by W. Scott Poole
Different Seasons by Stephen King
The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum
The Troop by Nick Cutter
Bird Box by Josh Malerman

Other sources mentioned:
TIFF Long Take podcast
Gaylords of Darkness podcast
In Conversation with Paul Schrader – An interview from New York Magazine’s Vulture about the state of the film industry and how players like Netflix and Hulu are mining our algorithms.
LISTEN
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0 min
January 28, 2019 Episode 69: The Fack Lives!: 2018 Year in Review
Andrea and Alex return for their annual year in review episode. From their favourite films of 2018 to FAQs and bloopers, few stones are left unturned… and those are probably haunted anyway.
EXTRA CREDIT
Alex’s Favourite Films of 2018:
Suspiria
Pyewacket
Annihilation
Assassination Nation
Cam
Andrea’s Favourite Films of 2018:
Suspiria
Hereditary
Assassination Nation
Tigers are Not Afraid
Summer of ’84
Alex’s Horror-Adjacent Film Faves:
Border
Sorry to Bother You
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch
Books mentions:
Be sure to check out the Faculty of Horror Reading List!
Wasteland: The Great War and the Origins of Modern Horror by W. Scott Poole
Different Seasons by Stephen King
The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum
The Troop by Nick Cutter
Bird Box by Josh Malerman
Other sources mentioned:
TIFF Long Take podcast
Gaylords of Horror podcast
In Conversation with Paul Schrader – An interview from New York Magazine’s Vulture about the state of the film industry and how players like Netflix and Hulu are mining our algorithms.
LISTEN
Right click or option-click here and choose “Save Target As…” to download the mp3.
2 hr 1 min
December 24, 2018 Episode 68. House Proud: Mother! (2017)
Andrea and Alex break down the foundational elements of Darren Aronofsky’s divisive mother! From authorship to ecofeminism to sink instillation, few stones are left unturned or unexamined.
REQUIRED READING
mother! Dir. Darren Aronofsky, 2017.
EXTRA CREDIT
What is Ecofeminism? An overview of the term that rose to prominence in the 1970s.

The Death of the Author by Roland Barthes. Barthes’ influential piece on the declining importance of God-like authorship.

The Directors Cut Podcast, episode 90. Aronofsky interviewed by William Friedkin about mother!

IndieWire Filmmaker Toolkit podcast, episode 47. Aronofsky on the process and ideology behind mother!

“The Yellow Wall-Paper.” Charlotte Perkins Stetson’s scandalous novella from 1892.
LISTEN
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November 28, 2018 Episode 67. Where is my mind: The Stepford Wives (1975) and Get Out (2017)
This month, Andrea and Alex tackle two films whose hearts lie in the darkest, most secret parts of suburban utopia. In Bryan Forbes’ The Stepford Wives and Jordan Peele’s Get Out, we follow protagonists who are socialized to make room for the privileged and examine what happens when they strike back.
REQUIRED READING
The Stepford Wives. Dir Bryan Forbes, 1975.
Get Out. Dir Jordan Peele, 2017.
EXTRA CREDIT
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. The second-wave feminism manifesto that examines “the problem that has no name.”

The 21st century cult of domesticity. As relevant today as ever.

The Cyborg Mystique. Anna Krugovoy Silver’s examination of the opposing and overlapping views in The Feminine Mystique and The Stepford Wives.
How to Dress Like a Stepford Wife. Great fashion advice without a trace of irony.
On Photography by Susan Sontag. Sontag’s influential treatise on photography and its power.
Capitol Couture via ladyhellbat.com. In which Andrea gets her Hunger Games in a twist.
Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from the 1890s to Present by Robin R Means Coleman. A history and analysis of blackness in horror cinema.
HORROR BLACKADEMICS: THE GET OUT (2017) SYLLABUS. Graveyard Shift Sister’s compilation of essays about Get Out.
The Horror, The Horror: “Get Out” And The Place of Race in Scary Movies. NPR’s Code Switch’s episode on Get Out and race in horror.
Jordan Peele on Why Get Out Is an Important Movie. Oprah’s interview with Jordan Peele.
‘Horror Noire’ Author Robin R. Means Coleman: The Horror News Network WiHM Interview. An interview with Means Coleman about horror, her book and Get Out.
Surveilling the City: Whiteness, the Black Man and Democratic Totalitarianism. John Fiske’s examination of the normalization of Whiteness through surveillance.
Whitopia: My Trip Through the Whitest Towns in America. Rich Benjamin’s TED talk about his experience living in the fast-growing white communities in America.

Why Hollywood’s White Savior Obsession Is an Extension of Colonialism. An examination of the problematic trope embedded in numerous popular films.

The White-Savior Industrial Complex. How the White Savior trope is embedded in day-to-day life.
LISTEN
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2 hr 5 min
November 03, 2018 Episode 66. Personal Hell: The House of the Devil (2009)
Join Andrea and Alex live at Salem Horror Fest! In this episode they tackle Ti West’s The House of the Devil and it’s reliance on the 1980s Satanic Panic movement. From modern technology to notions of the real and unreal, how much of the devil is in the details?
REQUIRED READING
The House of the Devil. Dir. Ti West, 2009.
EXTRA CREDIT
The history of Satanic Panic in the US — and why it’s not over yet Vox’s piece on the enduring impact of the Satanic Panic in the US.
Satanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s Spectacular Optical’s deep dive into the cultural influence of Satanic Panic.
The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Walter Benjamin’s 1936 article delving into the notions of authenticity and aura in works of art.
LISTEN
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1 hr 7 min
September 26, 2018 Episode 65. Smells Like Teen Spirit: The Faculty (1998)
When it’s up to the misfits of Harrington High to stop the parasite-infected faculty from taking over the world, mayhem ensues. Alex and Andrea cut through the muck with a discussion on The Faculty‘s position in the ’90s teen horror cycle, the sociology of high school, and what happens when marketing partnership go awry.
REQUIRED READING
The Faculty. Dir. Robert Rodriguez, 1998.
EXTRA CREDIT
Class of 2018 t-shirts. Limited edition Faculty of Horror t-shirts are only available for a short time! Order yours today.
Salem Horror Fest. We’ll be back October 12-14! Get your tickets now.
Pajama Horror Gala. The Faculty of Horror’s weekly Chat Group has a podcast of its own! Site is still under construction but check it out and be sure to subscribe!
Tommy Jeans ’90s TV spot. The ad that did the opposite of what it was supposed to.
Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids by Murray Milner; an in-depth and accessible look at the life of the American teen.
The 1990s Teen Horror Cycle, Alex’s book which features a discussion of The Faculty among many other films from that era.
LISTEN
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0 min
September 26, 2018 Episode 65. Smells Like Teen Spirit: The Faculty (1998)
When it’s up to the misfits of Harrington High to stop the parasite-infected faculty from taking over the world, mayhem ensues. Alex and Andrea cut through the muck with a discussion on The Faculty‘s position in the ’90s teen horror cycle, the sociology of high school, and what happens when marketing partnership go awry.
REQUIRED READING
The Faculty. Dir. Robert Rodriguez, 1998.
EXTRA CREDIT
Class of 2018 t-shirts. Limited edition Faculty of Horror t-shirts are only available for a short time! Order yours today.
Salem Horror Fest. We’ll be back October 12-14! Get your tickets now.
Pajama Horror Gala. The Faculty of Horror’s weekly Chat Group has a podcast of its own! Site is still under construction but check it out and be sure to subscribe!
Tommy Jeans ’90s TV spot. The ad that did the opposite of what it was supposed to.
Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids by Murray Milner; an in-depth and accessible look at the life of the American teen.
The 1990s Teen Horror Cycle, Alex’s book which features a discussion of The Faculty among many other films from that era.
LISTEN
Right click or option-click here and choose “Save Target As…” to download the mp3.
1 hr 2 min
July 30, 2018 Episode 64. Tour de Farce: Young Frankenstein (1974) and What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Horror can be horrifying, but it can also be hilarious. Whether it’s mad science or vampires living together, the comedy in these films heightens the absurd as well as our notions of “typical” behavior. At its best, comedy and horror function as a subversion of our day to day lives and expectations enlightening us to the strange elements that we’ve accepted as “normal.”
REQUIRED READING
Young Frankenstein. Dir. Mel Brooks, 1974.
What We Do in the Shadows. Dir Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, 2014.
EXTRA CREDIT
Class of 2018 t-shirts. Limited edition Faculty of Horror t-shirts are available until September from Twisted Ts through the end of September! Order yours today.
Salem Horror Fest. We’ll be back October 12-14! Get your tickets now.
The Sunday Conversation: Mel Brooks on his ‘Young Frankenstein’ musical Brooks on the inception of Young Frankenstein and its afterlife.
What We Do In The Shadows Interview: Taika Waititi And Jemaine Clement An interview with the filmmakers about their process and reception of the film.
Faculty of Horror subreddit. Keep the conversation going on our subreddit page.
LISTEN
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1 hr 23 min
June 19, 2018 Episode 63. Play Dead: Funny Games (1997)
What constitutes a film? What constitutes a podcast episode description? Andrea and Alex ask these questions (okay, maybe not that last one) and more in this month’s episode. By plundering the depths of filmic conventions, audience expectations and interpersonal contracts, Michael Haneke’s Funny Games asks the hard questions for which there are many answers.
REQUIRED READING
Funny Games. Dir. Michael Haneke, 1997.
EXTRA CREDIT
Class of 2018 t-shirts. Limited edition Faculty of Horror t-shirts are available until September from Twisted Ts through the end of September! Order yours today.
Salem Horror Fest. We’ll be back October 12-14! Get your tickets now.
Faculty of Horror subreddit. Keep the conversation going on our subreddit page.
The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life by Erving Goffman. Symbolic interactionism and dramaturgical analysis.
Bertolt Brecht. Avant-garde theatre practioner who believed in distancing an audience to encourage rational thought over emotional engagement.
Anne Dufourmantelle. The Philosophy of Hospitality. An exploration of the people involved in the dynamics of hospitality.
Jacques Derrida on Hospitality. The French philosopher’s take on the conditional and unconditional concepts of hospitality.
The 1990s Teen Horror Cycle. Alex’s new book is available now through McFarland Books!
LISTEN
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0 min