For the Gothic Heroine

What happens when R. L. Stine- or possibly his ghost writer- tries his hand at historical fiction? We'll be looking at the Fear Street Sagas, the place where teens in the nineties went for over the top gothic horror.

Recommended Media

Film: The House of Seven Gables (1940)

Books:

Betrayal: The Betrayal; The Secret; The Burning (collection) by R. L. Stine

House of Whispers by R. L. Stine

The Sign of Fear by R. L. Stine

The Hidden Evil by R. L. Stine

Daughters of Silence by R. L. Stine

Dance of Death by R. L. Stine

The Awakening Evil by R. L. Stine

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Credits

Ambiant music is by Marc v/d Meulen and TeutalHQ on youtube. Intro and outro music is by Station 61. Podcast artwork is by Dana Veitinger.

Audio clip used is from The Rocky Horror Show Studio Cast.

Let's look at the granddaughter of the gothic heroine: the survivor of slasher horror movies. The term Final Girl was coined in the book Men, Women and Chainsaws, but it has come a long way since then. Our very first Patreon-sponsored episode!

Recommended Media

Books:

Men, Women and Chainsaws by Carol J. Clover

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Films:

Halloween (1978)

Nightmare on Elm Street

Wes Craven's New Nightmare

Alien

Aliens

The Phantom of the Opera (1989)

Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)

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Credits

Ambiant music is by Marc v/d Meulen on youtube. Intro and outro music is by Station 61. Podcast artwork is by Dana Veitinger.

Audio clips used are from The Rocky Horror Show Studio Cast, Aliens, Halloween (1978), Friday the 13th trailer, Siskel and Ebert Sneak Previews, and Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933.)

Just in time for Halloween, we'll be looking at the classic 1960s horror movies based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, starring Vincent Price, and directed by Roger Corman.

Recommended Media:

Books:

The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe

Films:

House of Usher

The Pit and the Pendulum

The Raven

Tales of Terror

The Haunted Palace

Masque of the Red Death

The Tomb of Ligeia

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Credits

Ambient music for this episode is by NCM Epic Music Ender Guney on youtube. Intro and outro music is by Station 61. Podcast artwork is by Dana Veitinger.

Audio clips used are from The Rocky Horror Show Studio Cast, BFI Youtube Channel, House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Raven, Tales of Terror, The Haunted Palace, Masque of the Red Death, and The Tomb of Ligeia.

It's time for a big topic: gothic romance novels! I'll be tackling the history of books with women running from houses on their covers, from the 1790s to the 1970s. We'll talk about love and horror, cliche and innovation, feminism and conservatism, and all the other contradictions of the genre.

Recommended Media

Books:

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

The Italian by Anne Radcliffe

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

The Shivering Sands by Victoria Holt

Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart

Lord Satan by Janet Louise Roberts

The Lost Duchess of Greyden Castle by Nina Coombs Pykare

Dark Desires by Eve Silver

Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendrix

The Female Gothic edited by Juianne Fleenor

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Credits

Ambient music for this episode is by NCM Epic Music Ender Guney on youtube. Intro and outro music is by Station 61. Podcast artwork is by Dana Veitinger.

Audio clips in this episode are from The Rocky Horror Show Studio Cast.

This week, we'll take a look at the legacy of the book Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal. With two very successful adaptations- the film Kind Hearts and Coronets and the musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder- this tale of a disowned son murdering his way through the family tree brings up questions of class, ethnicity, morality and the nature of villainy.

Recommended media:

Book: Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal by Roy Horniman

Book: The Contested Castle by Kate Ferguson Ellis

Film: Kind Hearts and Coronets

Music: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder Original Broadway Cast

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Credits

Ambient music in this episode is by SirmXe on https://freesound.org/people/SirmXe/sounds/79974/ and Dee Yan-Key on https://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Chamber_Music/. Intro and outro music is by Station 61. Podcast artwork is by Dana Veitinger.

Audio clips used are from The Rocky Horror Show Studio Cast, Kind Hearts and Coronets, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder Original Broadway Cast, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Some movies are hardboiled crime stories, some are gothic horror, and some are a little of both. In this episode, I look at film noir bearing the hallmarks of the gothic- especially those with gothic heroines!

For a story of showing a gaslighter the film Gaslight, look here: https://np.reddit.com/r/relationships/comments/35qlo3/update_my_22f_boyfriend_25m_is_hiding_all_my

Recommended Media

Book: The Contested Castle by Kate Ferguson Ellis

Films:

Mystery of the Wax Museum

Rebecca

Laura

Gaslight

Among the Living

The Red House

Lured

Cat People

The Leopard Man

The Seventh Victim

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Credits

Ambient music in this episode was created by Setuniman on www.freesound.org/people/setuniman/. Intro and outro music is by Station 61. Podcast artwork is by Dana Veitinger.

Audio clips used are from The Rocky Horror Show Studio Cast, Rebecca, Laura, Gaslight, Suspicion, Lured, and the I Walked With a Zombie trailer.

Let's dive into a strange world beyond fantasy, horror or science fiction: the world of the weird. I'll be talking about Angela Carter, Joyce Carol Oates, Tanith Lee, Gemma Files, Kelly Link, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Seanan Mcguire and Jo Walton, as we look at authors who break genre boundaries and bring new monsters to life.

Recommended Media:

Books:

Supernatural Horror in Literature by H. P. Lovecraft

Burning Your Boats by Angela Carter

Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter

A Bloodsmoore Romance by Joyce Carol Oates

The Weird Tales of Tanith Lee

Secret Books of Paradys series by Tanith Lee

She Walks in Shadows edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

We Will All Go Down Together by Gemma Files

Experimental Film by Gemma Files

Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link

Get in Trouble by Kelly Link

Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link

Silk by Caitlin R. Kiernan

The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan

Alabaster by Caitlin R. Kiernan

Rolling in the Deep series by Mira Grant

Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire

Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton

Among Others by Jo Walton

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Credits

Ambient music for this episode was composed by cormi, yewbic and FoolBoyMedia and is available at freesound.org. Intro and outro music is by Station 61. Podcast artwork is by Dana Veitinger.

Audio clip used in this episode is from The Rocky Horror Studio Cast.

H. P. Lovecraft was one of the most influential horror and science fiction writers of all time, with a legacy still felt across movies, books, roleplaying games and more. But all his talent was matched by his personal bigotry. In this episode, we're going to talk about how fans and critics can respond to Lovecraft.

Recommended Media

Books:

At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by H. P. Lovecraft

The Dunwich Horror and Others by H. P. Lovecraft

Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaVelle

She Walks in Shadows edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Confessions of a Five-Chambered Heart by Caitlin R. Kiernan

Roleplaying Games:

Call of Cthulhu

Films:

The Haunted Palace

The Call of Cthulhu

Re-Animator

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Credits

Intro and outro music is by Station 61. Podcast artwork is by Dana Veitinger.

Audio clips used are from The Rocky Horror Show Studio Cast, The Haunted Palace, Re-Animator, A Shoggoth on the Roof, and The Mountain Goats song Lovecraft in Brooklyn.

What are the best, worst, and strangest Dracula adaptations out there? And what is the original book about, anyway? From horror movies to romances to art films, Dracula's on-screen afterlife charts a bizarre course as everyone from Francis Ford Coppola to Andy Warhol took a shot at him.

Intro and outro music is the song Battered by Station 61, off the album Drowning at Station 61.

Recommended Media:

Books:

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Films:

Nosferatu (1922)

Nosferatu (1979)

Dracula (1931)

Horror of Dracula

Count Dracula (1977)

Dracula (2006)

Spanish Language Dracula (1931)

Blood for Dracula

Audio Drama:

Mercury Theater Dracula

Want to enter a world of lacy nightgowns and bloodthirsty vampires but don't know where to start? Here's your entry point. These cult horror movies from the late 1950s through the early 1970s changed the face of onscreen horror forever, from the level of gore and sex to the star power of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Learn where to start with their Dracula, Frankenstein and Mummy series', as well as their stand-alone efforts.

Recommended Media

Films:

The Curse of Frankenstein

Revenge of Frankenstein

Frankenstein Created Woman

Horror of Dracula

Brides of Dracula

Dracula AD 1972

The Mummy (1959)

The Vampire Lovers

Twins of Evil

Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter

Curse of the Werewolf

Doctor Jekyll and Sister Hyde

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)