Merry Killmas, y'all. We talk to fiction writer, screenwriter, and film professor Brian McAuley about his holiday slasher Candy Cain Kills. We discuss how Brian's background in screenwriting informs his storytelling, the real-life terrors of Christo-facism, including a particularly terrifying Bible story, the experience of writing creative kills, and Brian's favorite slashers. Oh, and trust us, you'll want to listen to the outro on this episode...

Listener beware, we thoroughly spoil just about every twist in Candy Cain Kills, so read the novella and come back to the pod for a great conversation. 

Pick up Candy Cain Kills - https://shortwavepublishing.com/catalog/candy-cain-kills-novella-killer-vhs-series/

Follow Brian on social media at - brainmcwriter

Visit his website - https://brianmcwriter.com/

Twitter - @HorrorMargins
Facebook - @HorrorInTheMarginsPodcast
Instagram - @horrorinthemargins
TikTok - @horrorinthemargins

If there's a movie you'd like us to review or a creator you'd like us to interview, send us an email at [email protected]. We're happy to consider your suggestions. 

Stay spooky, Pod People. 

Podcast intro - Music by The_Mountain from Pixabay
Podcast outro - Music by ComaStudio from Pixabay

Happy Krampusknacht, Pod People. Tis the season to be scary, so we watched Rare Exports, a Finnish film heavy on Krampus and Joulupukki/Yule Goat lore. We discuss the darker side of Santa, the naughty or nice list, childhood innocence, and good old-fashioned Christmas capitalism. There's also a lot of discussion of holiday wang, because there is a whole lot of full frontal in this film. 

Rare Exports is available to stream just about anywhere, so go find this holiday delight and make it a part of your end-of-the-year film watching traditions.

Twitter - @HorrorMargins
Facebook - @HorrorInTheMarginsPodcast
Instagram - @horrorinthemargins
TikTok - @horrorinthemargins

If there's a movie you'd like us to review or a creator you'd like us to interview, send us an email at [email protected]. We're happy to consider your suggestions. 

Stay spooky, Pod People. 

Podcast intro - Music by The_Mountain from Pixabay
Podcast outro - Music by ComaStudio from Pixabay

We talk to Elgin award-winning  L’nu’skw (Mi’kmaw) writer and poet Tiffany Morris about her debut novella Green Fuse Burning. We discuss the duality of nature - its ability to both give and take life - the importance of swampcore and ecohorror at a time of severe climate distress, Indigenous perspectives on identity, spirituality, and connection with land, the ways in which capitalism can delay healing from grief and PTSD, and so much more.

Pick up Green Fuse Burning - https://www.stelliform.press/index.php/product/green-fuse-burning/

Follow Tiffany on social media at -

Twitter/X - tiffmorris
Instagram - cryptidsarecute
Bluesky - tiffmorris

Visit her website - https://tiffmorris.com/

References from our conversation -

Artists:
Rita Letendre:
https://collections.mnbaq.org/fr/album/2452

Kim Dorland:
https://nbb.gallery/collections/kim-dorland

Isaac Levitan
https://www.wikiart.org/en/isaac-levitan

Resources:

Native Land: whose land are you on?
https://native-land.ca

Indigenous Climate Action
https://www.indigenousclimateaction.com

Ducks Unlimited Wetland Conservation
https://www.ducks.org

The short story Tiffany references written in the form of an art catalog is “Dissolutions” by Miguel Fliguer published in Vasterien. 

Read Dylan Thomas's poem The force that through the green fuse drives the flower here - https://poets.org/poem/force-through-green-fuse-drives-flower 

Twitter - @HorrorMargins
Facebook - @HorrorInTheMarginsPodcast
Instagram - @horrorinthemargins
TikTok - @horrorinthemargins

If there's a movie you'd like us to review or a creator you'd like us to interview, send us an email at [email protected]. We're happy to consider your suggestions. 

Stay spooky, Pod People. 

Podcast intro - Music by The_Mountain from Pixabay
Podcast outro - Music by ComaStudio from Pixabay

We get a little romantical discussing the genre-bending film Spring, directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead. We discuss delicious monster body horror, risking it all for someone special, wanderlust and the beauty of the Italian countryside, found family, and a whole lot of philosophy and science and biology as it relates to the body, the evolution of monsters, and the physical process of falling in love.

Spring is available to watch on Shudder, YouTube, Vudu, Tubi, Redbox, and AMC, and available to rent on Amazon Prime, Google Play, and Apple TV. 

Twitter - @HorrorMargins
Facebook - @HorrorInTheMarginsPodcast
Instagram - @horrorinthemargins
TikTok - @horrorinthemargins

If there's a movie you'd like us to review or a creator you'd like us to interview, send us an email at [email protected]. We're happy to consider your suggestions. 

Stay spooky, Pod People. 

Podcast intro - Music by The_Mountain from Pixabay
Podcast outro - Music by ComaStudio from Pixabay

We talk to writer and editor Nico Bell about her novelette Open House and her forthcoming novel Static Screams. We discuss the strange rituals that are real-life open houses, the terrifying nature of smart homes, why family dynamics are such ripe fodder for horror, writing villains who truly believe they are the hero of their own story, and more. 

Pick up Open House - 

Amazon - https://a.co/d/gQhD5fj

Smashwords - https://a.co/d/gQhD5fj

Preorders for Nico's next book, Static Screams, are live today -

Barnes and Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/static-screams-nico-bell/1144230129?ean=2940179186304

Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1466693

Follow Nico on social media at - 

Instagram - nicobellfiction 
Bluesky - nicobellfiction
Substack - nicobellfiction 

Visit her website - https://nicobellfiction.com/

Visit our Etsy store to rep the pod and do some good - https://www.etsy.com/shop/HorrorintheMargins

Every cent from the sale of HITM merch goes to our chosen beneficiary for the quarter. For October - December 2023, we'll donate all proceeds to the Young Breast Cancer Project, an organization that advocates for early detection of disease through breast health education - https://www.youngbreastcancer.org/.

Twitter - @HorrorMargins
Facebook - @HorrorInTheMarginsPodcast
Instagram - @horrorinthemargins
TikTok - @horrorinthemargins

If there's a movie you'd like us to review or a creator you'd like us to interview, send us an email at [email protected]. We're happy to consider your suggestions. 

Stay spooky, Pod People. 

Podcast intro - Music by The_Mountain from Pixabay
Podcast outro - Music by ComaStudio from Pixabay

We discuss Gaspar Noe's Climax, a deeply unsettling film about the human condition, bad drug trips, and what happens when unspoken social contracts are burned to the ground.  We discuss the phenomenal cast, mostly composed of dancers without acting experience who improvised a large portion of this film, awe-inducing single/long shots in the film, and the real-life inspiration for the film. We had very different opinions on this film, so our conversation also explores personal boundaries when consuming horror media and how you can appreciate the artistic vision of a film but not actively enjoy it. 

Content warnings for discussions of nonconsensual drug use, violence, incest, violence against children, and sexual assault/violence.

Climax is available to watch on Cinemax and to rent on Vudu, YouTube, and Google Play.

Twitter - @HorrorMargins
Facebook - @HorrorInTheMarginsPodcast
Instagram - @horrorinthemargins
TikTok - @horrorinthemargins

If there's a movie you'd like us to review or a creator you'd like us to interview, send us an email at [email protected]. We're happy to consider your suggestions. 

Stay spooky, Pod People. 

Podcast intro - Music by The_Mountain from Pixabay
Podcast outro - Music by ComaStudio from Pixabay

We discuss Andrzej Żuławski's 1981 film Possession, which has recently seen a bit of a renaissance within the horror community despite being labeled a video nasty and banned/censored/edited when first released. We talk about the behind-the-scenes lore of the film, the absolute force that is Isabelle Adjani, the horror inherent in a marriage failing, and some good old-fashioned monster fucking.  

Content warnings for discussions of domestic violence, self-harm, miscarriage, and well, monster fucking. 

Possession is available to view on Shudder and AMC+ and to rent on Amazon Prime and YouTube.

Twitter - @HorrorMargins
Facebook - @HorrorInTheMarginsPodcast
Instagram - @horrorinthemargins
TikTok - @horrorinthemargins

If there's a movie you'd like us to review or a creator you'd like us to interview, send us an email at [email protected]. We're happy to consider your suggestions. 

Stay spooky, Pod People. 

Podcast intro - Music by The_Mountain from Pixabay
Podcast outro - Music by ComaStudio from Pixabay

We talk to Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson award-nominated author and horror academic RJ Joseph about her short story collection Hell Hath No Sorrow Like a Woman Haunted. We discuss how her experience as a Black woman living in Texas influences her storytelling, the importance of giving voice to characters and people who rarely get the opportunity to have their stories told, tentacles, otherness, and the terror of never truly knowing what lies beneath expanses of white 'snow.'

You can purchase Hell Hath No Sorrow Like a Woman Haunted through:

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Hell-Hath-Sorrow-Woman-Haunted-ebook/dp/B09YTRVNY8/

Barnes and Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hell-hath-no-sorrow-like-a-woman-haunted-rj-joseph/1141404408

Watch and/or listen to Rhonda read I Want To Be Free on Story Hour [alongside Meg Ellison's The VCar] - https://fb.watch/njujK4YF2j/?mibextid=CDWPTG

Visit Rhonda's website: www.rhondajacksonjoseph.com
Follow her on Twitter/X:  @rjacksonjoseph

Twitter - @HorrorMargins
Facebook - @HorrorInTheMarginsPodcast
Instagram - @horrorinthemargins
TikTok - @horrorinthemargins

If there's a movie you'd like us to review or a creator you'd like us to interview, send us an email at [email protected]. We're happy to consider your suggestions. 

Stay spooky, Pod People. 

Podcast intro - Music by The_Mountain from Pixabay
Podcast outro - Music by ComaStudio from Pixabay

We discuss Huesera: The Bone Woman directed by Michelle Garza Cervera. We talk about Mexican folklore, the horrors of domesticity and pregnancy, the concept of rewilding, and a whole lotta spiders, broken bones, and brujas. 

Content warnings for discussions of pregnancy, postpartum depression, and some pretty gnarly body horror. 

Huesera: The Bone Woman is available to view on Shudder and AMC+ and to rent on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, and Vudu. 

Read about la huesera - https://www.claudiafineart.com/huesera

View the Virgin de Guadalupe statue featured in the movie and located in Mexico - https://filmap.tumblr.com/post/710600105527492608/huesera-the-bone-woman-michelle-garza-cervera

View the spider sculpture, Maman, which is located in Mexico and provided director Michelle Garza Cervera with inspiration for all the spidery bits of the film - https://www.pinterest.com/pin/266134659203468150/ 

Twitter - @HorrorMargins
Facebook - @HorrorInTheMarginsPodcast
Instagram - @horrorinthemargins
TikTok - @horrorinthemargins

If there's a movie you'd like us to review or a creator you'd like us to interview, send us an email at [email protected]. We're happy to consider your suggestions. 

Stay spooky, Pod People. 

Podcast intro - Music by The_Mountain from Pixabay
Podcast outro - Music by ComaStudio from Pixabay

We talk to poet, author, and sex worker Stephanie Parent about her novel, The Briars. We discuss what the media gets wrong about sex work, contemporary Gothic storytelling, the thin line between pleasure and pain, feminine rage, queer love, ghosts, and more.  

You can purchase The Briars through: 

Cemetery Gates Media - https://cemeterygatesmedia.com/2023/02/12/the-briars/
Amazon - https://a.co/d/20mwD2N
Barnes and Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-briars-stephanie-parent/1143395370

Be sure to also check out Stephanie's poetry collection, Every Poem a Potion, Every Song a Spell - https://a.co/d/h9xSLhu

Links to other media we discuss in the episode:

Cam trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN8xZ5WDonk - Streaming on Netflix 
Carmilla audiobook - https://www.audible.com/pd/Carmilla-Audiobook/B015RJL1Z6
Hustling Verse:  An Anthology of Sex Workers' Poetry - https://a.co/d/8lLL0BE 

Visit Stephanie's website: https://www.stephanieparent.net/ 
Follow her on IG:  sc_parent
Follow her on Twitter/X:  SC_Parent

Twitter - @HorrorMargins
Facebook - @HorrorInTheMarginsPodcast
Instagram - @horrorinthemargins
TikTok - @horrorinthemargins

If there's a movie you'd like us to review or a creator you'd like us to interview, send us an email at [email protected]. We're happy to consider your suggestions. 

Stay spooky, Pod People. 

Podcast intro - Music by The_Mountain from Pixabay
Podcast outro - Music by ComaStudio from Pixabay