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It's episode 305, and I don't know if you've noticed, but there are some oddballs walking around this place.

Hokum (2026) finds American novelist Ohm Bauman on a pilgramage to scatter his parents' ashes in rural Ireland. Staying at an isolated hotel, he sinks into a depressive spiral, only to find renewed purpose when a member of staff goes missing. Will Ohm find them? Is the magic mushroom milk-drinking man in the woods responsible? And what's up with that honeymoon suite that's always locked...?

Hokum proves divisive in HTS towers and is either great stuff or barely up to snuff, depending on who you believe. But after a touch of praising/berating, there's plenty of time left over to discuss unlikeable protagonists, haunted hotels, the importance of CCTV, Ohms Under The Hammer, curate's eggs and how best to exit a van at speed.

Whatever happens, one thing's for sure: there are worse things than strangers out there yet.

Next time, we're making a start on perhaps our last great unwatched horror franchise, with a revisit of Halloween (1978).