Scary Thoughts

You should just go watch Murder Party (2007). It's a fun Halloween movie full of laughs and mayhem. This episode also has its share of laughs and mayhem. We discuss what we like about this film, then head back into a longer discussion about conceptual art (carried over from the previous episode), the ways comedy and horror work together, and whether or not it can be funny to teach a dog the Nazi salute. We also finally talk about our fascination with the Canadian feminist horror podcast, The Faculty of Horror.

To say that Kevin Smith's 2014 film Tusk is polarizing would be overselling it. Most people hated it. Chad is a diehard Smith fan and considers him something of a nerd folk hero, but even he isn't completely #WalrusYES anymore. This conversation covers what makes a good-bad film successful, Kevin Smith's legacy, and the value and legitimacy of performance art.

We had the best intentions of having a straightforward conversation about Steven Soderbergh's 2018 film Unsane. Instead this episode will take you on a strange journey involving Gavin de Becker's book The Gift of Fear, using iPhones to make films, the strange popularity of Jordan Peterson, self-help literature and the concept of premium mediocrity. If you like to hear us go deep and stumble through ideas, this is the episode for you.

2018's Hereditary exploded onto the horror scene with a bold, opaque, artistic trailer. We conversate about whether or not trailers are lies, family horror, and the frequency children are being killed in horror movies now. There's also a little bit about free will and demonic gender theory, you know, for the kids.

Jim Jarmusch's 2013 moody vampire romance Only Lovers Left Alive is all post-rock, ruin porn and untamed hair. Chad and Marc discuss Shakespeare conspiracy theories, urban renewal, how to best wield longevity and, as always, the end of history.

The self-published vampire novelette "Faking It, Phoebe" caught Chad's eye on Amazon, so we invited our friend, author Meg Elison to join us in a conversation about genre fiction, the publishing world, girls in nerdom and vampires vs. goths.

This episode is about Werner Herzog's 1979 undead flick, Nosferatu the Vampyre. It features special guest Alexa Fraser-Herron. She's a San Francisco based independent filmmaker, who was introduced to Herzog's films by her mother at an early age. It's an unusual and interesting film, the conversation is much the same.

This episode, Chad & Marc venture outside the realms of film and fiction to grapple with the very real horrors of social media. Though Lovecraftian in scale and Orwellian in rancor, our hosts take very different positions on whether to slay Zuckerberg's beast or harness its dark energy.

2016's Ouija: Origin of Evil made a boatload of money, but it's terrible. It deals in nostalgia, weak jump scares and has a muddled plot. Why do people keep watching movies like this? Why aren't they better? Will anything change, or is horror continuing to split and become a genre that produces a few auteur gems and a ton franchise style crap? We attempt to answer these questions and more, all without the help of a Ouija board of our own.

Scooby Doo has been on the air since 1969. Those meddling kids have been in a shocking number of series and movies since then. Is this horror? Is it worth watching? We land on a solid 'maybe' for those questions and more. Join us as we explore everything from the laugh-tracked early episodes to the surprisingly smart, and conspiracy riddled, Mystery Incorporated.