Scary Thoughts

This episode is a little different because it's our first attempt at tackling a book. Horrorstör is a 2014 horror comedy novel that was written by Grady Hendrix and illustrated by Michael Rogalski. Unlike our usual show, there are only mild spoilers (so you can enjoy the book). We get into horror adaptations, representation in genre and the ever present specter of Capitalism.

The Babadook came out in 2014, but 2017 has been an exciting year for the titular monster of Jennifer Kent's Australian horror masterpiece. Mr. Babadook is now officially an LGBT icon and we brought in a special guest, Andrew Sheets AKA Meredeath, to discuss what this all memes.

Our extra special guest for this abjectively (no, not a typo) excellent episode is Monique Jenkinson, AKA Fauxnique. She is a multi-genre performing artist and choreographer whose work uses drag to consider the performance of femininity as a powerfui, vulnerable and subversive act. She has a background in ballet and does an incredible Slavoj Zizek impression, both of which we make a lot of use of in this conversation about Darren Aronofsky's 2010 film, Black Swan.

Is John Goodman's character insane? Is he hypersane? Is he right? When does it pay to believe in conspiracies? We ask all these questions and more in our 10 Cloverfield Lane episode and explore the larger Cloververse and whether or not this expanded universe makes the actual movies any better.

Cabin in the Woods is one of those horror films everyone seems to love. It's smart, funny and for the purposes of this podcast, epically intertextual. Listen in to find out more than you ever wanted to know about horror tropes and the way your hosts, Marc and Chad, would prefer to be killed if a hundred nightmare creatures were suddenly released into their office space.

With so many excellent horror movies to cover, Boo! A Madea Halloween is a bit of a strange choice for an episode. Fear not fright fiends, it's a better film than you might imagine. Even if it sort of sucks. We cover the Illuminati's desire to see male black actors wear dresses, what it means to be outside of Hollywood, and the future of YouTube stardom.

Eugene S. Robinson, writer and dapper tough guy, joins the show for a discussion of the 2016 punk rock thriller, Green Room. The conversation covers neo-Nazis in the early punk scene, what it means to be ready for violence, what is and isn't authentic, and the best choice for desert island albums. Eugene is a great storyteller and shares great tales from his time in the art rock band Oxbow.

Is Forrest Gump a pathological liar with an unhealthy obsession with a lost soul or a sweet and heroic man gifted with an absence of ennui? We go deep into the psychology of Robert Zemeckis' enduring Vietnam War epic to find out what horror makes a man give up everything and travel America as a derelict. We also try to answer the enduring existential question, "is life really like a box of chocolates?"

Fair warning, this episode is thick with weirdness. Marc and Chad discuss the 2008 Canadian film Pontypool. It's about a language virus, which invites us to infect the discussion with William S. Burroughs, semiotics, pataphysics, Quebecoise separatism, and altered states. Strap your headphones on and get ready to look for Honey the Cat.