Who are the real cannibals? Spoiler: it’s western imperialism! Kayte, Jay and guest Mark Steven dissect the cult classic Cannibal Holocaust and discover layer upon gristly layer of meaning. Topics we cover: found footage, the complicity of media, anthropology, groovy soundtracks and well-meaning liberals. 

Buy his book Capitalism: A Literary History here.

Find all of Mark’s other writing here

Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!

Out by 16 or dead in the scene but together forever! This week we are joined by writer/performer Addison Peacock to talk about Ginger Snaps! Topics include: being a weird girl, fashion before the internet, becoming a monster and sisterly incest! 

Media referenced: 

The Monstrous Feminine by Barbara Creed

”Out by 16: Queer(ed) Girls in Ginger Snaps” by Tanis McDonald

Where to find Addison: 

Listen to her on the steampunk fantasy podcast Kingmaker 

Listen to her on the queer cyberpunk audio drama KILLJAMXXX

Writing for Dead Meat

Mae is also a Scooby on Slayerfest98 and makes music at eversonpoe

We're back for Season 2 of Yellowjackets with Dave and writer Madeline Lane McKinley! We talk about mystery box TV and if solving mysteries matters. Plus, physical media, girls eating girls, '90s bangers and over-medicated teens.

Buy Fag/Hag here soon! 

And look out for Solidarity with Children here soon! 

Dave is also a co-host on Genre Reveal Party and hosts This is Your Afterlife 

Kayte, Mae and our guest Rocco are in our shiny tendon suits and, uh-oh, we're in the nightmare mind of Vincent D'Onofrio? That's right, we are talking about Tarsem Singh's surrealist psychological horrror, The Cell. We talk about the lost art of music videos, Jennifer Lopez's unique empathetic heroism and unreal animation vs AI. 

Then we'll all sing together, Society waits for you...

This week on Tender Subject, Kayte and Jay are joined by Ash from Horror Vanguard to talk about Alison Rumfitt’s brutal novel Tell Me I’m Worthless. We talk about haunted houses, bodies and territories plus TERFs, RadFems and looming Fascism. 

Media referenced: 

Capitalism: A Horror Story by Jon Greenaway, Repeater Books.

Antifa: The Antifascist Handbook by Mark Bray, Melville House Publishing

Jay is also a co-host on Library Punk!

Kayte is also a co-host on Fangs for the Memories and makes art here!

Who's hungry? As you travel this week to your own Blood Feasts, we're taking another bite of an old favorite episode!

Kayte and Jay are joined by noted Herschell Gordon Lewis expert LaborKyle to talk about the film Blood Feast (1963). In doing so, we summon Ishtar (which means we talk about all sorts of stuff like treating your artistic work as work, how Victorians ate mummies, and the warm piss stream of Marxism). 

You can find LaborKyle on places like YouTube, Patreon, Twitter, and Bluesky! He also co-host the podcasts All Gamers Are Bastards (AGAB) and Horror Vanguard!

Media Mentioned:

Arendt, Hannah, ed. 2007. “Theses on the Philosophy of History.” In Illuminations, by Walter Benjamin, translated by Harry Zohn, 253–64. New York: Schocken Books. https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/benjamin/1940/history.htm.

Chris, Jason, and Kevin. 2023. “Bathing in the Warm Stream: The Romantic and Gothic Strain of Marxism with Jon (TheLitCritGuy) of Horror Vanguard.” The Regrettable Century. https://regrettablecentury.buzzsprout.com/220523/13227904-bathing-in-the-warm-stream-the-romantic-and-gothic-strain-of-marxism-with-jon-thelitcritguy-of-horror-vanguard.

Cohen, Margaret. 1995. Profane Illumination: Walter Benjamin and the Paris of Surrealist Revolution. Weimar and Now. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Steven, Mark. 2017. Splatter Capital: The Political Economy of Gore Films. London: Repeater Books, an imprint of Watkins Media Ltd.

Oh, and we have a discord! https://discord.gg/RsxRZ3TA9 

Follow us on Twitter @tender_subject and on Instagram @tendersubjectpod

We're also on Bluesky @tendersubject.bsky.social

Art by Anya R. Hueing

Music by @coffin_flops

This week, Kayte and Mae are joined by writer and professor Jo Isaacson to dissect the polarizing new body horror film by Coralie Fargeat, THE SUBSTANCE! We dig really deep, and discuss camp, old Hollywood and hagsploitation, Marxist alienation, unboxing videos and giving birth to a new beautiful monster. 

The Monstrous Feminine and The Return to the Monstrous Feminine by Barbara Creed

”Whatever Happened to Monstro Elisasue: In Defense of Psycho-Biddies in the Substance and Beyond” Jo Isaacson, Blindfield Journal 

“The Guardian View on Female Led Horror: Time For a New Formula”, editorial, The Guardian 

Where to find Jo:

@StepfordDotter on Twitter

Stepford Daughters book

Facebook horror group

Blind Field Journal

This week on Tender Subject, Kayte, Jay and Dave have cooked up a feast of an episode on the demon barber himself, Sweeney Todd! Join us as we sink our teeth into the movie, the play, the sets, the songs and lots and lots of blood.

Media referenced:

“Is That Just Disgusting?" Mapping the Social Geographies of Filth and Madness in "Sweeney Todd" by Aleksei Grinenko link here 

Six by Sondheim

Jay is also a co-host on Library Punk!

Dave is also a co-host on Genre Reveal Party and hosts This is Your Afterlife 

In honor of Texas Chainsaw's 50th anniversary and Jo's Post45 cluster (Kayte's collage is in it!) we are re-publishing our TCM episode. Enjoy!

Did somebody order head cheese? If you did, you're in luck! This week, we're joined by Johanna Isaacson, author of Stepford Daughters: Weapons for Feminists in Contemporary Horror, to talk about the one, the only, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre! We ask the important questions, such as, "does Leatherface represent feminized labor?" and "is Leatherface trapped in an MLM?"

(We worry about Leatherface's wellbeing a lot.)

Readings:

“Blood for Oil,” Chuck Jackson

Men, Women, and Chain Saws, Carol Clover

Splatter Capital, Mark Steven

“The American Nightmare,” Robin Wood

“Cannibalism, Class, and Power: A foodways analysis of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Mark Bernard

“Horrible Form,” Evan Calder Williams

“Headcheese and a Side of Benjamin,” Jerry D Metz

“Film Bodies: Genre, Gender and Excess,” Linda Williams

Jo’s links: 

Twitter handle @StepfordDotter

Stepford Daughters link 

Facebook horror group

Blind Field Journal

Precarious Souls (a super DIY movie they're making with friends)

Follow us on Twitter @tender_subject and on Instagram @tendersubjectpod

We're also on Bluesky @tendersubject.bsky.social

Art by Anya R. Hueing

Music by @coffin_flops